CarolMK

MicksPicks, can you keep powdered milk in the house? I keep it to use in cooking and for when I run out of milk and sometimes for coffee...lasts a lot longer than fresh. I'm confused..was it real steak they were cooking or was it hamburger? Whatever it was, it sure looked like the boys had no idea of what they were doing.

I think I'll skip this one, Don't mind watching the episodes that feature any of the kids, but one that features narcisstic Michelle, going public with her bulimia? No thanks, I'll rely on this board to catch up. Actually, the only thing I'm wondering is how many of her former classmates who come forward and admit that they were best friends with her, and why.

I wonder how John will feel about all of the Bates invading their home. Will Chad and Erin, along with Zack , Whitney and Bradley also be visiting?

What if there's a possibility that Jana just doesn't want children of her own at all? I read an article from the Huff Post earlier where a 22 year old women expressed that very thought and also expressed irritation that she would someday change her mind. The writer is an only child and says she has felt this way since she was a young teenager. If Jana truly feels this way but isn't allowed to express it, I guess her only choice is to never marry, otherwise she'll have to go against her parent's beliefs and control. Rather than risk being cut off from the family, she chooses to continue to stay at home.

I read about Angel on another site..maybe TV by the Numbers, in regards to this show and it gave more information. She had another child at age 20, no mention of all what happened to that child but at her current age, maybe the child is already grown and moved out of the house. It also stated that her beloved father died when she was 25 years old and contributed greatly to her depression.

I enjoyed this episode, though I agree it's getting to be too much for Grandma to host all those people at their house. It would make a lot more sense for them to come to Tennessee. So Gil has one brother and one sister who also live on their parent's property in their own houses? Except for the one niece, none of their kids or spouses were shown. Neither was Alyssa's husband, but it seems like he doesn't feel very comfortable around the camera anyway. Interesting to see Grandma wearing pants and the grandparents dancing. It shows that Gil and Kelly found Gothard and then converted their views, neither of them was raised that way. It'll be interesting to see in years to come how many of the Bates kids become more mainstream.

Wow, 2 liters of soda a day? I must have missed that. But the soda alone is about 1500 calories a day or so, and just getting rid of that would result in a 150 lb weight loss in a year ..something I learned years ago in Weight Watchers, if you eat an extra 100 calories a day, you will gain 10 pounds in a year. pretty amazing how just that one change could result in such a huge weight loss.

Josie either sleeps with Jana or in the bottom bunk along with Jordyn, I'm guessing. It's interesting to note that back when the family got this house in 2006, Jana and Jill were the ones who got the double beds but Jessa, Jinger and Joy were all given singles. I'm sure the beds were designed for Jana and Jill to have their buddies sleep with them at night since Michelle couldn't be bothered getting up with the little kids, plus Michelle always had either a nursing baby or was pregnant.

Is it possible that Angel had scar tissue from previous C-sections? Or was it from hernias? I thought her husband was one of the most supportive partners that we've seen on the show. Go Donnie! I'm glad he expressed his concern and frustration over her getting to nearly 600 lbs and was willing to do whatever he could to help her rather than just being her caregiver. That said, it appears that Donnie had a job, too, I think in one scene he was wearing a work uniform. It's really a shame that Angel was given no choice when she got pregnant at 14. I'm assuming she doesn't have a good relationship to this day with her mother. Threatening to kick her out of the house at 14? As far as I know, that's against the law. And I have to wonder if Angel herself actually made the decision to have sex at that age, or if perhaps she she was coerced into it . That was so traumatic, as the therapist said. It's a shame she carried the burden of guilt with her all those years and it only seemed to get worse after her son was born.

I was cracking up when Michelle was trying out the excavator. She looked so out of her element it was just hilarious to me. BTW, for anyone who has kids or grandkids up to ages 12-13, there is a real amusement park based on equipment just like this in Berlin, NJ. It's called Diggerland, USA and my older son worked there on college break last summer. We took our 16 year old and his friends and they enjoyed it..worth the trip if you live within 50-75 miles of the Philadelphia area. But I agree this episode was a huge ad for John David. Surely, there must be some fundie girls that they know from their circle of friends and homeschool groups who think he'd be a great catch...maybe it's John David who isn't into any of the girls that Jim Bob is trying to find for him And yes, Jim Bob was an ass in the ride along. Stopping for donuts, sheesh .

