Podcasts about Sweetie

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, I sat down with the powerhouse behind Mielle Organics—Monique Rodriguez. We talked about building a beauty empire, navigating loss, staying rooted in faith, and her brand new book The Glory in Your Story. Monique shares what it really takes to walk in purpose and turn pain into power.

He's the nicest bad guy in town. His last name is an adverb. And he's got some pretty wacky bits! Sweetie pie comedian Josh Gondelman joins us to talk about 1984's Johnny Dangerously, Amy Heckerling's loving homage to 1930's gangster pictures. Things we attempt to understand in this episode: the cultural legacy of Joe Piscopo; the actual joke that's being told in the “Your Testicles and You” animated reel / is there one?; Marilu Henner's insane memory thing; if the Danny DeVito bull scene is a parody of anything; why does Richie Rich have cent signs in his name if he's so rich?; and most crucially - why is this movie so damned hard to see in 2025?!?! Real fans know that Blank Check started off as an investigative podcast. Maybe it's time to bring that element back! Subscribe to Josh's newsletter If you haven't been able to find the movie maybe watch the Internet Archive version. Buy Mattie Lubchansky's Book Simplicity Listen to Griffin on The Michael Keaton Movie Mount Rushmore episode of The Big Picture Read Coolio's Obituary Watch the end of Disaster Movie Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won't want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, I'm sitting down with entrepreneur, model, and influencer Jordyn Woods. We went deep—talking about her childhood, navigating past trauma, the journey of healing, and her latest business ventures (my girl's been busy!). I left this conversation so inspired, and I know you will too.

"Sweetie, you seem so blue. Did the last of something die?" - Marge Simpson Lisa's curse of forever being in second place strikes again when she discovers Maggie somehow has a higher IQ. Can guest star Simon Cowell help Lisa get over her resentment before a shockingly realistic recreation of the human digestive system dissolves the rest of the Simpson family? Our guest: Mike Drucker, comedy writer and author of the upcoming book, Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games Support this podcast and get over 200 ad-free bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod, not to mention Bluesky and Instagram!

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, I'm sitting down with the multi-talented Jacob Latimore — actor, singer, and all-around creative force. From starring in hit series like The Chi to building a dynamic music career, Jacob opens up about balancing both worlds, staying grounded in the spotlight, and the lessons he's learned along the way. We dive into the source of his creativity, personal growth, and what keeps him motivated through every new chapter. This conversation is full of inspiration, real talk, and gems you don't want to miss. Tap in, take notes, and be sure to share this episode with someone who could use a little positivity this week!

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, I had the honor of sitting down with the incomparable talent that is Saint Jhn. His story is raw, real, and deeply relatable—a journey that's sure to leave you inspired. You don't want to miss this one.

Today on The Karen Kenney Show, I dive deep into a message I'm calling, "It's Not You."This episode is a little love letter to all the creatives, entrepreneurs, and sensitive souls out there who sometimes feel discouraged when their work doesn't seem to land. Using my Sweetie's music career as an example, I share how the same incredibly talented musician can get standing ovations in one venue, and be completely ignored in another. The key? It's all about the right audience, the right place, and the right time. Just because people aren't responding the way we wish, it doesn't mean our work isn't valuable - it might just mean we haven't found our people, yet!I also talk about how easy it is to turn it all on yourself and start beating yourself up when you're not experiencing the outcomes you had hoped for.But here's the truth: your worth isn't determined by likes, sales, or applause. Sometimes you're just sharing your gifts with the wrong crowd, and that's okay. The world still needs your unique voice, even if it takes time to find the enthusiastic listeners who truly appreciate it. My biggest takeaways? Be gentle with yourself and surround yourself with your "Balcony People" – those supportive humans who see you, get you, celebrate you, lift you up, and encourage you!Also, be wicked careful about who you share your vulnerable creative work with, and always remember that your calling is bigger than any single moment of rejection. Keep creating, keep showing up, and trust that your right audience will find you. I'm cheering you on! xo KEY TAKEAWAYS:• Your worth isn't defined by other people's reactions.• The right people and place make a really big difference.• Don't “cast your pearls” before people who don't or can't get it.• Creativity thrives with supportive, loving listeners.• Keep creating, even when response feels discouraging. • Find your “Balcony People” who genuinely celebrate you and your work.• You have an “individual Curriculum”.• Your art is valuable, regardless of immediate recognition.• The Nest - Group Mentoring ProgramBIO:Karen Kenney is a certified Spiritual Mentor, Writer, Integrative Change Worker, Coach and Hypnotist. She's known for her dynamic storytelling, her sense of humor, her Boston accent, and her no-BS, down-to-earth approach to Spirituality and transformational work. KK is a wicked curious human being, a life-long learner, and has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years! She's also a yoga teacher of 24+ years, a Certified Gateless Writing Instructor, and an author, speaker, retreat leader, and the host of The Karen Kenney Show podcast.She coaches both the conscious + unconscious mind using practical Neuroscience, Subconscious Reprogramming, Integrative Hypnosis/Change Work, and Spiritual Mentorship. These tools help clients to regulate their nervous systems, remove blocks, rewrite stories, rewire beliefs, and reimagine what's possible in their lives and business!Karen encourages people to deepen their connection to Self, Source and Spirit in down-to-earth and actionable ways and wants them to have their own lived experience with spirituality and to not just “take her word for it”.She helps people to shift their minds from fear to Love - using compassion, storytelling and humor. Her work is effective, efficient, memorable, and funKK's been a student of A Course in Miracles for close to 30 years, has been vegan for over 20 years, and believes that a little kindness can make a big difference.KK WEBSITE:

'Sweetie' es como un rayo de sol: bailable, alegre, cálida y simplemente deliciosa. Es la canción con la que regresa el colectivo de UK Jazz Kokoroko, esta vez explorando sonidos más electrónicos. Así nos adentramos en el universo sonoro de su próximo disco, 'Tuff Time Never Last', previsto para el 11 de julio.Playlist:Kokoroko - SweetieStella - CaravanDinamarca, Meth Math - diluvioDJ Koze, Sophia Kennedy - Die Gondel!SHERELEE, George Riley - FREAKY (JUST MY TYPE)Real Lies - Wild Sign I Choose YouThe Hidden Cameras - How do you love?Desire - Drama Queen Fontaines D.C. - Before You I Just Forgetcaroline, Caroline Polachek - Tell me I never knew thatThese New Puritans, Caroline Polachek - Industrial Love SongFlorist - Moon, Sea, DevilAdrianne Lenker - happiness (live)Lana Del Rey - Henry, come onEscuchar audio

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, we're wrapping up the final segment of the LIVE SHOW with the powerhouse ladies of Zatima and our leading man, Devale Ellis!  We even brought two incredible audience members on stage for a special edition of Positive Outcomes—and let me tell you, the energy was unmatched. These live shows are truly something special. I hope to see YOU at the next one! 

Place des Fêtes, la quotidienne pas tous les jours de Tsugi Radio avec aujourd'hui, non pas une mais 2 chroniques. Olivier Forest, notre spécialiste écrans, cinéma et séries, s'intéresse à Bande Son pour un coup d'état, un documentaire politique et musical sur l'indépendance du Congo. Comme chaque mois, Angèle Chatelier parcourt la presse et l'actualité de la musique et ce mois-ci il sera question de Kpop, de free parties menacées ou de l'incontournable Pedro Winter. Le nouveau Tsugi est en kiosque et s'intéresse à un phénomène que peu avaient vu venir : comment la drum n bass a conquis le monde et infuse ses beats breakés dans beaucoup de productions du moment. Aujourd'hui on va aussi parler d'un des beaux festivals du printemps, non ce n'est pas le printemps de bourges, ça c'est la semaine prochaine, mais bien Les 3 Éléphants à Laval. On y verra Clara Ysé, Lucky Love, mais aussi la découverte Bonne Nuit, la sensation de Brooklyn TVOD dont on va écouter le nouveau single dans cette émission, Roszalie, Contrefaçon, Bagarre... Les 3 Éléphants, c'est du 15 au 18 mai à Laval, on en parle dans Place des Fêtes avec Guillaume Levallois, le programmateur du festival... un festival où on verra aussi Astral Bakers, qui viennent, ça tombe bien, de sortir un tout nouveau single. ASTRAL BAKERS "A Dog In A Manger" KABA & HYAS "Bmore Luv" PAMELA "IDNTKNWYT" LIVIA "Asphyxiated" JAMIE XX "Waited All Night ft. Romy & Oliver Sim (Nia Archives Remix)" SUPERPOZE "Unlive - Rival Consoles Rework" KOKOROKO "Sweetie" SAMI GALBI "Transit" TVOD "Pool House" PONI HOAX "Antibodies"

This week on “Keep It Positive, Sweetie,” we're bringing you Part 2 of our live show with the one and only Da'Vinchi! We had such a refreshing and insightful conversation – from his childhood in Brooklyn, NY, to commanding the stage on Broadway, and gracing our television screens weekly. Da'Vinchi opened up about his passion for mental health and shared his thoughts on the importance of the family nucleus. You won't want to miss this inspiring episode!

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, we're taking it back to the KIPS Live Show Pt. 1: The Group Chat! Real, raw, and unfiltered conversations with my girls – because there's nothing like a safe space where no topic is off limits. Get ready for laughs, love, and a whole lot of truth-telling!

Often during our meditation practice, we encounter a state known as “busy mind,” which is when there's a kind of ongoing flow of anxious or repetitive mental chatter that tends to keep us locked in the realm of the past or the future, and therefore, mostly distracted from the reality of the present moment, or … the life we're actually living. This talk explores how this particular mind state is created, and how we can use our mediation practice to mindfully observe and slow down the flow of thoughts, and in turn calm both the mind and body. It includes a meditation at the end.  

