Makes me glad I skipped it!

I know a great many responsible pet owners who do not have pet insurance. I include myself. Does that make us irresponsible, in your opinion?

No dairy? Ever?

It's been all over the front page of CNN; how much more coverage does it need?

Happy birthday to you! Same thing here- I got the cake-and-candies doodle today and once I saw this I opened a new incognito window so I could appreciate the actual one!

Reminds me of a High School classmate who said in an offended voice, and I quote, "I NEVER fart! I think that's just gross!" From a girl who was so weight-obsessed that she ate virtually nothing but brown bread and tuna. Suuuuuuure.

The ones that stand out to me were the ones that my father told to try to force my compliance when I was in High School. Like "Look at all of these clothes that no one can wear, because they're not folded!" or "No, you have to eat [x TV dinner that I neither wanted nor liked] because I already thawed it."

I love my kids and don't regret having them, but I say that to people who don't want kids, too. Because I know how darned much work it is, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone who didn't choose it for themselves. Do my kids sometimes make me unhappy? Yes. Don't get me wrong. But I'm not dissatisfied with the choices…

Keep in mind that Portland is unlike the vast majority of the state. Try spending some time north of Augusta ;) I didn't think I wanted to get out, either. I ended up having to for grad school and am happily resettled elsewhere (although in an annoyingly high-corruption state, alas).

Maine is low on the get-me-out end, but having been raised there, it's not that great. Much of the state is simply so insulated by distance (and trees) that it's impossible to imagine living elsewhere.

None of these things were news to me. Perhaps I'm in a circle of friends that talks about breastfeeding a lot. One more worth mentioning (please!) is that some women simply cannot biologically breast feed, for no reason that can be diagnosed. There's just nothing in there. THAT piece of news was the big shocker to…

I used Paragard for two years after my first was born (I was NOT getting on hormones again). It did increase the length and intensity of my periods (less than ideal) but in every other way it was perfect.

It's reassuring that I'm not the only one with permanent side effects. I did try a few different ones, and the last one dried out my eyes to where I couldn't wear contact lenses anymore. It's been six years and my eyes are still too dry. Fortunately, that was the only long-term side effect for me.

Better sex? Really? Nothing killed my libido like the Pill.

On my first movie date with a prior boyfriend, he answered his cell while driving to the theater ("Oh, hey, no, not doing much, you?") and then proceeded to annoy everyone checking texts on his brightly-lit screen during the film. Yeah, that didn't last.

For more on this, try Brian Wansink's book "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think". He covers this topic in more detail and discusses interesting psychological experiments with food, too!