marsdragon13

I'm among the most awkward people in the world.

Yesterday, one of my best friends lost her father suddenly after some respiratory problems that had been going on and off for a couple months. I did the requisite "I'm so sorry and I love you and please let me know if I can do anything", but she texted me this morning to mourne Alan Rickman and then we chatted about some other minor things and I'm not sure if I should mention her dad again or let her bring it up? She's very introverted, as am I, and I know she mentioned wanting to "experience it without a crowd of family around her" when it started to look grim yesterday. I don't want to push her into sharing, and I'm never sure what to say after the "I'm holding up but it sucks." response that we've already gone over a few times.

I know no one ever really knows what to say, and she's the type of person who I could honestly say "Look I suck at this and I don't know whether to bring it up or wait or what" and she'd understand but that also kind of feels like I'm putting her in the position of making ME feel comfortable, and I don't want to do that.

I almost never dress girly (hooodies and jeans, thanks), but my friend s bridal shower is this weekend at a church and I have this dress: http://www.target.com/p/textured-a-line-dress-moss...

I need to find shoes and possibly a jacket or some kind of sweater for it, I have melting snow with occasional ice patches and 49 degree weather to contend with. Any suggestions/examples would be highly appreciated.

I recently missed several days of work for an emergency surgery, and was given a card signed by everyone and a seperate envelope of cash to help with the missed time (we don't have sick days) by one of the girls here in the office. I work in the office as well. We also have two warehouses of 30-35 guys in production that I tend to only speak with in passing, give or take a few that have been around for years and I know well. How would I address thanking people when I don't know who contributed the cash? I can email the office people, but for the warehouse can I just thank everyone sort of in general for the card 'and everything' as they ask the standard how-you-feeling spiel? We don't have a central bulletin area where I could post something.

I am sure the woman who handed me the cards was the one who bought/organized everything and I thanked her in person and via email, but this is really generous and I feel bad not expressing how grateful I am to everyone.

Our basement drains are backing up, which they have done in the past but it's been almost 2 years since the last time. I haven't been able to figure out any pattern... sometimes it's winter, sometimes it's raining... sometimes its the "clean water" drain and sometimes it's that and the sewage drain. I had a guy out a few years ago who suggested ripping up the floor and replacing the pipes but then it quit backing up.

It will do it when we flush, shower or run water and stops when we shut the water off.

My boyfriend and I moved into a house recently where the yard is less than stellar. This is our first home and I'm completely lost on where to even begin making it useable. We have a CRAZY amount of weeds... the yard is more (what I BELIEVE to be) annual bluegrass than actual grass. Looks like a prairie. Plus the crabgrass and other random weeds. There's a rotted wood "floor" from an old shed with God knows what living underneath it. We also have a laughable amount of ant hills and spiders (including the horrifying giant garden ones). It's a corner lot at a bus stop so we also fight trash people just toss over the gate.

I don't need anything fancy, but I would love for my toddler to be able to play out back without worrying about what he'll find or him getting bit by a bug/spider. Any tips on where to start? We're planning on raking the whole yard to try and get rid of some debris and the dead grass that I'm sure is preventing any healthy stuff growing. The dirt is somewhat sandy, and there's two huge birch trees so mostly shade.

My boyfriend and I have been friends with a married couple for several years, I've been friends with the wife since elementary school. She is VERY by-the-rules about everything. Her husband smokes pot behind her back, and I told him that unless she asked me directly I wouldn't get involved. I don't think it's a big deal, but I know that she would absolutely lose her mind.

That said, he lost a job last year after failing a drug test (kind of, temp was off cause he was using someone else's urine) and told her it was because his temp was off a bit and they only gave him a half hour to use the restroom again and when he couldn't they insisted on a doctor appointment and blah blah blah so he was just going to quit and find a new job, which he did. She stresses constantly about money. They get by, but there's been extra things lately... a local festival that she was dying to go to, 1-year pictures of their daughter, that they haven't been able to afford. He said absolutely NO on the pictures, but I know for a fact that he just bought a new bong and that he's spending at least $20-30 a week on his pot.

I'm getting uncomfortable with her so stressed, and I feel bad for her. I like him a lot though, and I don't want to damage a friendship or their marriage. Should I mention anything to her?

I'm sure there's a hundred million of these questions, but I feel like they're all about office casual clothes.

I'm 25 years old, and pretty much never buy clothes. My mom gets me t-shirts and a hoodie or two for Christmas every year, and I buy jeans when the crotch starts ripping. We were really poor when I was a kid/teen, so my clothes mostly came from my friend's older sister when she got new ones. I've literally never bought my own wardrobe. We have some spare cash now that I can afford to at least start.

