There are reasons, y'all, why I watch Homicide after family occasions. And laugh and laugh at the old lady screaming "Die, you bastard, die!" as she pushes the old man down the stairs.

Beautiful. I love erika.

See this is why we have his, hers and ours checking accounts. I never balance my checking account but I have to do the household one, which is of the suck. Thankfully, it doesn't have an ATM attached to it and it's used only for utilities, slip fees, and groceries.

This is actually a great idea. Ours is lumped together and difficult to reconcile. But it needs to balance on account of it usually being so close to empty that I take no chances (usually).

We're going out to eat and I feel nauseated. I hate paying for food that I know I'm just going to barf up again later.

I feel nauseated

Ohhh, yuk I hated those days of pregnancy.

I love splitting out the checking accounts, it works so well for us - there's none of the ATM receipt worries for it.

Cash, is the date earlier or later than you'd thought?

My town's on Craigslist now. I was just checking it out...not much up there, but there is this from the lost and found: (I'm in Florida)

Please, if you see a Governor walking around town in a mini skirt high heals blond wig sporting an " I am a Whore" sign on his back, please send him back to the Governors house. There is a line of corporate officers looking for TAX Relief or is that just relief. Thanks for your help.

I don't understand checkbook balancing. I mean, when there's two people involved, sure. But for single people? I guess I don't see the point. I keep a sort of running tally in my head, and double check it against the balance every so often. But I'm not going to do more than that.

I'll give that a try, JZ, thanks. The problem is getting her to recognize that I'm not going to engage without having to directly respond to a query about why not, because at that point,

I used to just answer with "that's an idea," or something like that when my mom started getting on something I didn't want to talk about. There's really not much of a comeback to that, because you haven't rejected the idea, but you don't give much of a hook for further discussion, either.

The funny part was, my mom eventually caught on that "that's an idea" meant I had absolutely no intention of following up on whatever she was suggesting - and she was ok with it. It became shorthand for non-confrontational "I don't want to talk about it."

5. Pollasanta-zurruscarse.

Okay, I'm intrigued (in a disturbing way) to know what's erotic about a female "Chicken Saint." it's possible I may be translating too literally...

"I will worry about you until you're settled down. That is what mothers do."

If empathy makes you feel any better, my mother ocasionally will say things like, "Well, I have to at least hang on until you're married." Please note: Much as I would like to find marital bliss, promising your death is perhaps not the wedding gift I'd like to look forward to.

But it needs to balance on account of it usually being so close to empty that I take no chances (usually).

This is why I tend to balance mine a couple times a week. Online banking is our friend.

Cashmere, I'm so glad all is well. February 11th? Whoot!

I use my bank's website. I check it at least once a day. Because I use my debit card and cash almost exclusively I know exactly what I have.

It also shows outstanding things that haven't cleared just yet and when they will.

I just need to track my cash better. The only thing I'll be using actual checks for is rent and cable (stupid Comcast charges a fee for paying over the phone).

Askye, can you pay it online? I know a couple of our utilities charge a fee to pay over the phone, but have free payment online.

I balance every day, not the checkbook, but the budget against the bank account. Every time I let it go and don't balance it for a day or so, I make a mistake. If we haven't had any expenditures that day, I'm working on the future. Right now the budget is only built through August. I usually have it six months in advance.

I've had a crappy day. I bawled on the phone before figuring out it was PMS, so thought I was just crazy and not hormonal (situationally crazy instead of permanently, I guess). I was going to get some work done, but nothing quite got accomplished, and then after dinner Aidan opened the oven door and climbed on it before I could go from hearing the sound of it opening to getting into the kitchen to stop him. I got there in time to get the stove off the top of him and Kara. Both have bruises, but nothing worse, thank goodness. I didn't scream. I just comforted and cleaned up...and shook. The gas line wasn't damaged, and only half of the leftovers were lost.

I loved the Billytea and Fay show, and the lovely Cash news. By my calculations, Cash is only 7 weeks along. Askye sounded like she had a tough day and so did vw. sj got handed the award winning etiquette dilemma for non-family, and P-C got to keep the one for family. I too laughed when the old lady demanded that her husband just die.

Oh man, Deena. How scary. I'm glad everyone is okay.