?

There is this guy that has been flirting with me since the start of the spring semester, who has a girlfriend. I tried to avoid it at first but ended up developing quite the crush on him. We saw each other every day, and just had great chemistry. Things sort of died down in the summer but just last week they sort of picked up again. I never kissed the guy, we've never done anything besides hug and stuff. But like every night this past week he would call me and we would talk. We hung out once.

His girlfriend has apparently been away all summer, and I guess she came back recently. Now he hasn't called me in three days, and I'm going nuts. I feel like I got played, but I don't want to think that he would just do that to me, he always had respect for my feelings, and was into me even though I made it clear I don't want to do anything with a guy who has a girlfriend.

Should I call him to find out where we stand with things? Should I just leave things alone? I don't want to get a phone call two months from now when he starts getting bored or something. This is all really new territory for me and I'm really confused about what to do.

I realize that foster care systems are different from state to state, and even county to county. But I was wondering, if a parent is physically abusive on a few occasions to one child, and both parents are verbally/emotionally/psychologically abusive to all of the children, and it was reported, would all of the kids get taken away? I mean, most kinds of abuse are really hard to prove...so lets say the only abuse that was provable was the physical. Would all of the kids get taken away, or just the kid being hit? or would the kid even get taken away at all, would he just end up staying with the other parent, and the physically abusive one just be told to stay away or something???

and what if children over 18 are living in the home? would they get taken away, or would the state even notice them?

sorry for so many questions, I just have no idea how foster care works.

Ok, so the other day I accidentally let slip about a crush my 16 year old sister has to my mom. She instantly pounced on it, I gave her as little info as I could, and left the room quickly. My sister was naturally a little upset with me, especially when the next day my mom called her into the room to "talk" with her about this guy.

Today, my mom tried on me again, asking me about the guy. Now let me explain, my mom and I have a terrible relationship, almost as bad as my sister's relationship with her. My mom butting into our life unnecessarily is only the tip of the iceberg. But I digress. Anyways, my mom was asking me about the guy, and I thought I'd do her a favor and tell her that we hate when she badgers us about that kind of stuff, and that the reason my sister hasn't told her more about the guy is because my mom has a tendancy to freak out about this kind of stuff. At which point she angrily says to me "I'm not freaking out!" (thereby proving my point). I told her she just gives us more reasons not to tell her about this kind of stuff the next time around. She just got more mad and told me that was a "rotten attitude" to have. She said that she has a right to know about stuff like that.

Now, my mom has a right to know where my sister is, what she is doing, and who she is with. She has a right to know a lot of stuff, but I would strongly disagree with the statement that my mom has a right to know exactly what my sister is thinking. I believe this is just another ploy on my mother's part to gain more control of my "unruly" sister. (read: normal teen).

I think I was being more than fair to my mom by even taking the time to tell her why my sister DOESN'T tell her things. What goes on in her head is her business. But I may be too close to the whole problem, being that I am dealing with the same stuff from my mom (for example, I haven't told my mom anything of substance about any issues in my life for over a year). So what do you think? Do you think my mom is overreacting, or I am?

I hate job apps, I never know what I should put down. My last job I was a peer tutor, I worked for 9 dollars an hour through my school. I need a job for the summer, I'm applying to starbucks (among other places). How much should I ask for an hourly rate? They ask that right on the application. Also, I'm basically not doing anything this summer, the only thing on my calendar every week is church. So what should I put down for availability? Also, what should I put down for references? Most of my best references would probably be previous employers. Is it alright if I put down employers as references, even though the previous employers part and references part are separate?

Thanks in advance!

Ok, so there is this guy I know, we ride the bus together. Before this year I hadn't seen him for about 3 years, it was kind of a blast from the past. We talk on the bus ride, hang at school sometimes. He has a girlfriend, but he keeps flirting with me. Ok, maybe I read into things sometimes, but if you ask me, constantly making "you're hot" jokes and asking me what my ideal guy is like, asking about my dating experience, it just seems like our conversations always go back to stuff like that. He even made up this dumb little story to ask me for my number.

Anyways, I kind of had a crush on him back in the day, and I guess it came back a bit. I would like to just be friends with him, honestly. But the guy is amazingly good looking, one of the most polite I've ever met (gives up his seat for anyone on the bus, etc) funny, smart, etc. You know the drill. Now if he were all that and NOT flirting with me, I could probably deal, but add that in the mix, and it's no wonder I'm nursing a small crush.

But I could never do that to another girl, not even if I wanted to. So how do I get over this guy, seriously? I can't just stop hanging out with him, like I said we take the bus together, it would be really weird if I just stopped sitting with him. And I don't want to stop being friends, I just want to stop liking him.