A double story week with two song-stories told by Kim. The first is a funny little tale about a sweet-smelling skunk. And the second is a thoughtful story from China about a frog who is encouraged by a turtle to leave his small home and embrace adventure in the big wide world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diplomatic Hell Hole.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."Are we in the right place?" the stranger worried."I'm afraid so. Anais, you need to leave.""Not until you tell me what is going on here," she sizzled."She's not here to have sex, if that's what you worried about," I retorted. "Wait, are you here to have sex with me?""I barely know you.""That rarely stops me," I muttered."He's a master of bedroom antics," Pamela praised me. "He's pretty much at a loss at doing anything else.""Thanks Grandma," I griped."Your welcome, Grandson.""We, are here to meet someone," the stranger hedged."You came to the right place," Pamela preempted me. "He's definitely someone.""Fine, redo. I'm Cáel Nyilas," (deep breathe), "NOHIO, HCIESI-NDI, U HAUL, Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege plus a bunch of other honorifics that have yet to be confirmed. I am single-handedly bringing back medievalism to the center of Europe and the Near East. The woman to my left is Pamela Pale, and she really is my bodyguard. The woman to my right is Sgt. Anais Saint-Amour, RCMP, my ex-lover and the person that needs to leave   right now.""I'm not sure I should leave at this moment," Anais shifted possessively. I had to recall earlier this morning, the part where we'd broken up by mutual consent. Yep. That had really happened. I had thought I was whittling down my current list of paramours. Why do the Goddesses hate me so?"Told you, she can't give up that cock," Pamela whispered."As you can see, I have limited control of my life," I told the strange woman. "I know you are here to meet somebody who isn't me. Now you know who I am. Who are you and your companions?""I'm Ms. Quincy.""Sorry; I'm on a first name basis with everyone I meet," I interrupted."What's your rank, Honey?" Pamela added."What makes you think,?""She doesn't think. That's what makes her so dangerous." I explained."Hey now," Pamela faux-complained."Okay. She's a fledgling telepath, or medium," I shrugged."Captain, Zelda Quincy.""In case you are mesmerized by her tits," Pamela tapped me, "she's packing some serious hardware.""One of those personal defense gizmos?" I leaned Pamela's way."Close, but no cigar. She's my kind of girl, big 'bang-bang', back-up at the small of her back and knife in her boot.""What!" Zelda gulped."She's his knife-fighting instructor," Anais answered drolly."Are you Special Forces?" Zelda regarded my mentor."Nah, I got kicked out for a consistent failure to observe even the loosest Rules Of Engagement. I'm a free-spirit.""Oh, you're a sniper," Zelda nodded."I like this one," Pamela smiled."Ah, thank you." Then, over her shoulder, "I think we are in the right place." Zelda entered the room, followed by a Hispanic panther of a man (kind of like a tanned, slightly shorter Chaz without the cool accent) wearing a long coat, and a Subcontinent-cast woman who looked at everyone as if she expected us to sprout fangs, or start quoting the Koran any second now. She obviously was a brain seconded to this mission very much against her will.The fourth person had that cagey 'when my lips move, I'm lying' look while seemingly unhappy with her current assignment. The heavy implication was that the lady was a career diplomat. Considering our current company and who we were talking to, she was State Department. She was in her late 30's or early 40's and giving off the sensation she had devoted so much to her career that she was starting to wonder if that was all that life had to offer.The fifth member was a military man clearly uncomfortable about what he was doing here, thus not a spook. His off-the-rack suit wasn't terrible, so he expected to socialize somewhat while performing his duties. He also looked like a man who expected other people to speak half-truths and obfuscated lies as easily as they breathed. Numbers three, four and five were dressed for the weather and unarmed.All of this meant they were good at what they did, though they probably didn't know the particulars of what was expected of them. They had their marching orders. Those orders were about to be made irrelevant in the company they would be keeping. The latter weren't the 'doing it by rote' kind of people they would normally be dealing with."I bet you she's a doctor," I murmured to Pamela, "she's with State and he's some sort of Foreign Service type.""I bet the first guy is Air Force," she countered."Like one of those Para-rescue guys?""No. More like one of those Battlefield Air Operations guys, I'm guessing," she corrected me."That guy?" I nodded to the final guy. "Pentagon wonk?""More likely he's one of those embassy guys. I'm going to take an educated leap here, Office of Military Cooperation, Mongolia?""That is pretty clever of you. Kazakhstan. Major Justin Colbert.""I bet some people in the White House, Pentagon and Langley are disappointed with you right now," I reasoned. His jaw grew tight."Don't worry, Major," Pamela grinned. "We consider that a good thing. We don't like the people in charge and have a low opinion of their opinion on just about everything, including their habit of blaming the blameless for their government's fuck ups.""Who are these people?" the first man whispered to Quincy."She's a telepath." That was Zelda"She's a psychic-medium." That was Anais."She can see through time." That was me. "Nice to meet you. Who are you?""Chris Diaz. Lieutenant Colonel, USAF.""Dr. Saira Yamin," the second woman introduced herself. "Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Are you the man from Johnston Island?""Why yes, yes I am," I beamed."The APCSS is in Waikiki, Hawaii," Pamela educated me. "Your arrival probably cost her some prime surfing time.""I was more interested in the fact that he survived a plane crash in a Category Four Cyclone," she admitted."Mother Nature hates me. No matter how hard I try, she refuses to kill me," I confessed. "My suffering is an endless source of amusement to that bitch.""That, that wasn't the helpful answer I was looking for," she stammered."So, Lt. Colonel Chris Diaz, you must be with JSOC, I have a deep and abiding respect for you guys. If you need something, just ask," I greeted him. "Captain Zelda, you are not with JSOC.""She's with the DCS ~ that is the Defense Clandestine Service," Pamela kept going. "Zelda, you love being in your uniform, you're proud, yet happy with the concept of dying in an unmarked grave for Constitution and Country. You are too old to have been in the first female class at Ranger School, so that means no 'in the field' JSOC for you. You've gotten around that stone wall by joining the US Defense Department's own little pack of killers.""Also, you felt it was necessary to bring a Benelli M4-11707. That's a close-in action shotgun, but a bit over-kill considering the paper-thin walls in this building. That tells me you are used to being in the kinds of places where such a tool is a necessity. Or in other words, since you think you are meeting a band of terrorists, you brought along your favorite toy.""Your personal weapon is a SIG Sauer P229R DAK in .357 which is a new weapon still under trial by the US Army and Air Force. Your boot dagger is ceramic so it will pass a cursory exam, or scan. You hate the idea of being trapped on a public aircraft weaponless. You have also given up killing power for a proper balance for throwing. I like a forward-thinking gal.""Air Force ~ you've recently come back from Asia, most likely Tibet. It shows in your breathing brought about by a close call with Altitude Sickness. The only reason for an Air Force guy to be here is because he's familiar with the Khanate military and you are not US Army, or Marine Corp Special Forces. I know the type.""You went with the MP5K in the standard 9mm, so you are more interested in sending bullets down range than looking into someone's face as you kill them. You may be a 'light' Colonel, which means you are almost somebody. What your higher-ups haven't appreciated is that our guests will respect you because they are like that ~ remembering past friends and comrades in arms. Of greater importance, you have Cáel's gratitude which will count for more than you currently believe."I pledged then and there to be as good as Pamela at determining that kind of stuff before I died. She had assured me it was as much a matter of psychology as eagle-eyed perception. People were often a type that gravitated to various forms of destruction, be they old school, or going for the latest gadget."I told you all that firepower was excessive," State softly chastised her associates (what they really were, not the underlings she saw them as)."So, you appeared to have forgotten to tell us your name," I regarded the State lass."Nisha Desai Biswal. I'm with the government.""Oh, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, I've examined your website," I told her. It clearly pissed her off somewhat that I so swiftly disregarded her crude attempt at subtle manipulation."Hey. I've got some real enemies at State, so it pays to know who might be the next suit trying to cock me over," I explained. I had to prioritize. It would take some serious effort to convince Zelda to have a MFF three-way straight out the gate and she was definitely the hotter number."Major, you came here unarmed," Pamela noted. "That won't do. They expect you to be armed because you are a warrior, damn it. Cáel get him one of your Glock 22's.""Gotcha," I nodded. I went to my room, tipped away the false back to my closet (that Havenstone had installed recently so Odette wouldn't accidently fire off one of my weapons) and retrieved one of my spare Glocks, but not the one with the laser sight. Such over-the-top fancy gear would be inappropriate. I only gave him one mag. If he couldn't get the job done with 15 rounds, he wouldn't have a chance to reload.Mind you, I took two in a twin-rig shoulder holster and four 22 round magazines, because I tend to shoot two-handed which doesn't exactly give you a bullseye every time. I returned to our crowded living room, handed the Major his weaponry, and then directed the US group to the far side of the room (towards Timothy's bedroom. Saira and Nisha took the couch.Because this tiny space wasn't crowded enough, there was a knock at the door. I checked. It was Juanita, oh yeah, my real bodyguard."Listen up everybody," I announced to the room. "This is my other bodyguard, my official one. Her names is Juanita Leya Antonio Garza, she's from the Dominican Republic via Buenos Aires and she is armed, so don't freak out." I opened the door."What is going on?" Juanita hissed."I'm having a private meeting with a few heavily armed friends. The other side to this party hasn't arrived yet. Why don't you come in?" She came in."Why didn't you warn me?" she whispered her complaint."Long night, worse wake-up, needed to do some soul-searching. Pamela was looking after me, then this came up and I forgot. I apologize," I lowered my head in shame. Juanita was only trying to do the job she'd been entrusted with and by not thinking of her, I was making that so much harder.I made the introductions, first names only."Juanita, Anais, Pamela; please slip into the kitchenette," I suggested.Anais "Why?"Juanita "Where are you going to be?"Pamela "Sure. I'm starving. I'm going to raid the fridge.""Anais, because I need my faction in one place. Juanita, I will be refereeing this meeting, so I will have to remain in the living room, roughly six feet from you." It was really a small apartment. "Pamela, if it is edible, it isn't mine and you'll have to replace it."Great Caesar's Ghost! No wonder Big Wigs had their personal assistants handle this pre-meeting crap. I was on my last two fucking nerves and one of those was already stressed and tender. And the real reason for being here hadn't even arrived yet."Why am I in your faction?" Anais mulled over threateningly."Because you haven't walked out that door. There are going to be three sides to this meeting, not three plus Anais. That is the way it is going to be. Now, are you going to behave, or are Juanita and Pamela going to toss you out?""You are threatening me!""Finally catching on to that, aren't you, Sweetie?" Pamela chimed in."I'm only staying because I believe you are in trouble," Anais grumped."Why is she (Anais) here?" Nisha inquired heatedly. "This is supposed to be a very, very private encounter.""I know Anais. I don't know you. I trust Anais with my well-being despite the fact she has numerous reasons to distrust me. She's staying because she is a straight arrow. That's good enough for me.""But is she going to keep her mouth shut about what happens here today?" Nisha pressed."Anais, this is a clandestine meeting that isn't going to be recorded by anybody so, barring a crime being committed, you can never discuss this with anyone who isn't already in the room. Agreed?"Pause."I agree," she nodded. I really was going to have to fuck her again. Not today. Well, maybe not today; I had to keep my options open. Her investigator mind was going into overdrive. Give it a week and she'd be knocking on my door late one night. Inquisitive, truth-hungry dames are like that, trust me. Then it would be 'bask in my genius' sex. It had been a while since I'd experienced that, with Lady Yum-Yum.There was another knock at the door. I checked before Juanita could do the checking for me, in case someone was going to shoot me through the door. Fuck it. I was going to talk to Timothy about moving. Him, me and Odette. I couldn't give those two up. It was Kazak bookends. I opened up and invited them in. It turned out they had names besides Bookends #1 and #2, Nuro and Roman.Nuro (I think) checked out the rooms while Roman (I was pretty sure) kept an eye on my guests. I made introductions, first names only and specifying who was with who. Technically, they could trust my side because I was the Great Khan's brother and thus my servants were his servants. Technically.Iskender came next followed by OT. A woman I didn't know (sadly, not OT's daughter) came in behind him while the other two quintuplets stayed in the hallway. Iskender and I hugged."Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," he smiled. That was 'Prince-something'. My Kazak was a bit rusty. He then whispered into my ear. "OT bows to you first. His title is Hongtaiji." What?"Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," OT bowed."Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar," I bowed back. I remembered I had to rise first. It was an etiquette thing. In retrospect, Iskender had stretched the bounds of tradition by hugging me, his titular superior. "Welcome to my humble abode.""I thank you for your hospitality," he 'grinned'. His face wasn't made for that gesture so that faint gesture came across as rather unnatural.My mind finally finished translating what Iskender and OT had called me. It wasn't 'prince'. It was 'beloved brother of the Great Khan'. Mother fucker!"Wait," Justin, the military attach  guy muttered, "we are here to meet this guy?" indicating me."What do you mean?" Saira questioned."The title Mr. Nyilas was identified with means 'beloved brother of the Great Khaan'," he explained. "The Kazakhs don't go tossing honorifics like that around. This guy," again pointing at me, "is a really important somebody.""Thanks for dropping this grenade in my lap, OT," I joked. "I'll get you for this, and your little yak too.""Odette is going to be so miffed that she missed this," Pamela chuckled."Mr. Nyilas," Zelda began."Please, call me Cáel. It is how I roll.""Cáel, can I ask you a stupid question?""Go right ahead," Pamela snorted. "Cáel does stupid real well. It is a critical part of his skill set. It makes him adorable instead of annoying. Trust me, you'll learn that soon enough."Too much 'trust me' was flying around in a room where nobody trusted anybody."Thanks for that encouragement, Teach," I grumbled. "Ask away, Captain Zelda.""Why are you playing this game with us?""I wasn't. Until thirty seconds ago I was sure I was here totally as a spectator," I gripped. "My buddy," the word dripped with sarcasm, "Temujin likes dumping these kinds of surprises on me.""Did you mean what Ms. Pale said about you feeling you owed me?" Chris asked."Absolutely.""We need help defusing this Thailand crisis before a shooting war begins.""What do you suggest?""We want the Khanate to back down," Chris stated firmly."I thought we had agreed that I would spearhead this delegation," Nisha reminded Chris."I think the situation had evolved and we need a different approach," Chris insisted."You should listen to the Lieutenant Colonel," I advised. "He knows a whole lot more about what is going on than you do.""Why don't you explain it to us?" she began her weevil-ling."You are engaging in linguistic niceties with men who have bled together, Ms. Biswal," I instructed. "Not that Chris and I have bled on the same battlefield, we have shed blood in the same cause; and that cause has been bringing our two nations, the Khanate and the US, together. The Khanate owes Chris for his efforts on our behalf and we pay our debts.""How so?" Nisha asked."National Security stuff," I evaded. "If you don't know, you shouldn't know and you probably don't want to know. Suffice it to say, the Khanate is willing to listen to Lt. Colonel Diaz's request as a friend.""But he doesn't speak for the United States Government," she corrected."Why not?" I riposted. "He's dealt with the Khanate longer than you have. He has a clue about the mindset of their rank and file.""But does he know their leadership?" she persisted."I don't know. Chris, do you think you have a handle on me?""Are you really capable of talking for the Khanate government?" Nisha preempted Chris. What she left unsaid was 'are you culpable in their atrocities?'"Let's find out," I then looked over my shoulder. "Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar, will my words and wishes reach my brother's ear?""That is why I am here," he replied."Don't you have the authority to speak for your leader?" she grilled OT. Nisha was relentless trying to stay in the limelight. "Aren't you a diplomat?""There is no need to insult the man," Pamela snidely commented."I am one of many voices that provide information to the Great Khan. I am not his brother. Cáel Nyilas is and has already proved his familial affection by proposing Operation Funhouse and brought whole nations as gifts," OT schooled her. "He is gifted with both tactical and strategic insight as well as sharing the Great Khan's love for his people and his hopes for their eventual freedom.""I didn't think you were a soldier," Zelda looked me over."Oh no," I wove off that insinuation. "I've never been a real soldier and am unworthy of that distinction. I know quite a few who have earned that title and they scare the crap out of me. I mean, they go looking for trouble. In my case, trouble comes looking for me. I'm damn lucky to still be alive and that's the damn truth.""Bullshit," Pamela coughed."What was that, Artemisia?" I winked at her."Bitch," she laughed "My men have become women, and my women men. At least you didn't call me Cassandra.""Well, she's Greek (a deadly insult to all Amazons), but you could be her Evil Twin because everyone believes whatever you say.""Can we get down to business?" Chris inquired."Damn," Pamela shook her head. "They haven't been paying attention.""What does that mean?" Zelda griped."Iskender, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" I asked."Not a clue, Exalted One," he stood there like a stone statue. Note, the Khanate contingent really were standing there like the Altai Mountains, doing nothing. You had to carefully examine them to see that they did indeed breathe and blink."Use small words," Pamela advised."You really are a rude misanthrope," Anais told Pamela."Do you know what's going on?" Pamela volleyed."No.""Then sit back and watch how the madness works," she snickered. "It is all you, Cáel.""Okay. One; how did Artemisia escape the battle of Salamis?" I began. Nothing."Oh," Justin nodded. "She rammed an allied ship to make the pursuing Athenians think she was an ally. What does that have to do with our current predicament?""Achieve your ends by using violence as a distraction," I sighed. "The Khanate will invade Thailand in," I looked to OT, "tomorrow?" He nodded."How does that help us?" Nisha complained."Second example, Cassandra. She saw the truth through all illusions and falsehoods and no one believed her. Now, reverse that."Pause."We are waiting," Saira finally joined the conversation. I could hear those little microprocessors inside her noggin firing electrons at light speed."We fight a phony war. The Khanate and their buddies invade in a lightning campaign that appears to be successful. Shit like attacking the opposition where they ain't. Things that look epic on CNN where some retired colonel, no offense...""None taken," Chris responded."Where some colonel talks about seizing resources, severed supply lines and encirclement. We, the Khanate, bomb shit like bridges and supply dumps, things with no civilians to get killed. On the downside, to make this work the Khanate needs to put some level of force into Bangkok.""That will get civilians killed," Nisha reminded me, unnecessarily."Civilians are getting killed right now by their own government. This time they will get a chance to strike back," I stated firmly. "The Thai protestors aren't cowards. They are just grossly outgunned. We can change that.""How does that help the United States?" Nisha queried."The US gets to come in and save the day," I sighed. "The US can t get there until the day after, so you don't look bad about letting the first 24 hours of brutality happen.""Oh," Zelda blinked."The US gets to end the fighting that the Khanate has no desire to continue. The US brings peace, while whomever takes over owes the Khanate. Both sides look good. Both sides claim victory. The President gets a second Nobel Peace Prize (psychic, aren't I?). The US gathers some regional allies like Malaysia, the ROC and the Philippines along with our Marines to ensure free and fair elections. The Khanate isn't seen to be backing down against the Titan of Western Civilization. They are working with them to bring about a better world.""Win-win," Saira nodded in agreement."The Khanate is still an autocratic tyranny," Nisha commented."As opposed to the People's Republic's oligarchical tyranny?" Chris countered."Agreed," Saira said. "I now think we should work with the Khanate to bring stability to Central Asia which which was impossible while those member nations were being squeezed between Russia, Europe, China and India.""What are you a doctor of?" I asked."I specialize in 'failed states', among other things," Saira grinned."This could still turn into one bloody cluster-fuck," Zelda mused."My peopled don't have the resources to devastate Thailand," OT finally spoke. "If you, the US, agrees to intervene on our timetable, you will have our thanks, off the record, of course.""How do we know this isn't some ruse to allow the Khanate to overthrow Thailand's existing government?" Justin questioned."You have my word," I replied. No one said anything for several heartbeats."Really?" Nisha balked."Mr. Nyilas, Cáel, do you give me the Great Khan's word?" Chris studied me intently."Without reservation," I answered. "For what you have done for us and more, the Great Khan will honor this deal. We and the Thai's will do the bleeding. You will get your accolades. We avoid a pointless clashing of forces, which is why we are all here today.""I will give you my written recommendation in a few hours," Saira told Nisha.Chris stepped forward to shake my hand. He was an alpha-type alright. I gave as good as I got. His eyes bore into mine, looking for a faltering of will."What did you do in Romania?""I got a lot of good men killed.""Okay.""Okay?" Nisha squawked. "A handshake, a pat on the back and the deals done? Since when did our democratic republic do business this way? He admitted he got men killed in Romania. What is to say this won't be Romania writ large?""Ms. Biswal, he told the truth. He got good men killed and he isn't happy about it. I would be worried if he claimed one bit of glory from that episode. He didn't.""Nisha," I took a deep breathe, "When you unleash men with weapons, nothing is assured. Maybe the Thai government will see the hate coming their way and back down. Maybe the people will resist the intrusion. Maybe the Khanate's forces will get slaughtered at the starting line. It isn't like they have enough time to deploy enough forces to win a protracted war.""What happens if the Khanate decides it won't go?" she continued."Then they get destroyed on the ground in a war of attrition," Chris answered for me. "He's right. They can't bring enough in the time allotted to completely overwhelm the roughly 120,000 members of the Royal Thai Army that have remained loyal to the regime.""In three days they will be out of fuel, shells, rockets and bullets. It is logistics, Ms. Biswal," Zelda piled it on. "The Khanate war-fighting systems are not NATO compatible. That means they can't simply capture more material as they penetrate the frontiers. If they overstay their welcome, we can launch missile strikes against their fuel depots. The combat devolves back to World War I and that's a style of war they can't afford to fight.""What about stopping the Khanate from invading in the first place?" Nisha wouldn't give up."Had the US acknowledged the Khanate, none of this would have happened, Ms. Biswal," I became snappish. "Neither superpower talked to the other until other commitments had been made.""If you think you can come in and start dictating Khanate policy, you are dreadfully mistaken. The US doesn't have the power, or the resolve," I glared at her. "Don't try convincing the Khanate that isn't the case. We know better.""You don't know what the US is capable of," she snapped back."Abandoning Iraq with a fractured pseudo-democratic process? Abandoning Afghanistan without destroying the Taliban? The Syrian Civil War? The Donbass Crisis? The collapse of Libya? Boko Haram? Somalia? Yemen? Exactly how has the US's power and resolve solved any of those issues?" I countered."Ms. Biswal," OT spoke again. "We are willing to create a desert and call it 'Peace'. Our enemies know that. Your unwillingness to do so is neither a strength nor a weakness. It is a hallmark of your society in the same way that 'Total War' is a hallmark of ours. We are more than willing to leave you to manage the Peace. Let us manage the War against the forces opposed to civilized discourse.""As ugly and disagreeable as it is, we are willing to keep creating pyramids of skulls on every street corner until either they learn their lesson, or we kill them all. Let us do that and you will have your global stability and reap the economic benefits and accolades of Pax Americana. We are not your enemy. We are precisely the ally you need to keep the peace and we will do that, if you let us.""To allow barbarism is to become barbarians," Saira mused."That is complete fiction," I scoffed. "The United States didn't become communist because it allied with the Soviet Union in World War II. Truman didn't become Stalin. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is older than recorded history.""It is the Carrot and the Stick on a Global basis," Justin agreed. "Listen to the gentle words of the West, or you will end up feeling the wrath of the East.""As long as the Khanate accepts the limitations of is role," Saira added, "this might work. Please understand there will be factions in the Western Democracies who will not accept that status quo. It is not in the nature of our societies to stifle dissent.""Is it possible to get any political concessions from the Khanate's leadership?" Justin requested. "A pledge to hold some level of democratic elections? A Constitution with some strong provisions to protect individual rights and liberties would be nice.""Justin, in case your bosses missed it, the Khanate is still at a state of war with the PRC," I shook my head. "With their limited experience with democratic government throughout most of the Khanate's territories, that would be madness.""With limited concessions to the Imperial State, we have not interfered with the politics of Albania, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. We are never going to become a Western-style democracy. We have had limited rule by consensus long before White Men arrived in the Western Hemisphere," OT informed them."Discounting the Irish Monks, Vikings and Knights Templar," Pamela interjected."If you say so," OT gave a minuscule bow to Pamela. "Long before your nation was anything more than the scribbled history of a long-faded Greek city-state, we had meritocracies, oligarchies of senior statesmen & warriors, thinkers and religious leaders, and we had codified judicial moral equality into the political arena. We have a far superior record of religious and minority freedom, of genuine multi-culturalism plus a deeper understanding of the arts and crafts as a means of uniting disparate peoples. We find your claims of cultural superiority to be childish.""Oh, snap," I snickered. "You get'em, OT.""I bet the boys in Foggy Bottom felt that pimp-slap," Pamela agreed."I bet the bronzed skull of some Harvard dean just fell off its pedestal.""They are called 'busts'," Anais groaned. "With a name like that, how could you forget it?""So true," I concurred. "All this responsibility must have clouded my normally hedonistic vocabulary.""That doesn't change the fact that you have employed biological warfare and genocide in this current day and age," Justin pointed out."Tell that to our Native Americans," I snorted. "They are easy to find. They live in trailer parks in whatever blasted Hell Hole we stuck them in, or in their casinos where they are buying back their country, one rube at a time. Ask them if they've gotten over it.""We don't claim to be perfect," Justin insisted."No, we merely claim to have the only correct form of government, economic policy and schools of philosophical, political, scientific and educational thought," I pointed out."We definitely should revive ethical utilitarianism," Pamela slapped a fist into her palm. "Oh, and the guillotine. Work houses for orphans and grist mills for the disabled, and A Modest Proposal for those chronically unemployed and terminally homeless, yes, and,""Pamela, what is it with you today?" I snickered."It is nearly sunset,""Ah, and you haven't killed anyone yet.""You know how cranky I get when I don't get my daily dose of homicide.""Are you two done?" Anais frowned. She did that a lot around me."And you don't hand out Mini-Uzi's to your preschoolers," Pamela glowered. "What is wrong with you people?"Pause, waiting for that punch line that was never coming. See, it was more difficult to sense Pamela was an immediate threat to your health if you thought she was completely off her rocker."Hmm, well, on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a deal. Chris and Justin, I will leave you with my loyal Iskender to work out the gory details. Who wants to grab dinner?" I inquired."Are you serious?" Nashi gasped."Oh yeah. I had the Russian invasion of Manchuria figured out in this amount of time and Manchuria is way bigger than Thailand." Was it? I didn't know. Geography was not one of those subjects which gets you laid."What do you have in mind?" Zelda inquired."Whatever you want."{1 am, Sunday, August 31st ~ 8 Days to go}"How did I end up in bed with you?" Zelda sighed happily, her body splayed halfway over mine and her head resting on my chest, listening to my heartbeat."You aren't the first girl to ask me that question."On the other side, Anais moaned in her sleep. Yeah, she was over me. Abso-fucking-lutely. If you recall, she'd try anything once. I convinced her the military babes were totally different than that Goth chick we'd blown the mind of back in Montreal.Zelda was with me because I had caught her in a lie. She claimed to be a lesbian when I first hit on her. She was adamant. I destroyed her with incontrovertible evidence.A) She hadn't scoped out Anais when she came in. A glance didn't count and Anais oozed sexy when she was angry, which was most of the time.B) She hadn't scoped out Juanita's figure when said worthy went to the kitchenette. I look for such things and Juanita has thighs to die for.C) When I told her she had a wicked sense of humor, she blushed. Honestly, lesbians rarely care about strange men complimenting their personalities.D) Then I double-downed by asking her if she preferred a shower, or bath. She said shower (because that's the butch thing to say). When I asked her 'when was the last time she'd had a bubble bath', she blushed again. Lesbians don't like it when a man imagines them naked. Straight chicks, unless you are a creepy, stalker guy, like it when men fantasize about them swathed in bubbles, thus semi-clothed, thus not creepy.E) In a final and fatal act of evasion, she asked a grumpy Anais what she liked about me. Anais was blunt."He can fucking hammer you all night, sneak in a romantic quickie in the shower, cook you a delicious breakfast then give you another round of mind-numbing intercourse up against the wall before you have to go to work. And still find the time and energy to fuck your neighbor."Woot!"So, this happens to you often?" she mused, it was a trap. She really wanted to know if I was an egotistical scumbag who took advantage of every woman I came across. At the same time, she wanted to know if I considered her a 'whoe' ~ a woman who gives up the goodies for free."Do you mean 'am I taking advantage of you'?" I replied."That is not what I asked," she persisted. That meant 'yes'."Let me see," I laid back and looked up at the ceiling. "I have a fiancée, six women I am close enough to to spend quality time with, a fuck-buddy who is a sweet girl and trusts me too much and a passel of ex-girlfriends who have found my infidelity to be reprehensible.""Six women?" she frowned."Four co-workers (Rhada, Oneida, Yasmin and Buffy), the girlfriend of a co-worker who dumped her in a very public fashion (Brooke) and that woman's friend (Libra). She was the wing-chick who was stuck with me on a quadruple-date and was underwhelmed with me when we first met."I didn't count my 'hook-ups' and I wasn't sure how to qualify Nicole."Ex's?""'No' is not a word in common usage in my vocabulary. I've dated a best friend's girl, a mother, sister and aunt of the same girlfriend, basically, I'm either highly immoral, incredibly loose, or a letch.""Don't you take responsibility for any of those, relationships?""Hell yeah," I tilted her chin up so that we could make eye-contact. "I've never blamed a woman for taking out her frustrations on my flesh, ran away from a screaming fit (Big Lie!), or blamed them for any failing in our relationship. It is always my fault because I can't stay loyal.""That's depressing," Zelda moped."Don't get me wrong. I don't find fault in any of the women I have spent time with. That is my problem, I find women fascinating; never boring, or bland. Quite frankly, it is a gift that I don't regret having. I may be a fuck-up, but I'm a fuck-up who will give you the very best attention.""Full of yourself, much?" her attitude shifted. I had short-circuited her fears; I was a cheater, I confessed to it without shame because I was inexorably drawn to her beauty, personality and charm. With Anais around, I couldn't claim to be solely enchanted with Zelda, so I had to think quickly on my feet. After all, Zelda was energetic and had great stamina."I promised you pleasure," I countered. "Did I deliver?""Yes, you are full of yourself," she slapped my stomach. I wasn't full of myself. I was a confident sex machine."Thank you.""Huh?""Wonderful sex, taking a chance with me, agreeing to a three-way, being awake after," I looked at the bed-table clock, "six hours.""I run five miles a day," she bragged."I try to have ten hours of sex a day," I teased. Zelda slapped my stomach again. Anais stirred."Do any women like you, for any reason beyond your cock?""I'm considered loyal where sex is not concerned, reliable and brave," I offered."What happened in Romania?""Have you ever been in combat?""I've been in violent confrontations, but not a true firefight," she admitted."Hmm,""Is it something that you can't relate?" she asked."No. You are a soldier so you probably know more about combat than I do. It was, not chaotic at all. I never lost perspective of what was going on despite the bullets flying around. The Romanian Captain in charge knew his stuff, directed his company well and all I had to do was figure out where the terrorist leader was.""What happened?" she perked up."I am here talking with you and he's in a morgue in Bucharest.""Oh," She wanted more."I have to live with the knowledge that I set all of that in motion, Zelda. I convinced the Romanians that they had to confront that terror group before they moved on to their next target, me.""I knew they would come after me and my friends, no matter where we were. Which would have ended up as a blood bath in some urban center. So I felt compelled to strike first. Based on information I provided, the Romanian Army sent two battalions, the 22nd and 24th, of the 6th Mountain Troops Brigade into battle.""It was a massacre," I remembered sadly."But you won," she tried to comfort me."Of the four companies involved in the battle, the Romanians suffered nearly two hundred dead and wounded. I hardly consider it anything other than a massacre. Yes, we won. Only three of the terrorists escaped. Their leader died. I don't think I've ever felt so hollow in my life," I finished."Forty percent losses, that is horrific," she crawled on top of me."The kicker is the Romanians sent some men of the 24th to hunt me down when I was kidnapped. A squad was in the group that rescued me and my companion from Johnston Island. I thought they would never want to deal with me ever again.""Don't be so hard on yourself. If they thought well enough of you to send their men out to rescue you, then you must have done right by them.""Chaz said something like that too," I felt sheepish and sleepy."Chaz? Who is she?"Honest to God, one day I want to find a girl who thinks I'm talking about another girl and asks if we can have a three-way, instead of trying to compare herself to this unknown person. Wait... I already had someone like that. Her name was Odette."Chaz is Color Sergeant Charles 'Chaz' Tomorrow of Her Majesty's SSR," I corrected her assumption."SSR? Those are some tough people. How do you know him?""Black Bag directives from the National Security Council, sworn to secrecy upon penalty of death, pinky-promise kind of stuff," I grinned. Maybe I wasn't all that sleepy after all."You really are a Man of Mystery," Zelda purred. She had truly exceptional stamina. "Maybe I can convince you to talk.""Maybe I can find another use for my tongue," I countered and off we went. Somewhere along the process, Anais woke up and joined in.It wasn't all fun and games. Anais' parting words were "You are a pig," then she sauntered out of my room and out of my life. Had she remembered to take her Serge with her, I would have bought the act. As it was,"Is she always so volatile?" Zelda remarked."Volatile? That's not her being volatile. That's Anais being affectionate. Volatile usually is accompanied by thrown objects and bodily harm," I sighed happily. Meeting her one more time couldn't be all that bad, could it? Zelda looked hungry so I shoved that thought to the back of my mind and got to work.That was the highlight of my Sunday. Zelda had to fly back to Washington D.C. and I had to go to work with JIKIT. It seemed that the Khanate and the US military were heading for a showdown. I unloaded all my Saturday's activities to the team and we got to work, no recriminations. I was the Khan's spiritual brother and sometimes that meant I had to do him favors.I asked Addison when she thought he would return the favor. She laughed, then smiled and told me that wasn't how it worked. He was a world leader now and I was merely his kooky kinsman that he would keep throwing problems at until one day I broke. Then it would be some other poor saps turn.Then she told me she was kidding and clearly the Great Khan thought the world of me. I chose to believe the second lie because it made me feel better, and it was promising to be a long weekend/start of the week.Note: Geopolitical DevelopmentsWhat follows are snippets of the Battle for Thailand that takes place late in the night of September 1stand continued into the early morning of September 3rd. If this does not interest you, you can rejoin Cáel's exploits in four pages)On the eve of battle, the Royal Thai High Command had decided to strip all but one armored unit from the 2nd Army in order to give the First Army's offensive against the rebels more of a punch. It's decision to strip the tank battalions from both their infantry divisions as well as the armored and one of the two mechanized regiments would prove to be disastrous. It was as if the leadership of the Royal Thai military were idiots.The least economically valuable part of the country was the northeast which the 2nd Army warded. They had severely underestimated the airlift capacity of the Khanate as well as the willingness of Laos and Cambodia to both use their armed forces in an invasion as well as their willingness to let Vietnamese troops cross their countries.That thinking had led the Thai military to adopt a 'forward defense' strategy, the desire to fight the enemy at the borders, as opposed to having stronger formations deeper within the country. Considering the relative weakness of the Cambodian and Laotian militaries, that policy had made sense:- The baseline Laotian and Cambodian tank was the T-54/55, a 1950's Soviet relic. The normal anti-tank capabilities in all Thai infantry formations was more than equal to such a threat.-Neither country had an air force worth worrying about.In contrast, the Khanate's primary tanks, the T-90SM and T-95 were resistant to most of what the Thai Army could throw at them, at least from the front. The seven hundred combat aircraft the Khanate and the Vietnamese were able to field was an equal catastrophe for the Thais. It greatly compensated for the relative small numbers of invaders.Finally, there was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Alliance's goals were. Military logic dictated the destruction of Thailand's mobile force followed by the capture of Bangkok. As long as the Thai regime held the capital, it would remain the legitimate power in the country.Due to the altering political landscape, the Alliance's only option was to make the government 'look bad'. The loss of peripheral provinces, while of negligible immediate strategic value, looked great on the maps the world-wide media would be showing to their audiences. It would appear that the Thai army had failed to defend their country. That would (hopefully) make the Thai Third Army look like the legitimate authority in Thailand.That was the plan anyway, and you know what they say about battle plans and the enemy, right? H-hour was 4 am, September 1st.The commander of the Zuun stood up and waited to be recognized. The staff officer from the Yunnan Command pointed at him."Sir, why are we doing this? I am not afraid to fight for the Great Khan, but this action seems to be suicidal. We will be far behind enemy's lines while our offensive force will be grossly under-equipped.""You will have to rely on our ability to supply you by air.""We only have supplies for two days of operations. What happens then?""We rely on the Americans to come and save us," the senior officer responded bitterly."Allah save us from allies," the young commander muttered. What else could he do?He was part of the 2nd Mountain Sultan Mehmet Tumen which had just arrived in Yunnan to replace the exhausted 1st Mountain Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Tumen. His men were from Turkey, inexperienced in combat and using new equipment they were not familiar with. They would be working with a unit he had never worked with before, the 1st Airmobile Tauekel Khan Tumen, Kazaks, who would be seizing the small airport his men needed to land in.From there, they were to 'run amok'. That was the technical term for racing south down a highway in Central Thailand, attacking the headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Division, an armored unit. Once that was accomplished, they were to attack the local police precinct. Provided they were still alive after that, they were to return to the air strip to resupply then they were to 'spread chaos' until they were finally hunted down by the vastly larger Thai division his 100 men would be fighting.Of course, there was the plan for the rebel Royal Thai Third Army to force their way through the larger frontline forces of the loyalist Royal Thai First Army and come to his rescue. How would the Thai troops respond when ordered to fight their fellow Thais? No one was sure. If there was any hope in this mission, it was the knowledge that several other Zuuns had the exact same mission in other areas of Thailand.  It was H-hour minus twenty-two.It was 11 o'clock in the evening when the general in charge of the Royal Thai 9th Infantry Division was woken up. The Marines were leaving. That was correct; the three Royal Thai regiments were heading west to Sattahip Naval Base, because they had been ordered to by the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize why this was going on.Seven hours earlier, the Royal Thai Army had seized all the Air Force bases in the 1st and 2nd Army districts as well as ordering the 4th Army to do the same thing (The Royal Thai Air Force had been trying to remain neutral in the upcoming civil war).Undoubtedly the navy had decided to make their assets less 'hijack-able'. A few phone calls later confirmed that most of the Navy had set sail for parts unknown and the naval air units at Ban Sattahip Air Base (U-Tapao International Airport) had also departed either out to sea, or to ports and bases in the South.He made a personal appeal to the commander of Marine Forces to no avail. They wanted no part of the upcoming struggle and advised the general to do the same. The general had other problems. The Royal Thai Marines were the frontline forces facing the southern border with Cambodia. He quickly reorganized his regiments, sending them to take the old Marine strongpoints to await further orders. Stopping the Marines never entered his mind.That was a bloodletting he wanted no part of. The last thing he did was inform his superiors, thus avoiding any stupid orders to the contrary. Suddenly the nebulous movements along the Cambodian border developed a haunting significance. He wondered how much longer he had before something happened.  It was H-hour minus five.At midnight a loyalist commander of a company of mechanized infantry in the 2nd Cavalry's 11th Battle Group (named after their axis of advance, Highway 11) decided to send a motorized section of his command forward to the advance position his battalion was to occupy come sunrise. Either later in the day, or tomorrow morning, the forces loyal to the regime would launch a coordinated assault against the rebels main supply center at Phitsanulok.He had a cot set up in his communications hut and had just nodded off when the radio squawked to life. His lieutenant in charge of the advance made a hurried report. They had encountered serious opposition in a confusing night action, then he went silent. The captain immediately swung into action. He put the rest of his men on alert, then contacted the neighboring Tank Battalion. He needed some armored support. He made a similar call to the attached artillery component.The Tank Battalions night officer quickly put a platoon of light tanks at his disposal. The artillery were ready for any fire mission he sent their way. Before the armor could arrive, the company commander found himself being called to the carpet by the Duty Officer at the 3rd Cavalry (two regiments of the 2nd Cav. had been attached to the 3rd's command) over his 'offensive' action and the relief mission was called off. What had happened to the patrol of 20 Royal Thai soldiers? He was ordered to wait until sunrise to find out.Little did anyone know, these were the first combat casualties of the upcoming rebel offensive. His patrol had stumbled across a battalion of mechanized troops arriving at their jump off point for the attack that was less than six hours from beginning. Neither the commander of the 11th Battle Group, the 3rd Cavalry Division, or First Army was informed that the enemy had already advanced twenty kilometers south of where they were supposed to be.  

