Oh. My. Word.

I will be the odd man out here. I am ok with some FPS games (Halo, Call of Duty, etc). I have no real fear that my ds will grow up to be a violent killer. However, I don't allow games with sexually explicit material because problems in life related to that kind of material are real and common. If the language is bad in a game then he has to play it with the volume off. I don't want him talking like that.

I guess I am dysfunctional, too. I am very private and share my deeply personal things with very few people. Some people are just that way. It doesn't make them wrong... Just different. I personally find it very disconcerting when people air their dirty laundry all the time. I wish people would be MORE secretive! I don't want to read on FB about what a $@#& your husband is.

I got a sunburn on my belly about a week before I delivered. No problems. It never occurred to me that it would be serious beyond the basic sunburn annoyance.

It's that time of year again. The time when everyone starts posting cutesy secret messages on FB to "raise awareness" about breast cancer. All the wink-winks, and "don't tell the guys!" and all the other nonsense that goes with it. One year it was about bras and one year it was handbags and apparently this year it's about vacation destinations??? Please don't. Just don't. My friend has breast cancer. She just had a mastectomy. She is going through chemo. She has lost all of her hair. She is exhausted and vomiting. Now she has to have part of her thyroid removed and have radiation treatments. Her prognosis is not good. She has a 7yo little boy. These cutesy posts are, frankly, insulting to me. As you post secret messages on FB about your purse and your bra, etc., I am watching my friend waste away. It is even more insulting to my friend. There is nothing "cute" about breast cancer. These posts don't raise awareness they just make you feel better about yourself...like you are "helping" the cause. It's not helping. Just stop.

It must be a cultural thing. At my school almost no one wears makeup. I can think of exactly two high school girls out of about 200 here that wear any kind of make up other than clear lip gloss.

I just finished To Kill a Mockingbird. I can't believe I waited until now to read that book. It was amazing.

It depends. If you just want a bikini wax then no. If you want a Brazilian then yes.

Get it waxed instead of shaving. That's what works for me.

Started Reading: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (American author, DD class 800) Having Hard Conversations by Jennifer Abrams (American author, DD class 300) Still Reading: Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill (British author, DD class 200) The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (American author, DD class 300) The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200) Finished: 19. The Infernal Devices #2: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 18. The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 17. God's Big Picture: Tracing the Story-Line of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts (British author, DD class 200) 16.The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley (Canadian Author, DD Class 800) 15.The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 900) 14. Prodigy by Marie Lu (Chinese author, DD class 800) 13. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (American author, DD class 900) 12. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (American author, DD class 500) 11. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman (American Author, DD class 600) 10. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (American author, DD class 200) 9. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300) 8. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100) 7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800) 6. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600) 3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800) 2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800) 1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800)

I was recently invited to a wedding and the reception is potluck. The couple is providing beverages only (and no alcohol). There will also be no entertainment or dancing, etc. AND the invitation asked for cash in lieu of gifts. I feel woozy from the tackiness of it all. Unbelievable.

Well, no houses have basements on this island, or 10 acres for that matter. The land alone would cost $10 million USD on the inner part of the island and about $60 million if it was ocean front. Imagine that same house, but no basement and no land at all, just a driveway for your car... Here that would cost about $500,000 USD.

85 and sunny every day of the year! :)

Yep. Malaysia is quite corrupt. We just had our big election here last week. The corruption surrounding it was startling. Bribery is common and just how things are here. You can even buy your way out of jail time if you have the money.

In terms of resources, it really depends on your worldview. We believe that sex is only for married couples as designed by God and that dating is for the purpose of finding a spouse. We do not believe in recreational dating. If you would like resources from this point of view, pm me.

I am so sorry. :( Our best friends are going through something similar with their teenage daughter and it is tearing their family apart. I can't go into details but her choices led to expulsion, loss of college scholarship, has damaged the careers of both of her parents and is causing emotional trauma for her siblings. Teens do NOT always make good choices. (((Hugs)))

You are correct in that having a c section is major surgery and that is scary and painful and it is normal to be worried about the surgery. But I find when people say "as long as the baby is healthy" they are not saying they don't care about the post-surgical pain and recovery you will have to endure. That part sucks, no doubt. What we mean when we say that is "wow, that sucks that you will to have a major surgery and deal with all the recovery issues. But the baby will arrive safe sound and in your arms as quickly as possible and the birth will still be very special and not "less" special than your other children. Just as a baby placed in my arms after a 20-hour ride in an airplane was a very special experience. To me the best thing you could say is "I will pray for a swift recovery for you."

If he has a game console it is the perfect time for a new video game!

I agree. I gave birth once but then suffered from secondary infertility. It has been 15 years and I have never gotten pregnant again. But I adopted twice. So I definitely understand things not going as you planned or hoped for. I did feel some grief over the fact that I will never carry a child in my womb ever again. But I did not dwell on it and I certainly wouldn't lose a friend over it. It is a natural body function but I think we sometimes elevate natural childbirth to the level of some sort of religious or spiritual experience we are meant to have and are then devastated if it doesn't happen. We set ourselves up (and shows like A Baby Story set us up) to think anything less than a natural birth is a substandard experience. It is not. It is just another way to experience it. Since I could not give birth naturally or by c-section, I adopted. My two youngest babies came into my arms via an airplane. Trust me when I say the experience was NOT substandard or less wonderful in some way than delivering my first naturally ... although conversations like this make me feel like other moms feel sorry for me and my poor, subpar birth experience. So I suppose I would be the friend you would write off for be more focused on the healthy baby than on your experience.

I need an "other." It only happens when I jump on our trampoline but not other kinds of exercise.

I am from Michigan and people say that there all the time. Including me. :)

"To make a long story short...." Any time someone says that, the story is already too long. My boss and my brother use this phrase constantly and their stories are never shortened by its use. And 99% of christianese. This video makes me laugh so hard: http://youtu.be/FjN_IDhCDZE Also way funny: http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/july/doing-authentic-ministry-with-my-smokin-hot-bride.html I want to scream "just stop!" Can't we be Christians and still talk like normal people?

We co-sleep until the child feels ready to sleep on their own. Right now my dd sleeps with us and boys share a room and our 3rd bedroom is a game room. By the time she sleeps on her own my oldest will be in college and the youngest two can have their own rooms.

Our school is switching all computers to Windows 8. Mine just got switched. I LOATHE Windows 8.

A fantastic set of cookware. Tupperware storage bowls A rice cooker A great set of knives A microwave oven