BradandJanet

The one thing about this story I kind of love is that David was sick too, and Jill made him get dressed to go walk around Mayberry with the rest of the family. He went, as ordered.

Kaylee and Jill travel in the same circles, so probably not much of a downline. I think just signing Kaylee up (again) may help Jill earn points to get a room for her and Hunk on that cruise she seems to want so desperately despite the alcohol, loud music, scandalous bathing suits, shirtless men, women in shorts, and occasional swearing the haloed duo will have to endure the entire time they're on the ship. However, the endless buffets are probably worth the trouble of fighting off these devilish attacks.

How did Jill manage to rope Kaylee back into the Plexus corral? I was hoping Jonathan had put his foot down about how much Kaylee was spending to buy samples of Plexus junk. OK. I know Jonathan isn't one to put his foot down about anything, but he's supposed to be the headship of his family, and Jill steps all over him. Jill is taking advantage of Kaylee for her own benefit. She wants that cruise and that trip to Dallas. She wants to move to the gemstones. She doesn't care that Kaylee will spend money she doesn't have on a scam she'll never make a dime on. Jill will see to that.

All that loose hair near those machines. It's like a setting for one of those awful 19th century textile mill accidents. Apparently, the safety of its child laborers is of no concern to the "All Things Truth Printing Ministry."

What fantasy is this woman living in? Does she really believe this describes her house? Does she think this is the image her social media posts portray? We've seen children tiptoeing around David sleeping in his lounger. He seems to spend a lot of time not wanting to be disturbed, so the kids know the consequences of lively noise and banging on the piano. Puddles on the floor? The staff take care of those. We've seen the kids' long chore lists pinned to the back the bedroom door. The girls don't wear shoes in the house anyway, even though the floors are probably cold. Having food is not assured, so no Rodrigues child is going to waste it, despite how unpalatable Mama's cooking looks. Any messes in the kitchen are probably Jill's failed attempts at entertaining. How rambunctious can children be during the day when they're kept up well after midnight while their parents preach at them for hours? Schooling? Oh, please. The Rodrigues children are functionally illiterate. School consists of folding tracts and retreat flyers and stuffing them in envelopes. And nobody who takes 15+ unnecessary vacations a year is poor. Nobody who eats out in restaurants as often as Jill and David do is poor. Nobody who is constantly buying and showing off new outfits is poor. Well, the children are poor. Nobody is feeling sorry for their greedy, lazy, selfish parents.

I think Jill doesn't care if Cinnamon, Janessa, or anybody else gets hurt as long as it doesn't involve troubling Jill with a medical visit. Medical emergencies do make dramatic social media stories about the goodness of God, however. He gained weight being away from home. I guess we will watch him shrink back to his pre-college, pre-escape bony self now that he's back.

Interesting. Wasn't he last living in West Virginia, probably with Ma and Pa Noyes? I wonder who made the decision to move Phillip back to the barndo and why? There seems to be a story here, which may have been part of Things Mama Had to Tearfully Tell Nurie at Applebee's. From the photos, he doesn't look overjoyed to be home.

I'm sure andKaylee has the "poor Mama" nod and sympathy cooing sound mastered, but Princess Nurie does it bigger and better. Nurie was and still is Jill's favorite daughter, and that won't change unless Nurie does something awful to Jill, which is unlikely. Also, Kaylee is always available, and Nurie is out of everyday reach, making her company even more desirable.

That's how I see the evening. Jill tells Nurie how much persecution she has suffered all year, and Nurie nods and occasionally tells Jill what a wonderful mother and woman she is to be so strong and faithful when everyone is so mean to her. If Nurie does mention how tired she gets taking care of three small children, Jill nods and then launches into a long story of hard it was for her to take care of five little blessings while David was working away from home. Jill had a good evening with Nurie because it was all about Jill.

He sat there and stuffed his face with the dinner special. Maybe there were two stuffers since neither Jill nor Nurie would want to be mistaken for an unmarried woman out on the town at night.

Jill was in a vocational ed program so she was among high school students and maybe a few older people. Despite her persecution, she finished the program and received her license. She worked for a short time in her aunt's home beauty salon. Hunk was eyeing her in church, and at some point she gave up the idea of a profession and decided to be a model housewife and mother. Personally, I think she has failed at hairdressing/cosmetology, housewifery, and raising children, but that's just my heathen opinion.

Brianne didn't have the nerve to break up with Sam over Thanksgiving. That would have been awkward. She probably sent him a text after she got home. Why am I not surprised Jill was "persecuted" at beauty school? She was surely as annoying there as she is everywhere else. It's the story of her life, and it's never her fault.

So Jill lost over 60% of her blood while lying in the bathtub. That must have looked like a crime scene, but at least the cleanup was easy. I'm surprised her heart was still beating as she was lying there gushing blood while protesting that she didn't need to go to the hospital. After she passed out, David spent time looking for some Christian neighbors to sit with the other kids so Jill could get to the hospital before the tub filled. Finally, Olivia came along, but she was too awkward to slip out. Breech! It took the doctor and midwife two hours of punching Jill's stomach to figure that out? (Jill has such a way with words.) Didn't Jill go to the hospital? I thought all her children were born in a hospital. Poor Olivia. Mama's yearly tribute to her is always about Martyr Mama's suffering. It's no wonder the sweet child always looks so lost.

The fees include the room with breakfast for one night (unless the person checks in on Thursday), dinner the night of check-in, lunch the next day, pizza for the guys, and conference room rentals. Jill probably gets a group discount. The food by the "authentic Amish women," as shown in last year's pictures, was pretty sad--a cup of soup, a small salad, one roll, a thin slice (or two) of cheesecake, and an entree that looked like hash brown potatoes topped with melted orange liquid (cheese?) and something white (sour cream? egg?) on paper and styrofoam plates. A drink was included. The quantity was fine, but the food looked like something from a camp kitchen or chuckwagon, not a fancy hotel. I don't know if that was dinner on night one or lunch on day two--or both. Jill makes money on people who arrive Thursday. She doesn't have to feed or entertain them, but they have to register with her for some reason. If I were going to this thing (ha, ha), I'd come on Friday, and book directly with the hotel or a booking agency to stay past Saturday. I'm against helping Jill buy new spandex dresses and bejeweled cowgirl gear for Texas Plexus or modest beachwear for the cruise, if she makes it that far. The kids will continue to look like Dickensian workhouse orphans, so we know where the money goes.

That's a lot of Plexus profit to buy less than a full day (Friday night through lunch on Saturday) of Bible reading and listening to relationship experts Renee and Kaylee stumble through a presentation. If Jill's getting that much from each participant, she's making a profit on this venture.