Great advice and so important. Girlfriend time (in person) is indeed really important. The computer is great, emails, blogging, but nothing beats face to face interactions with human beings! To be able to hug someone and look them in the eye is as important as breathing.

It definitely is a stress reliever. All of Dr. Lee’s advice is spot on. I walk to work everyday. And on crisp, cool mornings like we have been experiencing lately in Wisconsin, it is relaxing and physically beneficial at the same time. A good walk, some cool music in my ears and I’m ready to take on the world.

6 months. I left a job that offered an obscene amount of financial and professional security to go off on a freelance career as a voice over actress. Years and years of people fawning all over my voice and how perfect it was, my ego got the best of me and I thought I was going to be the new and improved Oprah of the airwaves. Ha!So I left my secure job for the unknown.

That was short lived and withing six months I was back to work, back to reality and back on solid ground, my head no longer in the clouds. 

My advice, know your limitations. Embrace them.

There are some days when I start my day out on a high note.

Mornings when I know I have a lot on my plate to deal with, so I prepare emotionally for a full day with a large glass of orange juice on ice, lots of deep breaths and an open mind. Then there are those days when I can’t focus, get in the groove and try as I may, feel discombobulated. I’m having one of those mornings.

And what’s worst for me is when I start a day with little lessons about myself that aren’t that great. One of them coming from reading your article this morning Liz. In one article I am reminded of what a big hypocrite I am, and I HATE being hypocritical. 

I don’t know Angelina and Brad, never met them, never will. They mean absolutely nothing to me. So why is it I am annoyed at the thought that he cheated on Jennifer Anniston  and ultimately left her for Angelina? How bizarre is that? I can’t forgive a perfect stranger for cheating on another perfect stranger.

And yet….another stranger to me, Alec Baldwin who gave me to this day the biggest laughs of my life (from his various SNL skits - Schwetty balls - Wii skit and my all time favorite, as a pedophile camp leader) I’m still ashamed that I find that funny - he can do no wrong in my eyes. This is the man that called his own child a "pig" and spoke to her in the most disturbing ways and yet here I am a couple years later loving the fact he is going to host the Oscars. Loving his role on 30 Rock and all the success that has come his way. Fine with forgiving this stranger his transgressions but unable to do the same for Brad Pitt and Angelina.

Yes, this is starting out to be a wonderful day for my psyche…..I’m realizing I am one of those people I often complain about. Those who think about celebrities far more than is warranted.

Simply beautiful Kim.

You encapsulated what I am sure many have felt in the process of being duped by Madoff. The loss of not just money but trust. And yet through it all you learned the bigger lesson and it appears you are all the better because of it.

During this Madoff debacle I learned a disturbing thing about who I am. I don’t trust people as much as I thought I did. I would never have turned over my entire life’s savings to anyone. There would always be that little nagging thought of "what if?" I would never have had the trust that they could or would handle my money in the way they said.

And yet thousands of people like yourself who are far more emotionally advanced and trusting than me, had faith and trust. This time your trust was misplaced, but I would imagine you have countless other occasions in your life where it was not. Where your faith and trust in others epitomized Karma - what you put out - you get back ten-fold. You are far more wealthy Kim than you may believe.

I am bankrupt in an area where you are spilling over, and that is in the area of trust.

I really do believe it is as basic as our human need to belong, choose up sides. We feel better when when are part of something instead of being on our own. Whether its comfort in our own race, neighborhood, social group or yes, sports team. The "us" against "them" mindset.

Before Brett Farve left Green Bay, most women who weren’t into football hated me. It was all I could talk about. Now that he is gone I have lost my love for the game and I don’t watch it nearly as much as I use to. I feel separated and miss belonging to that special kinship known as being a Packer Backer.

If I were her, I’d spell it out: "Honey, if you ever, ever suggest or bring anything like that up again….that will indeed be the end of our marriage. Think long and hard before you answer me, because there is only one right answer here."

Oh A R, were we separated at birth? You have said EXACTLY what I would have said. On something as serious as my husband suggesting I engage in Gay sex out of the blue…..this is not something to be taken lightly. And as others have suggested, turn the tables, what would he say if I had suggested he have sex with his best friend? 

But then again…I might be afraid of his answer. :-)

Oh I agree with you Mr. Wow, gossip and shallow opinions are nothing knew. People have been curious and nosey about others lives, especially as it relates to those we deem as "celebrities" since the beginning of time. But my point was we have never had the degree of intimate knowledge about celebrities as we do today.  I don’t know how old our Mr. Wow is, but it wasn’t that long ago that the studios and talent management controlled every thing we knew about celebrities. There was no TMZ and 24-7 paparazzi outside the homes of the famous and infamous.

Now people openly open up their homes, bedrooms and lives to us…Americans. We know everything about Jon & Kate, far more than I think we should.  I have a huge crush on George Clooney. Love the man. But I am hard pressed to find out any true intimate details of his life. He does a great job in protecting his privacy. Yet people like Jon and Kate literally make a buck off of showing us the inner workings of their family life and marriage. I just think that is odd.

And I agree with you about Reality TV being a blight, most of it. The problem is it is so hard to determine what is reality tv? I like Kathy Griffin’s show, My life on the D list. I consider that quasi-reality. Some is scripted some is not.  I also like Hell’s Kitchen. Some is scripted and some is not. The line between what passes as real reality is so blurred these days.

