Melanie J

My husband was raised Catholic. He stopped going to church in his teens. Now in his 30's he has decided he wants to explore spirituality and morality in order to be a better person, husband and father. He has been going to mass for the last few weeks. He has taken our teenage daughters a couple times and is planning on taking them next Sunday, too. We are waiting for our son to express some interest and then he will also attend.

My husband and I both believe that this is good for the family. Bonding, a sense of history and tradition, a sense of continuity and sermons to make everyone think about who they are, who they want to be, how they should respond to certain situations, etc.

I was raised Lutheran, but stopped going to church in my teens, as well. In the interest of keeping the family united and making the bond stronger, I am considering converting to Catholicism. I also enjoy ritual, tradition, a sense of continuity and I do miss sermons that make me think and a sense of belonging to a community.

I was married before, had the girls, got divorced. My ex had multiple affairs, lied like a rug, was occasionally physically abusive and has not been a part of my or my children's lives by his own choice. As in he does not pay support or even see them. Will I have to get an official annulment through the Catholic Church? If so, how long does the process usually take and what are the odds it will be granted?

My husband and I have been together for 13 years, married in a civil ceremony 10 years ago. Does the Church recognize our marriage as valid or will we need to remarry in the Church?

If I begin the conversion process what can I expect?

Since my children from my previous marriage and my son from my current marriage have not been baptized or had religious instruction what is the procedure for them?

I am a hetero woman and I am a big romance novel fan. My favorite guilty pleasure is the urban fantasy/vampire romance *blush*. I have noticed there are gay characters here and there as friends of main characters and in one series a gay character found love and then his love was killed. There was a big scene where he came out of the closet and his friends stayed his friends and all which was great. However, I haven't heard of books of these genres that include gay main characters. Do those types of books exist and why haven't I heard of them?

I have a new PC and use Vista. I need to play 3 WMV movies and have already tried WMP (latest version) WMP Classic, DivX player, VLC Media player and I have the K-Lite mega codec pack installed.

I heard VLC will play them, but I get a really messed up picture and no audio when I tried it.

I just read that Avery ws suspended for making "crude remarks" about former girlfriends who are dating other Hockey stars. Really curious to know what he actually said that made the league react so strongly. No speculation, please, I'm looking for quotes.

My husband is a professional truck driver. He doesn't have great credit due a long period of unemployment leaving him unable to pay a couple credit cards off. He has been driving for 5 years and knows the industry well.

After a long period of consideration, we decided that we would like him to have his own truck and to become an Owner/Operator for his current employer. This benefits us because we would have a more well maintained truck (read a safer truck) and be able to find our own "back haul" if the company dispatch is dragging its feet. Finding our own loads occasionally reduces downtime and increases income.

My husband would like to purchase a gently used truck and we have found quite a few candidates for very reasonable prices. My brother-in-law, bless him, is considering buying the truck for my husband. We would be makig the payments to him for a much lower interest rate than to a finance company.

Here's the problem....BIL wants us to send him a presentation. He is a graduate of U of M with a Masters in business. I have never done such a presentation and wouldn't know where to begin. Any ideas? Are there services that could put something together for us for a fee?

I shop for a lot of my groceries at Wal-Mart. My family is particularly fond of their Great Value brand Lasagna. I got curious with all of the news lately about chemicals in Chinese animal feed and consequently showing up in some food products. So, I looked at the label of the Lasagna.

I found the usual nutrition information, list of ingredients, and then "Marketed by Wal-Mart stores....something, something Arizona". This does not tell me where the product was made or where the ingredients came from.

How do I find out this information? I thought federal law required this information be made available to consumers, was I wrong? If law doesn't require this information being on the label, what can we do to have the law changed? Considering how much of our food comes from over seas and how food safety laws differ by country, its important that consumers have access to this information.

I shop for a lot of my groceries at Wal-Mart. My family is particularly fond of their Great Value brand Lasagna. I got curious with all of the news lately about chemicals in Chinese animal feed and consequently showing up in some food products. So, I looked at the label of the Lasagna.

