Meow25

LOL at the "cash and prizes". My daughters are all runners (I have 3), and we buy boy shorts/tankini tops for swimwear because we live on the shores of one of the Great Lakes and they beach run ALL the time, followed by a swim. It's not for modesty but more for practicality. It's really all about comfort. They live in leggings, and I just realized that my girls are satanic for wearing them....according to Lori Alexander's blog. Some of the modesty rules confound me. I seriously get baffled by it. One of the Fruits of the Spirit is self control? If the duggars have the Holy Spirit shouldn't they be able to practice self control? So confusing. It's literally a SIGN that they are believers, but the fundies don't believe that they are capable of it? weird.

Fundy story! We are mainline Christians who live in a VERY small town. Our town has about 3000 people, and our public school is combined with a few other towns and boasts graduating classes of around 100 kids each year. One of my boys runs cross country in the fall, and this year they had a new kid join. He was odd. He really had no social skills to speak of, but what was really weird is that he wouldn't wear shorts. We are a northern town beside a Great Lake, but in our area, it gets quite warm (80s) and humid. My son found out that he had been homeschooled, but was starting public school this year because his mom was having a hard time teaching him math. (kudos?) Anyway, he started telling my kid that he wasn't allowed to wear shorts because they were really women's underwear. My kid, raised in a mainline church, asked him, "Are you in a cult?" (LOL) he replied, "That's what people say about us." Fast forward to the first race. The coach tries to explain to the parents that he may not be able to race because they have uniform rules through the state. They petitioned the state to allow him to run in sweatpants (!) for religious reasons. My husband runs a recreational sports league through our church, which is great because our town doesn't have a rec center or activities. During the league's volleyball signups...he has a team of denim skirt wearing women and a few of their husbands/kids. Here come to find out....it was the SAME family as the sweatpants runner! They play volleyball in Denim skirts (girls) or jeans and polo shirts (guys). DH told them that they might want to wear appropriate sports attire, and he was told that they "dress modestly" because they are Christian. He calls them the Denim Cult team (but only in his own head!). He was pretty amused to learn that his shorts make him a cross-dresser. LOL. One more note- my son has this kid in two of his classes. Sadly he was never been taught how to write a proper essay, doesn't understand citation, has been caught plagiarizing but doesn't understand what that is or why it's bad and is about 4 years behind in math. I guess that at least he's been allowed to go to school. He's not allowed to read most of the novels that they read in class...so he often is assigned another book that is approved by his parents.

Pinworms or other parasite? Pinworms spread like wildfire, you even can get them from touching the handle of a shopping cart. It's common in kids, like lice. I've often wondered if the duggars have ever had issues with lice or parasites. Anyway, a parasite infection could definitely cause a bloated stomach. If you aren't on top of things pinworms are notorious for reinfection. :/

I just wanted to say that I'm a big GG fan. My daughter is 14 and we started watching the whole season together when we have spare time. ALL of season two was a lesson on why I don't want her dating a "Dean". LOL. It's a good way to show our daughters the subtle traits (or not so subtle) of a controlling boyfriend.

When you live in that kind of repressive, authoritarian family you learn deceit at your father's knee. Lying is probably 2nd nature to every single one of those Duggar kids. They had no choice. It becomes a survival tool.

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No, but even the idea is crazy considering what she grew up with. As a former cosleeper (my youngest is 10) we positioned the pillow exactly the way it's positioned in that bed...my guess was that he at least was napping in that bed.

Regarding the co-sleeping: This is GOOD. You have to know that the belief of her parents, and all fundies, is that babies are evil sinners -even at birth- and crying for "no reason" is punishable. I was told by a fundie grandma once that I should be spanking my 6 month old baby who had colic because it was "the devil inside her". Cosleeping is completely against any Gothard material I've read. This is a woman who was raised to stay on a blanket as a baby. If she moved off the blanket she was hit. Jessa should be applauded for this. This is a HUGE move from what she was raised in. This is attachment parenting, and is the TOTAL opposite of what the Pearl's would have taught. I don't think everyone understands what a but F-U this would be to Michelle. This is basic parenting principles to the fundies: the kid sleeps when you tell it to. Crying it out isn't even the beginning of what they do.

THIS!!!!! My husband and I met when I was 15 and he was 18 (I know). We waited 2 years until we had sex...dated that whole time. We then waited another 4.5 years to get married...after he graduated from college & had a job. I chose to go to community college so I was working before he was. We DATED (alone without chaperones!) for two years without sex (mainly because I was so young and he didn't want to pressure me). We dated a total of 6 1/2 years, and we've been married for 17 years. I don't understand why the word "dating" is such a hot button with these people. It's how you get to know someone. How is that bad? I truly don't get it.

