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I'm a virgin, help a first timer out .. [2008-11-21]
BLACK FRIDAY Shopper's!!!! Ive NEVER in my life shopped on Black Friday, it used to be of no interest, then it got interesting for awhile, but DH hated the idea and I dont shop without him unless I absolutely have to and/or dying to get out, and now the interest is back with DH on my side! So I am excited, or should I be frightened, is it a true mad house? I need some tips and info. Do you have any tips for a 1st Timer?? What time do you get at the store? Do you have to get a coupon or something to be allowed IN? If so, where do you get these coupons? What time do stores typically open? What times do they take the sale prices down, is it usually an all day thing, or an end at lunch type of thing? And most important of all. I am a fan of the old fashioned way..... newspaper ads to see who has what deal. Where do you get this? Does it come out THIS Weekend or on Thanksgiving Day?? Thanks so much!!!!

Big bunch of lies...look at all the inconsistencies in ages/virgin when married 14yrs ago, but has a [2008-06-30]
Please see a psychiatrist. You are obviously seeking attention by posting lies. Furthermore, you said he was your prince charming...then you said he talks like he is retarded and that people have asked you if he is retarded. What was so 'princey' about a man who sounds like a retard and has psoriasis all over his body. Why would you have married him in the first place? How does a woman who was a virgin almost 14 years ago end up with a child who is already 14? You make it seem as though you are always without food but you are extremely overweight after having what you described to be a perfect body 14 years ago. How did that happen?

Virgin Mobile, too...sm [2008-05-26]
This is what I use (rarely). Just buying 20 minutes every 3 months, or 10 minutes every month(?), keeps the account current. You do not lose the oldminutes. There are some other plans, too, so if interested, you might want to check out Virgin Mobile HTH.

Check to see if T-Mobile will let you pay [2008-04-18]
xx

I was in British Virgin Islands last week and it was 5.78 on one island we visited. Nmsg. [2007-11-19]
no msg.

For a no-brainer movie, 40-year-old Virgin... [2007-07-09]
and I love all the old movies on TCM, like Mildred Pierce, Postman Always Rings Twice, etc., mostly anything from the 1930s to 1950s. Also love all mob movies, especially Goodfellas.

If you whistle, it makes the Virgin Mary Cry [2007-06-04]
(I've had worse things come out of my mouth.)

However, mobile homes & trailers DO have a tendency to [2007-05-30]
;D

Anyone move from a single family home to mobile home? sm [2007-05-29]
I own and live in a house in a midwest city in a bad neighborhood (wasn I spent the day waiting for the plumber to come and jackhammer the foundation (slab house, no basement) to find a leaky pipe that is flooding my DDLast week, it was the electrician with quotes for costly repairs. In the meantime, I Has anyone done this before? Is a mobile home in a decent park less of a hassle than a regular house? I I Some of the pictures I Any advice and comments appreciated. Thanks!

Even with a mobile home---not *trailer*..sm [2007-05-29]
you still have to make your own repairs, as you have purchased the house and it is yours, unless you rent one somewhere, and good luck with that! You also still have to upkeep the lot you are sitting on. You pay a *lot fee* but you are basically renting it. You do the lawn, bushes etc. Mostly you still pay for your own water, and utilities. sometimes garbage pickup is included in the lot fee, but not always. Yes, they have some really nice ones these days, but a lot of insurance companies will not insure the single wides, only the double wides. there is a lot to consider even with a mobile home. Condo's are expensive, unless you rent. There again, if you decide to move, they depreciate in value and you have to sell it instead of rent it out. There are down sides to everything, and very few upsides. good luck with your decision.

Virgin mobile [2007-04-24]
We You pay by the minute, and the minutes expire in 90 days. You can register your credit card with them, and they You buy your phones (we have four!), and just add minutes as you need them. Plus, they don I didn Anyway, check out virginmobileusa.com

DH has Garmin mobile on his cell phone - sm [2007-04-14]
In my opinion, this is the best service he has ever gotten. We had the Garmin on going through Atlanta at 7:30 a.m. (traffic nightmare), and the Garmin got us through in record time by avoiding the crowded areas. It took us a little while to figure out the ladyfollow route and not turn around and to figure out she was saying recalculating when we over-shot our exits (which is really great about this service...it follows you around and corrects when you screw up).

