I Saw The Signs: A Rewatch Thread

[Adiba]

1 hour ago, WhatAmIWatching said:

Didn't Robyn and Kody take another honeymoon (that wasn't filmed) after they did their legal marriage as well, or am I misremembering? I thought they said she took him to Hawaii with funds from her grocery budget so ended up with two lengthy honeymoons.

If she really "needed" that time, then maybe to make it fair/make up for the 3 originals (who didn't have similar extended or extravagant honeymoons) they could have used show $ to have 2nd honeymoons across the board, but I have a strong feeling that Kody would've put the kibosh on that.

 

Yes, it wasn’t filmed as I recall, but K and R did take a Hawaii trip after their legal union.
—The legal ceremony that Meri was supposed to have included in, but they snuck off without her
—The legal ceremony that they were going to keep secret but were outed online

—The legal ceremony that wasn’t supposed to change anything but let Kody adopt Robyn’s kids

Kody and Robyn are shady as hell.

[LilyD]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:58 AM, BoogieWonderland said:

I kinda feel like this is one of the reasons given for Kody being a dick and Robyn a bitch which is unfair.

Just quoted the first line of your post as reference. First, you have some valid points in what you’re saying. None of the marriages were perfect, the other wives certainly had their flaws and TLC changed a lot.

Yet there is a particular thing about Robyn you fail to mention in your posts. One that most of us missed the first couple of years: Robyn seems nice, a perfect addition and someone who has everyone’s best interests at heart. It takes a long time before you actually realise she’s incredibly two-faced and selfish. I could write pages of this but will mention just a few typical ones:

•  she wanted the plural family and be part of it, yet apart from one instance (right at the beginning) she always backs out of babysit or support requests. There are one or two clear examples in almost all seasons.
• The number of lies, particularly where she excluded the other wives after making promises she wouldn’t. The dress and the legal wedding are prime examples.
• Kody already had 13 kids, she knew he always had to divide his time, yet she always protested when he left her with her kids. Over the past few years she has even claimed that her youngest two cannot go a day without dad. (Really? In a polygamous family??)
• Lastly, what probably irks a lot of of us most: she quite possibly couldn’t help her personal debts, but from the day she married she hasn’t made a single (financial) attempt to give back to the family that paid them all off?? (Apart from the show appearances of course and the failed MSWC “venture”) Her bed was made, debts taken care of, no attempt to work nor any form of substantial contribution to the family life apart from taking and hanging around.

Like I said, I could go on and on. But it has been discussed at length here. It’s hard to see the real Robyn as she is very skilled in hiding her true motives.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by LilyD
Deleted double preposition

[WhatAmIWatching]

On 3/4/2023 at 2:09 PM, LilyD said:

Just quoted the first line of your post as reference. First, you have some valid points in what you’re saying. None of the marriages were perfect, the other wives certainly had their flaws and TLC changed a lot.

Yet there is a particular thing about Robyn you fail to mention in your posts. One that most of us missed the first couple of years: Robyn seems nice, a perfect addition and someone who has everyone’s best interests at heart. It takes a long time before you actually realise she’s incredibly two-faced and selfish. I could write pages of this but will mention just a few typical ones:

•  she wanted the plural family and be part of it, yet apart from one instance (right at the beginning) she always backs out of babysit or support requests. There are one or two clear examples in almost all seasons.
• The number of lies, particularly where she excluded the other wives after making promises she wouldn’t. The dress and the legal wedding are prime examples.
• Kody already had 13 kids, she knew he always had to divide his time, yet she always protested when he left her with her kids. Over the past few years she has even claimed that her youngest two cannot go a day without dad. (Really? In a polygamous family??)
• Lastly, what probably irks a lot of of us most: she quite possibly couldn’t help her personal debts, but from the day she married she hasn’t made a single (financial) attempt to give back to the family that paid them all off?? (Apart from the show appearances of course and the failed MSWC “venture”) Her bed was made, debts taken care of, no attempt to work nor any form of substantial contribution to the family life apart from taking and hanging around.

Like I said, I could go on and on. But it has been discussed at length here. It’s hard to see the real Robyn as she is very skilled in hiding her true motives.

 

 

That's a good start of a list, LilyD! You're spot on that it took a while to see past what her words were saying, to notice her actions didn't match up at all.

I remember during the couch sessions with all 4 wives, that she'd pontificate at length about polygamy and how it worked -or should work- when she'd never lived it herself before, and how she was an expert on all things Brown when she hadn't been there for the first 16 years.
 

