At this point in my life it is more about personality the proportion. Yes I would probably have more instant attraction to someone taller and stockier than myself but a guy with soft spoken manners and a good attitude is going to get my attention way before a hard body or typical things that seem to make some go gaga over a guy.

You are going to hate hearing this...
at 22 when the pressure to have a sweetheart generally kicks in and guys who are age appropriate are only vaguely interested in "simple" relationships hitting a rough patch generally seperates the men form the boys, you might have been tangled up with a boy.

I am sorry that this relationship seems to have sank but the yearning you feel for this Ex will most likely pass if you just give yourself some permission to let it go and move on.

Maybe someone already said this but to all the Other Mother figures that step up and "do" the "Mommy Thing" as single Dad's, Grandparent's, Siblings, or Community Mom's have a great Mother's day and know you are appreciated.

Mother's Day can be a tough day for those who need "Mom"s" and those who go above and beyond and still step back in the shade to serve in silence this honored role.

It is tough filling dual roles as a single parent weather it is being single Mom or single Dad or a any of the non traditional Mom's and here is a "HIGH FIVE".

If you have one of these special Other Mother's in your life tell them you know how blessed you are because it will really make their day how ever you say it.

Thank You kind gentleman.

My deepest sympathy to the entire family. I am so very Very sorry for this loss.

Wow it would be impossible to list favorities over the decade plus I have followed this site. Miss some that I no longer see but welcome the fresh new faces and hope they get as much out of it as I have.

Special thank you to those that contribute in the Well wishes and poetry and jokes threads as it always brightens my day.

Would like to see the powers that be get the message that we can honor and support Veterans around the world in service to their countries by giving them a thread. Good Job BullDog for helping to educate readers about USA veterans and traditions. Hope some of our readers will share about their countries veterans since seems they are so often "our" comraes in arms.

Happy Birthday Nice Mingle Gal!!!!! And many more. Any thing good for cake and icecream can't be all bad.

Wow when you date as long as I have it is hard to remember all of them but probably the worst was letting an innocent date sit in my living room while I took a work call when my 6'+ sons were adolecents and they grilled him on "his intentions with their Mother". Poor guy was sweating bullits and afraid to even kiss me good night lol.

Prepaid cards can be great if you are worried about illegit charges. They are particularly smart when buying on line, in resturants, or when you want to teach a child or assist an impaired adult to pay a bill.

And an increaseing number of places are refuseing cards, chargeing store fees, and because so many are being bootlegged and or stolen I don't see them much safer than carrying a wad of cash.

Prepaid cards can help if you don't want as many people tracking your overall spending habits but can back fire if you ever need to account for your location or spending habits such as a criminal investigation or IRS audit. It is a good way to let a lot of money slip through you7r figers with out realizeing it.

And it is not a good way to build any kind of credit which is definitely and advantage if you want to rent a desireable property, ever buy a home, finance a car with out paying double for it in high interest financeing charges, or any other reason you might want a positive credit rateing like employment, starting a business, medical (especially dental) care, or even personal reference. Just the fact that you buy prepaid diebit cards that don't account for your miscellaneous spending can send up "red flags".

Useing a prepaid debit card for a savings account is a very poor spending habit because the fees alone, even if small are just throwing money away when a dollar is usually enough to open a credit union account which will pay you interest, build your credit, and get you a surpriseing number of discounts and perks on a variety of goods and services. Even minor improvements in your credit score can save you tousands of dollars in lower rent, interest fees, insurance discounts, and even job promotions or preventing layoffs over the years.

Dropping a couple of dollars a month in a credit union savings account is a great way to save check cashing fees on all sorts of checks and if you are smart enough to have bonus money like refunds, rebates, or even your paycheck direct deposited to it can really save your behind if you ever really do need a emergency fund.

Of course it has to do with how often I date someone and how developed the friendship is but generally speaking if I am hanging out at a guys house I am no longer a casual date, a pampered visitor, and just figure it is doing my share to pitch in and clean up at least after myself or sometimes both of us.

If I like this person it is generally and expression of affection or appreciation for their treating me well. I am the old school traditional type in that the man makes a date he pays and with the economics of dateing sometimes being a financial hardship I figure it is the least I can do to occassionally reciprocate. I actually ask people I like out and pay but the disparity of pay in what I do and what most of the men I date do is not a penny for penny deal. Most can afford maids or have things already done as they went along.