Redecorating a mobile home [2007-03-12]
Anyone have any suggestions, tips, resources, etc. for redecorating a late 60's vintage 12x60 singlewide mobile? Recently bought it as an inexpensive getaway in Baja and looking to spruce it up without spending a ton of money. Haven't pulled up the dirty old 'gold shag' carpet yet to see what's underneath, but if there's wood, am thinking of doing a painted faux finish on the floor to look like terra cotta tile. Would also like to cut thru the wall dividing the kitchen and living room to make a bar, but unsure how much of the interior walls on a mobile are actually load-bearing.

T-Mobile, approx. $60/month for family plan [2007-02-20]
We have 2 phones with 700 minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited evenings and weekends. We don't do the text messaging stuff, so don't know how much that would cost to add on.

Virgin Mobile also has a plan like TracPhone... sm [2006-12-02]
Virgin Mobile has several plans for prepaid phones - as well as monthly rates. I bought the phone for $30 and I have a $6.99 a month plan where I get 10 cents a minute calls. Of course, you have to put some $$ on there as well as the $6.99 a month for the minutes you use, but there are other phones you can choose, too, if you want phones with bells and whistles. The $30 phone also has lots of little frills and a flashlight feature like the TracPhone. I had a TracPhone a long time ago and it didn't receive as well as the Virgin Mobile does. Either one of these providers would get you what you need for emergency use, though, at reasonable rates. Hope this helps. :))


Google

Well, at least they're working to [2008-11-24]
support their children. Raising kids in this generation isn The pressure are on parents these days isn In addition to making sure our kids are well taken care of and that we attend the all important PTO meetings, baseball meetings, wrestling club meetings, soccer meetings, football meetings, dance recitals, cheerleading practice, on and on, we also must make sure our 1st and 2nd graders are doing their 1 hour worth of homework each evening and in addition to that make sure we are reading a book to them every night. These are the requirements now set by the schools. The parents must also deal with sex, drugs, and peer pressure at a much younger age than you probably did. Just last week, I had to explain to my second grader what a virgin was. Did he learn that word at home? No, he learned it on the bus because our school district decided to save money by busing all the kids together, high school through kindergarten. The meals you mention your GKs eating, that More than likely, your GKs won You seem very harsh on your kids, and IIs either one ofthe parents involved in their children Do you have any idea how much time that takes? Arethey struggling with finances? Were you a stay-at-home mom or work-at-home mom? Having to get kids ready in the morning and get yourself ready, then spend 8 hours a day working, only to come home and pick up the same kids and do homework with them is not an easy chore. More than likely, your DS and DDIL are tired. Instead of criticizing, why not ask where you can help? Maybe you could offer to make them dinner once a week after work. Give them an evening out without kids to just relax a little bit. I As for the kids But aren Maybe he Maybe mom and dad didn I, myself, grew up in a home where I had frozen pizza at least 2 or 3 times a week for supper. My mom worked nights and my dad didn If my mom could make us a meal before she left, she did. Frozen pizza didn I graduated high school at 140 pounds, normal for 5 tall. My mom and dad were there for everything for me, though, and it It Your words are so harsh and I just have to wonder, if you think they Is it because you know the children are well taken care of, just not up to your standards? Perhaps you should have a conversation with your DS and see what his impressions of your child-rearing of him were. Perhaps there were areas you could have improved on.

Bring ads from other stores. Most pricematch..sm. [2008-11-22]
So you donThus eliminating running all over town in a mad rush. All you have to do is get to the sale item at that store first before it It makes it sooo much easier and a lot less stressful. I hope I worded that so it makes sense. I'm tired. Or, get together the day before with a few other people who are going.Each of you is designated a different store and picks up what the others want at their designated store. Then meet for breakfast afterwards to exchange the purchases as well as horror/humor storiesfrom theadventures.Thus, again, eliminating the rushing from one place to another. I think I I heard you can do that for theblack friday sales and some store will even let you buy online and pick up at the store. (later, after the rush and madness is over!) Forthe virgin poster, beware, some people can be downright mean, nasty,rude and even violentthat morning. Seriously.Oh, and NEVER leave your cart unattended if you were lucky enough to getone of the limtedamounts per store items. People will literally take them right out of your cart if you And keep your purse in sight at all times. If you bring a purse, have it hang in front of you and not on your side. I like to just keep my money and/or credit card tucked snugly in my front pocket of my jeans and not even bother with a purse.

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.

