Ok, so I'm 42, Steve is 30, we've been together since I was 40. I'm not a cougar or jaguar. So, what am I?

I don't know what the age gap is. But I think any woman who is younger by more than a few years would be considered a cougar. Frankly, I hate that label, I think it's demeaning. Society sees nothing wrong with men dating younger, but if a woman does it, she has some horrific label slapped on her.

Well, while it wasn't completely on point, perhaps, it was about affordable health care being a woman's issue. Which is how the short tangent came about. It really wasn't off-base. Ms. Obama did target an audience and her targeted audience did respond, at least on here.

I answered this already, but I don't believe Ms. Obama meant it's ONLY a woman's issue but it that it is ALSO a woman's issue. I think, in that particular speech, she was targeting women, trying to get them to see that in her perspective, universal health care is a good thing. I'm sure somewhere, other people have specifically targeted other audiences.

Oh dang, for a minute, I thought I was going to an auntie again

As for your neck ((Ei))) schedule the surgery, just do it. I will come and hold your hand and you can recuperate with Steve and I. He will cook fried turkeys and cobbler and I will make you apple waffles until you're on your feet again

Well, in most states, divorce is no-fault, it doesn't really matter how he feels about it or whether he wants it or not. He doesn't have to sign. It makes things a little more difficult but you can still file and get a divorce. Just do it, often, that's the catalyst for someone to move on.

I wonder why the assumption is he's using the kids to show he's a good father? Why is it we don't assume he IS a good father and has nothing to prove at all?

I'm sorry you have to go through that. You can change a custody/visitation order without going to court, if both parties agree and you trust each other to live up to your agreement. If not, then court is necessary. It's also necessary for any adjustment in child support. Depending on where you live, there are father's rights attorneys who will help you out with this for little money down and monthly payments. Good luck to you!

I agree with you here. Just because it's "traditional" that woman have primary custody, doesn't mean it's right. Fathers have every right to have as much time with their kids as the moms. Sometimes they don't want to or can't but that should be an individual decision. My ex and I share custody 50/50, every other week, we split holidays and summers equally. If one has something going on, the other will take our son, no questions asked. We also split his expenses 50/50 and there's no child support. I realize this is an anomaly. We don't always like each other or get along but we made the decision to be parents and it's our responsibility to put aside our own personal feelings and do what's best for our child, regardless.

Well, she married him and had kids with him, she's stuck with him. Those were her choices and she needs to deal with the consequences. As for her new beau, sounds to me like he's causing as much trouble as she is. If he can't deal, he needs to go. And, sometimes what others see is closer to the truth than what we'd like to believe about ourselves. She let him stay for 3 years? And answers her phone every time? Sounds to me as if he may just have a point.

The only thing I have a possible issue with is taking them on his dates, unless he's been with the same woman for a good while. Frankly, it's not going to be too long when his kids would rather spend their time with their friends than with mom and dad so they should take what they can get now.

As for your friend, she can always not answer her phone. I'd bet at one point, she complained that she didn't know what was going on with the kids and now he's making a point of keeping her informed.

Sounds to me like she has a control problem going on.

Kristy, those pics are awesome, glad you had a good time! I am sooooooooo looking forward to our cruise next September, it'll be my third and I have nothing but good memories

I hear that a lot. And I'm thinking, ewwwww, as well. Seriously, you can't wait to answer your phone til you're done? That's what I do. Or I wait until I'm off the phone before I go in. Unless someone's dead or dying, there's nothing that important that it can't wait.

Though, years ago I had a boss who dictated EVERYTHING into a dictaphone, whenever the thought crossed his mind. I had MANY tapes to transcribe where he was eating, drinking and in the bathroom. Despite many requests to please stop, he wouldn't. I finally just started transcribing every sound I heard (burp, slurp, flush, farts, you name it). He got my point.

I'm not sure where the racist stuff came in, so I won't comment there. But, I don't think that making a call out to women is considered sexist, nor do I think that if you're opposed to health care reform you would be considered sexist. My take is that women are TRADITIONALLY primarily responsible for this aspect of family life so therefore Ms. Obama wrote a speech appealing to that particular audience. It's basic communications 101 in college (or high school), you write your speech for your intended audience. She, at that moment, was appealing to women and why, in her belief, they should be advocating health care reform.

This isn't an issue of men against women, black against white, Democrat vs Republican etc. It's an issue that affects EVERYONE one way or the other. We should start looking at the issues unemotionally and try to figure out a solution that is workable for the majority of the people most of the time. It is never going to be perfect for everyone all of the time, life just doesn't play out that way.

My personal opinion on health care reform: it's long overdue and it's coming whether we like it or not. As to the shape it's taking now, there are many many aspects I don't necessarily agree with, mostly, I don't believe that the government has a clue on how to run something this large and complex. There should be some sort of government-funded program where everyone can get free quality healthcare 24/7/365 if they don't have access to a private policy. Private policies should be affordable for both individuals and businesses that provide it. If you or your business opts to keep a private policy in place, you should get some form of tax credit to offset the difference between the government policy and private policy. Tort reform is ABSOLUTELY necessary. The rub comes in as to how to pay for it. Taxes will, of course, go up, but how to do this somewhat equitably? My thought is a federal sales tax. One cent of every dollar spent goes to pay for (and is dedicated SOLELY to) healthcare. Only the poorest of the poor will feel the affect of that. Most of us will never notice the difference, except for in very large purchases.

Just my thoughts on this early Saturday morning.

Migraine, for sure

Umm, yeah, probably didn't work out too well

No, we were having a problem with the security setup because comcast changed my user name and password without letting me know. We got that straightened out but the person at Comcast (as usual) just didn't have a clue. Steve actually finally figured things out on his own.