I have been single again as long as I was married and there is not a day I don't regret leaving s

I would have divorced a long time ago....sm [2008-11-21]
when my husband had a drug problem. I didn't because my son told me he would not come with me but that he would choose to stay with his dad. He was around 7 years old at the time. I couldn't leave my son. So I didn't leave. He is so close to his daddy. He would pick his dad drugs and all over me any day of the week and that hurt me very bad because I have always been a good mom. So I stayed. I guess God helped me though because my husband quit using drugs miraculously later and we are doing pretty good now.

Mine hit 50% for me. So long, retirement dreams! [2008-11-21]

I saw a demo of the software on TV long time ago. sm [2008-11-17]
there was a slate-like appendage that you could draw on with a pencil-like tool. and then the software did remarkable things, but this was some time ago. goodle it, research. you're bound to find a site with a demo.

People leaving their McMansions and traveling West [2008-11-14]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ok, but there are NO long-term studies!!! [2008-11-12]
And I don't know about you, but my daughter is NOT going to be a guinea pig for this vaccine!!! My daughter's doc keeps asking me to allow her to have this, but since they have no idea of the adverse reactions YEARS after the vaccine, there's no way I'm going to subject her to it. I really hope 10 years from now the girls that had Gardasil don't have problems with fertility or heaven forbid, have babies with birth defects because their parents let them be guinea pigs for drug companies!

you don't know the long term problems with it, but we know what happens without it! nm [2008-11-12]
x

I don't have a problem with long hair on boys [2008-11-07]
but I do have a problem with not keeping it nice. There are a lot of men and boys with long hair that looks good. His is all stringy and icky looking. My son has a longer hair style and thinking about going longer with it but we have had the talk about still looking nice and having some sort of style to it. The minute he doesn't, it goes. Kinda like wearing dirty clothes out of the laundry basket. Sure every kid wants to do it and you have to piok your battles but mine isn't going to walk out of the house looking like no one cares enough to make sure he is a clean, well taken care of, and well fed boy.

How long to cook corned beef [2008-11-05]
Does anyone know how long to cook a corned beef briskit (don I'm thinking its a few hours but not sure.

It should be fine as long as it is cooked. [2008-11-05]
xx

why is the space bar on the keyboard so long as opposed to other keys? nm [2008-11-03]
$$

You've been married 15 years [2008-11-02]
and you've put up with it for 15 years. There's really no reason for him to change, is there? You've allowed him to do this to you. Sorry to be so blunt.

I wish Christmas were all year long, [2008-10-31]
xxxx

I wish Christmas were all year long, [2008-10-31]
xxxx

Cool. So glad for them. Long time coming(nm) [2008-10-30]
x

How long has this been going on? [2008-10-21]
How long has your mother had this type of behavior. It sounds like these symptoms; inappropriate behavior, saying things without thinking about them first, might be a signal she has some sort of neurologic problem or the onset of a form of dementia going on. You might notice if your mother has been forgetting things lately, seems detached. If this is not her regular personality, and this is something new for her, then I would gently talk with her and ask her if she is worried, under pressure, or sees anything wrong with how she acts. She might have to see her doctor. My mother exhibited these signs and symptoms around age 60, and then later was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. However, if her memory is good, she is coping with daily life and is able to handle things on her own, she needs a wakeup call. Her behavior in front of your daughter is inappropriate.

Gays march for their rights to be involved with their long-time partners [2008-10-17]
health care should a drastic decision be made. It is usually a family member...even though we are the ones who take care of our partners when they are sick or dying. We fight for the right not to be thrown out of a shared house by the partner's parents. We want to honor our partner's wishes when they die as we are the ones who have spent years with them - not the family. These are just a few examples. As far as your comment that we influence young people - that is absurd. All we want is to live our life and as pxmt said, be able to walk down the street without abusive comments, being assaulted, ridiculed, etc. The school system is not segregating gay children - they are making it gay friendly and teaching tolerance. Suicide is very high in gay children because of the parents who teach their children that it is evil and it is okay to bash a gay child. These schools are just trying to save the lives of young children. As far as your comment that Christian's homes and churches are burned, sorry but I cannot recall one incident that I have read or saw on the news. Temples yes. As far as being assaulted for your beliefs, could it be because you stand in front of abortion clinics and gun down the doctors and nurses that come out or go into the clinic? Could it be that you bully the 15 and 16-year-olds who have been raped and want an abortion? Sorry to say this, at least we (gays) are not violent and just want to be left alone.

