[roseviolet]

Happy happy birthday, Q!!!!! What are you doing to celebrate? Eating something fabulous, no doubt! Congrats on the new job! Is it local or do you have to move again?

I love my mom's family, but I love them more 600 miles away!!

Ha ha! That's certainly a common feeling, isn't it? This especially holds true for me and my brother, M. He drives me INSANE if I have to spend more than 1 day with him. But when we're seperated by hundreds of miles, we get along great!

Poor Pixie and her old Catholic man. I always thought that his big hang-up was that if he married you then he'd have to finally admit to his mother that he divorced his first wife! At any rate, you're MUCH better off now.

~~~~~ soothing for Mandi ~~~~~ My tent time is fast approaching, too.

While I was running errands I came across a couple more homes for sale. I saw one that looked PERFECT and I thought it would be in our price range, but no. Despite appearances, there are a couple of acres attached to the back, so it's more than 100K out of our range. Ouchie. I guess the good news is that the countertops in the kitchen are ceramic tile and I HATE tile countertops. So it's all for the best, right? Right?!!?

[walkingbitch]

hugs to bunny cause she needs em...

everyday is Paczki Day! where I live, cause I live in Greenpoint, land of the Pollack.

and they are evil. very evil.

[quantumspice]

aww, it's sheffles' birfday! happy birthday, yo!
(that means it's mine too )

uhmm tes, isn't jackson hole in wyoming? that's not usually considered the midwest. usually that's part of the mountain states.


i got a new job of sorts... start later this month. will be interesting to say the least!

[pixiedust]

That's funny that your boy picks and chooses his catholicism too! I dated a catholic for 2 years...and he almost never went to confession, I saw him eat meat all the time, even during lent., if he gave anything up for lent, i sure didn't know about it, and only went to mass when it was his turn to pass out donuts! We used to get in big arguments though because he was divorced and felt that remarrying would automatically send him to hell...so we eventually broke up, because I am not going to be the cause of anyones eternal damnation!

(((kvetchies))) Very quiet in the lounge today...all things considered, I think that's a good thing!(((hugs))) to the Busties on Hiatus!

[pollystyrene]

Polly, that's funny that this old "sin" was renounced 40 years ago! Think your Mom will keep it up in light of the new info?

Ha, ha! I should have clarified- like Tes, my mom is a recovering Catholic. She did Catholic elementary school, high school AND college, and hasn't been to church since then (marrying my dad, an agnostic Jew, didn't help). But my grandma's in denial about it, so she tells my mom all about the goings-on of her parish (it seems weird that she doesn't ask my mom about her parish, but I guess denial's a powerful thing.) Where my grandma goes to church, in Missouri, is becoming really conservative. They used to be pretty middle-of-the-road, but the new guy in charge seems to want to set things back about 500 years and is doing everything he can to keep women as uninvolved as possible. Even my grandma is considering leaving. I was really disgusted to get a Christmas letter from one of my mom's cousins, talking about her son, who's in his 30's and a recovering alcoholic, who spent the last election season "educating voters about the Catholic church's stance on moral issues" Oh, he must be fun at parties. Humanist and I are so grateful my mom got the hell out of there as soon as she could and we weren't raised around them. I love my mom's family, but I love them more 600 miles away!!

Anyway, Le Boy was raised Catholic, but always went to public school. His church was pretty liberal- they always talked about love and acceptance more than sins and hell. But he just doesn't feel the need to go to church on a regular basis (laziness is a big part of that, too, he'll admit)...I'm okay with picking and choosing what parts he wants to observe, it's just this fish thing that irks me. I will cook fish when i want to cook fish!!

ETA: I wished Sheff Happy B-day in the b-day thread, but I'll do it again here! Happy Birthday!! We need some little party emoticons- I'm not good at posting images.

[mandolyn]

glad you're home safe n' sound, tesao.

many happy returns to sheff! *flings sparkly confetti upwards*

(((sixelacat))) & (((tesao))) your words leave me breathless. not that i feel i deserve them of course. (fodder for today's therapy, methinks. i've NEVER been able to take compliments.)

k. no more nice things about me. y'hear? cuz i just realized why i'm crying at every.single.post today.
i'm 8 days away from the red tent. gah.

i don't mean to go melodramatic dramaqueen, but you guys are my lifeline.

(((group hug)))

i'm afraid i'm not up to catching up with everyone today. but i DO have new undies for tomorrow! *tease*

[tesao]

funny bird, i call them my pillow feet, too! (um, not that i have any here in africa. i have them back in the US they are red with blue bottoms and STUFFED with down. i lurv them!) heeeee! nice to see you back, we haven't forgotten you!

bunny be mine: please take a hiatus if you need one. stay away as long as you need to. but: please, pretty please???? come back??? i will have a huge bunny sized hole in my heart if you leave forever. besides, if you leave, who will be my luv slave????

all of the kvetchies who de-lurked to send vibes and love to doodle: i heart you all SO much. thank you. i hope dooooooodling pops in soon to be able to read all of those posts.

plat: will we EVER like our hair??? i love it when you tell us that you have to face the dreaded hair washing!!! (okay. let's face it. i love it that you are posting here. how cool is THAT??? i meeeeeeeeeeeece you!!!)

mandomyheart: ask plat sometime about my bout with panic attacks. and turning into a badger wife who would.not.come.out.of.her.hole. got all puffed up and was all claws and teeth whenever anyone tried to drag me out of the house. i told you that i admire you because you are getting up and getting dressed and going out that door and DRIVING and it is so so so hard to do that. you are an inspiration to all of us. i'm so glad that i know you. and someday, plat and i WILL know you in real life, too! bet on it!!!