What I 'used' to do [2008-11-14]
They had a store in my area where you could buy canned goods without labels by the case. That was nice. The store is no longer there. If there is astore that have off-brand names, buy there. For example,I bought 16 ounces of extra virgin olive oil from Italy for $4.99. There is also a store in my area that have name brands but they are close to expiration. I haven't been there yet, but you can buy Hamburger Helper at 4 for $5 every day. Buy store brands instead of national brands. When there is sale, buy more than one and use coupons whenever possible. Two other stores have sales where you can buy items 10 for $10. Examples of the items are Betty Crocker Specialty Potatoes, canned tomatoes, tuna, pasta, Pregoor Hunts spaghetti sauce, ketchup, etc.I stock up then. Canned and dehydrated items are good items to stock up on, as are canned meats (good for casseroles). Butter and cheese is a bit tough to store. They say you can freeze butter without much of a problem, and I tested cheese, but it crumbles when it thaws. If you have a farmer's market in your area, buy tomatoes and freeze them. They're good for casseroles and soups. Peppers and onions freeze okay for the same reason. I don't like frozen green beans, but they freeze well, as does corn. Root veggies keep well in a cool, dry place for a few months. A book I have said you can keep them for a few months if you put them in a box andcover withsawdust (I haven' t tried this). They supposedly also keep well in the ground itself if you cover with large bales of hay. If you live in a city, that could be a problem.

I do know the reason for the zip-lock [2008-11-03]
The zip-lock bag for socks is to prevent people from gouging a hole in the plastic bag to pull out the sock and look at it (for what reason, I'm not sure) before they buy the bag. Then, of course, they put that one back and take a virgin bag to the register!

Heating pad [2008-11-02]
I have found that the handwarmers found in the hunting and fishing department are wonderful for this. It is small enough (and no cord) so you can be mobile with it. When they are on clearance you can usually pick up a 6-pack for $1 so I stock up in the spring.

Help! I live next to parents and they ...sm [2008-10-15]
are driving me mad, well my dad is anyways. I have always lived on my parents land next door to them. I live in a mobile home. Well my mom and dad divorced this year because my dad was cheating. He was calling another woman up to 10 times a day, going to her house, has give her everything he has. He owned cattle and sold them and got $32,000 for them. Well the money disappeared and he was broke before long. This woman he is cheating with is on disability and lives in a house and has a SUV. Her daughter has a car and son a truck and none of them work. Mama has looked on his bank statements and seen where he is making their payments. Well of course mom put him out. Like to never got him out. He got a mobile home and parked it on the land. She got 3 acres and the house in divorce. He has the remaining 7 acres. Well he puts his mobile home on his part and refuses to hook it up. He is staying in this trailer with no power, no sewage, nothing. There is only a bed. He has had the money to hook it up right. My mother has offered him part of the furniture and a TV. He doesn He refuses to live like a normal human being. Then he comes to my moms house every day when she gets off of work and wants to come in and take a shower. She is like no we aren You have a trailer and you go hook it up and take a shower over there. Well it has water to it he just doesn Well that is his own problem. He chooses not to have it hooked up because I guess he wants an excuse to come over to moms. Well she tells him no. Then he comes to my house and sits and sits. He comes over because he has no furniture and no TV or nothing. He comes and rumages through my cabinets and bums food. If me and my mom are at my house and decide to cook something he invites himself over there and helps himself. I have never seen anyone who was so annoying. I can He refuses to get a washer or dryer which without electricity it wouldn So he comes to my house and says can I wash my laundry? Well gues what? I end up doing it cause he doesn Then he leaves it there and expects me to finish it. I can not hardly do my work because he comes over and says are you busy? I just wanted to talk. I won Then he just sits there. I am at my wits end. I just want to move. He came over and said can I borrow a duffle bag? I said ok. I give it to him. He says I am gonna go buy one and I will bring it back. I never have got it back. Then he comes over and says can I borrow an ice chest. I let him borrow it and never get it back. He bums off of everyone here but this other woman and her children he gives whatever they want. He has taken money from me and my sister. He has borrowed money against my sisters extra vehicle she had paid for. He asked and she let him. he didn THis is his own daughter he did this to now. My husband had a pickup in my dads name because his credit wasn Big mistake. When the truck was almost paid formy dadborrowed money against the truck behind our backs. THen the truck is stolen and insurance has to pay it off. Well it was worth more than what was owing so we got the differnece. Well he had borrowed $1600 against it and said he didn So it came out of our insurance money from the truck. Finally when we knew he had some money we had to bug him and bug him for the money and he said $1000 is all he owed. He borrowed $1600 and paid one note on it before the truck was stolen. So we were out about $500. He takes from his children. I am at wits end. I want to get far far away from him. My sister lives an hour an a half away and she seems pretty lucky right now. What the heck to do?