I have to wonder if the reason Jana hasn't shown interest in marrying yet is that she's too attached to the kids, especially the four younger girls. She has probably done more to raise them than anyone else in the family and leaving them might be too difficult for her. Especially Josie. I have the feeling Michelle doesn't give Josie all the attention and care than she needs and leaves it largely up to Jana to do so.

I kind of wonder how the next few years will go with Josh and Anna in regards to the tv show. Assuming he is working full time at his DC job, he can't take that much time to film the shows, unlike Jim Bob and Michelle, who seem to have not worked at a real job since the show started 11 years ago. Anna has no plans to be anything besides a homemaker, so how much can the show do with following her and the kids around to their various activities that we haven't already seen with the original Duggar family? Michelle had it much easier even 11 years ago than Anna does now because of all the older girls , who were then teens, doing the majority of the household chores. It appears that all Michelle took on then was the homeschooling, plus Jim Bob was around most of the time, too. Life will definitely be harder for Anna for at least the next 5-8 years unless they slow down the baby train.

The house looks much better than it did when Josh and Anna lived there. Is it my imagination, or did Jessa and Ben both seem to have more of a southern accent than they normally do in that clip? I agree that the two of them do really seem to be in love. Jessa was not going to change her mind about marrying Ben even if Jim Bob may have had his doubts awhile back. Upthread it was posted that these two might start a television ministry like Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. I think it's entirely possible someday, even though they are very young. That couple was quite popular from what I remember and until the whole scandal broke. I think that Tammy was especially popular with her audience. I thought that Ben was majoring in political science at college, has he confirmed that he wants to be a minister?

I guess Jimmy isn't officially gone for good since his job was cancelled, but glad to see Fiona telling him it was over. I want to see more of Gus,he really seems like a good guy, yet showed he isn't perfect by punching Jimmy. I'm not taking the Svetlana/Kevin thing too seriously, since she's a prostitute, I guess she feels her moves on him are her way of paying her share to live there. It was pretty hilarious to hear her refer to Ian first as I Love Lucy and then Danny Bonoduce...who knew she'd be so familiar with American tv shows? Ian , wow, I hope he gets out of there soon. I have a feeling that the actor is going to end up leaving the show because he's been making movies, too, and want to see him on screen as much as possible. Both Sammi and Debbie are badasses. But I guess in the Gallagher household, it's a necessity.

One thing I saw on my FB page today from the Life is not All Pickles and Hairspray, was Jim Bob and Michelle on stage with some woman, (don't know who she is) while the woman was doing some kind of rap song/dance. Michelle was sitting but Jim Bob was up on stage trying to do a couple of moves along with her. Didn't they preach on their show how they think dancing is sinful? I guess it isn't when they're trying to do whatever it takes to stay in the public eye. Hypocrites, and their views change depending on how it suits them and how they think they'll be perceived. What a piece of work these two are.

Brandon seems like a decent guy, but I could see that he was more than a bit overwhelmed with the Bates siblings in every situation that he was in, especially the one where he was ring shopping. He wants to marry Michaela but doesn't seem to be in a rush, I guess he's the kind of guy who wants to move at his own pace. I suspect, too, that even though he say's he's number 8 in a family of 10 kids, he doesn't want that same amount for his own family. They probably won't be living near her family after they marry if he's going to be a minister.

I'd definitely watch an Amy wedding, if for no other reason to see Jim Bob and MIchelle look uncomfortable at the dancing and to pontificate how different she is from their own kids, j/k. Actually, since she's an only child, her parents may want her to have a really nice wedding and since they don't have to conform to the Duggar modesty standards, it might actually be refreshing to watch. No minister or Jim Bob stating that Amy and her groom saved their first kiss for their wedding day crap, which I don't think most of America, even those who are conservative, give a hoot about.

I think Bettie Jo and her husband were pretty poor, as it showed in the lack of dental care in both of them and also showing them getting their groceries from a discount store, Save a Lot. They don't have the money for fast food meals 3 times a day as we've seen in some of the others, but it shows that you can get morbidly obese on a limited income. Eating things like cereal and hamburger helper are relatively cheap on sale, and it also showed her eating what looked to be canned vegetables, which in my opinion are not nearly as appetizing as fresh or frozen, plus they're loaded with sodium. I like that Bettie Jo volunteered at the food bank, it may well be that she and her husband have been dependent on one at some point in their past. They both seemed to benefit from therapy, so I'm very hopeful she will continue to do well. It's interesting that the only family shown was her cousin, aunt and grandfather, so I wonder if maybe she doesn't have a relationship with her parents or any siblings she may have.