okay, rosiev: you HAVE to tell us who won the game. i am a tarheel. plat is a blue devil. mr hotbuns is a member of the wolfpack.

happy birthday to sheff!!!! i'm SURE that his fruitcake will be yummerific! i want to come to your house and eat lemon cookies and pumpkin goo and chicken and sausage and and and !!! are you going out to dinner or are you staying in and cooking? (if i am ever THERE for my birthday, the four of us need to go out and celebrate feb. bdays the weekend between sheff's and mine.....)

stargazer, i'm glad that it was only frozen pipes and that they thawed without bursting, and that you are clean AND buff once again!!! yay! for hot water to bathe in. it's the simple things in life, i tell you!

i am back in maputo, roseviolet, and muito happy to be "home". meems the african attack cat was actually happy to see me! she didn't bite me ONCE yesterday. AND she actually came and sat next to me on the sofa while i read. (she is back to her bitchy self today. i have been bitten on the calf TWICE since i started this post......)

i'd like to be able to post pictures to flickr or some other host site, but i never seem to make the time to figure one of those things out. for anyone who is interested, i do have some public posts with photos of maputo, madeira, vamizi island (where mr. hb and i spent christmas) and eventually some of my garden in the states as well as photos that mr. hb took from my flat of the views from my windows. they are on my live journal, my user is name is ......anyone want to guess???? you get one try.

fish on fridays. we ALWAYS ate fish on fridays when i was young. it was one of those "minor sins" to eat meat on friday. you know, the ones where you just had to hang out in limboland? i always wondered what happened to all of those people who were in limbo because they ate a burger on friday instead of a fish stick. but what i remember is that it was all the time, not just during lent.....

i'm one of those recovering catholics, but i like the idea of giving something up for lent. it gives me pause to think about the great creator, the universe, that something bigger than me that is out there but who knows what it is?, god, allah, yahweh, whatever. it just makes me stop and think about what i have and how MUCH i have that is good in my life, and that i can think about others who don't have anywhere near as much each time that i make the concious choice not to have whatever it is that i have given up for lent. chocolate was easy. cheese was most decidely NOT. i think wine might be impossible. maybe i should do cheese again. if all i had to eat every day was bread and cheese and salad and fresh juicy fruit, i would be happy.

polly: i'm afraid that the cheese might just wear ME. how embarrassing!

sixela: that was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO sweet! seriously. did you know that they actually took a street in Ipanema and CHANGED THE NAME to the name of the author of that song?? it's pretty cool. and, of course, there is a bar there called Garota de Ipanema. it has pretty good food, too.

but now you have to tell me who miss nancy is!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ get that big ass thing written soon vibes for syb ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

i don't know about snow in the midwest, but i DO know about snow at Jackson Hole (is that considered the mid-west? oooops. my lack of geographical geekiness is "snowing"!!!) keep your tips up, you hear me???

i don't think that i have anything to kvetch about today. how faboo is THAT??????

hugs and kisses and poor silly goblin sharks!

[sixelacat]

Morning, kvetchies! I know I've been busy running for mayor of Lurkersville, but I wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate y'all in here (yeah, I said y'all, and I'm not takin' it back! ). Specifically, I am (k, I just checked the thesaurus for “impressed” and “amazed” and nothing quite fit, so moosh those concepts together and insert that word here) at how how truly thoughtful you are. And I don't just mean the sweet way you include me in your (((hugs))) even though I don't post regularly, I mean that you read and genuinely consider each others' posts and reply accordingly with your best thoughts. And even though that kind of investment can lead to, well, some of the hooha that's been going on, it's also the reason I keep coming back. So, I'd just like to say, “thank you”.

((((mando)))) I don't think anyone can ever hear this too much: You are wonderful. I try not to measure myself by others because it's generally not productive, but when I find depression/anxiety becoming too much, I like to read your posts and hope to handle life with as much strength and grace that you do.

(((yuefie))) that goes for you too!

((roseviolet)) I think you could run the UN. Obviously they are suffering from lack of puppies! Oh, and (apropos of nothing, I was born in that "Pink Palace" hospital)

((tesao)) to the girl from Ipanema, all I can say is when you post I go “ahhhhhhhh”

((bunnyb)) you, my dear, especially fit what I was saying above. I understand your need for a break after the past few days, but I hope you will come back afterwards and continue to post because you do listen and thoughtfully consider others' replies, and that is rare enough in the world.

Okay, the outside world is calling my name again. Apologies for not individually catching up with everyone.....

((((Kvetchies....*best Miss Nancy voice* especially YOU)))

[roseviolet]

FunnyBird!!! How you doin', sweetcheeks?! Good to see you in here! Those pillow feet sound amazingly comfy.

((((Plat)))) You're such a dear & I'm so glad you've joined these boards. Continued health and healing for you!

((((Tes)))) Wherever you are, I hope you're having a great day!

Mornington, thanks for the pic. That is beautiful!!! Sorry to hear it's so slick out there, though. Poor little Indigo!

