Thanks, sweetie. He’s zonked out with the big plastic cone (that he haaaates) right now, but there’s a frozen bone and plenty of scritches waiting for him when he wakes up!

Sooooo... I had an absolutely horrible thing happen today. I’m sure a lot of y’all remember Joss, my service dog in training.

Tell that to my teenager, who shrugs anytime anyone brings up porn, but swears that you can tear AO3 out of his cold, dead hands. And shockingly, it hasn’t done a damn thing to warp him. Now, he’s had comprehensive sex ed that addressed all the gaps that the schools left open, he understands what porn is and he’s had…

Get the chocolate-covered Mint Oreos and put them in the fridge/freezer! They taste almost exactly the same.

I did some massive decluttering a couple years ago when I moved - we ended up filling the entire dining room with boxes to go to Goodwill and it felt AMAZING. Since then, I’ve slipped a bit, but Kidlet and I have agreed to do some more decluttering with spring cleaning. I’ve been looking at whether or not I’d pay to…

Try ebay. Kidlet and I got the full box set as a household Christmas gift and paid about $90 for it, with free shipping.

When Kidlet was about 8 or so, we were watching TV and a commercial for prostate medication came on. I’m only half-paying attention, but then the commercial got to the part about the med not being for women, especially ‘if you are pregnant or nursing, etc’ and Kidlet. Went. OFF. I’m talking a loud screech of ‘WHY…

I wouldn’t bring it up right away, but if you can tell that this is someone that seems likely to stick around for more than a couple dates, then yeah, they need to know. I’d say right about the time you’re getting ready to have the ‘relationship yea/nay’ talk is good. Let them know what you’re dealing with, how long…

How old is the dog? Absolutely crate train - it’s essential for when you’re not home. Also, get hooked up with a good trainer in your area (positive training only!) and start obedience classes EARLY. Give your new pupper about a month or so to settle in, but you want to make sure that you’re socializing, even if it’s…

I’m definitely with you on the motto problem. I’d always believed it was ‘E Pluribus Unum’, and according to Wikipedia, that WAS the de facto motto from the time of our founding up until 1956, when the ‘In God We Trust’ was officialized. Right when there was all the concern about communism and they added God to the…

I’m so glad that I’m not the only one having this ‘problem’! I started an eating plan last year that meant I cooked a lot more, using pretty simple ingredients. I wasn’t all that surprised when soda and snack cakes tasted like chemical crap, but what caught me off-guard was learning that I can’t eat things like the…

Oh, God, you too? I was a sporty kid with no weight problem whatsoever, as was my brother, yet because SHE was on WW, Mother basically had us all eating their food - keep in mind, this was in the 80s, before WW decided that food was allowed to be tasty. Dry-ass, boneless, skinless, broiled-within-an-inch-of-its-unlife…

Ohhhhh, God, now I can only live in hope that Colicchio or Gail stop by for a guest judging someday! The looks of pain on their faces would be PRICELESS!

My last ex and I were supposed to get married in a lovely intimate little ceremony at a beautiful park, and everything was perfect. Right up until the judge didn’t show up. Phone calls weren’t answered or returned, so after about an hour we said fuck it, we’re going down there. We had the license, I’d taken the day…

I’m kind of dealing with the opposite problem - I’ve been training my dog for service (balance, picking things up, etc) and so far he’s doing amazing - except that he does tend to whine and alert for other animals. We’re working with a trainer, his vest clearly says he’s training, and anytime he starts to so much as…

In some ways, it seems to me that fanfic’s sort of stepped into that niche for the darker kinks. I’ve read and written a fair amount of noncon/dubcon, and I’d hate to see it go away completely. That part about books not being real life is so very, very true. They can be our place to explore pretty much whatever we…

Absolutely. The last year was really up and down for me - I got a dog that’s been training for service (and doing amazing at it!), got my disability approved, and have really been doing good at going to the gym and eating well after a small roadblock when my operation didn’t work out the way I hoped. And now I’m…

That was the same vow I made after I skipped my flu shot and then promptly contracted Swine Flu and got fired for missing work (despite the fact that the department head himself had asked why the hell I was at work when he saw me the day before I finally called out) and every year since, I’ve made sure that, come…