Sounds like your dad...... sm [2008-10-15]
is regretting the decision that he made by cheating on your mom and now is having to lie in the bed he made and not liking it. Can He is lonely, and at his stage of life, making these kinds of changescan behard on a man; hence, his always coming around, etc. He has lost his marriage and is now very close to losing his daughter. With all of that said, however, I do not think what he is doing and has done in the past is right, and he is putting you in a very hard position. He needs to realize that you have your own household to attend. Unless he is literally demented and needs your help, you need to learn to say no in order to make him stand on his own 2 feet and to preserve your own sanity. I disagree with the poster above who recommended you and your mother sell your properties and move. Why should you have to be the one to move, even if he is like he is? My recommendation (if the floosie won At least he would have running HOT water and electricity and access to a laundry. He can learn to operate a washer and dryer. I know he is your dad and I know you feel trapped between your duties as a daughter and your feelings about what has happened in your family. I hope you can find a resolution soon to this.

I don't set strict curfews for mine. I can't because of her activities. sm [2008-09-11]
How do you all work around school activities and curfews? My 16-yod works, is varsity cheerleader, tennis player, in theater, etc. Even school activities like away games sometimes it is like midnight or later before they get home. As long as she is keeping up her grades and I know where she is at all times, I pretty much let her be. She has a cell and I know I can call her at any moment to get a hold of her. She lets me know the plans ahead of time so I can know when to expect her home. She is the one that suffers if she doesn't get enough sleep. I may be wrong but I believe in being too strict too. In my town, they have midnight bowling for teens and a lot of the kids get together after football games and watch movies. These to me are much better than being at some party and as long as she is behaving, I let her go. We have a very open communication though and she tells me just about everything so I don't worry. I am proud to have a 16-yo virgin at this time which is more than I can say for myself. If she has no specific activity planned, her curfew is midnight but that is very rare. I think there are a lot of varieties and things to take into consideration especially individual personality of the teen as well as school activities and the friends they hang out with.

I live in MI ... 13,000?! [2008-08-29]
Where in Michigan did you find a house for 13,000? Is it a mobile home? I don't think the cost of living is especially great here ether (in comparison to the wages earned). Curious what part of Michigan and what type of house.?

mother started with a story from her [2008-08-24]
grandfather about his mother having a picture over her bed of general bragg, her father. this started about 1959 or so. I knew all my grandparents (one grandmother died in 2000 at 90)and I also knew three of my great-grandparents. By the time Mother got through, we were all in the UDC and qualified for colonial dames and DAR (I guess yankees got all our money and we haven't had any since!). My gm's family was part of the stephen f austin old 300 who settled Texas. My gm was a past President of the Texas Division of the UDC, just because of a story grandpa bob told one Thanksgiving. I think Mother said start with family bibles and death certificates. This will take untold amounts of time and effort. Our vacation memories from 1959 on are mostly of tombstones in Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Mobile, Alabama. And, of course, like most of us, I just have to say I am an American because by now there are just too many hyphens to think about! We did not even get to my gf, who was the first one born here in 1904 from swedish immigrants. I was the one who accidentally found a bjorkland on the ships roster of the titanic. Even the relatives in sweden did not know about him. Poor young man may have been coming here to meet with my great-gp's for all we know. When I think how interesting history could have been in school! I was so bored and in fact, it is fascinating, especially if you find any tidbit details about the actual people and what their lives were like. They were so constricted by peers and the times; just think, that old aunt everybody bragged on her cooking could today be a world renown chef. There was a PBS story about some black women in the south known for their quilting skills and the patterns they made up. Who knows how many today could have been famous artists? I see a lot of talent going to waste on walls of graffiti and overpasses. Some of these kids are remarkable, or could be. good luck with your tree chasing.

Big bunch of lies...look at all the inconsistencies in ages/virgin when married 14yrs ago, but has a [2008-06-30]
Please see a psychiatrist. You are obviously seeking attention by posting lies. Furthermore, you said he was your prince charming...then you said he talks like he is retarded and that people have asked you if he is retarded. What was so 'princey' about a man who sounds like a retard and has psoriasis all over his body. Why would you have married him in the first place? How does a woman who was a virgin almost 14 years ago end up with a child who is already 14? You make it seem as though you are always without food but you are extremely overweight after having what you described to be a perfect body 14 years ago. How did that happen?