It depends on the birthing center. I'm a Christian, albeit mainstream protestant, and I gave birth in a hospital 3 times...the last being a c-section. That being said, many of my more conservative friends are on this Christian + millennial hippie mixed with fundie type of parenting. We have a birthing center 2 hours away (yes....they drive TWO hours) that is literally in a barn, and only has midwives. My good friend lost her uterus due to a lack of good medical care/no access to a physician. The place didn't even have an OR. Many of these types also reject most medical preventative measures, like vaccines, and routine check ups. It makes me ill. They're also more likely to homeschool. It starts before exiting the womb, and it ALL stems from FEAR. Fear of medicine, fear of autism. fear of secular education...they have a fear based faith. The exact opposite of what the Bible actually teaches. I live in the northeast where all of these things really set you apart from others because it's a fairly liberal place. What scares me is that this insular type of Christianity is becoming more popular. I'm not impressed by it at all. I really hope that JinJer send their kid or kids to public school. It really would be so great to see.

I kid you not...I was eating leftover angel hair pasta when I watched this episode via DVR. That was not a good idea. EW.

The drama surrounding Meredith is so effing stupid. So everytime she's on a plane bad things happen? Can we count how many times Meredith has been dead or in mortal peril? Good grief. Pretty soon they'll have her hit by a train and miraculously survive. Seriously. We have gone FULL ON DAYTIME SOAP with these last few episodes. Hell, I guess it's been the last 10 seasons. I shouldn't be surprised. my series finale prediction: So we all know that doctors are tater tots and can't figure out birth control, so considering Meredith's past...she will get pregnant. She will have a traumatically sad abortion....but WAIT!!! Two months later she still feels pregnant. She finds out it was really twins...and she's still pregnant with the other twin. SURPRISE! The twin has some tropical worm disease that's NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE EVER! The baby dies, but in an ultrasound there is a THIRD BABY! TRIPLETS! She delivers her full term triplet on a helicopter on her way to a MUST SEE TELEVISION EVENT! Seattle is being hit by an asteroid! Meredith poops out her baby and then performs the first successful head reattachment on Dr. Riggs. Meanwhile, during her roadside bad ass surgery, she still looks at Riggs like he's a piece of dead fish. Riggs is the only survivor. Riggs wakes up and sees his not-dead fiance. She rode in on the asteroid. She's the angel of death, but she still has the hots for Riggs. Riggs dumps Meredith, who doesn't give a shit. The last scene is Meredith having Dead Derick sex. Mere realizes she has brain cancer and goes to live with Izzie so she can eat a million cupcakes. The children are never mentioned again. Everyone else is dead from the asteroid. The show is a JOKE. Go rewatch season 1 & 2. It's sad.

He's saving them. They're not reformed enough. Calvinism is the only correct view. ....for these assholes. Gah! I hate that hardline. I've run across a few who worship John Calvin more than they worship Jesus...and they're all ASSHOLES.

I'm surprised to hear that he has prudish sermons. Most evangelical reformed churches are known for their....over the top sex sermons. One prominent pastor got in hot water for telling his congregation that blow jobs are described in Song of Solomon so blow jobs should be given. Of course that guy was later accused of many different things and had to step down (Mark Driscoll). I recognize that many non-denominational churches preach different things, but other than the abstaining from sex until marriage...sex sermons can be pretty....UNprudish. We go to a reformed non-denominational church, even though my DH and I are not calvinists (we like the pastor & the congregation), and the sex talks are anything but prudish. Of course, our church also has a "Brews with Bro's" group that meets to study the Bible while drinking craft beer. Millennials. Maybe we aren't a good comparison. I assumed that most non-denominational reformed churches were the same. Most reformed evangelical churches come close to MacArthur worship, so I'm really surprised that his church would be so over the top conservative. Then again, I'm a yankee in a yankee church...so maybe it's a north/south culture difference.

I just rewatched Seasons 1-2-3. I have several NEWISH perspectives now on why the show lost it's shine very early on in season 3. #1. Izzie: Good LORD she became a very frustrating character. She should have been fired as a surgeon after Denny... It would have been FAR more interesting to her character to have her switch specialties (Like Richard said would happen on day 1) to something like psych. It would have played into the "surgery is tough and people drop out like flies" speech in season 1, and it would have given Izzie something else to do. Iz also got VERY whiny post-denny. Her irritation over Callie was over-the-top annoying. She became the preacher preachy girl in S3. She was HELLA annoying. #2. Bailey started to lose her way in S3. She lost a lot of her bad ass self. #3. Callie. Re-watching made me realize what a BAD pairing she and George were....if only aesthetically, though I always felt that George acted as if he was in some way BETTER than Callie. He always seemed to talk down to her...I hated that even though I was NOT a Callie fan. Sara is a beautiful woman, and she looked much more beautiful beside Eric Dane or Brooke Smith.... T.R. Knight just made her look....not like Sara should look. This is all my opinion, but really....it seemed like they went out of their way to make her look big, almost like...."See! Grey's has a BIG GIRL on the show and she's SEXY" Kinda odd, weird, and after school special. As a thicker girl myself it just felt very.....meh. Also...Callie was very VERY forced onto the viewer. They didn't introduce her gently, she was pushed into the show very forcefully. #4. Mer/Der: NOW I remember why it was so frustrating to watch S3. Those two acted like MORONS for WAY.TOO.LONG. with the communication issues. I swear, I had high blood pressure just watching it. #5. NDE: Meredith's 3 arc suicide special was truly the shark jump. The show, while going down hill from the beginning of S3, was DOA after Meredith was hanging around in the afterlife. #6. Addison should've left the show after the panties in the pocket incident. She felt unnecessary after that. Cast bloat began to be a BIG problem in S3/S4 and beyond. S3 bright spot: "From a Whisper to a Scream" was a brilliant episode. Cristina/George after the death of Mr. O'Malley was beautiful. That pairing was pure gold. It's too bad we didn't see more of them together as frenemies other than Cristina naked at the apartment.

