Yep. Someone stole it from my high school’s science wing storage, gave it to my ex husband for his 18th birthday, and he left it with me “until I find a stable place” after we split up. We’re on good terms and I’ll give it back if he ever asks for it, but we separated more than ten years ago so I think it may just be mine now.

There’s also a little octopus on a jar on the top left, front of the shelf.

Yep!

I’d use half to clear the debt I’ve been clawing my way out of for the last couple of years, and the other half to fix the retaining wall so I can finally build a small backyard studio with loft to use as an office/guest space. Any leftovers would go toward the construction of the studio.

Thanks! My decor style falls solidly under maximalist, so it’s a pretty good representation of the rest of my house.

It’s printed on square glass, actually. I got it from ThinkGeek years ago.

I inherited most of my grandma’s mid-century dining room set, so yes. I keep her china in the bottom, and use the top as a display case and liquor cabinet. She wouldn’t exactly be thrilled with my setup, but she’d be happy the furniture stayed in the family.

I drove up through there yesterday, heading home to Nelson. The Crowsnest is such a fun drive.

No. He’d dump her, then come back all apologetic less than 24 hours later, beg for forgiveness, and promise to change. He’d make grand gestures in the first few days and make her feel like he might be serious this time. Within a week, whatever it was will have become her fault, she’ll always have been the real abuser in the situation, and he’ll punish her by withdrawing until she interprets his vague, passive-aggressive hints correctly in order to atone for her sins against him in the only way he has deemed appropriate. This whole thing will be just one one in a long line of many similar incidents, which have escalated over enough time that he has convinced her that she is, in fact, the bad one and that she deserves to be treated this way because of it. She’ll have been kept on an emotional rollercoaster for so long that when (if) the relationship finally does end, it will take a very long time for her to be able to identify the pattern.

I have some first-hand experience in this area.

I’m glad it’s not just me. XD