People who have been exposed to HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) can significantly reduce their chances of contracting HIV/AIDS. They can take a preventative treatment that helps a great deal. The treatment should begin as soon as possible—and definitely within 72 hours of exposure. If you need this, see a doctor immediately and ask for PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) treatment. It can reduce your risk of contracting HIV by about 80%. http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/emergency-help-if-exposed-to-hiv

Sex and relationships is still a taboo subject between parents and teenage daughters, despite innovations such as text messages, a survey claims. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/4176425/Sex-still-a-taboo-subject-in-the-home.html

I am so happy you have started this!! I move a lot so don't have too many close friends in the real world to talk to. I am very open and often have questions and a need to talk. THANKS aGAIN!!!!

I'm about half way through Mars & Venus in the bedroom. Has anyone else read this and what do you think of it?

Originally Posted by CoffeeMom in CoffeeMom's CircleThe other night I posted a note about having completed a 5-hour marathon session with this one couple I have been seeing for marital counseling. Now that I've had some time to recuperate, I feel like dispensing some free advice and venting a few frustrations I as a counselor must face:1. Marriage is hard, even for counselors who supposedly know it all. 2. In real estate it's all about location, location, location. In therapy it's all about communication, communication, communication. If you aren't willing to do this, don't waste the therapist's time or your own. 3. Therapists receive training in learning to diagnose problems, knowing how to ask questions, and to write treatment plans. We aren't trained to read people's minds. 4. We don't have magic wands. If you wait until the last minute to see a therapist, it's like going to a doctor when you may already have stage 4 cancer. At that point, we can only diagnose, be sympathetic, and pray for a miracle. 5. Counselors are notorious for having messy lives. Don't assume we have it all together. If we did, we wouldn't be able to relate to you.6. Don't discount young counselors. We don't have the life experience you may want, but we're terrified of screwing up and are more likely to work over time to get things right with you. 7. I have seen about half a dozen people for marriage counseling, none of them for the same reason. Just because you have depression, anxiety, or marriage problems doesn't mean I won't pay attention because I've "heard it all before." Your concerns are unique to you. 8. Counselors are paid to listen well. If we aren't listening, tell us. If that doesn't fix the problem, get a new therapist. We're all different and have different styles of working with people. 9. Don't be afraid to talk about your concerns or ask questions. NOTHING is stupid when you're in my office. If I don't know, I'll find out from someone who does. 10. You're not crazy because you have decided to stop fighting your problems by yourself. We all need someone to listen to us, give us encouragement, and when necessary directions and a good kick in the pants to get us started. 

Remember that scene in When Harry Met Sally when Harry refuses to believe that a man called Sheldon could be a great lover? "A Sheldon can do your taxes," he says. "If you need a root canal, he's your man. But between the sheets is not Sheldon's strong suit." Sally didn't care—but Lori Gottlieb did. In her new book, Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough, she says she hesitated before dating someone because he had the name of a "nerdy sidekick." She also balked at the fact that he had been upset by his divorce a year earlier, he loved sports, and he was born in the Bronx, a place she "associated with beer-can-smashing guys with thick accents." Her type, she said, was "sophisticated intellectuals." Sounds awful, right? As she weighed up her matchmaker's assurances that this man was not "belching" or "rough talking" and had been Ivy League-educated, "Sheldon" started dating another woman. This incident caused Gottlieb to rethink her standards—and go on to mount a case that the reason many women are unable to find love is that they are superficial and hypercritical, as she was. (Read on by clicking the link above) http://www.newsweek.com/id/232112

Finding it hard to keep the love life alive with little ones? If you’re physical relationship is on hiatus, it’s likely your mental health is as well. This Valentine’s Day, let’s find some ways to spice things up a bit. Here’s a few suggestions how to make it happen- Click the link to find our suggestions http://www.metroimma.com/forum/topics/valentines-day-keep-it-spicy

Good morning, my sunshines! It is Tuesday morning again! You know what that means. Time to let it all out:) Of course, today is Fat Tuesday..so maybe we should really get it all off our chest in anticipation of Lent.I mean who doesn't want to start Lent off with a clean conscience and a light heart! So, please join me in our weekly expelling of our "demons".As always, I will start! I wish that when I asked my husband to call me from the road, when he is driving in bad weather and I am waiting to hear how an interview is going, he would actually do it! Instead of me having to track him down and him giving me vague answers!Argh!! I wish that my 2 year old would keep her hands out of her sister's face. It's so bad that her older sister calls her "the Tiger". When I asked,"Why?", she simply replied,"Because she claws and bites, Mom!"Enough said! I wish that same "Tiger" would stop bringing the glitter glue to me and forcing it into my face, narrowly escaping dropping it into my much needed coffee! I wish that I could write this blog in silence versus the screaming, crying, chaos that ensues each time I attempt to get in front of the computer!It's like they do it on purpose! Finally, I wish that I , along with all the Mommies I know, could do everything, be everywhere, and get as much done as we want to without filling guilty for neglecting our children, our husbands or our responsibilities! In short, I wish that we could all live free of Mommy guilt!!! Ahhh, breathe in, breathe out! My husband just woke up...yeah, just now. Must be nice! I better go and inform him that I am bestowing the honor of driving in the blizzard to get the groceries. Ahhhh, sweet revenge!LOL Your turn! As I have said before, do it anonymously if you like but please...get it off your chest! No infraction too small or too large. We will love you still and think you are an awesome Mommy...just for being human and trying!Come on girls....Do the Fat Tuesday!!!