Also: when she was combative and highly emotional about the older kids possibly joining a youth group (to make friends and have activities in a new town) when she was brand new to the family. It was not her place to decide for the kids she barely knew or overrule the bio moms, imo. 

Even in their book Janelle talks about how Robyn meddled (she didn't say meddled, that's my word) in the other marriages and told them how they should resolve conflicts with each other, which goes against her always claiming that she had no idea what goes on in the other marriages. 

 

Thank you, Adiba! I thought I remembered but wasn't sure of the details. Those two are the shadiest.

Edited March 6, 2023 by WhatAmIWatching

[Elizzikra]

Quote

Kody already had 13 kids, she knew he always had to divide his time, yet she always protested when he left her with her kids. Over the past few years she has even claimed that her youngest two cannot go a day without dad. (Really? In a polygamous family??)

I don't think that polygamy should be illegal (as long as everyone involved is an adult) but I find it problematic and would never choose it. Or more specifically, I would never choose to co-parent with someone who had many, many children (I don't know how many is too many but 13 definitely is. You know for a fact that there are just not enough hours in the day to be an active, involved and present parent for that many kids. I know plenty of families make it work and it definitely helps when your kids are spread out age-wise, but it's not a choice I would ever make.

Quote

Also: when she was combative and highly emotional about the older kids possibly joining a youth group (to make friends and have activities in a new town) when she was brand new to the family.

What was her problem with the youth group? 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Elizzikra

[WhatAmIWatching]

3 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

What was her problem with the youth group? 

   Robyn said she felt that they'd worked way too long and far too hard to stand firm in their faith (ok Ms. 5 Minute Bride 🙄) to let the teens go off willy-nilly to a youth group of a different religion(s). She said their frontal lobes weren't developed enough to make those decisions. She was basically forcefully backing up Kody's opinion, but it came off weird because she hadn't raised any of those teens, was still new to the family, and got rilly intense about it.

 Maddie clocked her with a "You said WE get to choose our own church!" to the other parents, and Janelle had that firm set to her jaw she gets when she's mad, and you know she was thinking "Hush up, Valtrex!" (Robyn had a giant cold sore)

Surprisingly, Meri calmly backed Janelle and looked at Kody like he was nuts. Even Leon was for exploring other youth groups and they were quite devout in the fam religion at the time.

Edited March 5, 2023 by WhatAmIWatching

[Pickleinthemiddle]

13 hours ago, WhatAmIWatching said:

to let the teens go off willy-nilly to a youth group of a different religion(s). She said their frontal lobes weren't developed enough to make those decisions.

Agree.  I think Meri and Janelle just wanted for them to have a group of other kids to socialize with who had the same type of values they had.  I don't think they were of the thought that all of the kids were going to run off and join this group.

[Cetacean]

Sobbyn loved pulling out the old "frontal lobe" argument whenever the kids pushed back. 

Plus, you know, those pesky Presbyterian punks are so wild and crazy.  Christine didn't want the kids "swimming with sharks".

The level of stupidity is mind boggling.

[General Days]

They have some kids who are now (non-Mormon) Christians, anyhow. Maddie has identified as such. I have wondered if Gabe might have converted, because in one scene (I think in Flagstaff, but possibly in one of the later Vegas seasons), when the family was praying, instead of folding his arms across his chest (which is their religion's prayer posture), Gabe had his hands folded.

 

[dariafan]

1 how big was Robyn’s grocery budget to get a trip to Hawaii ??

2. Robyn didn’t get to be in a youth group, so she’s jealous the kids could and wanted to 

[LilyD]

1 hour ago, General Days said:

They have some kids who are now (non-Mormon) Christians, anyhow. Maddie has identified as such. I have wondered if Gabe might have converted, because in one scene (I think in Flagstaff, but possibly in one of the later Vegas seasons), when the family was praying, instead of folding his arms across his chest (which is their religion's prayer posture), Gabe had his hands folded.

 

Garrison coverted to LDS, there were quite a few posts about his baptism that were shared on the forum here. Iirc both Maddie and Mykelti tried to convert to LDS but both were refused. To one of them, it was explicitly said that the polygamous family they came from and the reality show were a problem. So it kinda surprised me when I read that Garrison got in. 