I feel for Jackson... His mother & father were complete mismatches like mine were. My mother is a malignant narcissist. Cold, distant, driven. My father was a super passive enabler. My parents split when I was 17, my sister was 13. My dad waited until I ran away before he finally left her. I eventually moved into his place until I was able to recover somewhat. My sister was 13. My dad never fought for her. He had some REALLY bad advice that my sis wouldn't want to live with him, and that it's a waste of money and time to fight. That she would just sulk during visitations, and that it would only cause my sister pain to be dragged through a custody battle. So my dad let her go. He saw her once, when she needed money for college- which he gave her, and neither of us have seen her again. My mom was self-centered -to be very kind- and started a new life, with a new husband, and a new set of kids....she lives 5 minutes from me and has never met my children. She didn't come to my wedding (which she was invited to), nothing....all because I chose to live with my dad. My childhood was a nightmare...but that's for the novel. ;) My point is that sometimes people get really bad counsel. Sometimes people are just WEAK (like my father). Sometimes they just feel it's not good for the child, and they're better off without a custody battle. My dad to this day says "Someday she will pull into my driveway and maybe we can start over." She won't, because my dad dropped the ball BIG time and she felt abandoned. That pain doesn't go away....the abandonment. My sister was abandoned by my father, and I was abandoned by my mother. Catherine may not be a malignant narc, but she's very very strong willed...and Robert seems very laid back and weak willed. Perhaps he chose not to drag Jackson through a huge custody battle...thinking he was doing Jackson a favor. People make huge miscalculations all the time. I wonder, if for the GOOD of Jackson's self-image...did Catherine ever encourage her son to see or visit his father? Did she call Robert and ask him to come to birthday parties, graduations? If she did....kudos to her, but there is still a LOT missing to this story. He was too sweet of a guy to be a monster deadbeat asshole. There's way more to this story, IMO.

Minnick and Arizona are HELLS annoying. Two peppy cheerleader types kissing and being all cheery happy makes me want to barfo allover the TEEVEE. BLECH. They look like an effing toothpaste advertisement. MAKE IT STOP. I like Arizona. I was never a Callie fan, but she is much preferable to this totes annoying asshole.

Fall Winter Spring Summer Summer was total bullshit. ? I thought winter & fall were beautiful bookends with a lot of garbage in the middle episodes. I really dislike Dan Pallidinos perspective. ASP is much better with the girls. The he musical stuff was freaking awful, and wayyyyyyyy too damn long. Painful. In fall I cried from the Emily/Lorelei call until the final four words. I don't mind the final four words. It's appropriate. Emily rules. Logan & Rory belong together on Douche Island. The end.

Yea. Most states in the Northeast are very strict. Here in PA you have to have state certification with a teaching degree. At minimum, at least in our school district, you have to at least be working toward a masters in education to get a job. , It's also pretty difficult to find a job. The field is saturated with qualified teachers. Many of our college grads move south to find a position.

I felt the scene was emily changing her life shoes...from wealthy housewife to beachy widow with her own life.

The first date with Jason always bothered me. I get that she hates her parents world, but to have absolutely SO RUDE is just unconscionable. Enjoy the freaking food, get to know the guy, and later on explain that money & fancy crap doesn't make you swoon. She just ins't a nice person to anyone. She really is very malignant once you look at the severe narcissism she displays on the show. :/ She was so shitty to all the guys she dated.

My husband works in the financial world, and many people with disposable income will cry poor. He has a client with 330K in her checking account, yet applies for assistance to pay for her glasses. Drives him up a wall. I could see Luke being one of those super frugal type people crying poor. OTOH, I know ASP didn't put that much thought into her characters. Just saying, I know people who (by most standards) have disposable income...and they are always saying that they can't afford anything.

The name Sam Pancake makes me smile every time I read it. :P Good stuff in there. Cool story about LG's memory.

As someone who has a mother with a severe personality disorder, and had to go full-on NO contact, I can tell you that there is a HUGE difference between occasional contact and NO contact. Especially with children involved. No contact is NO contact. No calls, no casual hang outs, no holidays, nothing. It's incredibly difficult, akin to a death that you can't mourn.

Something thing I am realizing on re-watch...I was slightly sympathetic toward Emily during my first run through, but I am much less sympathetic this time around...especially with the Rory drop out stuff. At least Richard had the self awareness to realize he had made a huge mess of things. Emily was literally trying to recreate herself in Rory without any regard to Rory's potential. The scene in "The Prodigal Daughter with L/E on the airplane was heartbreaking. LG did a wonderful job subtly expressing Lorelei's longing to be loved & understood.