This thread probably won't stay up very long, but [2008-10-16]
Our country is going to he!! in a handbasket in a hurry just because of scenarios you described with the gay marriage school trip. (I sure hope that no school really did do such a stupid thing.) As Christians, we have every right to be outraged if our child is exposed to such a thing as it goes against our beliefs. What would the atheist community say if we rounded up all the children, atheists or not, and took them to church on a Sunday morning? You can bet the outcry would be such as never heard before. What has caused all of this? English philosopher Edmund Burke said The only thing necessary forthe triumph of evilis for good men to do nothing. How right he was! 2 Cronicles 7:14 says 'If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.' I hope someone gets to praying......and SOON!

I'm leaving what little I have left in my 401K for now - sm [2008-10-13]
(what's left wouldn't do me any good, anyway), with the hope that someday it will gain back some of what it lost. THEN, even though I probably still won't have as much as was in it before, I'll most likely take it ALL out of the stock market forever, and invest in something concrete, such as land (which even if it can't be sold for a profit, can be lived-on). The stock market has become so volatile and flaky that it no longer makes any more sense to put your hard-earned retirement money into that than it does to blow it all on Lottery tickets or slot machines.

Yield signs have long been a pet peeve of mine. Believe [2008-10-10]
me, they don

You know it's going to be a long night [2008-10-03]
When the doctor continuously stutters OVER HIS OWN NAME!! C'mon guy.... *sigh* javascript:editor_insertHTML(

neither cj nor Old Part-Timer said single [2008-09-27]
people were in unhappy. In fact, Old Part-Timer said just the opposite. What cj was referring to was the person above, who was in a loveless marriage. That has nothing to do with the things you If you want to ring in on the subject, by all means do so, but please post your response where it belongs (in this case under the original post) and stop trying to argue with someone who isn They You Are you a McCain supporter, by chance?

Question for single MTs [2008-09-26]
I am divorced now for awhile. I am finding that I have absolutely no interest in dating! I look at the online dating sights occasionally but no one attracts me. There seem to be slim pickens if you know what I mean. Anyway, I seem to be very happy on my own. My question is, do any of you feel the same? I guess I'm just at a point in my life where I'd rather stay single.

this is long [2008-09-24]
I went through this with my son, who is now 24 and drug free. Take your daughter to therapy, and anything else you feel necessary, if for no other reason than to assure yourself you have done everything you can. Try getting together with the parents of some of her friends, (she doesn't have to know you do) and just try to keep one step ahead of her. I used to look around my son's room to see what I could find, any pot - I threw it away. You just have to keep telling her, you are not the enemy, you are on her side. It is very hard to go through, I know, but they do come out the other end and you have your child back.

I had one 29 years ago and DO NOT REGRET IT AT ALL. SM [2008-09-16]
Never have had a second thought. Zero guilt. It was the right decision for my life and my family at the time. I am a good citizen now, good job, loving spouse and family. To those of you saying it is wrong under any circumstance - you have no right to judge me; that's between me and my God.

For a long time [2008-09-05]
when I had a real job as my husband would say, I skipped breakfast every morning. I am just NOT a morning person and could not get up early enough for it no matter how hard I tried. it was coffee and out the door! I think coffee is an appetite suppressant because once I stopped it I had to have breakfast every morning. My husband is still in the coffee only work routine without breakfast. Then he wonders why he is hungry before bed and wants another meal.

Everyone seems [2008-11-22]
pretty happy. It doesn't seem prurient. I've been in favor of other situations in which people are free to develop on an internal time clock rather than one imposed externally & in that regard there's probably something to this, but the siblings following the first probably got the idea to continue for a long time from watching, so there's definitely a bias there. Would be interesting for someone to design a study comparing long-time thumb-suckers with children weaned at a later age. This woman would probably say that the experience of breastfeeding can't be duplicated or substituted with a bottle or a plastic nipple because the emotional part of it would be lost. I don't know. I guess it depends on the family involved. I remember on Six Feet Under, how Lisa & Nate were letting Maya sleep in their bed until she decided she didn't want to any more. I think there's just a whole movement out there comprised of people with similar ideas, & until someone does a long-term study, I guess I'd have to say any suggestion that it's out-&-out wrong is just conjecture or has a cultural bias.

