You sound a lot like me, I can over-analyze just about anything so I try to make myself jump in and do things. I finished the book last night, it was really good, there's a lot we can talk about!

What did you think of Ellen not telling Keith about his daughter?

@PKM0515 I love the Mischief Bay series, I remember the people in it all the time and it's not often characters stay with me like that.

@londonParisTexas Lots of good points! Hm, how close are you to retiring and would you need schooling to do something different? It's a hard choice at this age, I had gone back to college when I was doing better and it would've been more of a job for the money than what I actually enjoy. I stopped going last semester and am not sure what to do now to be honest, I'll be 50 this year. You can't live with a lot of negativity either so if it's making you unhappy I'd really weigh the pros and cons on toughing it out versus finding something you enjoy more.

The reason I asked about the daughter situation is because I was in a situation like that before. It's a tough situation, I can see why she would wait especially with how he was overprotective and they were on the trip. My situation was my friend's daughter telling me she was being molested by her Mom's boyfriend, she was really scared and I encouraged her to tell her mom or we'd do it together. It ruined my friendship with her mom though when it went to court she later called me to let me know I'd done the right thing as the psychologists agreed her daughter had needed an adult to trust and I'd had a friendship with her. I later worked with children and was a mandatory reporter so if it had happened then I wouldn't have had a choice on how I handled it but helping her become strong enough to open up was important at the time and that mattered more to me than the friendship.

I definitely agree about all the carrying on during the trip!

OK, I absolutely disagree with Keith having his daughter on birth control when she wasn't even having sex. I was on it early because of bad cramps (didn't know I had endometriosis until later) but why in the heck would you want your daughter on hormones if it's not needed? I think it shows no trust at all to be like that. I'd resent the heck out of my parent if I was her. I too was wondering if Lissa was still with her boyfriend!

My memory sucks so bad, I'm blanking on Ellen's friend's name! The one who was with Thaddeus! She was kind of frustrating, I get where she was coming from but it was sad too. I've always gotten along with older people, probably because I was injured young and have more in common with them but I see where that would be a "safe" place to be. It's so easy to get trapped in what should have been versus living in the present. I did that for awhile after my nerves were injured, I'd been applying to graduate schools when I had surgery and next thing you know I was bedridden from a routine surgery. My boyfriend and I had been planning to move to San Diego and he couldn't handle me being injured. For a long time I kept thinking I had to get back to where I was instead of accepting where I was and moving forward. I've had people close to me die but not in a situation like a husband or parent so I don't know how I would accept it. It was relatable in the sense that she was going through the motions of what widows are expected to do like grief counseling but not really listening.

@LondonParisTexas Thank you! Rescuing donkeys would be fun! I've never rescued anything bigger than a dog, there was a post on Next Door about a found goat and I had to laugh because that's something that I'd find. I don't think I'd been here a month when I called my brother and interrupted his date because I'd rescued a turtle and had it in his cooler.

Let me know if you start a blog or You Tube channel, I love that idea!

I'm glad your daughter was able to be open with you. I don't know how I wouldve been as a mom, I'm pretty open but who knows. It's interesting watching my brother and SIL with my nephews, she's a teacher so she started easing them into it. My poor nephew was given a book on sex and his friends found it, she had to call and talk to their parents but they were relieved they didn't have to do it! Of course my nephew was mortified. If I was Lissa and my dad was forcing bcp on me I wouldn't tell him anything and frankly being scared of getting pregnant was a reason not to sleep with someone and he took that out of the equation, I could easily see a "who cares I'm on the pill anyway" attitude or feeling like because you're already guilty you may as well do it.

@PKM0515 I was studying psychology with an emphasis on research. I was taking the GREs for graduate school when I had surgery and was injured so I only applied it with children and teens in a residential treatment center. Most researchers are professors and I wasn't sure how I'd handle that as I abhor public speaking.