I do know some people try to use cleaning as marking territory, or createing an aura of obligation, or even snooping but if someone is making you uncomfortable intrudeing into your space then it is time to man up and communicate how you feel about it or take charge of the situation even if only to stop inviting her over.

I am particularly fond of gardening and entertaining and tend to gravitate to people who do so sometimes it is a I will help you with your project and vice versa. Or ok lets knock out the chores together and then kick back and have the saved time for other things.

Summer is coming soon and for lower ranking (paid) military families even retireies pitch hitting raiseing grands that are already struggleing to make ends meet the abscence of school lunches, even school hour periods for waiting wives to work can affect real hardships. Especially when they often live off post and away from supporting families. If you know a military family and can offer car pooling, free or reduced day care, share garden produce, or just include them in community activiites and food events without embarassing them you can make a huge difference. Many military installations have daycare co-ops, recreation programs, and thrift shops that you can donate time and usable items to streach their benifits.

While I feel sorry for anyone who finds themself in the mess of a domestic situation involveing a gun someone that has poor enough coping skills to be arrested for domestic violence is not someone I want flying my plane until the investigation has been resolved to the affirmative. If that means a piolet has to be grounded then so be it.

Pilots generally are extreamly bright people and should be perceptive enough to avoid or evacuate themselves from a domestic situation or seek the available resources to resove their stress.

That said I think the flying public needs to be more aware of the work related stresses that pilots and their families endure when they are often forced to work dangerous long hours, work ill, call outs with little notice, uncompensated lay overs, extream stress on the job, and the threat of lay offs and marginal accomodations. And the pay is not and benifits are not anywhere close to what they used to be or commiserate to the qualifications and responsibilities required.

Dateing can be frusterateing.

If you are consistently having problems with women who abuse you, which I see cheating as, or resent having to be the person who pursues the relationship maybe you need to adjust the type of women you avail yourself from both ends of the spectrum to someone who is a little more middle of the road in a realtionship.

How people treat themself, others, and especially you; early in the relationship should give you a lot of clues what kind of person they are.

Cheaters have very distinctive behaviors. Usually you are not the first and so thinking you are going to be the last and they are hot and heavy all over you is just conning yourself that they are not insecure and will seek more attention than any one person can provideor they are used to being submissive aggressive and will tell you anything you want to hear. Don't be desperate and don't give up your right to watch and see what someone is about.

Or get your BVD's in a wad if a decent gal waits and watches what you are about. You don't have to get on your knees for any woman who actually wants you but a consistent and dignified effort to earn her attention and trust that you are more than just one more player will not be all that painful if you make an effort to find someone you have something in common with and actually like as a person to do some of the things you both like and just have to do.

You want a smart self respecting woman who treats you well then you need to let go of punishing anyone for anyone elses sins and move forward at a slow deliberate pace. Keep in mind the old addage fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me. Trust your gut instinct and pass over the loosers for someone worth your time.

Rather than dis the OP for an observation that he alone has not made, if most of us are really honest about it, often people seem "mismatched". The strikeingly beautiful woman with a "dumb" guy a powerful business executive and a frumpy wife, the really large with the petite; lots of variations.

Having been around some of the most classicly beautiful women in the USA with the Miss. America contest it is not always the blessing it seems to be "beautiful". Often the assumption is that whatever the woman has she did not earned it and the pressure to remain perfect 24/7, which of course is impossible, is grind. Especially when too often to be fun someone is trying their best to compeate with her and resent the fact when they fail or look weak doing so it gets old fast. For a certain percentage of those that; especially by accident of birth have "the Look" are not nearly so impressed by it or in others. So they may be attracted to other features. To be needed for more than a superficial reason is a relief.

And yes not all beautiful people are brilliant but their looks do let them pass and sometimes their education has big holes in it and they know what it feels like to have people make them feel small becase they don't know things.

The next question is why would someone be attracted to someone who appears to be "Dumb". Well it kind of goes back to perception. Some people who don't have all the assets of wealth, beauty, or great perception learn pretty fast that how they treat others is one asset they can develope and some actually excell at it. Since even beautiful people respond well to be treating well with kindness, appreciation, loyalty, and affection it is not so rare that sometimes they "hit the jackpot". .

