Portia

I can't claim to know much about fashion, but I think the engagement outfit is tragically hideous from top to bottom.

Please no. If one of these douches ended up a "martyr," we'd never hear the end of it. They'd exploit the hell out of that angle.

Look what I was able to get my Android's autocorrect to suggest in a couple of tries. I'm weirdly proud of that.

Jill has so many issues as a writer, but for some reason the small thing that sends me over the edge is her inability to distinguish between coordinate adjectives ("a short, roomantic date") and cumulative adjectives ("a short double date"), which require no comma. I get the feeling she learned incorrectly that you always put a comma between two adjectives and she really prides herself on always remembering it and teaching it to her poor dumb kids.

You must be lucky enough to have never met--or sung in the church choir with--someone who's truly tone deaf. Jill's singing isn't as good as she thinks it is, but she can carry a tune. I guess it goes without saying that only the boys get to lead family devotions? It makes me furious that these girls have no voice, not even in their own family.

😂 It delights me to no end that this thread is still titled "Looking Forward to Side Hugs."

Meh, I think it's more of a pop culture phenomenon than anything. I had multiple friends of a different generation who couldnt stop raving about it. Tried watching it myself, and...huh? Guess you had to be there.

Actually, I think most English teachers have finally abandoned that silly rule. Jill's writing is undeniably weak, but it in my opinion it would only be worsened by awkwardly shifting the entire prepositional phrase to the end of the sentence. ("The church at which we parked" is weirdly formal for the context.) One good rule of thumb that's worth holding onto, however, is to omit a preposition at the end that isn't part of a prepositional phrase. For example, it's just "Where are you?", not "Where are you at?"

So long as you're not talking about a Jill & Derick "dates." I'll be honest, Mr. Portia and I have been married 30+ years and still talk about going on dates...privately. To each other only. We also refrain from using sexy pet names and pawing one another in public. You're welcome. ill

What is poor Hannie wearing? Did she raid an elderly aunt's closet?

I'm a little surprised at all the love for Ellianna when so many folks here seem to dislike Maryella.To me they're of a piece. I'm not crazy about the fern as a plant, but as a name I think it has character.

My daughter does incredible cake and cookie designs, and I think Felicity's cake is hideous. My first thought was "Surely Jeremy didn't settle for a supermarket cake ... or did he?" Am I the only one? Mileage varies, obviously.

Ehh, it's just an archaic form of the word. KJV-speak, if you will.

J As others have noted, "She's never met a stranger" is a common old expression, and the Will Rogers quote means something rather different.

What is up with our dream lives, y'all? I had my first Rod-related dream a few nights ago! My husband and I were at some megachurch because he was leading music at a religious conference. I learned that Jill was on the premises and started bragging online that I'd be able to see her in the wild. Sadly, that's when my alarm woke me.