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, I'm joined by the powerhouse herself — multi-hyphenate entrepreneur and co-founder of The Fearless Fund, Arian Simone. We dive into a candid, no-holds-barred conversation about Selling the Vision, her relentless fight for women entrepreneurs of color, and the landmark federal court case that thrust her into the national spotlight — igniting a much-needed conversation around the future of DEI in America. From sitting at the feet of legends like Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks as a young girl, to being crowned a real-life Ivorian Queen, Arian's journey is nothing short of extraordinary. Her story is bold, brilliant, and deeply inspiring. Grab your pen and paper — class is in session. You're about to be educated, empowered, and reminded of the power of purpose.

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, my incredibly talented friend and cast-mate Nzinga Imani joins me for a conversation about owning your power, creating your own opportunities, and never waiting for permission to shine! From acting to modeling to singing—Nzinga does it ALL, and she does it unapologetically! Tap in for this inspiring conversation with a true force to be reckoned with!

Wenn Kristin rennt, ist es ernst. Selten hat jemand so plastisch von einem verpassten Flug erzählt! Lisa schwitzt ja auch gern, aber wie immer nur, wenn das Baby schreit. Mit vier Kindern in Holland Urlaub machen geht – aber kein weiteres Baby, bitte! (Nur wenn Liebus die Mama sein will!)” Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte: https://linktr.ee/dingsundbums Du möchtest Werbung in diesem Podcast schalten? Dann erfahre hier mehr über die Werbemöglichkeiten bei Seven.One Audio: https://www.seven.one/portfolio/sevenone-audio

