Good luck, P-C!!! Extra hard vibing and punctuation to you right now.

P-C, I am with those that point out that you have a certain amount of control in the relationship with your parents. I sense that you have been avoiding the conflicts with them (e.g. giving your mother the realtor's phone number rather than say, "no") and I think it's time you used the "no" option a lot more frequently. As Cindy pointed out, it doesn't have to be used in a mean way, but can be employed politely. Just don't budge. Good luck!

Cindy, btw, none of my Seattle friends came up with a DO or other doctor for your friends. They are too damn healthy up there. Sorry!

Good Luck PC!

Whoa. {{{P-C}}} You've gotten lots of good advice, and I think Cindy and Jilli are really, truly right. All the ~ma in the world, sweetie.

Thing is, I'd like to be pregnant again...But not now. Oh God, not now.

Change this to "not EVER again" for me. But yeah, I know you want to do it again. Waiting until you feel prepared is always a good plan.

AmyLiz, is your profile address still good, what with all the moving and stuff you've done?

If it's the gmail one, yeah. That's what I'm using now. And email whenever you like. ETA That's not the one in profile, but that works, too. It bounces.

P-C,sorry if I skipped past this, but who's paying your rent?

Edit: Never mind, I missed this:

Cindy, they're not paying my rent. I'm paying out of my slowly dwindling bank account.

This is what I think you should do. I think you should get a McJob of some sort to cease your bank account's speed of dwindling and hold off bankruptcy, and tell your landlord you intend to stay put. I suspect your mother would have much less to say about it if you were working.

Best wishes and my sympathy, either way.

Lyra, P-C does.

I am now feeling quite clear as to what is acceptable GothWear.

Many vibes, P-C. Hope the conversation goes okay.

Goths going to club nights wearing black t-shirts and jeans are being LAZY, and should have all their music confiscated until they start behaving better.

Mmmmm, did meara ever tell you about the pack of pretty gothy boys we say at Ground Zero while she was here? One had a (tight!) black t-shirt and (also tight!) black jeans on, but he was also wearing a cowboy hat and a big silver belt (and big black stompy boots), and danced perfectly appropriately. The pack of boys was with a very vampy blonde in a blood-red (tight!) dress, and they all had very different styles. I seriously believe that the boys are her harem, and she had them dress all different styles to please her.

Then there was the very very pretty Oz-like boy in a black wifebeater and black Utilikilt. Mmmmm. We wanted to take him home with us.

Not any real point, just reliving Teh Prettay.

To the extent that they'll hear it, you can say everything to your parents in a friendly manner, "Oh, no thanks. I won't be going on the vacation but thanks for thinking of me," or "On, no thanks. I am going to keep my lease for now, but thanks for your help." You only have to get stompy footed if they issue orders. Otherwise, treat what they "tell" you to do as kindly suggestions that aren't your cup of tea.

I do this all the time. My dad in particular likes to use the "you should..." statements quite a lot. Instead of getting riled up about how he's trying to control my life I just tell him "thanks for the suggestion". When I do that, I don't feel like he's telling me what to do and he doesn't feel like I'm not listening or taking his ideas into account.

My dad in particular likes to use the "you should..." statements quite a lot. Instead of getting riled up about how he's trying to control my life I just tell him "thanks for the suggestion".

I've always liked Brenda's ju-jitsu for this: "That's an interesting idea."