I don't think I obsess about being thin unless it is to not be thin which I was painfully so as a younger teen. As an adult I eventually stopped being a popsicle3 stick with Dolly Parton boobs so if any body immage concerns exist is not being seen only as "boobs".

I have always dated big men in height and girth because that is what I find attractive not because of my own demensions which have varied over the years. I like someone who is able to handle differnces without seeing it as a threat, a throphy, or something to apoligize, or for them to have to defend.

That I have repeatedly had to pay the price for a shorter man being harrassed for dateing me I tend to avoid the issue. It is not fun to have to be resented for a guy defending his own honor and passing it off as mine.

That some large and or heavy American men do seem to have a preference for petite women still seems to be a cultural "power/status play" that is often supported by financial power. I seriously doubt it's about and woman wanting to be protected by size alone.

I do know I like that most extreamly large people I have been associated with have learned how not to dominate someone and or deal with things through tact and patience rather than vocally or menally bulling someone from a young age.

I have wondered if it relates to the fact that I see a thin man as reminding me of male family which were very tall and thin or frequently the hospice or profoundly spinal injured I have cared for professionally and thus "Off Limits". But with thin men being increaseingly rare now that I am single and older might have something to do with it. On the back side of the double nickle even a thin man, unless ridiculously athletic, has a "belly" and a few wrinkles if not balding so gotten over all that sillyness of body image.

If the conversation goes to body it is usually about which parts are still operational or sore from not getting to park close enough to where we can get something we both can eat. lol

She may be a girl and she may pretend to be a friend but she is not your girlfriend. You are a silent doormat to this girl who can tell you things in the guise of of being intimate but she does not care for you or she would not have asked you to pretend that you do Not have attraction to her when you do. That is selfish and degradeing to you as a normal male.

The suggestion I would make immediately distance yourself from this person who is useing you as and emotional dump site and invest in someone that genuinely cares about how her actions make you feel and is willing to reciprocate your feelings.

As far as "stealing a kiss" I would not recommend it unless you really want to get punched by her or one of her real friends or charged with assault since she has made it clear that the first advance was NOT WELCOME. NO MEANS NO.

Guess it depends on the "We" and the Pop Star/Celebrities.

Most famous people are in contact with hundreds of people a day doing various things for or to them like everyone else but it is often filtered by several levels of people who twist it anyway they like. Some flattering and some not.

Since several jobs I have had has given me contact with celebs and VIP's they are people that sometimes do want relationships with "Ordinary" people but just nameing the problem is a problem. Can you imagine wanting to talk to a fellow teen, parent, doctor about any of the things you are concerned about and having the fact that you are this or that createing barriers?

From personal experience I can tell you "living in a fishbowl" is not fun. Sometimes it is outright frightening for bonified reasons. There are a lot of whackos in the world. And leeches that don't care who gets hurt in the crossfire of selling out a fellow human being that has often worked very hard paid a lot of dues, to be where they are.

My advice is if you want to meet a specific person be honest about it and tell them via a letter or email to a public account. Many know the power of their celeb and are glad to apply it to causes or friendships they want to endorse if it fits in to their other arenas of their life. Especially if you have interests or issues in common. You just have to relize as unique as they are to you you are probably one of thousands who are trying to connect with them. That alone can be pretty intimidateing so be respectful and consider their feelings as much as your own.

ROFLMBO! The finest ? Give me a break.

Well having done the "living together" thing and finding it to be a HUGE mistake; never seen it be a total win for anyone else I know either; I would agree to the wait until you have figured out you want to and actually DONE the "I DO". Preferably with a prenup. I sure would NEVER leave my future up to the whim of a luck of the draw divorce judge. Or the fair play sense of the family/employer/business partners that invariably have to show their behinds when marriages end be it divorce or death.

First kisses tell volumes about a person. Their attitude about you and their level of passion. I think it is a clear signal about what a person expects all to often. I will say if it is a lousy kiss then there is little redemption and can torpedo the attraction. Kissing is huge in a relatioship with me and if I dreaded kissing or being kissed by someone it better be good; mutually.