Alan's past becomes his present.By Cheat105. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.It was the beginning of the volleyball postseason, the school's team had once again made it to the playoffs, like they apparently did almost every season. Our school, having the best facilities, would be hosting the playoffs, which meant a lot of girls from other schools would be showing up for the playoffs. But there was one face among them that I never thought I'd see again.I was leaving my last class of the day, making the long walk across campus to my dorm, like I'd done so many times in the past. Only this time a bus full of girls from another school was in the parking lot, and that's when I saw her, Maria, the girl from my old high school who'd accused me of coercing her into having sex. She was unloading off the bus in a parade of other girls, I had to double take to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. No, it was definitely her, as I stared a moment in complete shock and terror. I came back to reality and panic set in, and the next thing I knew, I was practically sprinting from the scene, headed toward my dorm at top speed. Upon reaching the dorm, I slowed my pace to hasty walk and quickly made my way through the halls."Hey Alan!" I heard Molly's voice in the hall.I was too panicked to acknowledge her, I just continued walking. I got to my door and fumbled with my key for moment, missing the keyhole on my first couple tries I was trembling so much. When I finally got the door unlocked, I entered and slammed the door behind me, I dropped my stuff on the floor and collapsed face down on my bed. Immediately all those painful memories came flooding back in a tidal wave. I began questioning everything. Why was she here? Why her of all people? Why now? I was finally beginning to enjoy life again, and now Maria has showed up here of all places? Was this the other shoe dropping? Punishment for my arrogance in thinking I could escape the past?Suddenly before I could even react my door began to open. Damn, I forgot to lock it, I thought. The door opened and in walked Molly."Alan, is something wrong?" she asked, sounding concerned.I must've looked so pitiful laying there in my bed, wallowing in my own grief. I didn't know how to answer her, I'd never told her about my past and she'd certainly never seen me like this. Yet, there she was, showing genuine concern. I couldn't very well lie to her."Yes," I replied simply and quietly.She shut the door then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed."But, what are you doing here Molly?" I asked, quickly realizing that someone could've seen her come in."Don't worry about that, everyone else went to dinner, so no one saw me. Now tell me what's wrong?" she asked, gently placing her hand on my back.Once again, I didn't know how to respond. And whatever I said, it would most likely lead to me revealing my past, my reason for coming to this school in the first place. I didn't know if that was something I was ready to do. Then the fear set in. How would she react? To find out I was accused of something as awful as rape? Surely she'd want nothing to do with me, what girl would?"Come on, talk to me, Alan." she said, rubbing her hand in circles on my back.I still just remained silent, the fear and panic keeping me paralyzed."Look, you're one of my best friends and I care about you. You know you can tell me anything." she said in a sentimental tone.She was right, we did pretty much tell each other everything. We practically knew everything about one another. But the one thing I'd never told her about was my past. Though, I have to be honest, the sound of her tender voice and the gentle touch of her hand on my back, were beginning to make me feel a little more at peace. I had to tell her, I needed to tell someone. This thing had been eating me up for so long."Okay, You know the bus that just got here?" I started, still face down in my pillow speaking in a low melancholic voice."Yeah, the bus from that other school? That's who we're playing in the first playoff game this weekend. Their team will be staying in the guest dorm until our match. What about it?" she replied.That at least answered my question of why Maria was here, even though that should've been obvious."Well, I saw someone I know getting off that bus." I said."Oh, an old friend?" Molly asked."Not exactly, " I responded."Oh, what do you mean?" she asked curiously."Well, it's a long story and it's pretty much the reason I came to this school." I said."To be honest, I have always been curious as to how you ended up here. I mean it's not every day a guy gets enrolled in a school for girls." she replied.I was still feeling nervous, but I had resolved to tell her, so there's no backing out now."That girl I saw getting off the bus, her name is Maria. Well, we have a bit of a storied past with one another. You see, Maria went to my old high school, and we dated for a bit. Needless to say, it did not end well." I began explaining."Continue." Molly said simply, genuinely interested in my story."Well, I don't even remember why or how exactly but for whatever reason we ended up having sex in the girl's bathroom during school one day. And some other student caught us, then reported it to a teacher, " I said."That doesn't seem so bad, I take it things got worse from there?" Molly said."Oh yeah, things got much worse, " I then proceeded to tell Molly the whole story about what happened at my old school and how I ended up here. I even told her about the damage it had done to my home life, how even my own family began shunning me.When I finished explaining it all, Molly just sat there silent for a moment, I was still face down in my pillow so I couldn't tell you how she looked. But I fully expected her to cut her ties to me right there on the spot. After all, what girl would want to associate themselves with an accused rapist, even as bullshit an accusation as it was."Wow, what a bitch!" Molly exclaimed.I did not expect that kind of response, I immediately sat up and faced her, with a look of disbelief."What kind of bitch just turns on you like that?" she questioned."Well, I always suspected it was mostly her parents who pressured her into accusing me." I said."Still, that's fucked up. And nobody would hear your side? Not even your family?" she asked.I was in disbelief, and so relieved. She was saying pretty much all the same things I've said on the matter."Yeah, pretty much. And the shame is I actually used to be very close with my family, but ever since that shit went down, they all cut their ties with me. My own mother looks at me with disdain every time I see her." I said."Wow, I'm so sorry Alan. But look, I want you to know that I believe you." she replied."Really?" I asked, still dumbfounded."Of course, I trust you. And I know you'd never do anything as dispicable as what those assholes accused you of." she responded.Molly, seeing that I was still feeling a bit uneasy, then wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace. It was there in her arms that I finally felt a sense of calm and peace. This was the first time that anyone's ever bothered hearing me out and actually believed me. I found myself relaxing in her arms until I was laying down, Molly had followed, never letting go. We both just laid there in my bed, hugging one another."Thank you, Molly." I uttered.I had begun to feel tired. It was only the evening, supper time, yet I felt tired. I guess that slight nervous breakdown after seeing Maria again had really left me drained, but it was more than that. I was usually one to stay up well past midnight, and wake up early, never getting more than a few hours of sleep. My own thoughts and fears had always kept me awake. But laying there in Molly's gentle embrace, I felt as though the weight of the whole world had been lifted from shoulders. Soon enough everything seemed to fade as my weighty eyelids fell, I drifted off to sleep still hugging Molly. This was true nirvana.I awoke the next day with the bright morning sun beaming through the lone window of my room. I wiped the sleep from eyes and immediately found that Molly was no longer in my bed. Not that I expected her to be there, after all, that would've been a little too risky. But a part of me had kind of wanted to wake up with her beside me. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and checked the time, it was a little after 9 am. I was surprised, for once I had actually managed to get a full night of sleep, I felt well rested, better than I had been in a long time.I got out of bed and realized that I was still wearing my school uniform, but I also still needed a shower. Luckily, I was sure everyone else was down in the cafeteria having breakfast, so I was free to shower. So I grabbed a change of clothes and my shower supplies: towel, shampoo, body wash, etc. and made my way down the hall to the showers. As I had suspected, they were empty, so I found a stall, turned on the water and quickly went about taking off my clothes.It didn't take me long to finish showering. I turned off the water and stepped out of the stall, I quickly dried myself off and slipped on a pair of clean boxers. I then noticed my reflection in the mirror, my mother was right after all, I could use a shave and a haircut. My hair had gotten long enough now that it was nearly to my shoulders and my facial hair, while only being 18 I didn't get too much growth, there was still enough that I looked pretty scruffy. The only problem was I didn't even own a razor or shaving cream, so I'd need to go buy some, which I could also get a haircut while I was out.I then pulled on a pair of running shorts and gathered up my things, and began making my way out of the bathroom. But as I was walking out, someone else was walking in. It was a girl that lived in the dorm. Neither of us noticed each other and I walked right into her, she let out a sudden yelp of shock as she began to fall to the floor. But I, having pretty decent reflexes, dropped my things and managed to catch the girl by her arms before she fell. She reached out a hand and put it on my shirtless chest as she braced herself."Woah, you okay?" I asked, once she was stable.She didn't respond, she only stared straight ahead, her hand still planted on my firm chest."You okay?" I asked again."Wha; huh; yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." She stuttered, taking her hand off my chest, looking and sounding as though she'd just woken up from a trance."Yeah, sorry about bumping into you, I wasn't looking where I was going." I said, bending down to pick up my things."It's alright, um; Alan, right?" she asked."Yep" I replied."I'm Samantha, but everyone just calls me Sam." she said, reaching out her hand."Well, nice to meet ya, Samantha. I'm gonna get out of your way now, see ya around." I said, shaking her hand before exiting the bathroom.Hmm, Nice girl, I thought as I walked down the hall to my room. I'd seen her around the dorm before, in fact I recognized her as one of the many girls that would usually give me the stink eye when I walked past, so I'd pegged her as one of those stuck-up types. But in that brief encounter, she actually seemed like a fairly nice girl, guess I should reserve my premature judgements in the future.I made it back to my room, where I put my dirty clothes in my laundry hamper and then took a seat at my computer desk. I booted up my computer and then checked my facebook notifications. That's when my good mood came to screeching halt, one of those notifications was a message from none other than Maria herself. Yeah, though I'd gotten a new phone number, I never did block her on facebook, I'm an idiot.We need to talk.I almost cringed as I read her simple message. I leaned back in my chair and just stared at the computer screen. Just like that, my good mood had vanished. After talking with Molly the night before, I'd gotten a good night's rest and was feeling great for once. Such a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, I felt like I could fly. But upon seeing that message, I came crashing and burning right back down to earth, back to reality. This girl, once again serving as a reminder that I could never escape my past. Needless to say, I did not reply to her message. Instead I sat there my mind going over everything again, it was like a highlight reel of my life's worst hits. Then, I began to feel angry, and I just sat there stewing in it, my eyes still fixed on that damn message."Fuck!" I yelled, in a fit of rage I drove my fist into the screen as hard as I could, the monitor fell from the desk, showing a black spot where my fist had hit with dozens of little black cracks surrounding it.What was left of the picture flashed a few times before the whole screen just went blank."God damn it!" I yelled as I immediately realized the damage I'd done.I stood up from desk still seething in anger. I needed to get out of there, before anything else ended up broken. I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and put on a t-shirt, then socks and shoes, all the while screaming obscenities. I stormed out of my room, slamming the door behind me. I walked down the hall, my face red with anger, muttering further vulgarities to myself. Just about every girl in the building stared in shock as I walked past.When I got outside, I walked around for a while, breathing in the fresh air. Letting myself cool off a bit, I finally had a moment of clarity. I'd never blown up like that before, I surprised myself. Even after the incident at the old school, my anger was quickly sated and I had resigned myself to just being mellow and uncaring. But now, I couldn't be mellow, I had finally lost my shit. And then as if the shit-storm couldn't get any more severe, my phone began to ring, I was getting a call. What wonderful timing, I thought sarcastically to myself. I quickly dug the phone out of my pocket and answered it without even checking to see who it was."What?" I answered the phone angrily."It's your mother, what kind of way is that to answer your phone?" the voice asked on the other side of the call."I'm pissed off, what do you want? Call to criticize me some more?" I replied tersely, lamenting on how it seemed like the only time my mother ever spoke to me was to criticize me for something."What's wrong, honey? Better yet just come talk to me in my office, okay sweetie?" my mother responded in her motherly tone, that I hadn't heard in what felt like ages.Honey? Sweetie? What the hell was going on? I wondered. She hadn't called me those words in a long time, and that tone of voice. What the hell? I asked myself."Okay" I finally replied, hanging up the phone.I was thoroughly confused, so much so that my anger had subsided for the moment. Why did she sound so nice all the sudden? I was so confused but at the same time, curious, there was no way I wasn't going to go see her, just to figure out what was going on. I began making my way across the campus to the main building where mom's office was located.When I got to her office, she was sitting at her desk and immediately stopped everything she was doing as I walked in. She looked directly at me, but it wasn't the face of contempt I usually got from her, she looked, caring? Like she was actually glad to see me. I took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, still dumbfounded.My mother stood up from her desk, then walked around to where I was sitting and suddenly fell to her knees in front of me, looking up at me with tears forming in her eyes. I was taken aback, not sure what to say or do."I'm so sorry, baby. I know you must hate me" she said, the tears now running down her cheeks.I was stunned. Frozen and speechless. What the fuck is going on? I asked in my inner monologue."That girl, Maria. She came and told me everything, Oh god, sweetie. I'm so sorry, I should've listened to you, instead I've been treating you like crap all this time" she said, now fully crying.I still couldn't speak. Maria actually told her the truth? Holy shit, I thought."Please, forgive me honey" she said through her sobs.I just sat there staring in disbelief at the sight before me, my mother was on her knees sobbing and begging for my forgiveness. Honestly, it was the one thing I'd wanted for a long time. However, seeing my mother in tears wasn't something I'd ever wanted, I wanted an apology to be sure, but I never wanted to see her cry, she was still my mom after all. In seconds, my familial instincts kicked in, I'd forgotten about all the rage inside me and all I could think about was comforting my weeping mother. I leaned forward in my chair and wrapped my mother in my arms, feeling some tears begin to form in my own eyes. Mom gratefully received my embrace and wrapped her arms around me in reciprocity, burying her head in my shoulder, still crying."It's alright, mom." I finally said."No, it's not. You're my son, my baby boy, and I vilified you," She said, breaking our embrace."I forgive you." I cut her off."How could you forgive me? How do you not hate me?" she asked."Because, you're my mother and I love you, I never stopped. I could never hate you." I answered.It was true, of course. I could never hate my mother, no matter the disrepair our relationship was in."I love you too, sweetie." mom said, wrapping me in another embrace.We stayed there hugging like that, not saying a word, for several minutes. Until she'd finally stopped crying and I helped her up off the floor. She took a seat back behind her desk and grabbed a tissue to wipe the remaining tears and the streaks from where her make-up had run."So, honey, you were upset about something when I called you a while ago?" mom said."Uh, oh yeah, I accidently knocked my computer monitor off my desk and the screen cracked." I told her a little white lie, deciding to leave out all the stuff about Maria as I didn't want her worrying."Oh, well how'd that happen?" she asked."I was moving some stuff around and bumped into it by accident." I said.Yeah, I know, not the greatest lie in the world, but luckily she didn't press too much."Oh, you need to be more careful, honey." she said, with me nodding in response.As nice as it would've been to stay and chat with my mother longer, I did have stuff I needed to do. Such as going into town and buying a new computer monitor, because I would need my computer back in working order before classes resume on Monday. Besides, I'm sure she had work to do anyways, considering she was in the office on a Saturday."Well, I need to get going. You think I can borrow the car? I gotta go buy a new monitor." I said."Sure, oh, do you need any money?" she asked, as she began digging through her purse."Nah, I still got some left over from my summer job." I said."Alright, here ya go. Hurry back, okay?" she said, reaching out her hand, holding the car keys."Thanks mom. Be back in a bit." I replied, taking the keys and leaving her office.I made my way out of her office and out to the parking lot where I found mom's car. I got in the car and pulled out of the parking space. As I left the school campus and began the drive into town, I thought about mom's apology. Sure, it was nice to finally hear her apologize and while I did let her know I forgive her, there was still a ways to go before our relationship would be fully repaired. But I felt like we were finally in a place now that we could actually start working on repairing our damaged relationship, of course it wasn't only our relationship that was in disrepair. There was also the rest of my family: my older sister, my aunt and my two cousins.Once I got into town, the first thing I did was go to the electronics store. There, I bought a new monitor, the same model I had before. While I was out, I also decided to go ahead and get a haircut, after leaving the barber I went stopped by a convenience store where I bought some razors and shaving cream. Then after grabbing a bite to eat, I made the drive back to the school. All in all, the little trip had taken a little over an hour and cost me a decent chunk of the money I'd saved from working during the summer.Back at the school, I took mom her keys, then once again left her office, but not before she complimented my new haircut. It wasn't a major haircut, only enough so the front wasn't in my eyes and so the sides weren't covering my ears, and the back cut so it wasn't down on my shoulders. Anyways, after leaving her office I began the walk across the campus carrying the bag with the shaving stuff in it and the box with my new monitor in it hoisted up on my shoulder.It was a rather lengthy walk, but the monitor wasn't very heavy so it didn't bother me. As I hauled the monitor through the halls of the dorm, all eyes were on me. I didn't pay them any mind, I just kept walking. Though, there were sure to be questions after the scene I'd made earlier in the day. When I got to my room, I set the monitor down on my bed and began unboxing it. I then unhooked the cables from the back of my old monitor and set it aside as I hooked up the new one. I put the old monitor in the empty box left over from the new one and set it on the floor at the foot of my bed where it was out of the way. With that taken care of, I decided to go ahead and shave. I went to the bathroom, which was luckily empty, with a razor and shaving cream, along with a towel. It didn't take me very long to shave and when I finished I looked at myself in the mirror for a bit. Not bad, I thought. With the new haircut and clean shaven face, all in all I thought I looked pretty good.I then returned to my room where I sat at my computer and browsed the web. Yes, it is a pretty boring life I lead, pretty much the only excitement I get is from the girls. I wondered what they'd think of my new look. Speaking of which, I hadn't heard from any of them all day."Fuck!" I said to myself.I'd just suddenly remembered that tonight was the girls' big playoff game, against Maria's team. I was so wrapped up in my own bullshit that I'd completely forgotten about it. Damn, how self-absorbed can I be? I thought. I was always sure to attend their games, but not because I like the sport or anything. I did it because Molly liked to have me there rooting for her. All I could do was hope she wasn't too upset.I continued thinking about my blunder for the rest of the night. I'd even skipped dinner, although I wasn't very hungry after my big lunch anyways, so it didn't bother me. It was around midnight when I heard a knock on my door, I could I guess who it was. I got up and answered the door, sure enough, it was Molly, still in her volleyball uniform and she did not look happy. In fact, she looked quite sad.This can't be good, I thought. I ushered her into my room, being sure no one saw. Neither of us said a word for a couple of minutes."We lost." Molly finally broke the silence, staring at the floor with an obvious sadness in her demeanor.I began to feel sad for her. I knew how much volleyball meant to her and losing in the playoffs had to be a major blow."Why weren't you at the game, Alan? I kept looking up throughout the game, but you were nowhere to be found." she said, looking up at me, with tears forming in her eyes.Oh no, I thought. Don't tell me they lost because she was worried about me rather than the game? I began to feel even worse, especially after she began to cry. I'd never seen her cry before. She always came off as so strong."I am so sorry, Molly. I don't know what else to say." I said, as I wrapped her in my arms to try and comfort her.Molly accepted the hug and wrapped her arms around me."It's okay, but where were you?" she said."I know I promised to be there, but today I was so wrapped up in my own world and I just completely forgot about the game. I'm sorry, Molly, truly." I told her.I hated making excuses, yet I found myself making one anyways."What happened? Is everything okay?" she said, as we broke our embrace and sat on the edge of my bed.Here she was, crushed over her loss, but she was still concerned about me. I didn't deserve to have someone as good as her in my life. I then told her pretty much the whole story of my day, as she listened attentively."Wow, you broke your computer?" she said with a giggle after I finished explaining everything.Luckily she had cheered up a bit by the time I'd finished walking her through my day. She'd even stopped crying and managed a giggle over me hauling off and punching my monitor."Yeah, I did." I giggled at it a bit myself. "But, it's alright, as you can see, I bought a new one." I continued."At least your mom finally apologized to you." she said. "Just think, if she'd called you sooner, then maybe you wouldn't have punched your computer." she giggled once again at the irony of it.Sure, she was teasing me now, but it didn't bother me. I was just glad to see her feeling better."I know, right?" I replied."By the way, I see you got a haircut and you shaved. Looks good." She said, running her fingers across my clean shaven face.We both fell silent as we looked each other in the eyes. There was something between Molly and I that I just didn't feel with the other girls. I guess that's the "spark" you hear about in those cheesy romance flicks.Both of us, feeling that spark, then leaned in simultaneously until our lips met in a passionate kiss. We parted our lips and I began exploring her hot mouth with my tongue, while she did the same.After a minute or so, we broke the kiss to catch our breath."Here, lay back." I said.Molly then scooted up farther on my bed and turned so she was fully lying in my bed, with her legs down at the foot of my bed and her head resting on my pillow."You must be pretty sore after your game, let me massage you a bit." I said, and she nodded in response.I began rubbing my hands along the tan bare skin just below her short volleyball shorts. I began firmly kneading my hands into the thigh muscles of one of her legs. She moaned, which let me know I was in the right spot. I continued working on that leg, massaging down to her calf muscle. I didn't know much of anything about giving massages, but she kept letting out satisfied moans, so I assumed I was doing alright. When I finished with one leg, I swapped to the other and gave it the same treatment."Oh my gosh, that felt so good! Thank you Alan." she said with a satisfied sigh.But I wasn't done yet. I knew that after being on her feet for so long that they had to have been sore too. I lifted her legs and let them lay across my lap as I began untying her tennis shoes. She looked at me curiously as I removed both her shoes. Then I peeled both her socks off, as well. Her socks felt hot and a bit damp to the touch from sweat, but I didn't mind much. I was just focused on the task at hand. I took one of her bare feet in my hands and began kneading my thumbs into its sole."Oh wow, a foot massage too? You are just too good to me, Alan." she said while letting out a moan.I continued working my thumbs along her sole, from her soft heel, through her deep arch, up to the balls of her foot and proceeded to massage each of her toes. Now, I'd never paid much attention to a girl's feet before, but looking at Molly's, I had to say she had some pretty nice looking feet. Despite being an athlete, she took really good care of them. They were tan like the rest of her body, and they were soft and smooth all over, not a single callus or rough spot. And her cute little toes had a nice looking dark shade of purple polish on her toenails, without even a single chip in the nail polish. All in all, her feet were just as nice as the rest of her. Despite the sweaty feel to them and the slight odor they gave off, I strangely wasn't repulsed by it.When I finished with one foot, I gave the other the same treatment, and judging by Molly's moans, she couldn't be happier. Finished with the massage, I then laid next to her and when began kissing once again. We made out and caressed each other's bodies. We were both hot and ready by this point, and we'd already been together enough that really, all this pretext wasn't necessary. But that was part of me and Molly's thing, like I said before, with Molly and me it was always more sensual than with the other girls.I broke from her lips and began planting soft wet kisses along her neckline, while my hands worked at pulling her volleyball jersey up. She lifted her torso a bit to allow me to pull her jersey up and over her head and shoulders. I then proceeded to slowly remove her tight sports bra as well. She let out a sigh of relief as her modest B cup breasts were finally freed from the constrictive sports bra. I then removed my own shirt and went back to kissing Molly, trailing down her neck to the soft perky mounds on her chest, then down her stomach to her belly button. I hooked my fingers into the elastic waistband of her shorts and began slowly pulling them down, she lifted her ass off the bed slightly as I pulled them down over her hips.The dark spot on the crotch of her white cotton panties told me she was already soaking wet. My cock had been rock hard since we started. She was just as turned on as me. I quickly removed my own pants, so we were both in just our underwear.I then resumed kissing her stomach around her belly button, receiving moans from her in response. I hooked my fingers into the waistband of her panties and began slowly pulling them down, kissing each piece of newly exposed skin as I inched her panties down. Once again she lifted her ass off the bed to allow her panties to get past her hips and firm round ass. With her panties removed I planted one last kiss on the little landing strip of dark hair on her crotch before trailing my kisses back up her body until my lips met hers once again."Come on, enough teasing, Alan. Hurry up and get that thing inside me." Molly said in desperation after breaking our kiss.Oh, I can do that, I thought. I quickly shed my boxers and tossed them to the side. I assumed the position over top of Molly as she spread her legs to allow me access to her most intimate of areas. She let out another moan as I rubbed the tip of my cock along her slit, soaking my member in her juices. I held my cock at the entrance of her dripping wet snatch."Alan, please. You've made me wait long enough, ah, Mm," Molly said as I pushed the tip of my cock into her cunt before she could even finish talking.She let out a sigh of relief as her tight cunt stretched around my shaft. I continued slowly pushing my member into her love canal, until finally I had bottomed out. Keeping the slow pace, I pulled my cock almost all the way out of her before pushing back in, feeling the slick firm walls of her hot cunt rub against my shaft."Mm, god, so good" Molly uttered amidst her moans.I didn't say a word. The only sounds coming from me were that of heavy breathing and grunting as I slowly thrusted my hard cock in and out of her constricted hole. I leaned my head closer to her and caught her lips in a passionate kiss as I continued my sensual love making. I could feel precum rapidly leaking from the tip of my cock coating the insides of her cunt. I was getting close. I didn't know how much longer I could hold back the flood gates. Molly moaned into my mouth as she began groping one of her tits with one hand and rubbing her clit with the other. I knew she must've been getting close too.Deciding to increase the pace, I lifted her legs so they were propped up on both of my shoulders; then began to drill my cock into her cunt as fast and hard as I could."Ah, oh fuck. Ah" Molly yelped in response, breaking our kiss.I grabbed her hips and continued violently pounding my member into her sopping wet hole, the sounds of her clapping cunt rang and bounced off the wooden walls of the room."Oh god, more. I'm gonna cum. Gimme more" Molly begged.We were in the homestretch, both us could burst at any second. I thrust forward sending tremors through her whole body as I buried my cock as deep inside her as I could go with all the strength I had. I then pulled out and repeated that powerful thrust several more times, Molly had covered her mouth with my pillow and was screaming into it. Then her body began to convulse and her cunt squeezed down on my shaft like a vise-grip, that's when I felt her boiling hot juices wash over my buried member from deep within her. That was all I could take. I began blasting my cum into her cunt like a shotgun. Both our bodies shook uncontrollably as we climaxed.Her body was the first to go limp, then mine followed suit as our orgasms subsided. I collapsed on top of her. We were like a pile of sweaty flesh on my bed. We laid there for a moment before I finally found the strength to roll my body off of hers. She turned her head to look as me as I lay beside her. We just stared into each other's eyes, panting, trying like hell to catch our breath."Wow, that, was incredible! I don't think I've ever had an orgasm that intense before," Molly was the first to speak."Uh huh," I panted. "You're, telling me. I think I just came my own skeleton," I managed to get the words out.Molly broke into laughter at my absurd metaphor. Although I was still totally drained, I too managed some laughter. When her laughter died down, she went silent, and she began to shut her eyes. She was asleep. I pulled my covers over us and let myself fall asleep right there next to her.I slept well that night, how could I not? I'd just had possibly the best sex of my life with one of the most beautiful girls on earth. Sure, I'd had sex with her numerous times before, but this time was something else. There was an undeniable magical feeling about it, and it was more intense than any of our previous trysts. And the obvious thing that set this time apart, we were actually sleeping together this time.When I awoke the next morning, I was delighted to find that Molly was still there, we were spooning. I was lying on my side with my arms wrapped around her. Molly was sleeping peacefully with her back pressed comfortably against my chest and her ass resting against my pelvis. We were still naked from the night before.After a few minutes I felt her shift, then she rolled over and opened her eyes to look at me."Good morning," she said sleepily, with a smile."Good morning to you too," I said before planting a kiss on her lips.She reached for her phone, which she'd set on my nightstand the night before, she checked the time. It was still early, only about 8 am."I should probably get going, before someone notices I'm missing" she said.I hesitantly moved my arms to allow her to get up. I didn't want her to leave, but I knew she was right. Molly got up and began gathering up her clothes. I laid in my bed watching her as she got dressed. She was just as beautiful when she was putting on clothes as she was when I was taking them off."By the way, thanks for last night." she said, giving me one last kiss when she finished getting dressed."It was my pleasure." I said, after she broke our kiss.To be continued.By Cheat105 for Literotica.