I didn't care for Jessa in the mermaid gowns either. I think you need to have a certain body shape to pull off a dress like that and she looked so much better in the blush dress that she chose. Not criticizing the style itself because I see some brides who look lovely in a dress like that. My one niece who married last year looked absolutely stunning. Sleeveless also seems to be the style these days, but it wouldn't have worked for me , glad it wasn't around back in 1990.

Maybe Jessa is getting a Depo-Provera shot every 3 months. Ben definitely has allergies. He always sounds congested, and I'm guessing this episode was filmed in September, so he's probably allergic to ragweed. If Jill doesn't say no to MIchelle, she's soon going to have her whole buddy team living there. Well, maybe not Joy, she's needed at home for the chores. But I'm sure Michelle sees nothing wrong with every other weekend sleepovers for the little girls at Jill's house. I guess she didn't move far enough away. For the record, does anyone know how far away Jill and Derrick are from the compound? Jil mentioned she drives Derrick to work and the popup indicated it's at least 10 miles each way if it's 100 miles every week. (waste of time and gas!) Are Jessa and Ben further away? I wonder if they'll be the next ones to get her whole buddy team visiting her all of the time after the wedding.

Having watched both, I actually preferred Anger Management to Two and a Half Men. It had a larger cast overall, but was also able to create more storylines. I liked him with both his at home therapy group and his prison group, all of whom were hilarious to me. The ex-wife and daughter didn't add much to the show imo, but overall it had a lot more going on than TAAHM. For one thing, we almost never saw Charlie Harper working on his jingles, whereas Charlie Goodson is working with one of his therapy groups every single episode, and comes across as more intelligent and focused. The constant arguing between Alan and Charlie got old after awhile, imo. I think I read that originally TAAHM was going to end after 10 seasons when Jake was going to be sent off to college. When Ashton Kutcher took over, they were able to create more storylines that sustained the show for the next 4 years. I'm still not sure if CBS wanted to cancel or if the producers/actors/writers decided it was time to end the series...does anyone know?

Pauline was married in 2005 til around 2011, I think. Hopefully it was her ex-husband who filmed her porn clips, not her son. It might be that her son became her caretaker after her husband left her. Whoever posted the wedding pictures upthread, I was surprised to see how normal she looked 10 years ago, despite being about 400 lbs and 40 years old. I guess she got really out of control after her divorce and then gained up to approximately 700 lbs. No mention anywhere as to who Dillon's father is. Though if he was in Dillon's life at all, we probably would have heard about it on the show.

One thing I've observed in regards to Penny, she does appear to love her little boy, Liam and I suppose she does love her husband too, even though all we pretty much saw was that she ordered him around a lot. She did mention on her Twitter than her couponing goes to help her food pantry at church. So I'm wondering how involved is she with her church..can she ever attend services, and does she have any friends from it that she sees socially? Most of these people seem very isolated from society and cut off from the world, but I'm wondering if that's the case with Penny. She had also mentioned she does crafts as a side business on her Twitter..did the show mention that at all?

I agree with the fact that Michelle and Jim Bob still want to control their kids after they leave home, but it's realistic to assume that they will be able to do so forever. There are just too many of them, and even though he's wealthy now, I'm sure Jim Bob won't have as much money in 20 years or so. Probably some of their kids will still be at home, but he won't be able to provide them all with houses, jobs, etc. If his kids aren't dependant on him for money, and there is no tv show by then, what incentative do they have to stay under his thumb? Many of the kids will be in their 40's by then and like it or now, will be exposed to the outside world and ideas. I'm not sure how many people will be following Gothard either by that time, the lifestyle doesn't seem sustainable for multiple generations to thrive.

What makes me mad is that it appears people like Pauline are not only making money from being on Social Security disability, she's also making money from her porn clips, too. Ugh. And I'm certain that she pays no taxes and doesn't report any of this income to the government. No wonder she can eat fast food all of the time. Some of the other patients were visibly poor, you could see that without doing this television show, there is no way they could afford gastric bypass surgery. But this woman has duped us all, including Dr. Now.