Where is my wife?

[fearless]

Chrome,
I totally missed your July post. Glad to hear you are still seeing the IC and that you feel confident enough to use him "as needed" and are smart enough to know you need his help at times!

You used 2 different ways to describe your difficulties right now

1) One of the hardest things I deal with every day is finally being aware that I am a potentially attractive person to females, and not responding to that either in inappropriate ways or by withdrawing.

2) I know this may sound absolutely silly and childish

Try to use version 1 and don't worry about version 2. My Xh was a bit fixated on the negatives when he first started a similar journey (fixing things from childhood/adolescence) and was overly concerned that they were issues he "should have" fixed years ago. My viewpoint is to not worry so much about the past and focus on the future. You and he are miles ahead of those that just decide to bury their issues and not look at them. I know you feel like it "sucks" now but imagine if you were 60 or 70 looking at the same issues. And even then, if you're still here, then there is still time to change and grow.

I can tell though that you do not need "cheerleading." I just wanted to give extra encouragement that you are on the right track and it is noticeable.

As far as the In-Laws, wow I really do feel for you. My friend's in-laws are passive aggressive interfering NUTS and I haven't a clue how to deal with those people. If they were not family, I would tell her to cut them out of their lives. My friend really has wanted to figure out how to work with them but after 3 years in the same state, it still is not going too well. She's "lucky" because her husband is sick of them too.

Thanks for the recommendations. I read a lot of Sagan in High School and some Hawkings. I have heard of Brian Greene (Elegant Universe??) and Lisa Randall. Creation/evolution debate is easy for me. It's the same as the Earth as the center of the universe issue. Back then the church was just as certain that the belief in God and religion would collapse if the Earth was NOT the center of the universe. Somehow religion has moved along just fine without the earth as the center of the universe.

Also amusing are the people who believe "Intelligent Design" since that "theory" also allows for aliens as well as God to be a potential Designer.

The bigger issue to me is that a lot people on either side of the argument do not really understand evolution. Stephen Jay Gould's "Full House: The spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin" was very good for a better understanding.

Oh and I've been looking through Chet Raymo's book "An Intimate Look at the Night Sky." Great book. What do you think of him?

I love star gazing but it's so much harder to do now that I don't live on a farm. Light pollution is such a horrible problem. So much could be helped by such simple methods. If you think about it, the light that is not directed at the ground is really a waste of energy.

Anyway...back to you. Good luck with the financial and baby issues.