I found the usual nutrition information, list of ingredients, and then "Marketed by Wal-Mart stores....something, something Arizona". This does not tell me where the product was made or where the ingredients came from.

How do I find out this information? I thought federal law required this information be made available to consumers, was I wrong?

So, I open my news this morning and I see a story about the Democrats reaching out to religious voters on issues such as school choice, abortion,poverty, human rights and climate change.

I understand that a person would want to know a candidate's position on issues they think are important. What confuses me is why religion is brought into it.

We supposedly have a seperation of Church and State, so that all people of all faiths are equal and free. Yet, religion and politics have never been seperate here.

What I want to understand is why people who are religious want to see their morals voted into office. As a nation, do we not truly understand that you can't legislate morals? It seems divisive and damaging to the country as a whole when we elect officials based on religious/moral belief.

So, why vote that way? Why not seperate politics and religion and then just simply try to spread moral views to others not through law but through conversation and by reaching out to people individually?

It seems almost a human rights violation to try to elect people who you hope will turn your religious belief into laws that others, who do not share your beliefs, would have to live by. I would think that it would be enough that you, as a person, would live your life as you believe and vote based on who will be the best leader based on secular issue and performance. There are a lot of good people out there who care for others, do the right thing, and have no religious affiliation.

So, I open my news this morning and I see a story about the Democrats reaching out to religious voters on issues such as school choice, abortion,poverty, human rights and climate change.

I understand that a person would want to know a candidate's position on issues they think are important. What confuses me is why religion is brought into it.

We supposedly have a seperation of Church and State, so that all people of all faiths are equal and free. Yet, religion and politics have never been seperate here.

What I want to understand is why people who are religious want to see their morals voted into office. As a nation, do we not truly understand that you can't legislate morals? It seems divisive and damaging to the country as a whole when we elect officials based on religious/moral belief.

So, why vote that way? Why not seperate politics and religion and then just simply try to spread moral views to others not through law but through conversation and by reaching out to people individually?

I have a nice set of clippers I bought at my local pet store. They were about $65.00. After two years of use, they became dull while in the middle of giving my poodle mix a summer haircut. Poor lil guy, he looks a mess!

Someone suggested just buying new clippers, but these were expensive to me and the mechanical parts still work just fine.

Anyone know of where I can get them sharpened without having to send them to the manufacturer and wait 2 weeks? I tried one local hardware store, but they said they don't have the proper equipment.

I live in Michigan, if that helps :)

My husband and I are thinking of moving to the Kansas City, Mo area. We are leaving Michign to get into an area with a better economy and better schools for our 3 kids. I am a stay at home mom and he is a cdl-a tractor trailer driver with 6 years experience and a clean driving record.

Can anyone offer advice on what areas to look into for decent rental housing? We're looking for a safe neighborhood and a 3 bedroom home thats reasonably priced.

Other than that, can anyone offer any advice on how to secure employment before moving to Missouri? We have never looked for employment out of state and appreciate any advice.

http://www.slate.com/id/2194232/

After reading this article,someone suggested to me that gay men had another biological/evolutionary purpose in pre-historical society. When men went off to do their hunter thing, having gay men in the community and related to females with offspring would mean there would be men at home to protect and help rear the children. Gay men would be likely to help protect and care for the women and children because they were not encumbered with female mates and children of their own.

IF this little theory is true, perhaps homophobia among hetero males was necessary. Maybe the homosexual males only stayed home to care for and protect the females and kids because they were shunned by the hetero men and not welcome to go wandering with them.

Most behavior can be traced to a biological/evolutionary pupose,even if that purpose has been made unnecessary in modern life.

Thoughts?

My husband, kids, and myself are US citizens. We were born and raised in Michigan, if it makes any difference. We are very interested in moving to Alberta, Canada for better quality of life.

Has anyone done this and what tips can you pass on?

He is a professional truck driver and has searched and found many jobs in his field there. The only problem is that in order to obtain a work permit, he has to have a job offer. I am not sure a company would be willing to hold a job opening for him while waiting for the paperwork to come back from the government. How long would obtaining a permit realistically take?