[General Days]

45 minutes ago, LilyD said:

Garrison coverted to LDS, there were quite a few posts about his baptism that were shared on the forum here. Iirc both Maddie and Mykelti tried to convert to LDS but both were refused. To one of them, it was explicitly said that the polygamous family they came from and the reality show were a problem. So it kinda surprised me when I read that Garrison got in. 

It was said to both Maddie and Mykelti (at different times), when they tried to join the mainstream LDS church . They had to disassociate from their family (or wait until the family was out of the public eye). It happened with Maddie when she was in college. I think, before she got involved with Caleb, she was involved with an LDS group on campus.

Tony was raised Roman Catholic, but converted to the LDS church as an older teen. I think he had recently completed his mission, prior to meeting Mykelti. The LDS said she could keep attending church with Tony, but couldn't get baptized/join the church.

Now neither Mykelti nor Tony are involved with the church. Mykelti (I think) did say on a recent Patreon video, that some of the siblings have been allowed to join, and she finds that interesting.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

7 hours ago, LilyD said:

So it kinda surprised me when I read that Garrison got in

I think there is something more to it than just not letting them join.  I've heard of other plyg kids joining the LDS church.

[nosedive]

On 3/4/2023 at 6:52 PM, Elizzikra said:

I don't think that polygamy should be illegal (as long as everyone involved is an adult) but I find it problematic and would never choose it.

In my opinion, that's the crux of the matter.  Everyone involved is not an adult.  Kids are born into these families, indoctrinated in the belief system, cloistered at least to some degree and kept from alternative world views, and thus, destined to perpetuate the beliefs of the generations that came before. Females don't have the same rights as males, including young girls, some very young, who become one of multiple wives of grown men, some very old.  Additionally, by virtue of the patriarchal element of the practice of polygamy, polygamist unions are not unions of equality.  Far from it. The wills and desires of wives and spirit wives are subject to the will and desire of the husband.  Among polygamist families in the US, there's wide scale child abuse, incest, wife battering and due to the insularity of most of these communities, these crimes go unprosecuted and the victims do not receive the protection that the law would provide.  And, as providing materially for twenty or thirty or more people in one family is nearly impossible, your and my taxes are supporting these people through welfare benefits.  The Brown family is not a typical polygamist family, at least not since they've been on TV, and even what we have seen in their lives is merely the tip of an iceberg that victimizes the most vulnerable.  

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, nosedive said:

And, as providing materially for twenty or thirty or more people in one family is nearly impossible, your and my taxes are supporting these people through welfare benefits.

And continuing in a financial vein, only one of these women is legally married so no social security benefits for the umpteen other survivors which leaves them in abject poverty. I guess they figure god will provide.  Don't hold your breath....

 

[Elizzikra]

Quote

In my opinion, that's the crux of the matter.  Everyone involved is not an adult.  Kids are born into these families, indoctrinated in the belief system, cloistered at least to some degree and kept from alternative world views, and thus, destined to perpetuate the beliefs of the generations that came before. Females don't have the same rights as males, including young girls, some very young, who become one of multiple wives of grown men, some very old.  Additionally, by virtue of the patriarchal element of the practice of polygamy, polygamist unions are not unions of equality.  Far from it. The wills and desires of wives and spirit wives are subject to the will and desire of the husband. 

None of that is specific to polygamy, though. Conservative Christians, Orthodox Jews, Mormons, some Muslim sects and probably a whole bunch of other groups have these traits as part of their cultures. 

[Twopper]

On 2/28/2023 at 10:39 AM, RazzleberryPie said:

Robyn wouldn’t even have considered marrying them if the TLC train hadn’t driven into the station, so there’s that. 

I also think the secret shopping trip for Robin’s wedding dress, the fancier wedding reception, and the longer honeymoon were arranged by TLC not only for the story line but also to stir the jealously pot at the outset. 

[xwordfanatik]

13 hours ago, Twopper said:

I also think the secret shopping trip for Robin’s wedding dress, the fancier wedding reception, and the longer honeymoon were arranged by TLC not only for the story line but also to stir the jealously pot at the outset. 

You may be right.  Reality shows thrive on drama, after all.

[Cetacean]

1 minute ago, xwordfanatik said:

You may be right.  Reality shows thrive on drama, after all.

Which is why a new series with Christine and/or Janelle is unlikely.  Nobody wants to see a 50 year old woman dating, advertising Plexass, and visiting her grandkids.  I certainly don't.