Help is a safety net you have paid for sm [2008-11-21]
Food stamps are a safety net we all pay for, all forms of public assistance are things we have been paying for all along. TAKE the help you need! Do move closer to family if you possibly can. I have been in your shoes myself. I lost my home to foreclosure 4 years ago because of having a near-fatal drug interaction and losing my job of nearly 7 years. I made a couple of moves and finally ended up in a small town out of state from where I had lived for 30 years. I lived with a close friend for about 9 months and had the opportunity to buy a mobile home for $3000. The people I bought it from said I could make payments and I was able to pay it off in 5 months. It needed a lot of work and it has gotten it, most of which I have done myself. This project really helped me to regain parts of myself I had lost. It gave me a reason to get up and get going on my days off. I turned this ugly old thing into a lovely, comfortable home I cherish. I have lost about 50-60 lbs since living here and I have brought the idea of vastly cutting expenses in line with making more money. The end result is that I am very well off financially, better than in my entire life. DO get medication to help you if you can. I didn't have medication to help because I am allergic to every psychotropic in existence. I did this by pulling myself up by the boot straps, but if I could have had help, I would have. There IS a brighter future out there. You CAN have that brighter future because you DESERVE IT. That said, no one expects you to get there alone!!! Don't be embarrassed to ask and receive help. You will be able to help others later. Years ago, when my kids were young, I was a single parent, no support and it was Christmas time. My kids didn't even have adequate clothing or food. A neighbor I hardly knew handed me a Christmas card. Inside was a $100 gift card to K-Mart. She said that many years before that, she had been in my shoes and someone had given her $100 one Christmas, she was now paying this forward to me. The only provision was that I return this favor when I could, and that I bought something for myself too because I deserve nice things for my hard work. It was a turning point for me. I have been more of a giver since. Although I could have paid this back last year, I didn't know anyone who would appropriately benefit. This year, I do and I had to tell her that I was going to do this and why. She cried and felt embarrassed because, she said, she was usually in the position to give and it hurt a little to receive. I reminded her that she was GIVING me the gift of giving with pleasure. Others are going to give to you with pleasure, love, friendship and concern for your well being. TAKE IT. One day you'll post back here about how good things are and I'll want to hear it.

yeah, i'm 55 and people keep [2008-11-21]
asking, how long are you going to work? but i can only say, as long as i can. One hardly dares to stop do they?

Has our country taken a turn for the ... [2008-11-21]
Our once great country, I afraid, has just turned a corner for the worse. I have watched as the mentality of our country has gone from setting your mind to something, working hard, and you can accomplish it to giving up, sitting back, and letting somebody else take care of them. I was brought up, as many were, with a good work ethic that was instilled in us by our parents. With the idea that if you want something you had to work for it, and by working for something you learned quickly the difference between wants and needs. There were always incentives for a person to strive to better themselves. Whether it were financial incentives, or just the pride you gained in knowing that you did something yourself, it didn�t matter. I wasn�t long ago that people had that �small town� mentality, and everybody knew their neighbors. And those neighbors helped each other out, in any situation, it was just what you did. And people were so proud that some times help would have to be disguised, you remember the lines like..�Mom made more stew than we could eat, could you help us out by taking it so that it doesn�t go to waste?� But, somewhere along the line those thoughts of some (I guess now the majority) have changed. Some how, if somebody works hard to gain something others feel entitled to have the same things, even if they didn�t have to go through the struggle to earn it. Some how, things like big screen TVs, cell phones, and shiny new cars have wrongly slipped from the �wants� list to the �needs� list. Somewhere the incentives to strive for betterment have been replaced by incentives to be lazy. The easy way out and hand outs are now the norm. The feeling of pride about being self sufficient is supposed to be replaced by guilt for having more than others. The �small town� mentality is gone and our neighbors have turned into strangers. People no longer help out their neighbors or even themselves, instead they sit and wait for the government to come solve things for them. And when help does come they complain that the help wasn�t good enough or didn�t come fast enough, the pride is gone. Well, I refuse to think that way, my small town roots and work ethic runs to deep. I refuse to let somebody take care of me while I am willing and able to take care of myself. I will continue to meet and know my neighbors and help them out when they need it. I will continue to work hard to take care of my needs and by doing so, my wants will take care of themselves. I will continue to volunteer for things and give to charities of my choice regardless of what the government wants to take away from me and give to the undeserving. My hope is to change the thinking back to the way it was. The sun will rise again tomorrow, I�ll keep doing what I do, and this country can be great again�.at least in my little corner of it�

it never really goes away, you just have to chalk it up [2008-11-21]
as a lesson learned. this is amazing, cuz the same thing just happened to me this week. been helping someone for ages, then they turn on me !! blew my mind and i we can only learn to surround ourselves with the loved ones around us. you can I and go down the long list of things that you know you are blessed with. this is the worst: youall the people who have done me wrong. so much for getting back to sleep once that list starts creeping into your consciousness. forgive yourself, realize it and remember, no good deed goes unpunished. -- sorry.

He is 60 years old...sm [2008-11-21]
And acts like he is 2. He doesnI am not his babysitter. He is a grown man and he needs to act like it. Social service doesn't need to help him. The man makes decent money. He just won't take responsibity to pay his bills and has too many at that. He needs to thin them out. For instance, he has 2 new model trucks. He does not need 2 trucks but he WANTS both of them. But a light bill is one of your most important bills. And I for a fact know he had the money to pay it and didn't. I even told him you better go pay that electric bill. He wouldn't. I have never seen anyone who was quite like him. I love my dad and don't want to hurt him but he is making things very hard for me right now. I can't babysit him anymore. He is more than welcome to come visit me as often as he wants. He can come by everyday if he wants. But then there is a time to leave and go home. I have a family and I know I wouldnt like it if my husbands dad did this. I would not be happy at all. I am not happy about my father doing it but what do you do? Tell him get out?

I have a friend who left her live-in ...sm [2008-11-21]
boyfriend of 11 years who she had a baby with because he was doing drugs and wasn't coming home at night, going to strip clubs after work and not coming home, etc. She lived in MS close to me and her parents and all of her family lived in Las Vegas, NV. She left and never looked back. She said it was the hardest thing she ever had to do but she doesn't regret it and is so much happier now.

No I live in the boonies. In Nothingville. SM [2008-11-21]
I think he has had someone for so long and my mom took care of the bill paying and he never had to worry about bills or shopping or being alone. And now he can't deal with it. They divorced because he was cheating with another woman. I told him go be with her. I mean they are divorced now. If that is what he wants go get it. He said she has a 28 year old son and a 22 year old daughter with a baby who neither one work and lay around her house. He says how am I supposed to be with someone with that kind of mess. He said if I am with her I will basically have to take on her grown kids too. I said well that is her own fault she allows her grown children to be bums. It is just a dang mess. He got himself into it though. With his bills it is like he can't sit down and say hey I can't pay for 2 vehicles and I have to get rid of one and he has other multiple bills I won't even go into. But if he is struggling to pay for both let one go back. I told him go file bankruptcy if you are having really bad problems with finanes. He said I don't want to file bankruptcy. Oh no. I said well that or lose your stuff. I have tried to give him advice and help him but he won't listen. He is stubborn.

