They are cute; yellow is such a happy color.

Good lord... where to start?

I confess to being jealous of my stupid friend, who, at 23, was in a loving relationship with a man (who is employed) she loved for seven years (he wanted to marry her), got pregnant. She left him high and dry, came to grad school, had the baby and gave it away.

I was so jealous I couldn't see straight. I consider myself fairly settled and would love nothing more than to have had all those things. You can have a marriage, a baby, and get an education, for heaven's sake!

I am starting to get over it, though, and I am realizing how stupid I was for envying her. She has no mind of her own and is a slave to her family's money.

I'm better off as me.

I investigated your profile, and you are beautiful!! I particularly like the saturation--it's almost an orange (I have some great pictures of daffodils that I have turned all colors on Picasa, what fun!)

Keep being a strong, confident woman! There aren't enough of those... no matter what package they come in.

You're exactly right. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the attitude that is cultivated in our society--as I'm sure you know. So it is hard, and as an outsider to the marriage, there's only so much you can do (because if you are like me, you want to be able to FIX EVERYTHING, ****IT).

I can hear your frustration, and I'm sorry for you. I'm also glad you're concerned for your friends. Good luck.

Well, I would never have gone out with the last guy if I hadn't asked him... painfully shy, that one.

I tried to pay, because I wasn't sure it was a date, really. But he wouldn't let me. That's fine, I'm poor!

Yes, indeed. Glamorous, even.

I like to give my pets people names, and sometimes it takes a week or two. If it were me, I would call her "puppy" until I get a feel for her personality, then name her.

Bailey's.

Not all affairs are with glamorous strangers from the internet, I'm saying. But again, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT (and I am not sure how I can offend you by stressing this, really). It is the guys who need to step up here. They either need to tell their wives, "I love you and I think you're sexy," or they need to leave.

The next time they approached me to talk about their wives' insecurities, as a friend, I would point them in the direction of expressing their attraction and building up their wife's confidence.

Say not "perve" but rather, "investigate."

I have been checking out a number of people this evening, as I do whenever I participate in discussions, to see who I'm talking to.

Because I'm naturally confused, I may look at you several times.

I just need to put down the and pay attention.

Frankly, if it were me, I'd be more concerned about you talking my husband in private than about any difference in our figures...

Really, this is NOT your fault, and it isn't your girlfriends' fault, either. Hubbies need to step up and say "I am attracted to my wife."

I am what it seems you are calling "weight challenged." I KNOW there is a reason that my man (when I have one) is with me, not what society might consider my "prettier" friends.

Anyone who doesn't know something similar is lacking in confidence, perhaps from being perpetually put down about a trait.

Food for thought.

Nope, I like to shop around, too.

Well, if I were to pack up and leave, I'd go home... to WV.

Because they're so... not women.

Some of these 'solutions' just sound painful...

It's probably something that should be done as a "let's do this" rather than a "you do this."

Yup... intellectuals have a hard time of it in today's dating scene. Some folks, it seems, do not like to talk quantum physics on a first date.

Oh, but I'm so good at bs, I have a degree in it. Hmmm. Yes, I suppose it all depends on your point of view. To one side he was a cultural hero, but to the other he was an assassin.

But really, I can get a pretty good vibe off a person before I ever shake his or her hand...

... if only that king had been so skilled.

Anyone who shakes with their left hand is left handed...

There is a great story located in the OT about a man who killed a tyrannical king (if I'm remembering right). Because of cultural specifics, the left hand was considered unclean and everything was done with the right hand. Thus, when a man entered the king's court, his left side was searched for weapons. The left handed man's weapon, of course, was on his right side. The court guards missed it when they checked him, and he was a hero.

A bit off topic, but there you have it.

I don't know if you're for real or making a joke, so I'm going to take a pass on this one...