[lookeyloo]

13 hours ago, Twopper said:

I also think the secret shopping trip for Robin’s wedding dress, the fancier wedding reception, and the longer honeymoon were arranged by TLC not only for the story line but also to stir the jealously pot at the outset. 

Well then - I wonder if they were all in on it?  As in a meeting that the producers say this will happen , wives act jealous etc. Maybe it was all staged 

[Fosca]

I'm not sure any of them are that good of actors.  I suspect TLC just told Kody "Hey, why don't you help pick out the dress?  Plus some money for the reception.  And here's a trip to Hawai'i!" 

Either there would be jealousy, or else if everyone "kept sweet" the audience would still be watching to see if it was real or who would break first.  Both of which I think happened.

[General Days]

3 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Well then - I wonder if they were all in on it?  As in a meeting that the producers say this will happen , wives act jealous etc. Maybe it was all staged 

 

The OG3 seemed like they got the wind knocked out of them. The producers might have staged it with Robyn and Kody though (in advance, I mean -- production might have suggested it, and Kody would have been all onboard, because it made it all about him, which is Kody's favorite thing).

[LilyD]

TLC probably decided to spruce things up to make it look more appealing for reality tv. I'm sure the producers had seen the pictures of Janelle's and Christine's weddings and those were gloomy, cheap, sorry occasions in someone's living room. (based on the pictures and their own stories in the book) The same goes for that sorry excuse of a honeymoon that Kody "organized" for Christine. (An unorganized road trip with nights in some dodgy motels)  It wouldn't make for good reality tv and would certainly not keep up the fairytale of a happy polygamous life.

I also suspect that TLC was behind several of the road trips and holidays. What better way to create some fun and drama than to send a family of 21 on a holiday? 

 

[BnJJ]

Speaking of wedding dresses, does anyone know why Janelle wore black?  At first I thought it might be an AUB thing due to her being divorced but Robyn wore white.

[ginger90]

5 hours ago, BnJJ said:

Speaking of wedding dresses, does anyone know why Janelle wore black?  At first I thought it might be an AUB thing due to her being divorced but Robyn wore white.

 

[Pickleinthemiddle]

5 hours ago, BnJJ said:

Speaking of wedding dresses, does anyone know why Janelle wore black?  At first I thought it might be an AUB thing due to her being divorced but Robyn wore white.

I think I remember reading that Janelle thought going in as another wife, it should be more of a hush hush low key event.  I believe only a few people attended.  I believe it was at someones house.  I think Christine's also small.

[Cetacean]

6 hours ago, BnJJ said:

Speaking of wedding dresses, does anyone know why Janelle wore black?  

Foreshadowing.

[BnJJ]

14 hours ago, Cetacean said:

Foreshadowing.

LOL!

I was going to add a comment about foreshadowing and being funeral-like attire but I didn't.

Such and odd choice for a wedding.

15 hours ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

I think I remember reading that Janelle thought going in as another wife, it should be more of a hush hush low key event.  I believe only a few people attended.  I believe it was at someones house.  I think Christine's also small.

I do recall all of that but black still doesn't make sense to me.   Christine dress (such as it was) was white.

[TurtlePower]

On 3/7/2023 at 10:23 AM, Cetacean said:

Which is why a new series with Christine and/or Janelle is unlikely.  Nobody wants to see a 50 year old woman dating, advertising Plexass, and visiting her grandkids.  I certainly don't.

I’d be interested for maybe one season, to watch the drama play out with Robyn and Kody in the background (rumours in the tabloids are that Kody is trying to keep Robyn happy by taking her on trips and buying her things 😆). They’ll be broke in no time, given Robyn doesn’t have a JOB.

Robyn being Robyn. 

[Cetacean]

Just me but I have no interest in watching the McBickersons try to figure a new grifting scheme to bring in the TLC dollars.  I don't need to see Sobbyn poking at her dry tear ducts bemoaning their fate and the faithlessness of the wives that bolted. Boring.

[Sandy W]

57 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

Just me but I have no interest in watching the McBickersons try to figure a new grifting scheme to bring in the TLC dollars.  I don't need to see Sobbyn poking at her dry tear ducts bemoaning their fate and the faithlessness of the wives that bolted. Boring.

Just for spite, I would watch with pleasure R & K marinade in the mess they have created. One or two episodes of that would suffice. 

 

[GeeGolly]

I'm onboard with watching Kody and Robyn fall apart. I've watched plenty of stupid shit on TV. Sometimes in the winter, anything will do. 