A lot depends on your daughter, not just you - sm [2008-06-30]
Is she sensible? There are not many 16-y/o that have not tried drinking or smoking, it is all part of trying new things,etc. and it will happen whether you like it or not. You have to learn to trust her to make smart decisions and to make her own mistakes but obviously to guide her and make sure she doesndate had MadDog, nasty stuff, and I got obliterated as I did not realize what that crud would do to me. Lucky for me my dad was out of the country at the time. My punishment was being forced to go to school with a horrible hangover (though I puked my guts out in my friendscares). I actually went and got on the pill while still a virgin so when it did happen I would be protected. --- is your daughter that sensible and with some common sense? I did a lot of stupid things along with the smart things I doing, just got lucky and came out of it okay. At 16 you want to experiment and have fun. All my friend and I were A/B students, 1 smoked and did all sorts of drugs. I would drink and smoke pot now and them (1 x a week or so), and again parents NEVER knew it. I remember one time my dad picked me up at school after play practice (was helping out with set design), I was stoned, had been slipped angel dust and had been hallucinating about an hour or two prior, was still pretty high. He wanted me to drive home for practice (I was 16), I turned him down because I was very tired.....he never knew, I crawled into bed the minute I got home. I was very, very good at hiding it from my parents, how they didn't smell it on me I never knew, unless they just ignored it. My best friend smoked and they new that so I guess that helped cover it up a bit. Despite all this I was very anti-drug (anything but pot) as I had seen too many people messed up on coke, crank, LSD, etc. I was furious with my BF's brother as he was the one who slipped me the angel dust, I got lucky as nothing bad happened to me. He is dead now, ended up addicted to coke, then alcohol, got hepatitis, car-jacked 3 cars for drug money, and ended up in prison with a 20 year sentence, got out after 8 years in 2006, then got addicted to painkillers, they found him dead in his apartment, killed by mixing alcohol and painkillers. This just happened about 8 months ago. He was only 42. Very sad as he was a smart guy but had many, many problems and never got his life together. Obviously this does not happen to everyone who does drugs, it all depends on the person and their upbringing. His sister (one of my BFs) is a successful therapist, drinks but quit smoking several years ago, never got into hard drugs like her brother. ---sorry for the rambling, but don't go overboard and lock her up, that will just make her go in the opposite direction. Obviously you need to set limits, etc, and try to know where she is and who she is with, and set punishments if you catch her doing it and let her know what those punishments will be, whether it is grounding for a month, or no cell phone, no TV, no driving, whatever, be firm and stick to it. I know that my brothers and I all did stuff, most of which we got away with, but it was shear luck and stupidity when I look back at it. Not all kids are so lucky. I hope you daughter is one of the lucky ones.