This week on Keep It Positive, Sweetie, we have the uber-talented Kash Doll! Known for her dynamic rap lyrics and undeniable stage presence, Kash is a force to be reckoned with. But beyond the mic, she's a mother, sister, friend, and career woman whose trajectory has no limits! We have so much in common, and you're going to love this fun, unfiltered girl talk we had. Tap in—you don't want to miss this one!

Getting It Back Up.Based on a post by m storyman x, in 2 parts. Listen to the podcast at Steamy Stories."Sweetie. I can tell you from experience, you got talked into the best fuck you might ever get!" The waitress said with a crooked smile. "And if you have half a brain you'll make damn sure you don't let him get away without giving you a lot more of it!" She continued as she slid out of the booth. "I think I better go get your breakfast now." I sat down in the space she vacated and looked down the length of the dinner and noted how many of the "old geezers" as she called them, were staring at us.It took a few minutes, but she came back looking a bit freshened up, at least no longer sweating, and carrying plates of food which I was really craving now. "Anything else I can get for you?" She asked in a very businesslike tone as she knelt on the seat next to me. "I think you need your face wiped though. Let me." she whispered as she planted a wet, sensuous kiss on my lips, followed by a shower of slow wet kisses that cleaned all of her cunt juices from my face. "There, much better." She said as she pulled away, both of us panting and my cock once again hard. "If you need anything else...please let me know and I'll be happy to take care of it." She said with a seductive grin and a quick squeeze of my cock."No, I think this will do for now." I said as I closed my eyes for a moment, wondering if I was going to get to eat or not, and not complaining one way or the other. She pulled her hand from my lap and got up, leaning over to whisper something I couldn't hear to Amanda before walking away with a smirk on her face."So what did she say?" I asked Amanda after the waitress was gone."She said that if I was smart I would sit next to you and keep that cock hard so I can get fucked again after breakfast.""Ah." I said as I tore into the eggs on my plate. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was.The rest of breakfast was quiet. Amanda ate without taking her eyes from me, and I wondered just what she was thinking. Finally after we had finished and the waitress had come and cleared the plates away, I asked her. "So tell me, what's going through that mind of yours? You haven't taken your eyes off me since we started eating.""I was just wondering how I managed to not get fucked by you sooner. I mean, she's right, it was the best sex I've ever had. But then again, it's also the only sex I've ever had with a man." She said quietly."You were a virgin?" I asked incredulously."Not exactly. Just not with a real cock. I mean I've done things with lots of toys, and even played around a bit, but I haven't ever been fucked that way before.""Well, I'm sorry it was such a public display then." I told her, honestly feeling a bit like I had taken advantage of her."Oh don't be." She said as she blushed. "It was fantastic. I just wouldn't have chosen to do it like this myself. But I think this place is definitely back on the menu for lunch don't you?""Speaking of lunch. If we plan on getting the plane fixed we better get over to the mechanic." I said standing up and digging through my clothes to find my wallet."Uh uh." The waitress said as she came over to the table with a couple plastic sacks. "This one was on me." She said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a soft kiss on my lips, her hard nipples pressing into my chest. "And if you come back later you can have all the free lunch you want, as long as you make me cum like that again!" She whispered in my ear."Thank you. I think Amanda is already planning on coming back for lunch.""Oh good." She said with a smile. "By the way, my name is Jenny.""Hi Jenny. I'm Mike and this is Amanda. I guess it's always nice to know names, at least if you're going to have sex.""Uh huh". She added. "Don't be a stranger now." She said letting go of me. I stepped back and loaded our clothes into the bags and gave Jenny a quick kiss before turning and walking toward the doors. Every eye in the place followed us toward the door, including the few naked women that had showed up un-noticed someplace along the line.It wasn't a far walk to the mechanics, and there were a number of naked people walking around the streets, but it still felt really odd to be walking naked in public this way. I was beginning to wonder if it really was worth all this to get to into Amanda's pants. I discarded the thought quickly. Of course it was worth it! And I had a feeling it would be worth a LOT in the future. I opened the door of Freddie's shop and stepped into the cool, obviously air conditioned, shop."Can I help you?" A young lady said, standing up from where she had been bent over the fender of a rather expensive looking BMW Z4."Yeah." I said, trying to pry my eyes away from the massive tits that were swaying tantalizingly on her slim frame. "We're looking for Freddie?" I said as I took in her long blond hair and sparkling green eyes."You found her!" She said wiping her hands on a rag and walking toward us, making her tits swing even more. And now that the car was not blocking her crotch, her completely shaved mound was exposed to my view. "What can I do for you?""Well." I said dragging my gaze to her grinning face. "We had some trouble and had to set down at your airport. The sign said to find Freddie here.""What kind of a plane is it?" She asked, her smile turning serious as she realized that I was there for more than just ogling her fantastic tits."Corvallis 350. Lost power and I saw a few dips in the fuel pressure before we put down.""Wow." She said with a low whistle. "That's a pretty fancy piece of equipment. Where is it now?""Sitting out on the taxiway. That's as far as it would go.""Well, we better go get it before something happens." She said as she turned and headed toward the office. She came back a few moments later with a set of keys in her hand. "Since you came in by plane I guess you don't have a car." She said with a grin. "And you sure don't want to walk all the way back to the airport dressed like that, so how about a ride? I can take one of you.""I don't need to go." Amanda said quickly. "Is there someplace I can wait?""Sure. If you go into the back room over there you will find a nice little sitting room. No point in exposing you to all the guys who will drop in just for a quick look, if you know what I mean.""Thank you. It has been a bit; well, stressful walking around this way.""No problem" Freddie said. "OK stud, come with me!" she added as she headed to the back of the shop. As she led me outside, she pulled a helmet off a shelf and headed over toward a rather racy looking Yamaha sport bike. "You're gonna need this." She said with a grin as she picked up the full face helmet hanging on the handle bars.I quickly pulled the helmet on as she did the same with hers and then swung her leg over the bike, giving me a quick flash of cunt as she mounted. "You know. There are guys in this town who would pay a pretty penny for the ride your about to get!" She said through the lifted visor, just before she hit the starter button.I got the idea real quick that if I wanted a ride it was going to be behind her, so I stepped forward and pushed down the rear pegs. It only took me a moment to step onto the bike behind her and settle onto the small seat. What to hang on to was an issue, as was what to do about the hard-on that was sticking up between us."Go ahead. Wrap 'em around me and hold on tight!" She said with a laugh as I tentatively put my arms around her body. Hold on tight was an understatement. By the time we had made the first turn out of the alley I had slid up tight to her back, pressing my hard cock between us, and grabbing a hand full of whatever I could around her waist. She accelerated quickly, to nearly fifty in a few seconds, and I squeezed her tight to hang on. Eventually I realized that one hand had a near death grip on a very nice tit, with a hardening nipple pressing into my palm. "Nice grip!" she yelled over the engine as she stopped at a stop sign; after which she cranked the throttle and rocketed back to fifty as if her tail were on fire. And a very cute tail at that. She took a few sharp turns, rolling to a stop in front of the maintenance hangar at the airport, almost before I realized we had arrived. "Here we are!" She said cheerily as she balanced the bike and pulled her helmet off, sitting more upright."Sorry." I said as I unwrapped my arms from around her, reluctantly letting go of the handful of tit I had."No worries. It was the best grope anyone has put on me in a long time!" She said with a giggle as I climbed off from behind her. When I pulled my helmet off here was no doubt about where her eyes were looking as she leaned the bike onto the side stand and stepped off; making the swing of her leg take a little longer than was probably necessary. The wet spot on the bike seat where her cunt had rubbed was pretty obvious as she reset her feet after stepping off. She lifted one knee almost to her chest and set her foot on the seat of the bike, leaning forward to re-tying a short boot that looked to be tied just fine, at the same time allowing me an incredible view of her exposed, and obviously wet, cunt."So what do you say we pull your plane down here and let's see what we can see?" She said as she dropped her foot and cast a quick glance at my hard cock bouncing in time with my heartbeat confirming that I had indeed taken advantage of the view she had given me. She walked over to the door and opened it using a key from the ring she used to start the bike, and walked into the gloom. In a few seconds the massive bay door began to lift open. Before it had gotten fully open I heard an engine start deep inside and a few moments later, an old airport tug came charging and smoking out of the hanger, squealing to a halt in front of me."Come on!" She called over the noisy engine, patting the narrow seat next to her. I stepped onto the unusual cart and dropped into the seat next to her just as she hit the gas and took off across the tarmac. "Don't you just love the wind blowing in your hair?" She called as we drove down the long taxiway toward my disabled aircraft."Sure. I just keep mine a bit shorter!" I said with a laugh."Depends on where you look!" She laughed back, instantly throwing my mind back to the view I had of her shaved cunt."I guess it does!" I replied, my cock gaining some of the stiffness it had started to lose. She whipped the little cart around in front of my plane, almost too close in my opinion, and then hopped out to hook up the little tow bar. It only took a moment of tugging and jerking to get my plane's nose gear to turn and connect to the tow bar she had unshipped from the side of the cart. With the connection made, she jumped back in and dropped it in gear. "And away we go!" She said jovially.As we moved at a crawl along the almost mile long taxiway Freddie leaned over toward me so far her tit was pressing into my bare arm as she asked "So what does your wife think of you running around naked with other women?""Amanda? She's not my wife. She works for me." I practically shouted over the revving and smoking engine."Really?" She shouted back, a look of surprise on her face. "I wouldn't have guessed, I mean after the diner and all.""Huh? What about the diner?""Well, I caught a little bit of your show over there when I stopped for morning coffee. I don't think that Jenny has been that well fucked in years. Not since her shithead husband left her!" I could feel my face turning red at realization that she had watched part of what ended up being a very public sex-ibition. "Well, look at you all blushing and all. I never would have thought you were the bashful type!" Freddie shouted over the engine. "It's kind of cute!"I shook my head and looked over at her smiling face as we worked our way slowly down the long taxiway. My eyes soon wandered down to her tits, glistening in the sunlight with a light sheen of perspiration that was breaking out from the hot sun. Her glance back quickly identified where my eyes were fixed."Like what you see?" She called as she reached into my lap and wrapped one hand around my hard cock. "I have to admit your pretty damn good looking yourself!""Thanks!" I called back over the roar of the motor as we made the turn off the taxiway toward the hanger. Her hand was still in my lap, now stroking my cock slowly and almost automatically; her attention focused on approaching the hanger so she didn't clip the wings of my plane as she pulled in. The roar of the tug grew significantly as we rolled into the hanger and made a fast U turn to point back out. I was impressed that she managed to make such a slick move. Not only that she had, but that she had done so one handed. Releasing my cock she reached down and hit the key on the tug, plunging us into silence. We sat in silence for several seconds before she slid out of the tug and walked off, coming back a few moments later pushing a tall tool box looking cart."Let's see what's going on here then!" She said as she wheeled it to the plane and unhooked a step stool from the side. I was surprised how quickly and how smoothly she located all the fasteners and had the cowling open; her body bent at the waist on top of the stool and her head buried into the engine compartment. I walked around the cart and looked at the screen of the laptop built into the cart; the computer in the airplane happily sharing its memories with the one in the cart. Freddie climbed down and stepped to the computer screen, poking a few keys and making small noises as her discoveries sent her mind off toward possible problems and solutions. For several minutes I thought she had completely forgotten I was even standing there, until she said "Well, it looks like the fuel pump failed, and that is one thing that is not redundant on these." as she pulled several tools from the box, with a pair of mechanics gloves, and climbed back up on the tall step stool. As she leaned into the compartment and started working deep in the engine area, I stepped behind her, and was stunned by the view I had.With her standing on the stool, her firm round ass was just at face level, and her bent body and slightly spread legs pushed her cunt out with a most inviting view. Her full outer lips were split by a pair of soft pink inner lips, glistening with tiny droplets of her moisture as they spread ever so slightly apart. It was all I could do to not just lean in and lick them, they were so inviting. I had been staring so long, and so intently, I didn't even realize I was slowly stroking my cock and that she was looking back over her shoulder watching me."If it looks that good, why don't you do something about it?" She said quietly, moving her feet as far apart as the stool would allow. My brain, fully overloaded with hormones, needed no more invitation. I stepped the few short feet between us and moved my hands to her firm ass. Giving it a gentle squeeze I pressed my face between her creamy cheeks and licked my tongue slowly up and down between her tender lips."Oh; fuck." She mumbled as I moved a hand from her ass to between her legs, allowing my finger to search out, and find, her hard clit. "Oh Jesus you're good at that." She moaned as she hung onto the plane for balance while I worked my tongue deeper inside of her and teased her hard clit with my finger tip.I lost track of time as I lost myself in her succulent cunt, her moans and wetness driving me to continue my pleasant ministrations until my mind and body demanded more."Come down here." I said, pulling my face from her cunt. She turned and climbed down the steps facing me, and then threw her arms around my neck. Her mouth pressed to mine as she pulled our bodies, her soft lips teasing mine and tasting her own juices. I let my arms wrap around her and stroke the back of her body, moving up and down her spine, from shoulders to firm ass, as we embraced; our lips and tongues teasing seductively. I felt one of her arms move from around my neck and trail down to my waist, where it slid between us, finding my hard cock. She wrapped her hand around it and stroked it in the confined space a few times before she pushed her body away from mine slightly. Her hand forced my cock down until it was bent slightly downward, and then she pulled herself back toward me, positioning me between her legs, the top side of my cock rubbing against her wet cunt."Oh yes!" She moaned into my mouth as she her arm returned to my neck and she began to hump her hips to mine, riding my cock in short choppy strokes. "Oh God yes." I heard and felt her moan as her whole body began to tremble. "I'm going to cum!" She squeaked loudly as she buried her head in my shoulder and humped her hips harder against mine. I felt her teeth gently bite my shoulder as she tried to stifle the cry of pleasure that was escaping her lips; her whole body twitching and jerking. I held her tightly for long seconds while her orgasm faded and her breathing began to return to normal, my hard shaft still trapped between her legs. Shakily she pushed away from me and looked into my eyes. "I can't believe I just did that. I don't just go around having sex with strangers." She whispered, her eyes looking into mine as if searching for something. Finally, after several long seconds, she seemed to make up her mind about what she was looking for and in a very quiet, girlish voice asked me, "Will you fuck me? Please?""I'd love to." I whispered back, reaching for her hands that were still around my neck. I pulled her hands from my neck and then used them to guide her as I walked backwards, around the wing and toward the fuselage. I felt my back come to rest against the side of the plane and pulled her close to me; letting go of her hands I slid mine down to her waist, and stepping away from the plane turned her until she was backed up against the wing. I smiled and lifted her slightly, setting her bare bottom on the edge of the wing and then sliding my hands down her legs as she leaned back. I hooked my hands under her knees and lifted and spread her legs; stepping between them until the head of my cock was just touching her wet lips. She laid all the way back on the wing and pulled her legs wide with her own hands as I rubbed the head of my cock around her wet cunt, both spreading her lubrication around my head while also teasing her now fully exposed clit."Oh fuck." She whispered as the head of my cock pressed gently into the entrance of her tunnel. I pressed in only enough for my head to slip slightly inside and then pulled it out again, rubbing it around her wet lips and back and forth across her clit. Again, I entered her extremely tight tunnel, sinking in slightly deeper before pulling out and teasing her clit again."Yes! Do it! Please!" She begged, her eyes staring straight at mine as I sunk slightly deeper into her. I pressed and slowly sunk into her cunt, allowing her to expand around my mushroom head as her cunt slowly consumed my long shaft. "Oh my God!" She moaned as my balls finally rested against her firm ass. She laid her head back on the wing as I started to slowly withdraw from her again, stopping this time while only my head was inside. I pressed into her again, slightly faster than before, her cunt gripping me snuggly with each inch that entered her. Again I pulled back, and slid into her, faster than the last time."Oh fuck!" She moaned as I began pumping in and out of her hot tunnel, faster with each stroke. I reached up to her huge, sexy tits and began to tease and pull her nipples in time with my strokes. Each time my hips bumped her sexy ass her whole body shook, making her big tits swirl around; her nipples pulled and twisted by the natural motion of her sexy mounds."Oh God. I won't last much longer!" I said between gritted teeth, knowing that my climax was building, only seconds from pumping its hot load into her sexy body."Not in me! Please, not in me!" She moaned as her whole body trembled with its building climax. In frustration, I pulled from her cunt, and pressed my cock against her wet lips with one hand. The friction of her hard clit sliding up and down the bottom of my shaft was enough to push us both over the top. Her whole body was shaking as my cock began to spew its load out, lancing shot after shot of hot cum across her tits and stomach until she was covered in my cum. Some of it sliding and dripping off her big tits.She let go of her legs and reached out to draw them around me, holding me against her pelvis as she lay panting, rubbing the cum around her body like lotion. "I always wondered how that would feel." She said quietly. "What's that?" I asked with some confusion. "Getting squirted on?""Oh, that and being fucked by a real cock . Jackie does a pretty good job of taking care of most of my horniness with her toys. But that was definitely different!""Who's Jackie?" I asked, even more confused."Jackie is my partner." She said as if that explained everything. In a way it did, but it also brought up so many more questions."Um, I see, I think." I said as she disengaged her legs from around me and pushed herself up to sit on the wing. She reached for my neck and pulled my face down to hers, giving me a long slow wet kiss that had an almost immediate effect, starting mister happy growing again."Hmmm, looks like your batteries recharge faster than my favorite toy." She said with a giggle as she felt my growing hardness against her belly. "But I think I better take care of that fuel pump before we go down this road again."

