That part about preferring the written word? Yeah. Right there with you.

My own "take it in stride" guy helped me change my own outlook. It has made all the difference - for me, for our marriage. So glad that the same is true for you and Beloved.

I'm so sorry. She was a beautiful kitty.

I'm a Libertarian. In theory, I support an individual's right to screw him or herself up however they see fit. But having just recently discovered that one of my closest friends from college died of a drug overdose - and her drug use began with marijuana - I'm not so sure anymore. I don't know what the solution is. But it's really hard to personally know one of the casualties. I'm really glad you weren't one of them, and I admire you for sharing your story here.

I can hardly wait! I think absolutely everyone should attend this webinar, especially the nitwits who input text into the MSNBC news ticker.

Rita, I love it. Transformations are hard, but they're a lot of fun to admire.

That is so incredibly rude on so many levels that I can't even come up with a pithy retort that I wish you'd used. Wow.

(Applauding) I don't much care for Oprah, so I didn't watch. But I can imagine her take on the topic was devised mainly by her producers (read: under-/mis-informed). I also wholeheartedly support your call for us to end the self-deprecation and unnecessary apologies. Hear hear!

You are awesome (as is your son). The rest of those moms apparently never left high school themselves. Good gravy.

When my wallet was stolen in New Jersey, my first thought was, "Oh god, I don't want to have to go to the freaking DMV!" Not "oh, my money!" or "oh, my credit cards!" Nope, a trip to the NJ DMV is far, far worse. I'm sorry. Happy birthday anyway.

D, I love this post because I think this is a huge part of mothers' complaints that many don't acknowledge. Leave him be! Maybe he won't do everything exactly as you do it, but is that so wrong? It took me a couple months with our first child to let go of that control. I can hardly imagine hanging on for years and years. And you're right; it's good for both parents, as well as kids, to let go.

I'm determined to answer my kids' questions in a way that's sensitive both to the person they're asking about AND to them for having the courage to ask.

Jen, I can't even bring myself to read the back cover of Twilight.

BaltimoreGal, I did read Washingtonienne. Bleah. At least with that one, I had the foresight to check it out from the library instead of shelling out cash.

Cheers to your Beloved. Remind him to take it easy on himself and apply the bags of peas liberally.

Yeah, where it comes to the kids, we just laugh at what it says to them: "Oh how ridiculous! You can't be 22 already. Unless maybe...you want a beer?" And I laugh at it sometimes myself too. "Too busy to workout yesterday, eh JULIE?" it chides. "Yeah, I went to the gym and ran five miles. Silly balance board, you don't even have feet! Nyah nyah nyah!" I never said I was mature about it. ;)

Even though I enjoy skiing, the logistics overwhelm me. Not to mention the expense. Whoa. I love that you have a name for the cloudless skies. I grew up in Ohio, but my father was an Academy grad, so we always referred to a cloudless sky as a "Colorado sky" - much rarer there in the midwest.

Just awed by the achievement of spending six hours writing at home without getting distracted by household tasks and ending up puttering around. I struggle to have that sort of focus.

Your breakdown and mine sound about the same. Most of the time I'm not mad at all, but we all have our moments. I'm betting most dads are mad about not getting more sex. Seriously.

Oh good lord. So what would have happened if you hadn't been there? Would he have come to on his own and been just fine?

"Dude, it hurts." Hey, I've said that in the ER too! On the other hand, I have never thrown up in a bowl.

Hear hear. Great hair makes me so happy. Well worth the bucks.

Very glad she's okay. And you too. I had the same reaction to that same passage in Eden's post. Catharsis takes time and energy, and sometimes a catalyst like an ER trip and a Grey's Anatomy episode, but it can really clean out your system.