Any advice?

ok, tengo un asimiento para mi clase de español, y es facil, claro. Pero no se como decir algunos palabras en el tiempo corecto. Por ejemplo, la frase "it is called flour". Cual tiempo es? No recuerdo. Es pasado de subjuntivo, presente de subjuntive? No se, no se. Ayudame, por favor!

Does anyone here know what kind of flute James Galway plays? A friend of mine says it's an Arista flute, but another friend swears it's a different kind. Anyone here know the answer to settle the dispute?

Thanks

I'm the oldest of four kids. One of my siblings has aspergers, possibly two. My other sibling has pervasive developmental disorder ( a type of autism). But this isn't about them. I love them to death and get along with them most of the time. This is about my mom, who also has aspergers (and claims she is "cured").

For the most part I get along with her, but for the past few years we've definitely been fighting more. It's absolutely impossible to fight with her though, because she's NEVER wrong. She will never concede a point. When I was younger, if we would get into a fight, I would always apologize to her for yelling, and she would always very graciously forgive me, but never offer an apology back. That was like a slap in the face. I can remember one time fighting with her in the grocery store, and I said some things she didn't like, and she didn't know how to respond. The next day, she came up to me and told me it was very disrespectful of me to yell at her like that. She never even mentioned the issue we were fighting about (believe me it was a little heavier than whether or not I could get my nose pierced or whatever it is most teens fight with their mom about...). It was completely disregarded, simply because I had been "too rude" to her.

She always says these cutting remarks, and I used to just deal with it, but then I started confronting her and she would deny it. Many times she would deny outright saying things, when me and my sister both had heard her. Or if she would admit to saying them, we both had misheard her. It would be comments like "I NEVER forgot to practice when I was in highschool." (we are both musicians). When she would make comments like that I'd tell her it felt like an undercutting acusatory statement, and she would always deny it and say I was reading into things too much, that it didn't mean anything, etc. A lot of the time these fights would be me defending my sister against some remark she had made against her.

I spent the last 5 or so years of my life on and off being incredibly depressed, to the point of suicidal thoughts almost daily. There were times when I wondered if I was crazy. I remember the first time I confessed my depression to my mom, and she said she had known for the past year. SHE HAD NEVER SAID A WORD TO ME! She had never tried to get me help or anything. She knew I had been depressed longer than I did. She said she had just been praying for me like crazy. It obviously hadn't helped much.

My mom had me convinced that all of her put-downs were really in my head, but recently I talked to a family friend who had noticed the same things I did. Now I think my mom is crazy, or at least still very autistic. Her insensitivity to anyone's feelings but her own are driving me up the wall. I'm not the sort of kid to rag on my parents usually. I'm so obnoxiously responsible, I feel bad about asking my mom to take me shopping even when I need new bras or something.

I know I must sound like some angst-ridden teen, and I'm probably a little too pissed right now to be writing this, but I just need some help. If I end up having to go to the state college next year, I will have to live at home to save costs. I don't think I can stand another four years of this. I need to get away.

I'm 17. Every guy that has ever asked me out has been over 20. No, I'm not a disgusting skank and I'm not into "older guys". I take classes at a community college, so pretty much everyone is over 20.

I think I like this guy but I don't know because we haven't talked in a while. He's funny, smart, believes a lot of the same stuff I do...he's cute. And he's not that much older than me. But knowing my luck he probably has a girlfriend.

I guess the real reason I'm asking this question is because I have this friend who is always telling me how much his life sucks and tonight he got pissed at me and now I guess I got my feelings hurt. I wish I could just blow it off because he was being a jerk anyways, but I can't. I just feel pathetic.

Anyways, I guess this isn't really a question, as much as a tribute to my pathetic life. Any input as to how to reverse this chronic wasting disease would be much appreciated, though.

I recently applied to Princeton University, just two weeks after sending in my application I was contacted by an alumnus for an interview. Does anyone have any tips for me on what to expect? Do they place a lot of importance on this, or not much at all? Is it just a personality thing? We are meeting in a pizza parlor, but should I dress nice? If so, how nice?

This is the only Ivy League I'm applying to, and the whole process is very new for me. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Ok, the other day my dad noticed me scooping soup into my bowl with my left hand...he asked me "hey are you left handed?!" I told him kind of surprised that I was ambidextrous...and he goes "oh, I had no idea."

I'm 17. He has been "involved" my whole life. My parents are together. And I have told him probably a hundred times that I am ambidextrous. This is just one example of the sort of thing that happens all of the time. According to my mom he wants to have a "close relationship" with me, but doesn't take the time of day to even pay attention to anything I say.