Something to say? TEXT US, for GODS sake! Pass the championship belt because we are burying a crone and christening a new matriarch in season four, episode 16 “The Reigning Lorelai” - part one! Join your humble hosts as we stop yammering for once to listen to your mellifluous voice notes and pay our respects at the passing of TWO elderly rich women with preposterous nicknames. Sweetie and Trix? This one goes out to you!Support the show Want to double up on your enjoyment of this weird little dog and pony show of a podcast? Join our patreon!

This week Jake and Joey talk the week of February 28, 2005 in the WWE Women's Division. The boys talk Trish Stratus interrupting Christy Hemme's Playboy cover unveiling, Stacy Keibler and Candice Michelle greeting Hall of Famers, Michelle McCool's first match against Dawn Marie and more! Plus, Jake and Joey talk what attire they would want a new Michelle McCool figure in. Every body get golden!

David is confronted by Roxy's ex.Based on a post by dark overlord 6, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.The following week David was back at the plant, and discovering that his body was slowly acclimating itself to the earlier schedule since at least he hadn't fallen back to sleep in the car on the way. Roxy had them doing a file purge of all the old requisition forms that were more than three years in the past, and he was sitting cross-legged in front of a filing cabinet with piles of paper lying around him when she came to check on his progress."How is it that you guys haven't digitized any of this crap?" he asked, waving at the stacks."I've been bitching about that for years, but the company has other priorities I guess. Thanks for raising the parenting bar for me by the way.""Huh?" David looked up with a clueless face."All week long it's been, 'I want stories about dragons and princes,' every time I want that toot to go to bed! You know how much bullshit I've had to make up, off the top of my head?""Maybe I could write down some stories for you," offered David with a laugh."I should make you do that, but we have bigger fish to fry. Just keep purging, Paper Boy!"She left him to his work, and Thomas was kind enough to bring him another box from the storage closet brimming with old forms."Thanks;" moaned David unhappily."Anytime! I like to see a guy earning his keep. Think of it a ‘job security.'" said Thomas, with a grin that David instantly wanted to smack off his face.An hour later, cramps in both his legs forced him to take a break. Getting up off the floor for the first time all morning. He was making his way to the security door to visit the bathroom when a booming sound, loud enough to make his ears ring, broke the relative silence of the building; and seconds later the walls rattled as if a God-like hand was shaking it."Holy Crap! It's a fucking meltdown," thought David, seeing his whole short life pass before his eyes and wishing instantly that he had enjoyed way more sex than he had. His brain locked and he couldn't remember a single thing from the safety video he had been shown in orientation. So he did the only thing he could think of, and dove under a nearby desk. As he sat there, shaking and contemplating just how painful death by radiation exposure must be, Roxy's head suddenly appeared from above."So it's loud noises; and spiders?" she asked."Didn't you hear that? Why aren't we evacuating?" asked David in a rush."We aren't evacuating because that wasn't the reactors, Bozo. They're purging excess steam off the turbines. Didn't you watch the orientation video?""I might have fallen asleep during it," admitted David sheepishly."Oh, for Heaven's sake; Just get out from under there before someone sees you cowering like a whipped dog. You keep this up, and they're going to quit calling you 'Spider-Man,' and start calling you, 'Duck and Cover,'""They call me Spider-Man?" ask David to Roxy's back."Don't worry. I wouldn't let them stencil it on your hard hat," she said over her shoulder.David felt a hand on his arm, and he turned to look at Thomas."Hey! 'Duck and Cover,' want me to bring you another box?""This day just keeps getting better;" muttered David as he shrugged off the hand and went in search of the restroom.Thankfully, the afternoon that followed was free of embarrassing moments, and the approach of the final whistle was a welcome relief. David had placed the last of the file boxes back in the closet, the contents much reduced in size from when he had started, when Roxy came walking up, looking slightly uncomfortable."David; I was wondering if I could ask you another favor?""Uh; Yeah, sure.""Feel free to say 'No,' it isn't a big deal," Roxy started to say, making David wonder what was going on since he had never seen Roxy Doyle beat around the bush ever."Okay," he said, looking suspicious at what was coming next."See; The thing is, Emily has called me three times today because she is doing this play at day camp, and; uh; she keeps asking if you'll come.""Oh," said David in surprise, not expecting this at all."As I said, don't feel obligated or anything I just had to ask;" Roxy said, expecting him to decline."No; I mean, it's fine I'd love to go." David said with casual resolve."Are you sure? We aren't talking a Broadway musical here.""I get it. It's fine. I wouldn't want to let Emily down.""You wouldn't be the first;" she said under her breath."Excuse me?" He inquired."Never mind. It's at 6:30; I'll text you the address."Emily's day camp was actually in an old Methodist church near the apartment complex where she and Roxy resided. David arrived a bit late, having gotten caught in traffic, but he found that Roxy had saved him a seat right alongside a rather rotund, older, gray-haired woman who turned out to be Emily's regular babysitter, Mrs. Foster."Emily speaks very highly of you," whispered Mrs. Foster as she shook his hand."Thanks," David replied taking a seat.The skit was short and sweet, based on a parable that David remembered well from school about a lion with a thorn in its paw. Emily played the part of the girl that removed the thorn and did it with quite a bit of talent as far as David was concerned. He clapped along with the other parents while the kids took their bows like real professionals.Afterward, the adults filed outside to await the release of their children."I think you have a future Academy Award winner on your hands," said David."I should be so lucky. If she makes it big, maybe she will buy me a house, and I can retire," said Roxy.The smile that adorned her face fell a second later, though; when something over David's shoulder drew her gaze."Shit;" she grumbled, moving to the parking lot."What?" asked David, but she was already passed him with a head of steam up."Todd," said Mrs. Foster from where she stood nearby."Her ex-husband? Todd?""The same. Roxy told him about this, and he said he would come, but he is late as usual. At least he showed up at all."David took a few steps closer, not wanting to look like he was trying to eavesdrop, but dying of curiosity at the same time. He got close enough he could make out their conversation."I said 6:30, Todd. Did they not have a clock in the bar?""Hey! I just got stuck at work, that's all. Totally not my fault.""Bullshit! I can smell the beer on you from here.""Okay, so I stopped for one lousy beer to take the edge off a long day. It's not the end of the world, so don't make a Federal case out of it.""One beer, Todd! I think it was a lot more than one, and anyway, you missed the whole damn thing.""What? Huh? I guess it took longer than I thought, but at most, it was two beers okay? Where is Emily? I want to see her.""Not when you've been drinking. I've told you that before!""Give me a break! You don't have to be a bitch every day of your life, you know!"David felt a bolt of anger shoot through him, and before he even realized he was going to do it, he was by Roxy's side facing her ex-husband. Todd was shorter than him by a good four inches, but broader across the chest with tattoos adorning both arms and reeking of cheap malt liquor."Is there a problem?" he asked, glaring at the shorter man."It's fine, David," said Roxy in a tight voice."Who the Hell is this, Roxy?""This is David. We work together."Todd looked him up and down then turned his head to spit a gob of phlegm onto the pavement, "Jesus, Roxy, you dating grade school kids now?"David started to snap a comeback, but Roxy beat him to it."Let me tell you something! This kid is already more of a man than you'll ever be, Todd. At least he was here for your daughter, which is more than I can say for you!""Whatever; Take some advice, Kid. Enjoy the tits and then run. She'll make your life Hell if you stick around too long."It ended up being David that had to hold Roxy back as she tried to kick Todd who beat a hasty retreat, jumping on his motorcycle and roaring off in a cloud of exhaust."Easy there, Tyson. I think your opponent has left the ring," said David as he let her go."Mother Fucker!"She turned a complete circle in place, finally shaking her shoulders and groaning in defeat."Man! I don't know what I ever saw in that prick!""Couldn't have been his winning personality," deadpanned David.Roxy looked at him, still huffing and puffing in anger, then let out a laugh shaking her head."Come on! Let's get some ice cream! I need a sugar fix!"It had been a while since the last time David had been in a booth at Farley's Ice Cream Parlor, and this was nothing like the crowd he usually had with him. On one side of the table sat a seven-year-old girl with more ice cream on her face than in her mouth, while next to her was a large older woman making a massacre of her dessert. Next to him, Roxy was pressed almost uncomfortably close in the tiny booth, close enough he could feel the heat coming off her skin, and it made him more than a little nervous."Something wrong with your ice cream?" asked Roxy noticing that David had only taken a few bites."It's good. I'm just watching my weight. Got to protect this girlish figure," he said which sent Emily into a fit of giggles.Mrs. Foster and Roxy joined in, and soon, the whole table was filled with the sounds of their mirth.David looked around the restaurant, happy that it appeared they had arrived on a night when Heather wasn't working. He wasn't ready to deal with seeing her again at this point. The mall was reasonably quiet for a weeknight. They had the ice cream parlor mostly to themselves, although the food court across from them seemed to still be doing a brisk business. There were quite a few teenagers and college-age kids roaming around the multiple available food options; either standing around talking or sitting at the many open tables, sharing French fries and gossip in equal measure. As David looked on, the crowd parted near the sandwich shop, and his spoon stopped in mid-air."What's wrong," asked Roxy, "you having a brain-freeze?""Heather;" was all he said.The gap in the crowd had revealed a table where it seemed as if every friend David had, was sitting around. Right in the middle of the group sat Heather with Alex by her side, his arm draped around her shoulders."So that's the infamous Heather. I thought she'd be taller," commented Roxy."Whose Heather?" asked Mrs. Foster."His old girlfriend," said Roxy."Why, she's a lovely girl." Was Mrs. Foster's first impression."She cheated on him with another guy.""Dirty hussy;" amended Mrs. Foster."You should go say hello," counseled Roxy between bites of her desert."You're nuts! I don't want to talk to her." David protested."Come on, David. Be the bigger person. You guys were together for three years. Don't you at least want to see if she's pining for you?""How will I be able to tell?""You'll know. Just watch her eyes.""I don't know;" said David waffling, but Roxy elbowed him in the side, forcing him out of the booth."Fine; Fine," he said, fidgeting his hands together and trying to still his racing heart."If this goes badly, I'm blaming you," said David as he moved off toward the food court.The closer he got to his group of friends, the more he thought this had been a horrible idea. But once they spotted him, there was no turning back."Hey Guys!" he said, stepping into their midst.

