Wellfleet

I'll be happy just to see Me-chelle stuck in the laundry room sorting piles of stinky clothes 5 days a week. Although I don't think even then she'll realize that this is what Grandma Mary did to help her.

If Derick has even one ounce of gumption in him, he'll tell Jill right now - "From now on, I'm drive myself. You've just had major surgery, plus you have a baby to look after, plus this huge house. Even if you drag a sister or two over to help, you still have plenty to keep you busy all day. I'll look forward to talking to you at lunch, hon. And feel free to call or text if you need me to pick up anything on the way home. But this is our life now. We're adults and parents - this is how adults live..." Gotta admit, I'd buy tickets to this show.

I'm guessing because the Duggars don't do a toast or anything at their weddings, that this was John-Doofus' big opportunity as best man. And that lame skit - and of course the trashing of the getaway car - was the best he could come up with. Pathetic, but understandable when you consider his dad is Boob.

Like this! Or maybe "The Dullards" since they're well on their way to becoming just that...

He won't be misbehaved for very long - that we know... :>(

Very well-written article. Many readable comments too, though not all [some are just too long]. Interesting thing is that the most articulate are almost entirely anti-Duggar. The ones that sound as though middle-schoolers wrote them - definitely pro-Duggar.

I read only 2-3 blogs and 19K&C, The Little Couple are the only forums I follow routinely. Learn new acronyms all the time here too. This week AMA - against medical advice - was a biggie. :>) PS - I think I'll always see LOL first as "Land O'Lakes..."

Hopefully West Point or Annapolis will recognize the Alert transcript for what it actually is when they see it. It's not always so clear. A little off "thread" but a true story. For the last five years before I retired, I worked in the graduate admissions office of a major Northeastern university. We once actually had to rescind an acceptance to our Executive MBA program because the applicant had "earned his bachelor's degree" from a diploma mill-ish school in California, and the MBA admissions committee [professors and a dean] did not recognize the transcript's "bogus factor" when reviewing the file. They essentially admitted a student without an accredited bachelor's degree to a prestigious executive master's program. It was the assistant in our office who recognized the transcript - and the school - as "bad" when the file came back to her for processing and verification. She was very experienced and had handled literally 100s of 1000s of transcripts in her time, so she knew what she was looking at immediately. Made for quite a staff meeting the following week as we wondered how many times things like this get missed at schools all over the country. How many truly unqualified people might be working - and basically getting by - in fields for which they don't have the proper training? We also ran into a fly-by-night store-front "college" - it was literally in a store front in Arlington VA - run by an immigrant Chinese doctor. Well, he called himself Doctor - obviously we had our doubts. One of his "students" applied for a graduate engineering program using the saddest excuse for a bogus transcript I'd ever seen. Not even close to looking like the real thing.

I think this whole Alert place exists so that big boys can play army. They get to wear uniforms, salute, shoot guns, sleep in tents etc - all that fun "army" stuff. Without putting their own keesters in the line of fire and joining one of our armed services - without actually defending the country they profess to love so much.

And... Derrick has forgotten how to get a good shave. That skimpy, patchy look he's currently rockin' is just not good.

Oh my, that's... I don't know - oh my. PS - Josh sounds like one of those singers on "The Lawrence Welk Show" - don't remember which one but he was just awful. My parents watched the Welk show for 30 years on Saturday nights on PBS. We kids were constantly ribbing them for the fuddy-duddy, cornpone style. Of course we were happenin' 70s teens at the time!

I had really bad skin in college. I babysat for the loveliest family near campus, the dad was an OB/GYN - and he offered to give me a prescription for the pill because at the time it was supposed to help with that. I declined because I don't like to take meds on a long-term basis unless truly necessary; besides I thought the real cause was probably diet. Do people still take the pill for acne or has that theory been quashed?

Very true. There's no way Jilly-Muffin wrote that statement. The words amazing, precious, totally, crazy, encouraged and surreal aren't used once. Maybe they really do have a competent publicist...

There are all kinds of options for additional "training" beyond the Basic 9-weeks. The aviation one is 32 weeks, paramedic is 34. What I want to know is - who are the instructors and what are their qualifications?

You piqued my interest so I poked around on the website - they do not make it easy to find. However there is a downloadable PDF outlining various charges. Basic training for 9 weeks comes in at $3420. The application alone is $75 which is more than most college applications these days. Let's just say "pre-TLC Boob" would probably not be sending anyone to Alert. PS - if someone will tell me how to do it, I'll pop the PDF in here. Thanks.

Handsome family - adorable kids. I'm wondering where the photo was taken. A church community or fellowship room? Doesn't look like home...

Sadly I agree. I do not want to get my hopes up like I did with DerickDullard. Refuse to be that naive again. Besides Josiah is my favorite - I want for him whatever he wants for himself. To me, best case scenario is that Josiah and Marjorie, who both seem smart enough, are playing the game to gain their freedom. They'll court for a year minimum, engaged for 6 months, marry and then go their separate ways - or together even. They'll need the support. But they'll go and do what they want. Worst case? Court for 6 months, engaged for 3, a wedding and then a baby within a year. Sigh.

On the contrary, I'm not hoping they hire a competent publicist. I'm hoping they can scare up another bored fundie SAHM like Sierra to do it. Although I do wonder which would be quicker at bringing about an end to the whole Duggar crazy train. Lots of publicity? Or hardly any? Something to ponder... :>)

Absolutely love this. Maybe the little man finally has a 'forum' nickname - "The Iz...".

To sane people, of course not. But in her mind, possibly. These are people who spin everything to make themselves appear smarter and [far] more accomplished than they really are. Josh played around with a postcard or invitation template on his computer and is now labelled a "graphic designer" by the family. I seriously doubt any of them could define what a graphic designer actually does.

I think this is precisely what Boob is saying to Ben - no doubt at all. And he follows it up with that Hee-Haw hyuck-hyuck grin if his...

Just a little theory of mine, but I think a whole lot of people in "show biz" are Leos and lastborns. Born show-offs, all of them - LOL. And on a serious note, the world needs entertainers too. Maybe now more than ever. They also serve who only 'buck and wing...'

Oh my. Cringe-worthy is exactly the right phrase. He doesn't sing badly, but it doesn't come anywhere close to good either. One of my college "suitemates" was a voice major and she had a line she used quite often while we were in school. "Sounds like that person has had his first voice lesson - just enough to be really dangerous..." LOL.

Great news about baby Maisie - seven pounds is terrific! Someday you won't believe she was ever this small. Good luck with everything, take care of yourself too and keep us posted as you can. A big virtual hug for 'She Who Is Fierce.' Blessings for the nurses too! :>)

It wasn't hard, and even then Sierra couldn't manage to do it - i.e. melted ice cream at Jill's wedding. Of course, that could also have been a TLC plotline for some wedding drama - to keep us all on the edge of our seats. Oh no, the ice cream's melted! What will they do now?