I think we are long-lost sisters! Responses in your quote. Another thing. I totally just told my dh that it would be much cheaper to buy me new boobs and a tummy tuck than it would be for him to find a firmer hussy. He knows. He just knows.

Oh fun! I cuss like a Sailor because both dh and I were Sailors. I really like rum. My dh cooked dinner tonight because I suck at the whole submissive wife thing. He cooked a roast in a crockpot and added a can of Coke to our non-organic roast. I have a tattoo and want more ink. My oldest kid was born 6 months after dh and I were married, and she was not even kinda early. I got married when I was 19 and had dd12 when I was 20. I have never made a pie in my life. About 75% of my family has been to jail and/or prison. I think that's enough sharing for now ;)

I am so sorry.

I seriously want to puke right now.

Marge Simpson ;). Some once said I resembled the dark-haired Rachel McAdams. I wish!

Bless your heart! I love CS Lewis! This nuclear-reactor-operating gals often steps out on faith. Wendi-the Sunday School and Confirmation teaching gal

(Hangs head in shame) I like CS Lewis! I think I've read Sophocles, but I may have blocked that out of my psyche. Theory is great and all, but I used to operate nuclear reactors. Give this gal something practical and her soul will sing.

Honey Boo Boo, while they really are a functional, loving family, amuses the crap out of me. So does the WTM board. Wendi-who comes from a long line of white trash criminals, yet all her kids have the same baby daddy

Would it be hateful and snippy of me to compare watching Honey Boo Boo to watching the WTM boards? I kinda love both of them. Train wrecks fascinate me.

Aww, thanks! Now, what gets me is philosophy. Thinking about thinking? Meh. I am a practical gal. I've read the SPA philosophers. Cool guys, but meh.

Hmmmmmm. I think we are separated by a matter of semantics. Solzhenitsyn is fun for me. He tells a great story with 15,000 layers. Tolstoy? Yum!!! Dostoyevsky? Yes please! I consider those guys hard candy. Steinbeck (my personal favorite)? Melt-in-your-mouth chocolate-peanut-butter magic. ETA: I still love the occasional fluff. Outlander series? Uh, what's not to love about guys in kilts and mostly-accurate historical fiction?

I approach every book as a learning opportunity. I flipping moved to Nebraska because of Willa Cather, damn her awesome books! Yes, I read Twilight, but I did a ton of googling vampire myths while reading that sap that I still unfortunately like. Like I said, every book is a learning opportunity. Perhaps "fluff" is just a matter of semantics.

See, I too am a bit of a fact girl, yet I love historical fiction. Of course, when I read historical fiction, I always have my iPhone by my side ready to google the "real" situation. For me, historical fiction sparks an interest in a specific time period. It takes me forever to get through a historical fiction book because I get so distracted reading about and researching the specific time period/important people. While I am learning, I still consider historical fiction fluffy.

We went out to eat at a local pizza chain. I'd been having a difficult time with the kids. Just the basic kids-acting-like-rabid-monkeys stuff. The kids acted mostly human during the meal, which warmed my mommy heart. When dh asked the waiter for our bill, she handed us the following letter, which I have kept in my wallet for the last 2+ years: I would like to commend you on how well-behaved, considerate, and polite your children were while dining at Valentino's. Itwas truly enjoyable dining at the table next to you. Take care and God bless. This lady paid for our meal. It still brings tears to my eyes. My kids really are great kids, but being in the trenches with them day in and day out gets very old. I cannot tell you how good it made me feel to know someone acknowledged the blood, sweat, and tears I have put into humanizing these little people.

The reviews for the Three Wolf Moon shirt made me require my husband to purchase that shirt.

You know we love you, Bill. I really, really, REALLY want to love Moby Dick, but the phrase "Call me Ishmael" puts me right to sleep. Wendi-who is much younger than Bill and reads crap like The Phantom Tollbooth to her kids

I am seriously considering sneaking out of the house while everyone is sleeping! Our tiny town theatre will have a seat for me ;). However, I am lame and will wait for tomorrow night to see it with my family.

I'll just agree with what everyone said. Well, everyone except Bill ;). I read for so many different reasons. Sometimes I read deep, fulfilling books. Sometimes I have just needed a dose of Twilight/brain crack. I love all books (except Moby Dick, which I am sure will put me on Bill's ignore list :p). I am always reading something. I think you can take something useful away from every book you read. Wendi-who is currently reading Outliers, CS Lewis, and some Terry Goodkind book

I had the very best high school history teacher! I loved him so much I took his classes for 3 of my 4 years in high school. I took freshman World Geography, junior American History, and senior Western Civ. with him. He had a PhD. in Latin American studies and actually taught school in Argentina. He threw out the syllabus and taught from his heart. His passion for history showed in every class he taught. He talked to us and made us think about history-not just the "whats" but the "whys". He probably had a bit of leeway with us as he only taught the "gifted" kids. His second job was teaching college history classes at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. He treated us as thinking human beings and required much from every one of his students. I attribute my lasting love of history to Dr. Lanoue.

Wow. This is completely unhelpful to the op, a woman who is struggling to make ends meet during this Holiday season. So, let me just ask. Are you implying that everyone who has ever accepted government help is dependent and entitled? I'll be sure to tell that to my veteran dh, whose family was on WIC while he was deployed to a war zone. Well, I'll tell him when he gets home from his professional, well-paying job. OP, please use those benefits if you qualify. Temporarily using food stamps and/or WIC is NOT in fact sentencing your family to a life of dependency. The system was designed to help families just like yours.

Lol! I obviously typed this without my glasses. I had to put on my glasses to see my mistake. Of course, I have a son with a bottomless stomach, so I could imagine him eating an auger. A homemade auger, of course ;).

We were that junior enlisted family receiving WIC. We were living in the nicer part of the ghetto 35 minutes away from base. Gas and food prices were killing us, despite living well within our means. Those WIC benefits allowed us the leeway to purchase more fruits, vegetables, and better cuts of meat. Of course, even though my dh was deployed to the Middle East after 9/11 we probably did not deserve the luxury of sirloin steak twice a month. To top off our utter poor people trashiness, we conceived a second kid while in WIC! When we were finally transferred out of Southern California, we no longer needed that assistance. Wendi-who used her WIC eggs to make a birthday cake for her 2yo

Just wanted to post in the Great Cereal Kerfuffle. 1) I cannot imagine actively making anything for 4 hours. Yes, I do cook turkeys and use my lead-lined crockpot (crockpots should at least be mentioned in this thread), but those are pretty lazy. 2) My dh often buys my kids crappy auger-laden cereals like Pops and Frosted Flakes. Just take away my homeschooler card right now. 3) Cajuns dispose of dead bodies by taking them into the swamp. Anything can happen in the swamp. You want to dispose of a body? I can call my uncle and hook you up ;). 4) Vodka. Sigh. Enough said. 5) Tonight dh was in charge of dinner. We ate tater tots. Debate that one. Again, I forfeit my homeschooler card. 6) There just aren't enough kilts in this thread! You guys are slacking. 7) Editing number 5. It really should be "Rum. Sigh." Consider this my contribution to WTM infamy.

Lol! Dh really does work at a nuclear power plant. I don't really have blue hair. Yet ;)