Well, now it's my turn to tell my story...(Beware..this is long) [2008-06-29]
Well, I just don I was 26 years old when I met and married my husband. It will be14 years ago this August. I was a platinum blond, Swedish, 26-year-old, voluptuous virgin waiting for my prince to come. I had never dated because I was too fearful and shy. My mother always told me that my prince was coming. She just didnthe prince of darkness. It has been a nightmare, although he says it has been great with only a few bumps along the way. He is abusive in every way including verbally, mentally, emotionally, some physical although very little (not an excuse, just telling it the way it is), what I feel is sexual abuse with me but not the children,but the worst by far is his financial abuse. He has told me many, many times, Who do you think YOU are? What do you think...that you I can find a dozen more women like you. I have three children, now ages 14, 13, and 11. 14-year-old has ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. My husbandis just like this although he has never been diagnosed and never would be because in his own words, I am perfect just like God made me. There is nothing wrong with me. The problem here is you. My credit is down the toilet. Credit score is about 500. His is 800. Through the years, when the children were babies I had to feed them dry cereal with a cup of water because he wouldn One very hot night in the summer, I had to feed them generic hot dogs and pink beans, which were some kind of bean that slithered out of the can in a gelatinous material. The kids werewere dry heaving at the table. One day when I was about 8 months pregnant with my last child, he came up to me and said, Well, I I said what He said (very matter of fact), I I won If you want something, get off your f______fat a__ and get a job. I had a 6-month-old and a 1 1/2-year-old and 8 months pregnant with the third one. What!! Get a job!! Are you crazy?? He said, Oh well. Famous last words. That is all I ever hear. He has ripped out phone lines, denied us food and clothing. We have two cars. He used to hide the car I would drive around the neighborhood so I couldn He would even take the carseats. One time when I was pregnant, I had no money so my girlfriend needed a babysitter a few hours a week. She lives in Connecticut, which is about 45 minutes from my home. She could only pay $45 a week but I would drive up there four days a week to watch those kids just to get that measly $45. One day when I was leaving to go, I wanted $2 for an ice cream cone (I was pregnant at the time and that was my thing during that pregnancy). I asked him for $2 and he said no. I reached into his wallet and took $2 anyway. So he came after me. I took out the butcher knife but he ran outside to get to the car first so I couldn I put away the knife and ran out the back door to try to get to the car first but he got there before me. I reached in to try to grab the car keys out of the ignition when he rolled the window up as hard as he could. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I thought he was going to break my arm. I was able to backhand him and he unrolled the window. A little while later I ran to the neighbors to call the police because he ripped the phone lines out. I was there for about 15-20 minutes calling the police, family, and my friends to come and help. When I got back to the house, he had taken both cars (hid one in the neighborhood) and went to work. He left my 9-month-old and 1 1/2-year-old children all by themselves (and at the time I lived on a very busy street where cars would drive by at 50 mph). When I walked in, they were sitting on the living room floor screaming at the top of their lungs. The next morning I was in the shower and I lifted up my arms to wash my hair when out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the underside of my arm. It was a jet black bruise about four to five inches long by about two inches wide. It was literally jet black. I was stunned. When I called the police, I told them what was going on with his abuse. I told them I was pregnant with two little ones at home. I told them I had no food. I told them and showed them the bruise and I told them I wanted to press assault charges. They said, He did that to you? I said yes. I said, I want him arrested for assault. I told them where he worked. They turned around and told me that because the incident happened the day before that there was nothing they would do and that they weren They told me to just let him lie low for a while. This happened in 1996. We are not talking the 50s here. This was just before they handed me a pamphlet on battered women and battered women The pamphlet said there does not have to be any sign of physical abuse. If you are in a situation where you simply fear for your safety, the person can be arrested. And I am sitting there pregnant with ahuge, jet black bruise underneath my arm from where he rolled my arm up in the window. This is just a few tidbits of the life I have had with him. There have been some good times and good vacations but mostly bad. We have fought so bad for years and years that I know the toll it has taken on the kids. The guilt I have is insurmountable. If he buys groceries, I have to pay him back. If he pays the phone bill, I have to pay him back. If he buys me anything or gives me a $10 or $20 bill, I have to pay him back. Most of the time, I am not allowed to go into a store with him. I went with him once to Wal-Mart and I put a $2 box of sweetener into the carriage. That was it. I am now not allowed to go into a store with him. He screams at us that he pays the rent, therefore, it is his house and we have to learn to live the way he wants us to and we should be catering to him. If we don He has told me for years that he is a king and that the house is his castle and that he has allowed us to live with him because he is kind, loving, and gracious. He will only buy oneChristmas gift for his kids and no stocking stuffers or tape or wrapping paper or anything like that.I have to do that with what I get paid to do MT work. He doesn When they were little, I would tell him that the children needed some cool clothes for summer. He would take their little pants and cut them off