Kitt

BST ( that's what Sasha calls my husband) and I are much the same. It does not work well when children are little however! LOL Have you been listening to conversations between myself and wings again Rustle? I've done this as well, and gone as far as having my sister in law try on a sweater "for Aunt XXX" because they wear the same size. I got away with it twice about 5 years apart before the gal caught on!

Not quite a classic yet but... Kelly Clarkson also does a wonderful version.

For me it is all about making the people around me happy. Finding just the right gift to make someone squee when they open it is just the start. It then has to be wrapped just so, in order to amaze, frustrate or confuse the recipient and amuse the rest of the revelers present. I once gave my nephew and his wife ( at the time they were just starting to date and on a very limited budget) a gift certificate to an upscale restaurant. Rather than a small box or envelope, the certificate was rolled up and put into a napkin ring, then the ring and plastic serving ware was hot glued onto a fancy paper plate to create a table setting. That was put into a shirt box and wrapped. A lot of work? Yeah - but the look of puzzlement before he unrolled the "napkin" and the merriment in the room was worth it! As to how I unwrap something - it sort of depends on who is the giver, and where in the process we are. In my family we unwrap in turns - one package each all the way around the room for as many turns as it takes so that no two are unwrapping at the same time. That way we don't miss the look on someones face when they have opened just the right thing ( or the look of puzzlement while he is trying to figure it out!). Sometimes I tear in like the Tasmanian Devil, other times you would not even need to press the paper to use it again.

Those Sunday dinners usually are DDK!

That is so not a fair question to ask. I can honestly say I have never read a story here I did not enjoy! I have read hundreds, edited dozens, and there is absolutely no way I could choose one as the favorite. I have an entire list of favorites!

Interesting thought B1ue. That could tip the balance of power slightly back toward her side.

This may be the first Wade has heard of the extent of his mothers manipulations in this, he had turned it over to Elizabeth with no restrictions other than "nothing fatal". Remember, this is the woman who drugged and institutionalized her own mother in order to gain access to money that one day would have been hers and she was just too damned impatient to wait.

Don't we all?

Brad and Marc have just met. They have had so far one date that is yet to end since Will convinced Brad to take the guy with him to Australia. Shouldn't we wait till at least the second date before we label Marc a gold-digger?

LOL no admonishments for having kept it quiet - I did the same thing! Hope your day was fantastic and that every day going forward is too!

I've seen underage kids with no licences do better than that!

This is an idea I like. I am shooting for a gathering of friends etc on the weekend between the two holidays. I may not have enough family around to cook big for any more, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't build a new one!

As far as seeing the ex at the play - I would like to remind people BRAD made the arrangements, Marc didn't know till everything was set.

Killing two birds with one stone again Mann? Your prompts have an interesting habit of turning up in your stories!

Well said gentlemen! Both of you! I would like to add thanks to the other administrators for putting up with all the BS that can go on around here and keeping the site running smoothly!

I think the whole thing becomes a matter of perspective. As an outsider looking in, investing in oil and the like, with the intent of making a profit, is simply business. Granted the more anti-war factions would call it immoral, but for most it is just the way things work. JP has a strong conviction on such matters. To him things look differently than they would to me when it comes time to sit down with my financial adviser and go over how my investments are doing. To JP,having already been involved in Triton, maintaining that company and in the end making a profit due to the upcoming military actions is one thing. For his family members to disregard his opinions completely and invest as heavily as it appears Brad and Stef have must come across to JP as a failure on his part. He raised Brad, and met Stef when he was a 16 yr old rent boy. He had a hand in forming Stef's adult psyche as well. For them to be making decisions that are a polar opposite to what he purported as they were growing up has to feel like he failed as a parent. Please note, I have tried not to insert my personal views on the impending war, or pass any moral judgement on either side of this. I am simply stating I can see how the younger men would consider this a business opportunity they could not pass up, and how JP would see it as a betrayal and feel he had failed in raising them.

I love rule number two Mark! Well said!

Guess maybe I am more old fashioned than I care to admit. I have no problem with hand holding or KOTC with any couple, gay or straight, but I feel more intimate PDA's are not acceptable. Save the making out for the back seat, regardless of the pairings.

When you have grown up with the sort of friends my father kept that isn't so hard Adi. If you want a true story to work from drop me a pm.

The bad and the ugly need to be handled politely however. Even if you want to condemn someones work as garbage, keep it confined to the work, and don't condemn the person!

I know it sounds weird - but you should be proud of what you did. I have been the first on scene at many accidents, and several of the victims didn't make it home again, so I know what you were faced with that night. You did the best you could at the time and the boy did not die alone. Because of you, he had support and love at the end. No one can ask for more.

What Val said! I couldn't imagine doing something like that when I was a teen and if I ever heard my daughter did it...

Thats the thing David, the manufacturer was NOT paying the shipping costs. They wanted ME to!

I thoroughly enjoyed the meal we shared with Mann and Neversurrender when we were in Michigan last spring Carlos. You would be more than welcome at my table as well! Just don't ask me to share in those cigars!

And I'm not available this weekend to pick the busted one up. It is destined to become my new, improved, larger smoking box. You are always welcome for dinner however Mann!