After living and working in Alberta, we would like to apply for citizenship. Is this the best way to go about doing that?

Ok, folks, I have heard and seen too many questions on YAnswers and in life to not post this...

Lets define cheating: Sexual contact with someone other than your spouse or significant other.

Lets define Marriage: A social, religious, and/or legal contract between two people involving vows that stipulate that the couple will remain monogamous until one dies.

So, it IS cheating if you are bisexual and having sexual contact with a person of your same sex. Even if your spouse knows and is ok with it.

Bisexuality doesn't give you an out clause. EVERYONE wants to have extramarital sex at one time or another. Generally, we don't do it becuase we made vows to our spouses. Words like "unless you're bi" or "Forsaking all others of the opposite sex, but same sex is ok" probably didn't appear in the vows...

So, if you are having sex outside the marriage, you are cheating and you have broken your vows.

Stop asking! If you really thought it was really harmless, you wouldn't have to ask!

I was watching a Discovery Channel show about the geography of America. Of course, many of our features were shaped by the glaciers receeding when the last Ice Age ended. The show repeatedly mentions the receeding glaciers, but they do not explain why the Earth's temperature changed. So, what caused the end of the last Ice Age? Are there many theories or just one?

I am the proud owner of a couple dogs, a cat and a Three Toed Box Turtle. I dearly love Mr Chang and want to build him a nice home. I am considering building a home big enough to add another turtle or two.

Here's my problem... I want to keep him in the living area of our home and I want to make the living area a nicely decoated space. How to integrate a nice turtle house with a nice decor?

I found a design online a long time ago. the man converted a beautiful wood chest into a nice turtle home and used it as a coffee table. I cannot find the design anymore.

Does anyone have any ideas on how/ what can be converted into a beautiful turtle home that will look nice in my home? Links to plans, pics etc would be very helpful.

So, I have been married for 4 years, with him for a total of seven years. When we first met, the unmatched sox and washing everythingng in warm was cute. Now, I am starting to wonder...

The man claims he can't help clean or do yard work or even cook because he doesn't know how. Yet, when I was making a restaurant style chicken dish at his request, he proceeded to come into the kitchen and explain how to do it properly. I think I have been fooled!

So, how many other wives think their husbands play stupid and helpless to get out of work around the house? How many of you husbands pretend helplessness and ignorance to get out of doing things to watch the game or play video games? Don't worry, I won't tell your wives,lol.

I love my husband and I know he loves me. One thing nags me though and its ridiculous, in a way. He has no clue about my monthly cycle. I want him to be as familiar with my as I am with him and for women, the monthly can be a big deal.

This month, we hadn't had sex for a few days. I was having my period and thought that he was not asking because he was being sensitive. I snuggled up to him, kissed and nuzzled him and told him that the monthly was over and we could resume normal activity. He was like "Oh, I didn't realize you were having your period". AGHHHH! He said he thought I wasn't initiating sex because I didn't want him..as if!

So, like he thinks I just don't want sex 5 days a month? Nevermind the other 25 days that I am all over him.... I just don't get why he isn't as aware of my personal things as I am aware of his.

My in laws are having a big 50th wedding anniversary party in 2 days. They are flying in from out of state where they live to celebrate the day with the people they spent most of those years with.

My husband and I do not have a lot of money and the in laws and the rest of their kids do. They live in Florida, so I can't do yardwork or something nice for them thats free to me and shows I care.

My husband thought of getting them jerseys (like sports players wear) with their family name and 50 on them, but I don't think I could get them made fast enough.

I left it to the last minute, but things have been hectic and now I can't think of a single thing. Any ideas?

BTW, he likes golf and she likes books....I prefer a joint gift idea, but its hard to think of something they both like besides food. Its amazing that they are together after so many years with such different personalities, lol

As some might know, I posted a question re: reaching my answers limit for the day.

A suggestion was that I go looking at and vote on undecided questions. That got me thinking...

Why don't people thumbs up/down more often? I think a lot of posters go back and check to see how well their posts were received. Thumbs up/down are a great way for us to get a reality check on our opinions. So, why don't more of us use it?