If you ever wondered if your kids would say this despite having an ENTIRE GROCERY STORE at their disposal...yes. Yes, they would. My 5 year old says this despite the fact that we've actually owned a grocery store since November. A small grocery store, but a store none the less. She doesn't know what to eat. Every day.

So I just download this LXLE and ??? Because really, there is nothing wrong with my Vista (or so I thought)...I'm planning on running it til it dies.

Maybe we (they?) were talking about 8.1? Honestly Lanny, I'm really ignorant about computers (which you've already gathered, I'm sure). I just want to surf the web & save my pictures :D As long as I can do that, it's all good. And my Vista still does that :D I don't foresee upgrading the Vista; it's just not necessary (that I can see?). That computer isn't getting any new documents or pictures put on it, I just need to get what I have on there off in a way that will let me view/use the files on my 10. Does that make sense?

I never 'upgraded' to Windows 7 because everyone I talked to hated it and I was (I am) afraid I would do something wrong and lose all my files. Just from a precursory search, upgrading from Vista to 7 requires an external hard drive, anyway. I guess my main concern is if I back up my Vista files onto an external hard drive, will they still be able to be "read" by Windows 10? I'm just not going to be able to justify buying Windows 7 (or 10) for my ancient computer.

Our main computer is 6...almost 7 years old. It's a Vista and I'm sure it's just going to up and die on me any day now. I have all of the photos from the kids' entire lives on that thing. I have them backed up to Mozy, and I have a lot of the pictures on Shutterfly, but I think maybe an external hard drive would be a good idea. I've never had to restore files from Mozy, so I don't fully trust it. Are all external hard drives created equal? I'm thinking I'll get one with 2TB of storage & see how far that gets me. ETA: Also, my home computer is a Vista while the one at our business runs on Windows 10. I wonder if I can get a hard drive that is compatible with both?

Not at all!! Some have had the experience of Mormons trying to convert us when we're at the door (turnabout is fair play :D!). I would guess that the brother just figured you guys were happy with your beliefs. I love it when Mormons come to my door. They're always young men who are kind and polite. The last pair that came to my door seemed impressed that we took our children out in the ministry.

I think that they do, to the extent they are able. Perhaps if kindness were measurable on a standardized test and implemented into common core... ETA: I'm sure no teacher enjoys having teenage Johnny Disrespectful in their class, but by that point, what are they supposed to do? For our household, the buck stops here (I say that having recently enrolled my 2 eldest into the local school). If my kids are not kind, that falls on me. Surely, the teachers can only build on the foundation that is laid within the home.

I think the better question is, what if PARENTS taught kindness?

The men in my life found the Puppy Monkey Baby to be hilarious. Which was more disappointing than the commercial itself. And even if we all hated the commercial...here we are discussing it. So that's a win for marketing I guess.

So. So. Stupid.

Levi's 529 Curvy jeans.

He identifies himself as Catholic. That's all I know. I said super Catholic meaning very devout (from my limited perspective). I think it's a bit much to be making sweeping judgments based on a limited amount of information. I know some background which I have not shared that does explain a fair amount. And I am proceeding with all due caution.

Tap, when you put it that way, it reads completely different. He is very interested in poetry and music, especially. He has sent song lyrics to my mom in the past.

TammyS, he's not ESL, but that would make sense. I think his written communication errs on the side of formal (though his email prior to this one was casual and easy to read). Regarding "super Catholic" my mom said he thinks the current Pope is the anti-Christ, so that makes me think he's very conservative. But that makes me bring round the question of why he's interested in pursuing a relationship with my mom, who is not Catholic. Food for thought. Scarlett, I think one of the reasons my mom jumped in so quickly is to do damage control. I think she never had any intention of having him in her/our lives. She already had a husband, after all. A few days after our initial contact she sent me a text message saying something along the lines of "You just can't hate me, Jenna. Please don't hate me." I agree it is human nature to paint (and see) ourselves in the best possible light, but I think there's more to it than that in the case of my mom. Carol, that's an interesting take on things. Perhaps you're right. I will bring it up and that will be that :)

I talked a little more in depth with my mom last night about my feelings regarding, well, their feelings. She agreed to not discuss me (or the kids) with him any more. And she even said she'd stop talking to him altogether if that's what I wanted, but the mere idea of that brought her to tears. She's a very lonely woman and she really does enjoy their conversations. I think she's leading him on, but she isn't interested in seeing the long term effects of her choices. That's just how she is. The thing that really drives me crazy that they are both very much rewriting history and romanticizing things (or claiming ignorance. Neither seems to remember why it is that they broke up; turns out it was because my mother was married to someone else but bio dad didn't know). But, then again, it's my personality to be rational to a fault. None of his communications have mentioned the check, I do wish he would say something about it.

I think he wants the three of us to be a family. I think it's what he's wanted all these years. Unfortunately, I wasn't seeking out a father figure...I'm aiming for friendship at this point.

Aspergers. I'll keep it in mind. Some parts of his emails are much more casual. Another interesting tidbit...he says he didn't know my mom was married to another man when they conceived me. She has always said that he knew...but she neglected to mention it to him then or in their recent conversations. This is going to be interesting...

My mom could either run like the wind or milk him for all he's got. It's 50/50 odds with little chance of anything in between.

"My Brother Frankie is a Jehovah’s Witness and has been faithfully so since he was about 17 years old. I suspect that this is the seminal reason why he does not maintain our kinship. There is much to relate but I don’t think that written correspondence is the way to go."

Yep, and his older brother is a Witness...but they haven't spoken in years. It's beyond crazy.

Oh, that's nothing. I deleted the part relating the story of David and Bathsheba. And their being reconciled to God as evidenced by the fact that Solomon was anointed King. I'm gonna be a king, y'all! So, bio dad is Super Catholic, I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and my mother could not care less about God. ROFL

Deleted. :)

Can I just poke my head in here & say how much I HAAAATE typos in memes (even if the general premise is funny)? Especially when they're making fun of people :001_tt2:. Because you, dear meme author, aren't TOO bright yourself.

I think you're right. My hangup is that I've never felt like he rejected me, given that he didn't know me. But if I ask this of him...and he's not willing; if he chooses her. Ugh. It would be incredibly hard. I did ask him not to pursue a romantic relationship with my mom, but perhaps that leaves too much to interpretation. I also figure they could both just lie to me about whether they're having contact which, again, would be really hurtful when I found out about it.

I do appreciate that perspective...I completely respect the good intentions that (I'm assuming) he has and I don't want to belittle that in any way, but I just can't bring myself to accept thousands of dollars from a stranger. I'm assuming that there's no strings attached, but I don't know because we haven't discussed it. I guess that's the thing. If it were like "Jenna, I'm so glad to have you in my life now. I know that I can't make up for the years we lost, but I'd like you to accept this as a gift...." but there was nothing like that. He obviously discussed it with my mom (who, I'm sure, has very few qualms with accepting the money because she is desperate) but not with me. I think that's what upsets me. The 2 of them are (re)building a relationship and I feel like I'm just supposed to go along with. But their pace is...I can't match that.