Pepper Mostly

Hee! me too,and I'm old, to boot. I went to a fancy spa with my mother for a week in the 80's. I wasn't fat then but I was "cuddly", not toned, and we were all stripping down all over the place for treatments, massages, and whatnot. There's just no room for modesty and its all women anyway. That said, I would definitely be very uncomfortable doing so while being filmed. To be shown on TV. Jetta handled it badly and now it seems she's gotten off on the wrong foot. I just can't with these people though, really. Most of them are pretty unlikeable. I'm only watching for Sandhurst.

Right? So is she going to step back and let her staff do more of the day to day while she dives deeper into the motherhood pool? These stories make no sense. Why? Just tell us the story of Jason and Kristina, lighting designer and business owner, dyed in the wool city dwellers, first time parents. Why the contrived storyline? For what purpose?

Me: "Shut UP Jeff! Shutupshutupshutup!" And I always want to punch his smug face. I've been away from Survivor for a few years, and I swear Jeff is main reason. Well, that and the love affair with Russell Hantz. Jason and Scot have DAUGHTERS. My god. How often do they hear "Look what you made me do" "If you didn't provoke me, I wouldn't get so mad" "why can't you just not make so much trouble?". I'm starting to like Debbie best of all! She has serious game. Going to Peter after TC and stroking his ego was really smart and I am convinced that she does all that dumb shit about the big frontal lobes and cheerleading to burnish her image as a batty older lady, harmless. I am looking forward to seeing her game play out more than any other person's. And yeah, she won me over with her rueful "I've made some big mistakes". Yeah, Cydney won no points with me. Now that Alecia's gone, doesn't she realize the boys club will turn on her? The only thing she can hang her hat on is to be advantageously placed come the mixup. So far her game play is crap. I repeat, Scot and Jason are beneath contempt. Alecia was a little flaky but she was dogged and a team player. She had pride and guts-never shed a tear. My only hope is to see them both go down in as humiliatingly as possible.

Agreed! The kids were fantastic. They love their mother and want what's best for her, but they're still children when all's said and done. Everyone understood what had to happen, Milla included. While I was disappointed not to see her get the surgery and see how she did, I thought the episode was a realistic look at what really happens. Milla needed to lose weight on her own, have a lymphodema removed, recover from that, work with a nutritionist and physical therapists so she could get up and try and move on her own. It was only after all that could she be approved for surgery. I appreciated that the show didn't follow the usual formula--patient whines. Patient manages to lose 40 pounds at home, but complains about the diet the whole time. Patient is approved for surgery. Patient loses weight. the end. I liked Milla a lot, loved her interactions with the kids ("you sure you can catch?" LOL!). She didn't treat them like servants. The whole family worked together and seemed to really enjoy each other's company. I wish them all the best.

I'll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones. True to form, Grace is obscure, tantalizing, refusing to be defined. Don't read for lots of juicy gossip, she's pretty cagey. But its entertaining in an impressionistic, stream of consciousness way.

Pat Conroy. The Lords of Discipline is one of my faves, and The Great Santini is a masterpiece, but rest of his stuff is dreck. Overblown, purple prose, I AM SO SENSITIVE, the south is a deeply special place that no one can really understand, the big theatrical reveal at the end. Bah. He sucks. His stuff is compulsively readable but I hate myself for reading it. Like eating junk food. Connie Willis. I love Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog. I lurve her short stories. Lincoln's Dreams? Awesome. The Titanic one started to lose me, and I hurled the World War II book across the room and said goodbye forever. She does this thing, I think its supposed to be funny, about how her main character is trying to get somewhere, and there are all kinds of complications and problems ("she started for the elevator, but it was closed for maintenance. So she had to go to the annex next door, up a flight of stairs, which brought her to the fifth floor, even though she'd been on the third floor in the Walker Building. When she got off the elevator there was a code in progress so she had to go around and through the laundry.....") it goes on and on, half the book is the poor protagonist trying to get from point a to point b. That's not a plot. Angela Thirkell. I love her gentle little comedies of life among the English gentry. Again, some of my all time faves among them. (Pomfret Towers and Before Lunch have moments that actually make me tear up). Toward the end of her career her snobbery becomes more apparent and that makes her later books far less enjoyable. Not to mention that after 20 or 30 books, there are so many characters you can hardly keep track! The plots are paper thin, pretty much, which is fine, I want to curl up with the folks in Barsetshire and know that despite all the merry hi jinks, all will be well in the end. Tom Robbins. I think Tom must be a writer for the young. Another Roadside Attraction, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Still Life with Woodpecker are part of my life. To be fair to Tom, it may be that I would still like his books, but I stopped seeking them out once I was out of my 20's. Shrug.

LOL, I have a feeling that post should have a little asterisk at the bottom, with the words "results not typical", like they have on those diet supplement ads! If it was that easy to make a million on YouTube, we'd all do it! And yeah, the swaddling blankets--you really only need to swaddle small infants, right? I certainly never swaddled my son once he was over about 3 months old. The baby was artfully posed to show the blanket in all its glory, I guess.

Right? That made the "you're so selfish!" conversation even more nonsensical. "You're so selfish! Why don't you want to deal with all the stress and hassle of traveling with an infant?" And what about Destiny's mother? Does she live in San Diego too? Or do Sal and Destiny have to travel to her also?

LOL, BitterApple, that's what I thought too! One of their followers will offer, if not a condo in Nassau, a lake cabin in Wisconsin, a beach house in North Carolina, a cottage on Cape Cod, or a California bungalow for those hardworking parents and those adorable babies! Maybe all of them--after all, they can run their Etsy shop and their YouTube channel from anywhere, right? Tyson does not say one word about anything but how expensive it is to have all these babies. Except for when he's fake crying about how wonderful it is. Sky's the limit for these two--the Duggars and Kate Gosselin have lost their luster, the moment is ripe for a brand new shiny grifty family!