http://motherhoodthetruth.blogspot.com/2010/03/damn-you-bree-van-de-kamp.html Anyone who has ever read my blog knows that I am a super advocate of sisterhood. I think that cat fights between women are ridiculous and that if we all spent a lot more time being real and supporting each other, life would be so much better for all of us. Why does it always have to be a competition? My kid does this, does  yours? My husband makes this much money, what does yours make? My house is bigger than yours. It truly is a pissing contest for women! I can keep the house immaculate, my kids listen to everything I say, sleep in their own beds, go to bed at a reasonable hour with no drama, they are reading at a 5th grade level @ the age of four, I eat but can not gain weight, my husband just keeps getting better looking, and my kids are absolute perfection, did I mention they eat absolutely everything I put in front of them. The laundry seems to do itself, I love to cook gourmet meals for every meal, I am completely organic, I made all the baby food and my babies only wore cloth diapers and drank organic, non tainted by caffeine or alcohol breasts milk. P.S. My shit doesn't stink! I live in a mansion on the corner of bliss and perfection...or was that delusional and insanity?  And you? OK, Bree friggin Van de Kamp...you are not real, you are some convoluted conjuring of what some crazy tv exec thought real life is...not even in the 1950's, my brother sister!If we'd stop trying to make the other Mommies think we have it all under control without even breaking a sweat, maybe, just maybe we'd have some back up in the trenches instead of one more enemy trying to kill our spirits and crush our souls! So, as if that is not bad enough, that we are all running around lying to each other about how perfect and easy our lives are, we are inadvertently (or maybe purposefully) making other women (Mommies ,specifically) feel like they are losers because they don't think life is easy or perfect and neither are their kids and their husband. I mean ,myself,  I've actually winced at the prospect of having to go to the grocery store, been brought to tears trying to figure out what the hell to wear out in public to drop my kids off at some class or other, the dishes make me want to kill someone ( actually just myself..I truly hate dishes!I am not above existing on paper products!), my girls still miraculously end up in our bed in the middle of the night, I have actually been reduced to feeding them cereal for dinner (only once..I promise)....though, I must confess, my kids are pretty perfect....to me! All kids are perfect to their parents! My point is my fellow desperate housewives, we would not all be so damn desperate if we could all just get along! Next time you feel overcome with the need to blow crazy smoke up your own ass, in a coffee induced fog of meanness,  Please remember that Mommy that you are making feel 2 inches tall would probably serve you better as a cheerleader than as a doormat! PSA: Please be kind to your fellow Mommies! She is not your enemy, she is your sister, your friend, your confidant, your tether to sanity!

what would you say if a single girl asked you what men really want in a wife??? I like this answer... http://www.metroimma.com/profiles/blogs/marriage-scary-or-inspiring

It's tough to condense a relationship into six words! I couldn't do it ... can you? What’s Your Six-Word Love Story? By TARA PARKER-POPE Can you sum up a relationship in six words? The readers of the Web site Smith Magazine are doing just that, offering six-word memoirs to describe both love and loss. Some examples: Love hurts. Choose vodka or valium. You lost me at hello “ma’am.” Life’s like chocolates. Picked, processed, pooped. Hearts clubbed by diamonds in spades. Passion, fireworks, good loving. He’s gay. But our domestic partnership was notarized…. Your new wife is too friendly. There’s nothing sex can not fix. Finally found love, at age 41. Note to self: avoid head cases. He wasn’t worth the panic attacks. Chocolate is the coward’s bad apology. Pet-sitting for ex-husband describes amicable divorce. Loved her madly — then went mad. Warning, love: I blog my breakups. What do you think? Do you have six words to share about love, marriage and relationships? Please post your own six word memoir below. And be sure to check out the Smith Magazine Web site for more six-word memoirs on happiness, teenagers, food and other topics. See the story: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/whats-your-six-word-love-story/

Women wonder about their mom's sexuality By Catherine Price, Oprah.com (OPRAH.com) -- What do you most want to know about your mom but would never ask? When psychoanalyst Joyce McFadden posed this question to hundreds of women in an online survey that began in 2006, she was surprised by their answers: Half of the respondents wanted to know more about their mothers' sexuality. The queries ranged from the seemingly straightforward to the profound: "Did she date other men before my dad?" "Had she had an abortion?" "Why did she have an affair?" In her new book, "Your Daughter's Bedroom," McFadden explores the great value in sharing these kinds of intimate secrets -- even when it's awkward to do so. Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/04/27/talking.about.sex.o/index.html?hpt=Sbin