Yes, please to the tags! ...or if that doesn't work thanks to Kinja, how about putting the words Dirt Bag in the title? It's a pain in the ass to find the evening Dirt Bag.

I've lost count of how many times my SIL has relapsed, so you're not alone. Feel free to vent to any of us Jezzies with family members with addictions.

As usual, this West Coaster is late to the party. Here's my top four:

The other upside to volunteering - think of all of the kitties you'll get to pet! So many purrs and chin scratches and head bumps!

The Germans have the perfect word for this: fremdschämen.

My husband has been allergic to everything with fur and feathers since he was a wee lad. When he was in elementary school his mom adopted two cats even though they gave him asthma attacks. She forced him to get allergy shots until he graduated. Every Christmas break after he left home for college, he would wind up in…

I'm just confused as to why she would go someplace to get her nails done. Why not have someone come to you?

Personally, I was always way more into Axl than Slash. However, Burt, I'm good friends with Slash's guitar tech's sister. Let me know if 13-year-old you (or 40-year-old you) wants an in via a slightly convoluted path.

I hear you. My love for him stems from watching MASH with my grandpa.

We always used to joke that the cats had a paper deficiency. Cardboard boxes would get chewed on, papers, paper grocery bags, etc. - if it was made of paper, it wasn't safe in my house.

Cats are great helpers aren't they? My cat used to help my mom grade papers. She always used to tell her students/my classmates that he only chewed on really great papers.

First of all, I am one of those people in the intersection of candy canes and candy corn, but only once per year. Secondly, roasted chestnuts are a pain in the ass. However, I have found one acceptable use in my kitchen - grinding the meat and adding it to pancake batter. Surprisingly pretty tasty. They went well with…

My mom has a recipe for scalloped corn that calls for cornflakes as the topping. It's disgustingly cheesy and good.

Well at least she's claiming to be positive. My MIL has said some really nasty things to my husband, her son, that I have to take issue with. I guess I'm fortunate in that even when my parents were mad at me they never said deliberately hurtful things or made passive aggressive comments. He's taken to calling her out…

Yeah. I don't think they wanted to create more drama by going against her ranting and raving. My husband and I are convinced that she has some sort of selective memory thing going on that helps her block out her bad behavior. He's had numerous conversations with her over the years that have taken a nasty turn on her…

Sooooo many stories...

My in laws have a family history of mental health issues, and while my MIL has never been officially diagnosed with anything, she shows some of the same symptoms as other family member. The following story is one of her more recent episodes.

Setting: Family cabin in N. Minnesota
Time: end of August…

I know, right!? I have a lot of cousins who can't stand the stuff.

There are some pretty good vegan gravies out there to purchase. I like the Hain varieties. They're pretty cheap, and my local Fred Meyer carries them. Homemade mushroom gravy is also yummy if your guest likes mushrooms. I would send a quick email/text to your friend to ask what they would prefer. I know a lot of…

You will love it! You're going to get to work with a lot of really great kids. Yes, it will be hard and a lot of hard work, but name an education job that isn't. The special ed. department at my middle school is amazing. They have made it so easy for me to work with them and have answered all sorts of questions about…

Were your student loans a hinderance when applying for a mortgage? My husband and I are going to start looking for home in the spring. My student loan debt is large, but it is the only debt that I have. I also make a pretty decent living at my teaching job. My husband's credit is not the best, but earns a decent…