Omg I thought that too! Okay not crazy. No need to step away from the Christmas wine. Carry on...

Oh good lord. Merry Christmas to me.

These are amazing!

"If chaste cosleeping next to a demanding nuisance means that someone is your girlfriend, then I guess I've been going out with my cat for the last 6 years."

Testing - testing. This is the third story with no comments so I am commenting on that? If this goes through, just ignore. Or, you know, rescue me from the greys because I have performed this stellar public service to y'all...

They will watch it with a fox, in a box, on a train, in the rain, black and white and rainbow bright.

Very Cool. I am so excited, I posted this and it worked!!

Seriously it took me the last two days to figure this out on another topic. My question was: Is it passive aggression if one does it purposefully? Yeah, no.

This is OT but your story reminds of sitting in the backyard with my (then) husband, having a beer, and I said, apropos of nothing, "What if one of us gets Alzheimer's?" His reply: "Fuck I hope it's me."

Heh, yes, that would get annoying. I probably use it no more than once in an entire letter/email but it is most likely the most charged point that I am making. I work for some sensitive souls and I really have to, umm, let's say, 'help protect their egos'.

Yes. I am far more likely these days to add a 'yes?' or 'no?' to the end of a sentence when I am emailing an authority person (for my work) just to make sure they understand I am not directly challenging them, I just am putting the thought out there for consideration. I find it helps, yes?

I guess this line is giving me pause:

Hmmm. I have (well, had) a good friend. Lived in my building. We got drunk together a few times. He was totally respectful. We talked about our respective relationships. He knew very clearly that I was in no way interested in one with him. He seemed to take that well. On his birthday I felt bad for him because he was…

Not only did I NOT see it as a red flag, it took me 7 god damn years to figure out what he really meant by that. And by that time I WAS a needy god damn mess. Needed me a bed in another city is what that fucking meant. You know, there were other red flags that I was willfully blind to as well. I was so god damn happy…

Exactly. It took me a long time to process out of that shit show. What should have tipped me off was not only the, "You're so strong, yay!" cheer leading he did, but that it was so obviously accompanied by HIS very explicit (and by very explicit I mean extreme, unmanageable, unreasonable) neediness. It was a real…

I love your comment. I swear I spent 2 years wanting to just lie down (with my thumb in my mouth some days) yeah, it got that bad. Wondering WTF just happened. I got diagnosed with PTSD after the shit show that was my marriage.

And then there's this: my ex (EX! whew) initially said, "I love how you don't need me! You are a strong, smart, successful woman!" Awesome, yes? Well I flippity took him fuckity literally. What he really meant was, "I am not capable of providing for ANY of your needs." Man, the fine print. Mr., "I don't want to be in…

Just a great statement all round.