and then take their turtleneck shirts and cut off the turtle neck and cut off the sleeves and say, There you go. There Or he would just tell me, Go ask your sister to buy them some clothes. He has threatened to kill me and the children if I leave. He has told me that he would kill me and the children before I would ever see child support. He has a sex fettish where he wants it all the time, every day multiple times in a day if he could get it (not that he does, mind you. I stopped that crazy crap a long time ago), and I am just supposed to stop all that I am doing and fulfill his needs (even though sex for me offers virtually nothing other than soreness,swelling, and boredom and has always been like this). If I don I am very overweight, I smoke like a chimney, my credit is destroyed, I don I have less now 14 years later than I did before I married him. At least before I married him I had my own very nice car and some clothes. I don My clothes are tattered, stained, and worn. And...I had dreams of what my life was going to be like when I got married. But it certainly was not a life like this. My kids are older now and they are seeing their father for who he is. He blames me and tells me it is all the bad stuff I am telling the children. I keep telling him it is what they have seen for 14 years. They beg me to divorce him. My youngest, who is 11, was diagnosed last year with severe ulcerative colitis. He has had a flare now for the past six weeks with at least ten bouts of diarrhea with blood every day. He talks about depression a lot and always asking me what it is. When I got the call last year from his pediatrician telling me to take him to the hospital for a possible blood transfusion (this was when we got his diagnosis), Ialmost fell on the floor from fear. I called my husband at work to tell him he needed to come home. He said, I can I have to work. He said, Don His red blood cell count had dropped to 7.2 froma normal of 12 because of his bleeding. He came to the hospital when he got out of work. He showed up at 6:00 p.m. We went outside and talked for a bit and then about 20 minutes after he showed up, he said, Well, I have to go home to eat and shower. I When I got angry, he said Hey, I I need to rest. Besides, there We still didn I didn I was scared to death. But he had to go home to eat and shower and rest!!!! I think that was the beginning of the end for me. I once read something on these boards that someone posted saying Marriage is not supposed to be a good deal for one and misery for the other. That is what my life has been. My marriage was a great deal for him...kids that he never has to pay for (I mean nothing...not school projects and believe me there are a ton of them, not clothes, not shoes, notebooks, backpacks, nothing), free sex, and a wife that he doesn I believe in my soul that my marriage was a good business deal for him. If you knew my husband, you would laugh at that statement because he is extremely uneducated and talks like a mentally retarded person. People in the past have actually asked me if he was mentally retarded. He thinks that if my son would drink lots and lots of water, that that will cure his ulcerative colitis and makes fun of me and insults me and everyone else. Itell him he is a moron and he doesn His abusive mother made them drink nothing but water. She would not buy them anything or strive for a better life. They lived in a nightmare life. So now he gets very angry when we woncure everything. He tells us that he is trying to show us how to live right but we just won He tells this to other people too including our landlord. He has the most disgusting habits. He picks scabs and eats them, he has eczema and psoriasis so he is one huge flake, which he enjoys picking off chunks and dropping them in a pile on the floor, he passes unbearable gas (like every two or three minutes that has such a horrid stench it makes all of us nauseous) and then flips out if we spray a room spray. He will actually grab the can and scream that this is his house and we are all just disgusting to live with and just impossible to live with. He just had a fight with my 12-year-old daughter tonight because he was passing tons and tons of gas and she sprayed a room spray. He got up in her face screaming at the top of his lungs at 11:00 at night that this is his house. He will pass gas all he wants and that he won She was crying and begging me to divorce him. She kept saying, You said it would be better for the family if you stayed married to him but it It won Well, I could go on and on. It has been 14 years of this but I think you get the picture. I have no money. I don I have a son who is going to need ongoing frequent medical care and I am afraid he will cancel the insurance if I do anything to get rid of him. I have a great fear for our safety. He has major problems with having to give up his money so to haveto pay child support will send him over the edge. He is a pathological liar so you can He told me, I would never allow anyone to judge me like that. You can tell the judge to kiss my balls. He seems to expect the absolute highest standards from the children and I but he doesn Never has and never will but will shove it down my throat when he doesn Well, any advice. I really am looking for legal advice for anyone else who has been through this. I know I need to get rid of him...for the kids sake. They need to see that life is not like this and not all men do this and that you don My daughter, who just turned 13, says to me she hates men with a passion. I told my niece that I felt like I was dying. I never, never, never, never leave my house except to go to Dunkin Donuts up the street to get a coffee. I haven And that is three hours probably once every two months. I am lonely, isolated, and ragingly angry. I want to go back to school but when I talk about that, he poo poos it saying I should go back in five or ten years or 15 years when my bills are paid and I can afford it. HELLO????? I am going to be 43 in October. Maybe I should just wait to go back to school until I Well you get the picture. If you By the way, when I bring up any of his abuse to him, he tells me I don Funny, he always remembers every time I swear at him though. Has never forgotten a single time.