According to DH, our budget is $1,000 [2008-11-20]
But more likely I We have 3 kids. We usually get them 1 big gift to share and then round it out with smaller gifts. This year, they It The breakdown of the other $350: Parents $150, Grandma $25, Gift Exchange $60, Siblings (from my kids $20, Niece/nephew: $40, Teacher Gifts $30, Student Gifts: $15. The remaining $30 will go to Toys for Tots! Each of my kids like to pick out a $10 gift to put in. I have 3 siblings and 1 that My brother that Of course, my 2 unmarried siblings also buy small gifts for my children, so we always get them a little something from them -- usually lottery tickets or a gas card for Sheetz. $10 used to fill We do our exchange party on Christmas Eve. It keeps the kids entertained and gives them a little preview of what I have to say I enjoy Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day. It Teacher gifts kill me. It I usually go for a coffee mug with a Christmas scene or teacher saying on it and fill it with candy. Of course, DH thinks I do all this for Christmas for $1000, but why tell him and spoil it? We do a Christmas Club for $1000 every year and I just buy the other stuff here and there. We already got our Christmas gifts for ourselves -- a 46-inch LCD TV for DHand a Dooney Bourke purse with matching wallet for me. Now you all got me excited again about shopping next week. I I always wait until the day before Thanksgiving to do that so I know I won For those of you below who posted that you don Let me just say that I don I sometimes snag a deal or 2, but I learned a long time ago not to wait until Black Friday to get the most sought after items. Best to get them in Sept or Oct.

Anyone go through a divorce w/younger kids? sm [2008-11-20]
Iit just isn while I have always felt you don't throw around the word divorce unless you mean it. Well, I mean it now. I gave him an ultimatum - straighten himself out or I leave with the kids. I am not going to go through 5 years of this again. It is affecting the kids, and my son is acting out to the point of saying he wishes he had never been born. I am giving my husband until after Christmas to decide what he is going to do, and if he does not value our marriage more than his alcohol, I am moving out of state. This is not to keep him away from the kids but because my parents (divorced also) are in a different state than I am and I have no family at all here. Has anyone had to make a decision like this? I donno other options. He refuses to go to counseling or to see a doctor about what I am positive is depression. Any tips or suggestions? Sorry to dump on everyone like this, thanks for reading.

Thanks for the suggestions. [2008-11-20]
Where the step is concerned it won't help. The situation is what it is and I knew it when we married. It's just frustrating at times but I know it is only temporary. I would hate to be the hateful ex who treats someone this way. It must be a terrible life to live constantly dreaming of ways to hurt your ex and his family instead of enjoying your own family and knowing that your child is well taken care of. As for the family stuff. I have tried to talk to the leaders of the family and they looked at me like I was a complete loon. That's fine. They can do what they want. He can do what he wants, but our budget is what it is and that will mean less for his child. Next year I WILL have a xmas fund set up so that I can provide for our kids and we don't end up in this holiday mess again. If nothing else $20 a month is more than what we have now and I'm sure I can scrape that together if I really try. Thanks for your help. :) I wish I could be oblivious like your husband!

A good gift for either... [2008-11-19]
is the small cologne/perfume gift sets you can get at the mall stores. they usually have 5-8 small bottles for $20 or so. Sometimes you can also get whatever their free offer is for a sweatshirt or duffle bag with it too. We did this one year for all the nieces/nephews between 14 and 21 and they all said they loved it. It gave them an opportunity to try different things without being stuck with 1 fragrance and it surprisingly lasts a kid a pretty long time because they don't want to smell like that every day but when they go out it is something special. The girl might also like a gift certificate for a makeup counter to get her colors done and skin consultation. That's if her parents allow her to wear make up. I wish someone had given me one of those when I was that age. Most teens don't realize its not the amount of makeup you put on but HOW you put it on that makes the difference.

I live alone now, but I remember other times sm [2008-11-19]
I am vegan and a celiac, not choices here...I am allergic to most proteins. I spend about $40-$50 one time a month and about $75 another time, as I only shop twice a month. I will go and have a huge bill of about $150 when I stock up, but that is only every 3 or 4 months. I DO keep an extensive pantry and every fall I splash out on about $200 worth of canned goods for the winter. I live in a very rural place and you can't always get out on the road to get anything. I buy the pantry dry goods primarily at Walmart and buy their own brand. I buy rice in large bags because that is primarily what I eat, and I keep 5 or 6 kinds...as many as I can find. Buying stuff to make celiac bread is extremely expensive and I don't have bread like things very much because of that, and I even make my own flour mixes, but it is still expensive. When I had a family, I fed 6 of us on $250 a month, and it was not that long ago. I would go every 3rd month for bulk dry goods. I baked all our bread. We ate primarily fresh fresh and vegetables, beans and tofu. The kids had eggs and cow's milk, but I didn't because I am allergic. We always had plenty of food, except for bread. Although I baked 8-10 round can loaves 5 times in 2 weeks, we never had bread, and I can't eat it! LOL They never seemed to grow tired of oven warm bread with my homemade canned preserves and if I made 8 loaves, only 4 or 5 made it to the next day.