[LilyD]

On 3/9/2023 at 3:47 AM, BnJJ said:

I do recall all of that but black still doesn't make sense to me.   Christine dress (such as it was) was white.

My 2 cents: This is a fundamentalist, therefore very conservative religion.  A white dress in such cults is traditionally associated with the maiden getting married; the unblemished white if you like.  Janelle had been married before, so she didn't enter the marriage as a virgin making the white inappropriate. That doesn't explain the black but I would like to point out that fashion has never ranked high on Janelle's priority list. For Christine, it was her first marriage and I am guessing she was a virgin when she married. That made white the only acceptable choice in her religion. Any other color would have cast doubts on her modesty.

Robyn's dress was white and the marriage was a big occasion. It may have had something to do with TLC being involved. The white could have been for tv purposes to give it at least the allure of a real, thus legal, wedding. And we shouldn't forget that Robyn was 'really not really' married before, per her own admissions. She had had her cookie magically restored after all, making the white perfectly acceptable!

 

[Sandy W]

Taking a hard look at Janelle's wedding dress. It seems to be more of a teal blue/green rather than black.  Janelle, ever the practical one, probably chose that color thinking it would be suitable for business attire in the future.

[ginger90]

11 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

Taking a hard look at Janelle's wedding dress. It seems to be more of a teal blue/green rather than black.  Janelle, ever the practical one, probably chose that color thinking it would be suitable for business attire in the future.

That’s why I posted the picture. It didn’t look black to me.

[BnJJ]

3 hours ago, Sandy W said:

Taking a hard look at Janelle's wedding dress. It seems to be more of a teal blue/green rather than black.  Janelle, ever the practical one, probably chose that color thinking it would be suitable for business attire in the future.

Thanks, you're right, it is very dark green.  I seriously hope that she didn't wear that same dress to work, though I would not be surprised. 🤦‍♀️

These posts are all speculation and I was just wondering anyone had ever heard a concrete reason why she chose that colour (which I had recalled as being black).  I haven't been watching and dissecting this show since the beginning.  I stopped watching years back and only watched past season 7 and only read their book this year (2023).

[Art Of Noiz]

1 hour ago, BnJJ said:

Thanks, you're right, it is very dark green.  I seriously hope that she didn't wear that same dress to work, though I would not be surprised. 🤦‍♀️

These posts are all speculation and I was just wondering anyone had ever heard a concrete reason why she chose that colour (which I had recalled as being black).  I haven't been watching and dissecting this show since the beginning.  I stopped watching years back and only watched past season 7 and only read their book this year (2023).

My guess is that it was her 2nd marriage, and she wasn't a virgin. It was the 90s, and some of those unwritten rules were changing. I think LDS in any form, mainstream or fundamental was less progressive. 

Just my guess.

[dariafan]

WTched the episode when they leave for Hawaii & meri gave kootie her pictures.   1- they were better than I thought they would be.  2. Even if they were awful , you know she would throw a fit if they were not hung in a prominent place in each house 

[General Days]

16 hours ago, LilyD said:

My 2 cents: This is a fundamentalist, therefore very conservative religion.  A white dress in such cults is traditionally associated with the maiden getting married; the unblemished white if you like.  Janelle had been married before, so she didn't enter the marriage as a virgin making the white inappropriate.

 

The AUB "wedding ceremony" — it's a sealing — is different from traditional Western weddings, so it is hard to know where to start. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints modernized some of the ritual in 1990.

I don't know if the AUB eventually followed suit, but since Kody married Meri on on April 21, 1990, Janelle on January 20, 1993, and Christine on March 25, 1994, it is likely they were married under the old protocol particularly since the AUB began in protest to some modernization in the mainstream LDS church). In addition to affirming the principle of plural marriage (based on what's known as the "1886 Revelation," the AUB also stands in protest to extending the (male) priesthood to People of Color, and believes the Adam-God doctrine, which the mainstream LDS church pronounced false in 1976.

The marrying couple wears ceremonial robes for the sealing ordinance, which are white (regardless of whether either of them was previously married). Janelle didn't wear that dark dress for her actual wedding. She wore it for the low-key family celebration, after.

 

13 hours ago, Sandy W said:

Taking a hard look at Janelle's wedding dress. It seems to be more of a teal blue/green rather than black.  Janelle, ever the practical one, probably chose that color thinking it would be suitable for business attire in the future.