My problem with the "basics" lists is that they're all for what I'd consider "office" dress. I do work in an office, but it's ultra casual (for example, today I wore a 7 year old hoodie from high school with the pocket half ripped off) and I also box up old, dirty parts all day. Button-down white shirts are going to get ruined within an hour. I'd still like something a little more girly than a bunch of men's T-shirts though.

Anyways, I'm looking for a basic list of things that I can mix and match to get a few outfits out of and maybe a few stores or websites to try. Even those collages that people put together everywhere if someone knows where to find them. It'd be super helpful. I'm heavy set but not huge and apple shaped (aka: no butt) and just had a baby... so no mini skirts and the like. :-)

Im pretty much stuck going to this as she's my sort-of SIL (my fiance's brother's wife) and we're both having babies and showers about the same time (this is our first baby), but I kind of want to make sure I'm not just being some judgemental harpy.

This will be her 3rd baby under the age of 4, she has an older boy and a 2 year old girl. This one is another girl. His brother also has two older (8 and 9) girls with his first wife. He makes very good money but they have really poor spending habits and she's had some drinking problems in the past (they both smoke quite a bit of pot still, which is usually no big deal in my opinion... but to the point that they've lost their last 4 leases).

Anyway, a few weeks ago she posted on facebook asking for someone to host her a baby shower. I ignored it, but her mom is throwing her one (coupled with the older boy's birthday party, as she just posted mentioning gift ideas for both). Isn't this a bit much? I'm having my own baby, and we make a lot less than he does... I kind of want to skip the shower and not buy anything.

I am friends and co-workers with a girl I've known since we were 8. Se has always HATED kids and been very vocal about it. Friends with babies were avoided, and when their kids would try and talk to her she would roll her eyes and tell everyone how annoying kids were. She had to "force herself" to spend time with her siblings kids. She even tried to get her tubes tied less than a year ago, but due to her young age the doctor wouldn't.

I found out 3 months ago that I'm pregnant, and seriously worried about our friendship continuing. The day after I told her, she informed me that she'd been thinking and had decided that she and her husband were going to start trying for a baby. She told her husband (who I've known for years before they met, he'd always wanted kids but lied and told her he didn't) that she'd been thinking about it for several months.. but told me she'd only considered it for the night after my news.

Anyway, in the two months since, they've started trying. She's bought every ovulation tracker under the sun, painted and started decorating a nursery, and even chose a name from the same video game (not as juvenile as it sounds! haha) for her potential boy as we chose for our boy. And I'm feeling a little... I don't know... I guess a mixture of angry and worried? I'm NOT the competitive type, and I'm not usually so catty, but it's almost like she's taking something from me. We work in a very small office and have the same group of friends. I don't expect people to flop over in awe because I'm having a baby, I'm not like that at all, but I can't help thinking it's like "Oh, the girl who always wanted kids got pregnant. Woo." vs. "OMG I THOUGHT YOU HATED KIDS WHAT CHANGED WOW!!" Which probably stems from some other issues of MINE, I tend to be very easy going and hard to frazzle... she is the opposite, so especially at work people tend to jump in to her "rescue" at the drop of a hat. I did the same job for years before she worked here with far less staff, and was basically left to fend for myself. Even pregnant I tend to be left carting the heavy parts around on my own, while the others in the office jump in to do it for her.

And worried, mostly because I KNOW she hasn't thought this through. She's super strict about routines, and rules at home, and anal about almost everything, and care barely make it through a stuffy nose without calling a priest. She doesn't handle stress, or anything going against anything she says or wants, very well AT ALL. Even her family's first reaction to her change of heart was "You're not that maternal... and we're not taking it when you're fed up with it."

Agh, sorry for the long rant. I just need some perspective I guess, I don't want to be that jealous, bitter person. I know I probably sound really selfish and arrogant, and I swear I'm NOT at all and I don't mean to be. I mean... at the very least decorating a nursery less than two weeks after you've started TRYING to conceive is a little bizzare, isn't it?

My dad was in prison for the first 22 years of my life, though I did visit him growing up. He's been home since last year, and i think he's trying to make up for lost time. I've lived on my own since I was 19. Neither of my parents have ever needed to cover my bills, cosign for anything, and I've loaned my mom money as often as she has me. I'm in college, own a car and house, and am marrying my boyfriend of 7 years.

But dad wants to pretend no time was lost, and I'm still a baby. He calls me pet names, holds my hand, talks about all the things he wanted to "protect me" from, like a bad landlord ("you call me if they mess with you again"), frets over me grocery shopping alone, treats every decision I make like I'm declaring the Nobel prize winner ("John wants burgers for dinner... I don't care, what does my girl want? Great choice!!!")

I'm sure he means well, but he wasn't the man who raised me and feels more like an uncle or something so it really comes off as condescending. Talking to him isn't an option, he's VERY insecure about his life now and it would crush him. Are there any subtle ways to let on that I'm am adult and being babied isn't sweet, it's insulting?