You are both so kind, and you are right [2008-11-19]
on the mark. Yes, the credit cards are his. He lived off credit cards for several years to support himself and his kids after he and his wife split up. His wife never paid child support and he paid for daycare and everything, so had to pay for extras outside of his salary on credit. Then when I came along I was doing real well as a hospital MT, but had to quit because I was here and he needed me to watch the kids. He did not understand I had a shift like a regular job. So, after several months of my back and forth work and being with the kids, the boss gave me an ultimatum daycare for the kids or I leave my job. I told my DH that my income which was very good at the time was important to me as I have supported myself my whole life including being a single mom. But he would not budge. So, I quit. It has been 3 years and most of our marriage my trying to balance kids (I love them don Next time you get money mommy, GO FOOD SHOPPING. He said that right in front of DH. But, I just know when I do that the gorging goes on. I explained to DH about telling his son about gluttony, but he laughs at me. So, when I see him and his son eat this way, I get grossed out and am not hungry at all. I am sorry to say all this here. I actually just came back from the doc who gives me nerve pills because of my situation and he says I am doing really well coping with the situation. Which he knows what is going on. He is sending me to see a good counselor who he says, will validate me and give me support and confidence. Last time I went to see a counselor she told me to leave. But, my son loves his step sister and brother and so I want to stay. Well, sorry for the soap opera. I think when I start making more money I will get food and tires for my car, etc. but I will hide some food and snacks and siphon it into the general population here. That way they don't get snorted up by certain people. LOL. (And yes, I am putting an emergency fund away. But this is why I wish there was more transcription out there!) Thanks for your kind words and support. Between you and the doc today, it makes me feel I am not alone! :)

gift cards [2008-11-19]
Gift cards are hard to redeem, especially if they have to spend a long time trying to find something they like at the store for 5, 10 or 15 which they usually cannot and end up spending my money to cover the overage. I think cash is much better!

Christmas Gifts [2008-11-19]
We have two daughters 5 and 14. It's harder with the 14 year old because now she wants all the high end gifts. We usually spend about $300 per child and we're probably going to do about the same this year. Luckily they're about the only people we buy for any more. If we had a lot of family members to buy for it would probably be a lot less. Now that the nieces and nephews are older and some married, we don't get them gifts and the few relatives we do buy for we usually don't spend a whole lot. My husband and I already got our Christmas gift for each other, a big flat screen TV so we're basically done with ourselves too.

I have a TracFone. And I LOVE it. It is the original Nokia, but..sm [2008-11-18]
I can text on it. Texting uses up your minutes. However, when you run out of minutes, you doncodes that you have, you sometimes can get bonus minutes etc. So if I have 10 minutes left on my phone and I buy another 120 minute card, when I am done activating it I will have 130 minutes on my phone. And if I have a code then I will have the minutes from that also. I would not hesitate to get another TracFone. They have some really cheap, reconditioned ones too.

YEAH baby!! Me too. sm [2008-11-18]
About 10 years ago I bought a Honda HX with prototype gas-efficient trannie, light wheels, no frills. That puppy would still be with me if not for the prototype trannie pretty much fizzled on most of the HXs but I milked mine for as long as possible. Ex had a Prelude, same year (99). He loved the car and took great care of it. Gas was killing him though (uses it to drive and travels a bit). He wanted to keep it in the family so he sold it to me. I drive about 5000 miles a year, if that. Amost 300,000 miles on that one and what a dream it is!!! He bought a new Civic. Another SWEET car. My son has a 1990 Accord, bought it used with less than 100,000 miles about 3 years ago. We've put some money into it, mostly cosmetic and just catching stuff up, but it runs like new. My Civic was actually built in US, so I didn't feel too guilty, but how many years have US automakers had to see the writing on the wall? I'm sorry, but I like keeping a car forever. No car payments are great. Honda fits that mold.