I did! When the episode aired originally I posted exactly what you just said! I thought it was hilarious and I, too would have laughed my head off. I love Neil. I think he's an interesting guy, who quickly saw what was happening and refused to play into production's hands. He wouldn't be prodded into an unguarded remark or snarky observation. That cannot have been easy. I hope he is getting some serious female attention.

Destiny's mother: "you are being so selfish! You're not thinking of me, and my feelings, and what I want!" So, let me see if I've got this straight--both MIL's moved in to Sal and Destiny's house, apparently stayed for months, but will be gone at Christmas time. Right. Oh, and Destiny? "How do you cook a meal holding a baby? How do you bake holding a baby?" You do as countless mothers have done before you. The floor. The playpen. The other parent. Sweet tapdancing Jesus, girl, I was on your side, but that put me over the edge. So, their whole story was staged too, I guess? So that we could get the "I miss our crazy families!" conclusion?

Doug, my god. Somehow I can't get over the notion that there's a good guy in there, struggling to get out, but then he does something so boneheaded. Why the Tiffany box? Why in front of everyone? (I know, so she won't haul off and sock him, Jesus). My heart breaks for Mars, she seems so sad. She rarely seems to smile and enjoy her adorable baby. Doug's daughters cracked my shit up, for real- "you're like a child trying to eat the candy with the wrapper still on" Hahhahahahaha!

"we can't afford a vacation in the Bahamas, but we can provide diapers and formula for our babies!". Piss off Tyson, and take your swaddling blankets with you. I can't afford a vacation in the Bahamas and I don't even have quads!! I went from liking these two to skeptical to full on loathing in just a few weeks. The fake crying really did me in. And really? You support your family selling those blankets? What kind of business meetings do you have about a home business/Etsy shop? Good lord these two. I can't. Cute babies though.

I don't have an issue with them getting donations, or using them, at all. I have an issue with them being so disingenuous. "oh my stars, it certainly is expensive to raise FOUR babies!" They've been collecting donations for months. And they aren't doing it "all alone" as Ashley frequently shares with her loyal, donation giving viewers. That is what I don't like. They're faking fakers and I bet they are hoping with all their hearts that they get a TV show out of this. I don't even have any objection to them being on YouTube and getting what they can from it. I personally find it a little icky but I'm not them, more power to them. But I do question the husband quitting his job to do YouTube full time. Are the rewards really that great? Cute babies though.

Lets hope so valen! (love your moniker, by the way!). The questions the MIL's were asking were so insulting. I have to believe its all staged because there is no way Destiny could maintain so well if the situation at home was really that fraught and stressful.

LOL, I thought so, TeapotWakeen! If his name was Tom or Bill I wouldn't have made the connection, but Sandhurst stuck in my mind.

Sigh. I'm in, but I don't know for how long. Most of these people make my hair hurt. Sandhurst is lovely, though.

I was rooting so hard for this girl. Her poor mother. And her little brother made me tear up, what a great kid. The whole family was great, I thought. Her sisters were supportive and her mother and stepdad. No one blamed her or yelled at her. I loved them all and I hope Kaeleen finds the peace she seeks, she deserves it. She's so talented and has so much to share with the world. Wait, there's a where are they now series?? When? Where? and most important, will we see more of Hubert?

Well, they hate to throw anything away! Seriously, there have been others who've hoarded their waste. She probably couldn't figure out how to dispose of it, one thing led to another, and now she's in this predicament. I can't imagine how embarrassing that would be.

Poor Sybil. She was so far gone. Even after the cleanout her house looked like it smelled musty and damp, and still looked dirty. shudder. Ron was a character. I didn't feel like he was a hoarder so much as overwhelmed with all the minutiae. The most entertaining part was the war between his friend and his sister. What the hell was going on there? Sheathe the claws, ladies, and deal with the matter at hand!

LOL, not too mean for me, Briar! You come on over and sit on the "I hate Destiny's mother" couch. That woman is passive aggressive personified. Destiny is amazing! I can't believe how well she maintains her cool. (and congrats on your bundle of joy, btw! mine just turned 22, and he's the light of my life! you're in for a wonderful adventure!)

I seem to recall that Sandhurst was on another show? A modeling show maybe? I do concur that he is lovely.

Sorry to see Carl go, but he sabotaged himself. Sigh. Looks like Jeremy is going to sail to the win, hmmm? Isaac is an awesome chef but not "fine dining" enough, Marjorie seems to be handling the pressure less and less well. Jeremy is peaking at the right time. But I still don't like him. He not only told his daughter that second place is the first to lose, but he also took credit for her reaching a reading milestone at her school "that's because I made you read all those books". A pet peeve of mine is parents who take credit for their kids' accomplishments. shrug. Padma remains insufferable. I wish Marjorie would tell her to shut up. Just once. The show would be vastly improved for me if both Padma and Tom were replaced. My life has been made richer by the addition of the term Douchefecta, which I intend incorporate into my lexicon immediately. Thank you, The Solution!

Right? Same with the 17 year old with the porny parents. All they ever talked about was.....porn. Did they read the news, watch TV, read a book, watch sports, have hobbies? Besides phone sex that is? God, the kid is 17! The whole situation was wildly uncomfortable.

Glad to be of service, ethalfrida! Of course, i may need years of therapy, but nothing it too much if it helps my PTV peeps! Bastet, the daughter watching and laughing and not taking her dad to task was what did me in. I would kill anyone who spoke like that to a server, a woman, a person deserving of a modicum of respect. Jesus.