At a Bible discussion group this week he was going on about something (he likes to get on his soapbox during these things...) and my mom had a thought and "interrupted" him with her thought. When she was done he just stares at her and goes "are you done interrupting me?" She had made a very valid point completely in context of what we were talking about and all he could think about was that she had "interrupted" him. I said to him "I thought this was a discussion". And then he completely shut down, and got mad and was like "Well I'm not talking anymore since I'm being attacked. What I have to say is apparently not appreciated." and on and on.

According to my mom when I told him I thought it was a discussion I had "hurt his feelings". (I wasn't even being very disrespectful when I said it, maybe a little but not much). Explain to me how he can be the most sensitive, touchy guy around and blow up about random things, and yet not have any consideration for the people closest to him?

I'm just coming up with nothing. If anyone has anything to explain his bizarre behavior, by all means go ahead.

Ok, this guy that I don't know very well (just from my Bible study) has asked me out for this weekend. I said yes, as I figure it's an opportunity to get to know him, whatever. I don't really like him though.

There's this other kid I know who lives out of town who I've been talking with a bit, and I actually like him, and I think he likes me. Is it wrong of me to continue flirting with this guy if I have a date with a different guy this saturday? What if the guy I like asks me out?

I'm really new to this whole dating thing, in fact this weekend will be my first real date...so any input would be helpful. What is the guy expecting, you know?

Oh, and both of them are older than me (I'm 17). The guy I have a date with is 21, and the guy I like is 18. Both are in college. I thought my parents wouldn't want me to date someone four years older than me, but I guess they don't mind.

Ok, this guy that I don't know very well (just from my Bible study) has asked me out for this weekend. I said yes, as I figure it's an opportunity to get to know him, whatever. I don't really like him though.

There's this other kid I know who lives out of town who I've been talking with a bit, and I actually like him, and I think he likes me. Is it wrong of me to continue flirting with this guy if I have a date with a different guy this saturday? What if the guy I like asks me out?

I'm really new to this whole dating thing, in fact this weekend will be my first real date...so any input would be helpful. What is the guy expecting, you know?

Oh, and both of them are older than me (I'm 17). The guy I have a date with is 21, and the guy I like is 18. Both are in college. I thought my parents wouldn't want me to date someone four years older than me, but I guess they don't mind.

I've only got one school left to apply to, and I'm almost done with my application...except the dreaded essays. I need to write two essays, one about a person I admire, and another that has a range of topic choices, including topic of your choice...

I already have an essay about a person I admire from a different application, so I will use that with a little tweaking...and I also have an essay about being a musician from a different application as well, which would work very well. But would the college look down on my essay if I choose "topic of your choice"? Would they not regard my application as highly?

Any insight into this would be extremely helpful...

I was invited to go to this conference thing for minority teens. It's by invitation only, completely paid for, and it should be fun. I'm 1/4 mexican, so I don't really look it. My skin isn't that dark, and I have brown hair. My features are kind of ethnic, but honestly no one would guess I was part mexican just by looking at me. My question is, are people going to look at me weird at this conference because I look white? What should I say to them?

Thanks

I recently applied to a school that is not my first choice, and then a friend told me about the early decision contract. I never signed anything saying that I would go to that school if I got accepted. But does the fact that I applied early mean that I am in an early decision contract anyway? If you don't know about this stuff and are just using logic, then don't answer please.

Ok, this is just out of curiosity as to how this is possible.

Both of my parents have straight hair. I know that curly hair is present on my mom's side of the family, but she doesn't have one curly hair to her name. Straight hair being a recessive gene, both of my parents must have two straight hair genes. Now, I have straight hair, and my youngest sister has straight hair. But my other younger sister has crazy curly hair. How does this work, how is it possible if my parents only have the recessive gene of straight hair? I asked my developmental psych teacher, but she never understands anyone's questions...

I swear I've heard it before, and I have no memory of a harp being onstage. But now I'm playing it with my orchestra, and I've been given the harp part (my instrument). It doesn't look like an arrangement...did I completely miss the harp on stage, or was theirs a different arrangement, or what???

Hi, I'm looking to buy a manual camera. I'm thinking a canon...one of the older models, like made in the 50's or 60's. I like being able to control all the aspects of the photo. But I don't know much about the different models. Are there any that I should stay away from, any that are particularly good? I've found a few models on ebay that struck me, but I don't know how their performance is. Is the Ftb a good model? thanks in advance!!!

Hi, I'm a beginning sewer and I'd like to sew my own prom dress. Since I'm such a newbie, I won't be able to do ball gowns or anything...I was think of doing the Anda pattern...my mom said that's too informal for a prom, though. what do you think? and what material do you think I should use?

If you think it's too informal, I was also considering doing a 1950's type party dress, with a big skirt. Does anyone have any links to a free pattern for something like that? I already tried burkastyle, and while they have some cool stuff, I didn't see any patterns for a 1950's type dress...