Daddydavek

Funny thing is I will never think of 'Jingle Bells' the same.....

Saw a news item about the controversial Kmart Christmas ad for Joe Boxers and had to find the compete commercial on youtube. I really can't imagine why anyone found it shocking or controversial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFnPyVkFwUk Here is a link to the Huffington Post article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/18/kmart-joe-boxer-commercial_n_4297786.html

Happy Birthday Louis! & Many, many more!

Glad to hear you are keeping busy and that you were not just hiding from life. Get through your medical treatment regimen and be gentle with mom. Being busy is not such a bad thing. It seems in retrospect that I was so busy in my thirties, forties and fifties that I can't imagine how I got through them. Stay in touch as much as time permits!

In life there are no guarantees. Children don't come with a user handbook for parents. Children are also not a tableau rosa, especially if the birth mother used drugs, didn't have proper nutrition and a host of other factors. We were married 9 years before we adopted and researched it for 5 years before we took the plunge. We went through a very reputable agency that did comprehensive background checks and received extensive counseling. Most parents and most children are not perfect and mistakes are made despite the best of intentions. While we do not know the complete details of the example provided, we can probably assume there was plenty of blame to go around. A failed family experience is devastating for the child and usually for the parents as well. IF ONLY is a blame game. It is truly sad that it happened. Does that mean adoption is a risky choice? Absolutely. So is having your own children. Again, there are no guarantees. It is just like taking a chance on love. You can get hurt and probably will, but could you live without it? Children and grandchildren are wonderful even though not always and not for everyone.

I thought the map was an eye opener. I liked the way you could zoom into areas for each of the basic groups and then for the subgroup terms as well. There is a lot of prejudice in the US and anyone who thinks otherwise has their head up....ehhh, I mean in the sand.

The exploring adventure was great and now back to their insane schedules.

​HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Life sure gets complicated.

Arbour's stories are noteworthy for their attention to detail and he paints incredible word pictures which puts his readers right in the moment. And he does it without pretense. He certainly has a knack for telling a good story and was the reason I joined GA!

​HAPPY BIRTHDAY! & Many, many more!

Oh, and what about Charles Dickens? Wasn't he paid by the word for some of his stories?

It's kind of sad when you think about it. The young man apparently never has had a close loving relationship in which he wanted to give himself to another. So to replace that with "performance art" seems like a poor second choice in my humble opinion....

What a great review. Thank you very much! I wanted to write a story that had a happy ending and I'm glad you liked it.

F Funny thing is but I've always found that if you expect the worst from someone, you are rarely disappointed. However, if you expect the best, you are sometimes pleasantly surprised. I'm not a starry eyed kid, but I have found that treating people as you would like to be treated and not judging them or pigeon holing them, can have some real impact. There are enough kids treated like trash, who act like trash and only expect others to trash them in this world without perpetuating the vicious cycle. BTW I love that video with Carrie!

Well I think you will find out if you keep reading. Thanks for the review!

I think the latest chapter which re-introduced Zach as a somewhat reformed bad-boy was intended to provoke a discussion in the forum which has not really happened. I'm referring to the ability of people to change for the better. To make a conscious choice and goal driven decision to improve themselves and change their direction in life. Zach could be on such a mission and while he is young, good looking and egotistical, he has figured out that a self-destructive lifestyle with no regard for others was not a good place to be. Hopefully, even if he remains a back character, we will see him succeed.

Mid-October 2013 has come and gone and still no word from our erudite, but usually late wordsmith......

JJ's pov was well done and shows he is not the completely shallow, self-absorbed elitist some think he pretends to be. Well done. Poor Will, having to revise his some of his preconceptions about Zach, and also about his positional preferences! Still looking forward to the outing with Wade to see Ethan. I guess I'll have to wait another week.

My biggest regret is being careless with some friendships and losing touch with some friends over the years. Coming from a large family and always so involved with work and my immediate responsibility to my wife and kids, there never seemed enough time to maintain contacts with all the people who I genuinely liked and cared about, including people with whom I served in the Army more than 40 years ago. In a combat unit that is deployed, you get pretty close.

" But what do you suppose is going on with her? Why does she want to run away from a good thing??? I would have given her the world if I could!" For some people it is never enough and your ex sounds like someone for whom no one will ever be enough. I think you are well rid of her. There are takers and givers in this world and love is between two people who want to give of themselves to the other without being quid pro quo about it. It really is time to move on with your life.

"The closer they get in these three weeks, the harder it will be to leave each other." If they really think there is chemistry and the beginnings of love between them, then they should go for it. Never pass up a chance at true love. Sure it will be harder but if it isn't hard to be separated, then it isn't all that much true love after all. Love means never wanting to be apart. Being apart means you do everything in your power to get safely back together as soon as possible. The men were smart about not continuing to dwell on it after they made up their mind to try. After all, tomorrow is never really promised to any of us as the the news makes clear almost every day.

B1ue, now you've spilled it about the emancipation exception, but will Will catch it when studying for his permit? Probably. Yes, I expect his next big purchase will be a car sometime in about a year from now in the CAP timeline. But that will probably be in a later book of the saga. I am still looking forward to Wade and Will's meeting with Ethan and seeing how that plays out. Somehow I don't think it will be all smooth sailing.

Happy Birthday! I hope your day is music filled!

Happy Birthday! Success and Happy thoughts!