Pitbull Hero [2008-11-17]
Stray Pit Bull Saves Woman, Child from AttackerPet Pulse Staff Reports Browse NewsFront Page BY CATEGORY:Alerts Notices Animal Attacks Care Safety Crime Law Cruelty Abuse Deaths Accidents Entertainment Health Science Heroes International Lost Found New Trends Petlanthropy Strange But True Survival BY PET:Dogs Cats Fish Birds Horses Reptiles Small Pets Other Pets November 5, 2008 A dog came out of nowhere and stopped a knife-wielding robber from accosting a mother and her young son on Monday afternoon. (Pet Pulse Illustration by Tim Mattson) PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The wandering 65-pound Pit Bull mix might have seemed menacing to some passerby, but one woman will always remember him as her guardian angel. The dog, which authorities think is lost and not a stray, successfully thwarted a robbery attack on a mother and her 2-year-old son, who were held at knifepoint Monday afternoon. The Florida woman, who has been identified by authorities simply as Angela, was leaving a playground with her toddler son in Port Charlotte when a man approached her in the parking lot with a knife and told her not to make any noise or sudden movements. Angela didn't have to do either to protect herself and her child -- a dog mysteriously ran to the scene and charged the man, who quickly fled. I don Animal Control Lt. Brian Jones told Pet Pulse. I don The exceptional part of the story, Jones said, is that the dog had never met or even seen the people it quickly jumped to defend. You hear about family dogs protecting their owners, but this dog had nothing to do with this woman or her kid, Jones said. He was like her guardian angel. After the alleged thief ran away, Angela quickly placed her son, Jordan, in the car and tried to drive off. Before she could, though, the dog jumped into her backseat, waiting with her for the police and animal control officers to arrive at the scene. The dog was transported to a local shelter and if his owners donAngel. Animal control officers and shelter workers believe Angel is lost, and not a stray, because of his good health, sturdy weight and mild temperament. It Jones said of Angel's possible owners. For Angela, it doesn't matter where the dog came from, just that he was there when she needed him most. I don Angela told NBC2 News. For a small town with a population of 46,452, animal control officers were kept busy Monday afternoon. Jones says they department also responded to a report about a boa constrictor in a church parking lot. The snake found its way into a car engine and was able to be removed without being harmed. It took three people to move the massive, seemingly random placed snake. It he said of the Gulf Coast town. And we can go for four or five months without the media contacting us about a story. It Officers from the responding county sheriff's office canvased the area and were unable to locate the suspect described as being in his 20s, tall and dark haired. Tell us what you think about Stray Dog Saves Woman, Child Held at Knifepoint below. Share your favorite videos by clicking on the ZootooTV tab. Send us your story ideas by e-mailing us at news@zootoo.com or by calling us at 877-777-4204. Pet Pulse reporter Amy Lieberman and NBC-2.com contributed to this article.

I used to own only foreign cars [2008-11-17]
I had Mazdas when I was younger. Then I married my husband, and he works for a Chrysler/Jeep dealship so no more foreign cars for me, but I do love my Jeep.

I am so sorry for your loss. sm [2008-11-17]
It is never easy to go down that road, at any time, let alone after 22 years. I hope your Fred had a good, long life. My 4 cats and I will keep you in our thoughts.

Oh Please, Sorry I said anything. GEEZ [2008-11-17]
That was so long ago. So, you wish he did not survive? How do you know what Mary Jo's family is thinking anyway?

Obviously you've never had a family member killed by a drunk driver. [2008-11-17]
Long ago? Time has nothing to do with it. The man has an alcohol problem and left the scene of a homicide. Sounds like you're ok with that. I'm not. It speaks volumes about his character.

I had a similar experience [2008-11-17]
I divorced my first husband in 1972 and it didn You will feel SO much better after you do it!

Both my boys have tracfones..........sm [2008-11-17]
or at least until the youngest lost his, LOL. My oldest son's tracfone has texting capabilities but I don't know if all of them do. His is Motorola flip phone. I don't know the number on it, but it is thin and black. The minutes don't expire as long as you purchase and redeem air time cards when they are due. Hope this helps.