~~~~~ warmth for StarGazer's pipes ~~~~~ Yowza! Glad they didn't burst!

Polly, that's funny that this old "sin" was renounced 40 years ago! Think your Mom will keep it up in light of the new info?

((((((Bunny)))))) Hope you find some comfort in the arms of your boy. I sincerely hope you come back to us next week! There are so many good people in this community - so much genuine warmth and love - that it's worth holding onto.

((((((Mandi)))))) Same to you, love. My mother always tells me to focus on what is good and positive in this world - to embrace and nurture the things that feed your spirit. Sometimes I lose my focus a bit, but I always feel better when I take her words to heart. Yes, as cheesy as it sounds, it still works.

Last night was The Big Game 'round these parts (Duke vs UNC). And I guess I am a bad girl because I did not watch a single second of it! Maybe I'll start to care when I've lived here longer. But then again, I never watched all those OU vs OSU games, either, so maybe not!

Anti-Kvetch: Today is Sheff's birthday!!!! (Thanks for the early good wishes, Mornington!) He has already opened all of his gifts, but I'm thinking about running out and getting him a little something extra. We're not sure what we're going to do for dinner, but we know we'll be cutting into his special birthday fruitcake. Fingers crossed that I made it correctly. It's been sitting in a cabinet for a month & I keep worrying that it's going to be crap. Eep!

[sybarite]

It has been snowing here but it's not sticking. I always get a little sniffy about snow here as it's nothing compared to what we got in the Midwest (and to what it's still getting as I type). Yes, I am a snow snob.

I have been busy and am suddenly busier again. I have a big-ass thing to write and I keep getting interrupted with other shit that is another person's responsibility. I am off down the country next week to write this up and I cannot fucking wait. It's getting chaotic in my RL world.

Squee for mornington! I read what you posted he said. Gotta love the eloquence.

*waves at funnybird* Nice to see you!

[mornington]

bwah-ha-ha! bustie snowball fight... i say we build a snowlady with boobs and all

it looks like this near me


and i've already been out in it. they haven't salted the pavements, or cleared the residential roads off green lanes... i nearly fell over several times walking Indigo.

[funnybird]

Uni today or uni in general? Today I decided I couldn't be arsed; apparently the lecture I was planning to attend was cancelled due to the weather anyway. In general? I finally got all of my essays written and submitted last month. Having made such a meal of the whole thing I now live in fear of getting my marks back, so much so that I'm avoiding my supervisor altogether. Cod, I'm pathetic!

Could this be the first time ever that the south of England has snow and Scotland has none?! Mornington, we should go out and play in it before it's all gone! You're in North London too, right?

I'm trying to force myself to leave the flat. **wishing for some wellingtons**

(((Y'all)))

[mornington]

fuck. it is and all. this is what happens when i take wednesdays off... i usually have thursday off.

[bunnyb]

(((plat))) thank you

mandolyn, there's getting one's fingers burned and then there's that, and that's all I'm sayin'. Well, that and the fact that I don't like the implication that I brought this on myself.

morn, sweetums, it's only Thursday! I freaked for a moment there, thinking I was going to miss my train. Funnily enough, no snow here (yet) but the boy got some.

welcome back funnybird! what happened with uni?

*~*~*~work vibes for sidecar~*~*~*~

{}{}{}no more frozen pipes stargazer!{}{}{}

Like yuefie, I'm taking a few days hiatus: I'm off to the boy's tomorrow and not back until Tuesday so that will give me time to calm down but I'm not going to get over this and forget about it and presently I'm not sure if I can remain a part of these boards.

(((kvetchies)))

[Plat]

The usual fly by post...