But that’s my two cents on the subject. So much of what is happening in our world today is wonderful and progressive, but it is weighed also by alot that is happening that I feel uneasy about. But I have no choice, I must move with the tide, not fight against it.

Have a great weekend. Can’t wait to see what you will brooch as topics for discussion next week.

You know, I don’t think a lot of us stop to think about the situation Jon and Kate are in. The vast amount of kids. I know, I come from a family of 11 children, all of which my father raised on his own (my mom died when I was 6). So when you have a lot of kids it is daunting, mind-blowing!

And once the kids are here, they’re here. You have to raise them the best way you can.  What I find so interesting about the Jon and Kate issue is the fact that it is a glimpse into how far and how much we have changed as a society. Because they chose to televise their life, WE know everything about them. We all debate, judge and talk about their lives everyday as if we know them intimately. If this was 20 years ago this wouldn’t be happening.

I find it fascinating and a bit disturbing that we have such detailed knowledge of others. Think about it guys, it was just last month we had a couple who told their children to lie, put on a hoax of their child in a flying balloon for God’s sake. All to gain notoriety to gain their own reality show. Truly fascinating how people think these days…..

I LOVE Anna, but come on gang, that has got to be the worst photo you could have chosen of her.

This is a much better representation of her beauty.

I can not believe I agree with Liz Peek on something. Stop the presses!

But I do. In the respect of the growing amount of citizens reliant upon the federal government to sustain them in one way or another. I too have been following the statistics in this regard and it is scary. But in this statistic you are missing a huge point. In your article you point out OVER 50% of the nation is reliant upon the federal government. And with that number growing, less people are now actually paying out taxes to the federal government.

Yet on this site on various threads, in your articles, on the news each day we are bombarded with people like yourself lambasting the President about how he is running the country. Using the argument that he is misusing "our" money and such. I find that to be quite the contradiction.  If most of the people doing the yelling are collecting medicare or medicaid, unemployment or disability payments. On welfare or foodstamp programs. Receiving grants or funding for education, back to work programs or child care. Doesn’t that smack of hypocrisy to you?

I know it does to me. There is a lot of talk about how the majority of Americans are now against President Obama and his various plans to turn things around. Well if we are to believe the statistics that you quote, "who" are these people doing the complaining? How can they have one hand in Uncle Sam’s pocket and the other waving a banner with President Obama as Hitler in the other?

And THIS is why I love Margo! Shoots straight from the hip and holds no punches.

Letter # 2 has just received the exact advice (and in the manner I would suggest as well) that she needed to hear. Grossly obese people know they are grossly obese. Some are embarrassed by it and some could care less. But whenever it gets to the point where their weight is affecting others, as in not being able to fit comfortably in a car, or next to you on a plane, or movie theater or restaurant booth or table, we have a right to say something. And the letter writer is 100% correct to be concerned about getting a ticket. Police officers should take this law seriously. Too many people dismiss it as a non issue, that is until they hear of someone they know who died because they were splattered all over the highway.

And letter #1 - And here we go. Yet again another letter from a woman dealing with a dishonest man and missing the point that, that is the main issue at hand.  On what planet would anyone believe that the desire to see your wife engage in Gay sex was brought on by E.D.? Come on! He can’t even be honest about something like that. Would it have been to hard to simply say, "honey I don’t know why I am so turned on by that fantasy, but I am and I am obsessed with it"

That would have been much more emotionally honest to say and believe.  But it’s his lie, his excuse that gets me. If I were in her shoes I would have called him on it immediately. The part about him being obsessed with sex in general however is something only she can quantify. Sex is important to a relationship and lots of sex (in my opinion) is a good thing. So I don’t quite understand her complaint in that regard. But then again we all have varying levels of what is the norm in a relationship.

It just amazes me how many men and women are emotionally dishonest with one another. It’s really sad.

I have a thing for jewelry and have always loved diamonds. When I was a girl I saw the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s and became obsessed with jewels. While my girlfriends were oohing and aahing over the latest fashions, I was always wishing and hoping for diamonds. A big aspiration I’ll have you to know, given I was the daughter of a preacher and lived in a middle class community.

My first big splurge was on a pair of diamond earrings that I still have to this day. Little diamond dust stud earrings that you have to squint to see. But oh how I remember how I felt when I brought them…..I was in heaven!

First of all Mr. Wow, a big THANK YOU for putting Natalie Morales name out there so that more people can become fans of this fabulous reporter. I have followed her for awhile now and think she epitomizes what a good reporter should be.

I saw both interviews and I have to tell you, as much as you and I are oil and water on some subjects, there are others (like the Limbaugh love-fest - it was NOT an interview) that you take the words right out of my mouth. Did you see those bare ankles…yuck!  But you have to admit, now that he has lost some weight, the caps on the teeth are a pearly white, the skin looks tighter….he does look much better than he did. Not as oily, bloated and winded as he usually does. I’m not so sure I’d want to see him in a shirt with a tie. Can you imagine the strangle hold that would look like?

It’s so funny because it really was almost….almost as if Rush had written the questions in advance and gave them to Wallace to ask. He answered them as if he had them rehearsed to some extent. But then again his responses are many I have heard him say on his show time and time again. Obama is bad for America….Obama is a man child…Obama, Obama, Obama…I think he has tourettes when it comes to Obama.