I had a back, bottom tooth (second to last, the one in front of my wisdom tooth) pulled after it became infected this past summer. Because of the infection, it took 4 rounds (12 shots) to get the area numb. While it wasn't terrible and didn't hurt, the thought of doing it again makes my skin crawl (I have this... thing... about metal on my teeth. If I accidentally touch my silverware to my teeth I have to stop eating or I'll be sick). Feeling the needle scraping down my tooth literally brought me to tears, and not at all from pain (okay, except when the tooth popped out and the wrench thing whacked a different, upper tooth).

Anyway, I have one more tooth (back top) to be pulled, and two that need root canals. (Yea, my teeth weren't my top priority as a kid/teenager... the two being pulled have had visible cavities for at least 5 years). What are the odds that the dentist would be willing to put me under and do them all at once? They're all on the same side of my mouth, on the top. The two root canals are adjacent teeth. I'm sure it'll be insanely expensive, but I've been saving up and plan to put that into my teeth. If not totally out, how effective is gas or oral sedation? I have a HIGH tolerance for everything (as in, 9 shots o' tequila and not buzzed at all, or the aforementioned 12 shots of novocain, or the pain meds they gave me doing diddly to help) so I imagine it not working very well.

Ok so now that i'm 80 running these dungeons will yield the emblems now, and i am a Arms warrior any specific dungs you would suggest?

I just leveld up to 80 tonight. I have a warrior now i know i need to run heroics in order to get gear and the emblems. But my heroic tab in the random dung generator is grayed out saying I need better gear in order to run heroics. So as you can see I am confused on what to do. Also isnt like Shat that once you ding to 80 daily quests for money are available?

I was reading an article and it said something about Bones going to Guatemala in season 4... what are they talking about? The last episode I saw had Booth waking up with memory loss, and it had a big fantasy plot about a night club. Was this a previous season that I didn't see?

Did I miss something?

My boyfriend and I work together, and his "supervisor" can't stand him. So, he's typically really passive-aggressive (sent him home for the day for punching in 5 minutes late one time). Anyway, he's taken to pulling my boyfriend's time and mind card and making remarks about the times, like, "She punched out at 5:15, you left at 5:06... you couldn't wait, are you stupid?"

Now he's started pulling it and writing on it. Like, if we get there at 8:02 instead of 8:00, he'll underling the time and write "LATE" on it. He's got NOTHING to do with payroll. He's the guy with the most seniority in my bfs department, and that's all. He's not the manager.

We live in Michigan. Does anyone know if there's anything I can do? Talking to the manager doesn't help, we're a small company and management/the family that owns the company is laid back to the point of total inactivity. A reference would be great, something I can print out and passive-aggressively paper clip to our time cards maybe?

Just called the police on my neighbors because I heard the girl crying and she yelled " get off me" a few times. Should we have confronted them instead, I heard her say something about "the f*cking neighbors" just now, so maybe we jumped to conclusions?

There's a little running shop near the place I'll be starting school soon, and since I'll be at the school today I was going to stop buy and have a fitting done, and try on some shoes. I don't plan on buying any today because I don't have the money this week.

I know last time I was in a shop and told them I wasn't buying that day (this was a bridal shop, though), the salesgirl immediately had other things to do.

So, because I worry about stupid stuff like this, are they going to care that I'm not buying today, will they still measure and let me know my gait/foot type and fit me and such?

My M-I-L is trying to make a wall-decoration for a preschool class, and we can't figure out what to do. She bought a vinyl shower curtain for the background, and needs to glue on a shape she's cut from those thin vinyl disposable table cloths. We tried spray glue, and it doesn't stick very well. Neither do "glue dots", contact paper, or tape.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!!

I'm 21 years old, and overweight. I've had foot pain at least since Jr. High, but I noticed it most at my first job, as a cashier, where within 2 hours of standing I would be in agony. I'd slip my shoe halfway off and rub my foot on the edge of it and that helped while I did it, but when I stopped it started to hurt again.

The pain is only in my heel, right where it meets the arch on the bottom, then along the sides and around the back, NOT on the bottom of my foot, but along the side. Sometimes it feels tight, and occasionally when I'm walking it feels like something snaps or sort of pops in the sides of my heel, and it will get tight and sore. If I'm on my feet for a long time, the sides/back of my heel will get red and swell a little, and it's AGONY if someone squeezes the sides together (found that out when a well-meaning boyfriend tried to rub my feet).

Anyone know if this is plantar fasciitis, or I heard sometimes a teenagers heel bone doesn't fuse correctly, could it be that? Thanks!!

For anyone who's lost weight in the past, or who focuses on living healthy, what was your most helpful tool? Food diary or food scale? Bike or DVD or a certain book or recipe/food item?