I am the only one that thinks something is up with this story.. [2008-06-29]
Things just donshe was 26 years old14 years ago, which makes her 40, but later she states she is going on 43. She had a 1-1/2 year-old, 6-month-old and 8 months pregnant..hmmm. That makes her having gotten pregnant BEFORE the 6-month-old was born. Later, she is pregnant and they are 9 months and 1-1/2 years old. Then, she stated that her 12-year-old tonight (keyword here) had a fight with her dad but later this same child is 13, just turned, so I'm guessing on the same day? which is tonight. Just a lot of inconsistencies. I'm not sure why or how someone would make this up but I just find it odd. Maybe someone needs attention.

Virgin Mobile, too...sm [2008-05-26]
This is what I use (rarely). Just buying 20 minutes every 3 months, or 10 minutes every month(?), keeps the account current. You do not lose the oldminutes. There are some other plans, too, so if interested, you might want to check out Virgin Mobile HTH.

I have economized and it has paid off sm [2008-05-13]
I live in a mobile home I bought excessively used. It is fully paid for. My car is 1996 and while it has 123K for mileage, it is still running just fine and I am told will go to 200K. It is paid for. I own a lovely piano, paid for. Clothing I either make or buy on the sale tables from Walmart. I especially like that most of my tops only cost me $3 or $5. I take good care of my clothing and much of it I have had for several years. Since I have chosen carefully I like what I have. Same for shoes. Same for what little costume jewelry I have. Same for my budget bedding. I buy household stuff second hand because I like certain tacky nick nacks from the 1950s. I even shop for the lowest prices at second hand shops. Now, I have not had a vacation in 13 years, it is true. I am just now getting used to having to take 2 full days off every week and managing those 2 days without sitting down to work is hard. I do, however, have a lovely home and no debt. I only work one job and I do pretty well ($40K a year). I am able to have enough taxes withheld not to worry about it. I have insurance too. After that, I can pay my bills and I manage to put back about $500 to $700 a month, depending on my line counts. I have no idea what I am saving for right now, but it feels good to watch the numbers climb. I literally put every fourth paycheck in the savings account. I DO eat what I want when I want. I have also stock piled canned foods because of food prices. I buy lost leaders at the grocery store for the most part. If it has a store special tag on it, I am going to choose it over something else. I am at a point where I don There is no place close I I am an avid sale and clearance shopper, and while I am not longer at the point in my life where this is a necessity, it is so ingrained (did I spell that right?) that I can Some people may get off on buying an expensive item, but I get my thrills out of seeing how little I can spend to get what I want. Example is a flat pack entertainment center I wanted. Original price was $120 and I got it for $32. Nothing wrong with it and it was easy to put together, just clearing out for new styles. I had wanted one for a year before I bought this one, but found that price and jumped on it with great joy. Since I know perfectly well that working harder and longer is not really an option, I chose to cut my spending and now I am really happy.

Advice on getting money from former employer [2008-04-18]
If anyone has had experience with this, could you offer your advice? My husband took a new job back in the end of January. His prior employer required him to have a phone through T-Mobile with unlimited data. His last phone bill was $200 plus there was a $200 contract break fee, a contract he was required to sign by his company. He has filed the necessary papers to be reimbursed for the phone bill; however, we just don He has called the HR person and while she is not in charge of approving the expense report, it doesn I am worried that T-Mobile will turn this over to collections and therefore affect our credit score. Any advice?

Exactly...no "real" man would tolerate this [2008-04-17]
They stick all the women in front of the TV cameras and they sound like they are rading from a script when they answer questions. Itvirgin. I know many decades ago, older men did marry young girls in their early teens, but then they only had one wife, not several. This is definitely not the same. This is sick!!!

I guess I'm not qualified to answer your question because [2008-03-14]
I still have a land line, but I thought I'd tell you why I still have it. :-) I, too, have children at home and that is the very reason I still have a land line. Even if the babysitter has a mobile phone, what if the battery went dead? What if something happened to her and your child didn't know how to operate the babysitter's phone? I think it is very important to have a land line and teach the child(ren) in the home how to use it in case of an emergency. While it does cost a little more each month, to me it is worth the comfort of knowing that if there was an emergency, there would definitely be a working phone in the home.

Couple wins 270 million lottery. sm [2008-02-25]
South Georgia couple wins big. He only bought 2 tickets, spend $2.00 and won 270 million. They interviewed him on TV - they were living in a mobile home. So happy for them. Nice to see someone that humble and down to earthwin.

Building a house [2008-02-18]
Hey everyone, I am planning on buliding a house soon and I have been debating stick versus modular (not to be confused with manufactured/mobile). I have talked tomany people about both and it seems like a Chevy versus Ford issue around here. I am just looking for some facts. Are modulars really as badas some people say they are? are they as good? If anybody has had any experiences and opinions with either, please share. Thanks a bunch!

It has been summer here but [2008-02-13]
we've been under tornado watches and warnings (central Florida)for 2 weeks now. Even my children have to undergo tornado drills. We went out to eat last night for the first time in months and on the TV, all they were talking about was the severe tornado warning and watches. Brother, when I moved to FLA to get away from the cold, I did not know I was moving to the land of OZ! LOL. I'll switch back to cold for a bit as long as my son's grandma does not have to keep evacuating her mobile home down here!

trees [2008-02-07]
Glad you made it through the storm okay. . I have lots of trees all around my house, which I love, but when the wind gets up, it is pretty scary. . There are several that could totally destroy the house. . My brother lives in a mobile home about a half mile from me. . I couldn't get him on the phone that night - later I found out he spent about 2 hours sitting in his truck - he thought that would be safer than his trailer. . I told him the next time, come to my house, though, like I said, with all the trees, not sure how safe it is. . I really wish I had a basement. . None of my neighbors have basements either. .

If you're not proud of something you did, definitely don't tell them. [2008-01-30]
Unless it may help to teach them a lesson about something. I believed what I was told, that my mother was a virgin until she married, LOL, and NEVER got drunk and was a wonderful student and it goes on. I am very grateful that she was most likely not completely honest about a lot of things as it probably helped me to be a better person and also respect her more as a person. These are your children, they are not your friends or your siblings. There are certain things you do not share with your children.



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