I think it's probably navy blue, and lighting gives it a teal cast. Janelle is big on blue, I suspect because of her striking blue eyes.

[Midwestern Lady]

I just rewatched Meri being afraid of telling Sobbyn she was going back to college. Literally afraid.    Sobbyn, of course, was a complete bitch about it since the Closet was super duper busy and how was she supposed to get all the work done when Meri ditched her?   Meri's return to college was all about Sobbyn, as usual.  

 

[Scarlett45]

On 3/12/2023 at 8:16 PM, ginger90 said:

That’s why I posted the picture. It didn’t look black to me.

It looks like a dark cool evergreen color- something Janelle figured she could wear again if she had an occasion. I can believe she didn’t want to wear white because it was her second marriage, and with her personality, wearing a dress again seems likely. 

[Sandy W]

46 minutes ago, Midwestern Lady said:

I just rewatched Meri being afraid of telling Sobbyn she was going back to college. Literally afraid.    Sobbyn, of course, was a complete bitch about it since the Closet was super duper busy and how was she supposed to get all the work done when Meri ditched her?   Meri's return to college was all about Sobbyn, as usual.  

 

At the time, Meri was in the throes of her hot and heavy romance. 

She took online courses so she was available to engage with "Sam" at any time during the day.  Not feasible if she was hanging with Robyn all day.

[RazzleberryPie]

4 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

At the time, Meri was in the throes of her hot and heavy romance. 

She took online courses so she was available to engage with "Sam" at any time during the day.  Not feasible if she was hanging with Robyn all day.

This whole thing was nothing but a power play. Robyn wanting the other wives to do all work for her unmarketable business, then she could blame them all for not helping when her junk jewelry failed to sell. Meri saying she wanted college instead partially bc Robyns idea was dumb and she was catfishing, being catfished, whatever but also, I think if Robin had found the cure for cancer Meri would’ve found a reason to buck against it just to show she was OG Legal wife and nobody is the boss of her. Those two Mean Girl Wives deserve each other. 

[Midwestern Lady]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

At the time, Meri was in the throes of her hot and heavy romance. 

She took online courses so she was available to engage with "Sam" at any time during the day.  Not feasible if she was hanging with Robyn all day.

   I did not know this was when the cat fishing saga started.    

[dariafan]

Why was kootie so excited about the lights he hung in the cul de sac ??  

[Cetacean]

32 minutes ago, dariafan said:

Why was kootie so excited about the lights he hung in the cul de sac ??  

Because they didn't immediately fall down? 

[Celia Rubenstein]

1 hour ago, dariafan said:

Why was kootie so excited about the lights he hung in the cul de sac ??  

He was marking his territory like the tom cat he is.  Or WAS, I should say.  The lights were a monument to himself, basically. 

The best part was how nobody gave a crap in the slightest when he lit them up ... he was expecting this wave of amazement and adoration but crickets.  LOL I loved seeing his ego take a hit.  

Regarding the jewry business, how much help could Robyn have actually needed?  I mean - of course she would prefer if she could get away with doing NOTHING - but how much did they ever really sell on that stupid site of hers?  I'm thinking the whole thing took maybe three hours a week, and that includes dealing with the website itself.   

I picture Robyn doing the "designing" which consisted of selecting pieces and having some of them stamped with her idiotic sayings, but that's all.  Someone else did the ordering/buying and the unpacking and the listing and the dealing with the occassional order and shipping.  You could manage the bookkeeping on an index card.  I can see her reserving the "fun" part for herself and leaving the (minimal amount of) real work for someone else to do.

[ginger90]

2 hours ago, dariafan said:

Why was kootie so excited about the lights he hung in the cul de sac ??  

Because he didn’t have to do anything else.

[Sandy W]

4 hours ago, Midwestern Lady said:

   I did not know this was when the cat fishing saga started.    

You are right.  The catfishing ran it's course from March 2015 until just after the Alaska trip. MSWC didn't start up until 2012.

I had a recollection of texts being exchanged with the catfish while Meri was taking her online courses but my memory is fuzzy on that.

[Cetacean]

3 hours ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

You could manage the bookkeeping on an index card. 

But, you know, she had all that plusing and minusing to do.

[BnJJ]

8 hours ago, dariafan said:

Why was kootie so excited about the lights he hung in the cul de sac ??  

I thought that they looked nice the first time around.

I enjoyed how absolutely no one cared about them the second time they were hung with Kody making such a big deal about them.