I'm glad things are going so well, Shir. I'm excited for you. I'm glad someone was there to put some actions to his words, by starting the Facebook page.

smonster, I don't care if you do waffle back and forth between certain decisions. I want you to be happy. So if there is a chance that you think is worth taking, that spending time and energy on B will lead to more happiness than putting him out of your life entirely, then you should go for it. Daniel and I were long distance for three years before we even met face to face.

I may have told this story here before, but I love it. My oldest brother (not the dear ass-chapeau who tries to blame Obama for the budget for a fiscal year that started a month before he was even voted into office) spent four years serving in the army in the 80s, stationed in Germany. He met a girl there, and when he came home in '88, he wanted to bring her with him, but she was not ready to leave her friends, her family, her country. His big-brother advice to me on love the year I graduated from high school was that love does not conquer all. They kept in touch, and sometimes even saw each other, but my brother did his best to get over her and find someone else. Then one day, about six years after he had come home from Germany, he called me to say that he and his German girlfriend were engaged. And a couple months later, he called to say she was in the country, and did I want to come to their wedding later that week. They are still together, and still happy, so far as I can tell. I believe that the added time was something they needed - so they are much more confident in their love, and the added maturity has to be a benefit to their marriage. It was hard at the time, but it was what was right for them.

smonster, you are beautiful, inside and out. You deserve love and happiness. You deserve to take risks as you see fit, without having to worry about showering yourself in shame and recriminations if things do not work out the way you hope. You deserve to have enough confidence in your own strength that you can afford to take those risks.

Vortex, which one? I love the Marigny.

Elysian Fields Inn It's run by a great couple from Virginia. It's clean, inexpensive, and well located. It's a 15 minute walk to the Quarter, and right near the highway as well. They have wi-fi and Aveda products in the rooms. I've stayed there several times when I've been in NO recruiting.

I know I baby picspammed yesterday, but holy crap, these came out too cute not to share! [link]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW! I literally awwed out loud when I saw the first pic. I am DED. D-E-D of the cute. Your kid is ridiculously photogenic!

He is such a cute goober!

I was unprepared for the amount of cute that was those pictures. Your child is ADORABLE.

Darn, I knew I forgot something... GC, those pics yesterday were adorable, but you are right, the ones today? Unbelieveably adorable! Just like Vortex, I AWWWWWed out loud, and Harvey thought I meant him, so now he has crawled up into my arms for a purry snuggle.

Killing me! And I thought Hello Kitty dressed as in an animal costume was cute. She's got nothin on my kid!

hello my dears! I've spent close to three months on probation at work and have been trying to stay off the internet. But I've been cleared and, since things are kind of slow today, I'm back! I've missed a lot, but it's good to see your pixels again.

Hi Toddson!