I've been very busy and haven't had much time to read/post. Tes has kept me up on some of the vitriol. I must say one of the reasons I have chosen this kvetch board as my home is because it is populated with some of the most wonderful, warm, supportive people online that I have ever seen. You know, we deal with so much shit in our real lives that it is like a little safe refuge to read this thread. It's so sad to me that other areas of bust have literally become an un-safe place to be.

((bunnyb)) Chin up, darlin. You are loved here. This is your e-home.
((Mando)) You are such a sweetie. Stick around, ok? Tes and I are serious about that round of golf.
((sidecar)) Maybe keeping it light is a good thing!

(((mornin, amilita, rose, raisin, star, yuefie, polly and all kvetchies cuz i don't have time to read back much further))))

Kvetch: Dry, cold air is wreaking havoc with my sinuses. drip drip drip

Anti kvetch: DON'T HAVE TO WASH MY FUCKING HAIR TODAY!!!! YAY!!!

Anti kvetch: endurance still on the rise!

[mornington]

*dances through thread*

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

*smooches (((((mando))))*

polly, that's the major reason I'm not a practicing caflic. too many stupid rules and predjudices. that and i always missed sunday midmorning party games at prep school because the catholic service was waaay too fucking long. hey, we were only allowed one chocolate bar a week at school. party games had prizes. sugary ones. it rocked. if there is any guaranteed way to turn a pre-teen off religion, take away her weekend sugar fix and make her listen to a fat man drone on in latin instead.

((((funnybird)))0 hello stranger!
((((bunny, raisin, yuefie & shashie & art, sidecar & martini-the-exploding-toilet-man, rose & sheff - happy birthday sheff! -, tes, plat, pink, sixela, sassy, star, billy, mavin, msp, walkingb, everyone))))

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

*and exit*

ooh, pants. white boyshorts with blue polka-dots and little red bows on the leg. no bra as i've only just got up and i'm not dressed yet.

[funnybird]

*creeps back in after llooooonnng absence*

Hello! This is my first post in about 5 months. I hope someone remembers me. Otherwise I'll have to head over to the newbies thread and start over. I've been lurking occasionally, but every time I log on it seems to be in the midst of a major shit-storm. Feminism means different things to different people, and the lounge should be a suitable forum for discussing these differences - heatedly if necessary - but when names like 'fuckstain', nasty bitch' and 'sociopath' are being flung about then a wrong turn has been taken somewhere. Anyways, the 'Apologies' thread seems a positive, reassuring move.

I'm glad to see that everyone is present and correct. And that mornington is adorably boy-struck. Awwww!
I can't possibly catch up with 5 months worth of news. I'll just offer my hugs to all.

I'm still in Architect Boy's snuggly green dressing-gown and my pillow-feet slippers (those booties made out of duvets - you know what I mean. I don't know why I call them 'pillow-feet'...), trying to decide whether it's worth venturing out of the flat into the several inches of SNOW! I was supposed to be going to college today, but I know without even calling the station that the trains will be all buggered-up.

[pollystyrene]

((mando)) somehow you got left out of my hugs earlier. Very eloquent post in the flame-y threads today. Better than I could have done.

Yeah, the fish-on-Friday thing, no offense to any Catholics out there, but it's just a big marketing scam...most of the people at the time when these rituals were started were fishermen...what's a good way to drive up bid-ness? Tell people they're committing a sin if they don't eat your product at least once a week during this period of time. ((Sigh)) Really, I don't have an issue with Catholics- my mom was raised strict Catholic and most of her family still practices, I've got aunts and uncles who are/were priests and nuns...I just think they've lost the point of their religion in all these ridiculous rules.

Ooo, frozen pipes, stargazer? That sucks. At least they didn't burst.

ETA: I was trying to get more info on the fish on Fridays thing and I found an article that says the Vatican lifted the ban on meat on Fridays over 40 years ago....I emailed my mom to ask her what the heck was going on.....not that it really matters- it's a great excuse to have sushi once a week

[mandolyn]

so glad to hear sashiepupper is okay. i love that dog to the moon and back again.
and her mama, too. *smooch*

(((tesao))) your kind words have moved me to tears. good ones. today was a really crappy day for me. and you lightened my heart considerably. bless you.

(((bunny))) flamewars suck. but there is always the risk of being burned. this is about all the words o'wisdom, cliche as they may be, that i can muster right now.

i do believe i'm about to get burned now too. maybe even to the core.

not what i really fucking need. i should've stayed on hiatus.

sincere love to all.

[stargazer]

((((((((kvetchies)))))))))))))

kinda sleepy right now so it will be quick.

yeah for bashie getting better!!

antikvetch: my tub pipes were frozen, which is why it backed up. but, it is fixed and i took a good shower, buffed, and now i'm all relaxed.

did i mention sleepy??