I'm late to this conversation, but I want to echo what some other commenters have said about it being a potentially long-term process. I work in US immigration and have had my hand in some outbound matters. I always thought the US system was the worst/most complicated (and it is VERY difficult), but I've recently…

Totally money reasons, so maybe I'll look into PR, DR, and the like. I have a great job and income that would allow me such international jaunts, but I'm in serous debt. I actually should just put my tiny little surplus towards my debt, but I just want to get away so bad.

Am I in a minority (or singularity) where i saw a resemblance to Olivier Sarkozy?! I mean, good on ya either way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I'm 29 and that sounds like a perfect birthday to me. Have a lovely, lovely, lovely day enjoying your friends and family!

Thanks for the suggestion! I would totally agree, but I have already spent about two days in NOLA by myself. A few years ago I arrived a day in advance of my lacrosse team and spent a good amount of time wandering the French Quarter by myself. After the tournament, I was the last to leave and, thus, had almost a full…

YO, I'M HULK. This makes sense because I have always had anger management problems, but I feel like they have dissipated since I stopped playing truly competitive athletics. I was nearly kicked off my college field hockey team for anger management issues before I decided to quit (though I still played lacrosse and…

don't ambivalent-face it, embrace it. i'm a hulk too.

I'm the Hulk too. I used to have a pretty major anger management problem (almost got kicked off my college field hockey team), sooo .... maybe this is accurate.

I'm the Hulk too! Also quizzical about the decision of the internet gods.

Travel question for US Jezzies:

It's because Jordan Catalano can't read. Duh.

And the way he leans! I just like how he's always leaning. Against stuff. He leans great. Either sex or a conversation — ideally both.

An old friend of mine went to Mizzou for grad school and I visited her out there. From my limited experience in your state, I"m super happy for Mizzou and Missouri in general.

I remember seeing some huge-ass fucking dog at one of my softball games when I was maybe 9 or so and I just could not wrap it around my head that it was a dog and not a pony or horse. For a while after, I would tell my mom, "Remember when we saw that dog-pony at softball?" I think I actually thought a dog and pony…

Replying to myself because I don't think I can edit for a second time - I saw your other responses re: wanting to and contemplating keeping the dog. I'm sorry to have potentially caused any guilt. A big thing now - or at least it was for me - is to trust your own decisions unwaveringly.

I don't think mine's particularly interesting, but it's been my internet handle since about 2003 after the unfortunate and emo screen names I had in high school. There's a song called "Argyle" by my favorite band (since I was 13/14) - the Bouncing Souls - and there's this one bit in particular, "When I lose, every…

That's a great idea re: the retirement community! That would be a great way to honor his memory. And, hey, maybe it could lead into a friendly relationship with a lonely person if she wants to go that route. My dad is in a nursing home. I wish they had a program with therapy animals because he really misses our poor,…

My condolences to you. My mom will have been gone two years this April. She wasn't entirely well, but she passed after a fairly sudden bout with pneumonia. I had about five days where she was sick in the hospital to process that she was going to pass most likely, but it still felt very sudden in the long run. I…

Thanks for this. My brother is a heroin addict. His most serious problems started when my mom passed. He was 29 (now 30) and her passing essentially left him homeless because she had been enabling him for 10+ years. He's been in prison since October after 18 hard months of staying on people's couches and in shelters,…

Thanks for the positive note. I also grew up with a kid who had a severe hearing impairment. Our teachers wore a microphone that was passed along from class to class. We would be asked to speak into it when speaking with him in class, though he could read lips most of the time.