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Second Chance Romance: Sweetie and Kyle, Dirt Alert: Gossip about Ryan Reynold's "SNL" joke, and great Billy Stritch joins us to dish about music, Broadway, and Liza Minnelli! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Second Chance Romance: Sweetie and Kyle, Dirt Alert: Gossip about Ryan Reynold's "SNL" joke, and the great Billy Stritch joins us to dish about music, Broadway, and Liza Minnelli! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Struggling to let go of a failed relationship.Based on a post by dark overlord 6, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.The rest of the day, he spent thankfully inside; taking in and fulfilling requests for everything from paperweights to desk calendars. It was a surprisingly exhausting first day, and he fell asleep in the car on the way home. His dad shook him awake when they arrived, and he walked into the house in a daze, barely mustering the energy to eat dinner before he headed to his bedroom and collapsed on top of the covers. He was half dozing, even though it was scarcely 8:00 pm, when his phone rang."Yeah;" he grumbled into the receiver."David? You sound terrible, are you sick?"David sat up in bed, wiping at his eyes, heart racing at the sound of Heather's voice on the other side of the call, " No; Just tired. My dad got me a summer job at High Rock.""I heard. Chris told me. I guess that must be hard work.""You got that right," he replied, trying to put some life in his voice. He wondered if she was calling to tell him the thing with Alex had been a colossal mistake, and beg him to take her back. Of course, he would be kind about it after a suitable period of groveling, but it turned out that wasn't why she had called."David; I wanted to apologize for how things went down at the graduation party. I meant to tell you beforehand, but it was harder than I thought.""I can't imagine why? We were only together three years," replied David, not able to keep the anger out of his tone."Don't be this way, David. I was hoping we could still be friends.""Friends." David echoed her words in deadpan resolve.David had let the word roll around in his mouth, finding it tasted particularly bitter."Yeah; I'm working at Farley's Ice Cream in the mall, this summer. If you want to come by some time, I might be able to sneak you a free chocolate chip cone." she added, mentioning his favorite ice cream flavor."You trying to bribe me into being your buddy?"Heather grew quiet on the other end, before saying; "I can see you're not ready to be mature about this, so I'll let you go. I hope you can forgive me someday. I do want to be friends.""Doe's Alex want to be my friend too?" David inquired in mock sincerity."He's not as bad as you make him out. Maybe we could all hang out at Wave World sometime? Alex could get us in, free.""Alex is working at Wave World?" asked David, knowing employees could get two friends in free, on off days."Yeah; He's the head lifeguard at the wave pool."David felt a pang of jealous anger well up inside him. He had been the head lifeguard at the wave pool the last two summers. Alex had not only taken his girl but his cushy summer job, as well."Son of a bitch! I can tell you it will be a cold day in Hell before I take charity from Alex fucking Romero!""I'm going to let you go, David. Maybe we can talk later;"Heather broke the connection before he could say anything else, and as soon as her voice vanished, he felt instantly guilty for his outburst.David dropped the phone onto the bed."Just perfect;" he thought, wondering how this summer could get any worse.First Lesson.The following morning was even harder than the previous, and David wondered how anyone got used to waking up this early. He barely managed to make it into the car on time, and his dad gave him a dirty look as they pulled away. A lecture might have followed, something about accepting responsibility, but David was asleep before they hit the first stop sign at the end of the street. His dad roused him from his slumber when they got to the plant gate and dropped him off a short time later.Thankfully, Thomas had a pot of coffee going, and David managed to pull himself together enough to begin his day. The morning was filled with supply requests as well as the thrill of getting to inventory the facilities closet; where he got to take an accounting of every mop, broom, and box of toilet paper."Double check those boxes," threw in Roxy, "the vendor loves to short us a couple of rolls, and we don't need people wiping their asses on the furniture." Roxy had a strategic mastery of crude corollaries to counteract the visual reality that her smoking-hot body was too appealing for the male population to resist flirting with. She ‘cracked the whip' verbally, to keep the men focused on the tasks, not the tits."Right, Boss," said David, thinking this day couldn't end soon enough.Though he had discovered the first day, his cellphone service was mostly non-existent, he had determined he could sometimes get a signal if he went up to the second-floor break room and stood right next to the window. When he had an opportunity later that morning, he went straight there and tried to dial Heather hoping to apologize for the way their last conversation had turned out."Heather? Can you hear me!" he called into the phone.The connection was terrible and kept cutting in and out."David; David, is that you? I can barely hear you," came her distant voice."I just called to say I'm sorry.""What? You're breaking up really; bad.""Heather? I said, I'm sorry! Heather; Jesus," moaned David shaking his phone in frustration."I'm sorry! I still love you, and I'm sorry!" he said louder, leaning closer to the window.There was nothing but static now, and a second later the call dropped entirely. David was looking down at his phone, angry and sad when a shadow fell over him."You were supposed to be back from break five-minutes ago," said Roxy standing with her arms crossed."What? Oh; Sorry.""You say that a lot. It makes me wonder if you really mean it," observed Roxy.David's eyebrows knit together in confusion, not sure if Roxy meant ‘in this particular instance,' or had she been listening to his conversation."Look, I just needed to make a call," he added."I heard. You want to suck up to some piece of ass; do it on your own time, not the companies.""Heather is not a piece of ass," retorted David."Oh; Heather; So the piece of ass has a name? How wonderful; I'm sure you two can kiss and make up when you're not working.""I doubt it. She left me for a guy I hate.""Really? I would love to hear all about it, but if I wanted a teen soap opera, I would have stayed home and watched Nickelodeon, with my kid.""Wow; you could have a little compassion;" mumbled David under his breath as he tried to brush past his boss."Compassion? See how much of that you have when your husband comes home drunk for the umpteenth time, after losing his job; again! You know what; just get back to work!" yelled Roxy.David froze in place suddenly feeling ashamed at his outburst."Roxy; I didn't know about; I mean I know that must be;""Save it. Just get downstairs! We got a field inventory to do in the lay down yard."Roxy turned on her heel and marched out, leaving David red-faced behind.David had no idea what a "lay down" yard was. But he quickly got acquainted with the concept when he found himself facing row upon row of steel desks, stack three high on pallets, and covered with tarps. The massive collection seemed to stretch on for hundreds of yards and would have been impressive if he hadn't been sweating bullets in the burning desert heat."What is it we're doing out here again?" panted David."We have to check the serial numbers on all this crap before it gets removed from company inventory. This is all old shit that will be donated to charity.""Isn't that nice," said David wearily.He stood behind Roxy along with Thomas, and a pair of blue-hatted laborers who were there to help."Go around and untie the tarps on each pallet and check the serial numbers on the desks against what's on your clipboard," instructed Roxy.Not wanting to give her an excuse to get angry with him again, David wiped a good bit of sweat from his brow and moved off to the closest pile. He spent the next hour working his way along in the sweltering heat, thinking no amount of money was worth this misery. The second pallet he came to was a real struggle to uncover with the ropes that held the tarp in place dried from the sun, making undoing the knots a pain. When he flipped back the tarp to expose the first desk, a shadow darted from underneath, and David found himself face to face with the biggest spider he had ever seen.The hairy tarantula reared on its back legs waving its front ones in defiance, and David did what came naturally to a young man with an unnatural fear of spiders.The scream that followed brought everyone else running, and they discovered David crouched on top of the desk looking down at the pissed off arachnid."You're kidding me, right?" asked Roxy looking at her trembling employee."It came out of nowhere;" said David, his wide eyes not leaving the giant creature."You realize you outweigh that tarantula by more than a hundred and eighty pounds?" observed Roxy."It doesn't look intimidated to me," whispered David."She was probably nesting under there. If a giant were crouching on top of my babies, I'd be pissed too.""What do I do?" he said his tone laced with fear.Roxy's expression softened as she realized he was genuinely petrified, and she took a step toward him, drawing his gaze. Her daughter was afraid of spiders, and she was all too familiar with the look of terror on David's face."David; It's okay. I want you to get up and jump to me. It's going to be fine; "He nodded and slowly stood on the desk, his body shaking. It took him three tries, but at last, his feet left the desktop and he leapt over the spider to land on his feet, within in Roxy's arms. She held him, and for a brief instant, he felt her soft hands on his arms."You okay, Tiger?" she said, looking worriedly into his eyes."I'm; I'm fine; " he managed to croak out."Watch out, David! She's coming after you!" called Thomas, making David jump backward and stumble. The group of men burst out laughing, drawing an angry frown from Roxy."Knock it off, idiots! Get back to the inventory!"She guided David to the next row. "I'll take this pallet. You move onto to the next one okay?""Thanks," he said, blushing in embarrassment, "I'm sorry. I have a thing about spiders.""It's alright, David. Everyone is afraid of something," said Roxy patting him on the shoulder.He shook himself and walked off, taking one last look at the tarantula, which had calmed down now that he was moving away.The rest of the day went by without incident, and David was grateful when the final whistle blew, and he could go home and get the sweat cleaned off of himself. Much like the previous night, he fell asleep almost before his head hit the pillow, only to be pulled from his bed seemingly no time later by his dad who signaled to him that another morning was already upon him.Roxy took pity on him after the incident from the previous day, and left him to cover the supply window while she and Thomas went to finish the inventory in the lay down yard. It was a slow day, with just a handful of people coming by; and it seemed like forever before lunch arrived. David retrieved his lunch pail from the employee's locker room and walked over to the cafeteria to find a cool place to eat. As soon as he opened the lid, a big, shadowy looking thing dropped from the top. David leapt backward so quickly he caught his legs under the table, and he fell sprawling half under it as everyone around him broke into laughter."What's a matter? Did the big bad spider try to get you?" laughed one of the same men who had been on the inventory crew the day before, as he lifted the rubber spider from the table."Very funny;" groused David as he got back to his feet.The laughter continued as the massed group watched David jump back when the laborer waved the fake spider in his face. Ashamed of his fear, David grabbed his lunch pail and ran out of the building, where he stood almost hyperventilating on the walkway outside.He was bent over, trying to catch his breath when a truck pulled up right in front of him."You okay?" called Roxy from the cab.David straightened and walked over. "I'm fine.""Thomas tipped me off that the guys were going to pull a prank, so I thought I should drive over and check on you.""It's Okay" David said in his pathetic effort at denial of reality."You don't look okay. You look white as a sheet.""Seriously, I'm fine. Thanks for checking, but I'm just going to go eat in my office where it's safer.""Get in. I have a better idea."David got his lunch pail before piling into the passenger side of the truck."Where are we going?" he asked."Relax. I promise there won't be any spiders," she said.Roxy drove them halfway around the plant and out the rear gate which was usually used for freight deliveries. She followed a dirt road that ran off into the desert before turning off at a fo

Naria injures her leg and exposes her body to the therapist.Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Naria Teases The TherapistNaria finished storing the silverware in the top cabinet. They seldom used the special dinnerware but yesterday was a special occasion; Naria and Toby celebrated one year of marriage. Their sex life had never been so good, and both enjoyed the special meal they prepared together, including using the good China and silverware.Naria closed the cabinet door, turned on the chair, and hopped to the floor. Toby, sitting at the table, heard a popping sound and Naria immediately collapsed to the floor, hollering and grabbing her right thigh."Ah. Toby, help! Ah." Naria continued hollering and began sobbing. "Get me to the hospital, Toby! God, it hurts!" Naria said, between sobs and groans.Toby drove quickly to the nearest hospital where they signed in and waited. Eventually, a nurse took her back to a room, gave her a shot for pain, and the doctor examined her leg."What's the verdict doctor? Is something broken?" Toby asked, because by then Naria, with the pain meds, was almost comatose."No, not broken. Naria has suffered a thigh contusion. She pulled a ligament in the upper thigh. We'll schedule her for some tests, but she probably won't need surgery." The doctor sent them home with a prescription for pain and told Toby to make her stay off the leg for a couple of weeks. Rest, ice, compression and elevation. That was Naria's schedule for the next two weeks. Then physical therapy.Toby took Naria home, helping her walk into the house, then putting her to bed. "Just sleep, Naria. You'll feel better when you wake up." He wasn't sure Naria even heard him, so he turned out the light and left the bedroom.Over the next two weeks Naria improved. At her two-week follow-up exam the doctor prescribed a month of therapy. At home, they discussed their options."I don't want to be a bother, Toby. I feel like all you do is look after me. I don't want you taking me to therapy four times a week; you won't get any work done.""Well, what if we can find a therapist to come to the house. The insurance will still pay.""I like that idea," said Naria. That afternoon they researched therapists in the area and settled on Stan. "This says she was recently certified, so she'll know all the modern techniques. Please call her."Toby called the office and Stan arrived the next morning.Ring. Ring. "I'll get it." Toby opened the door to find a handsome young man."Is Miss Naria home?" The guy looked like a high school boy; he couldn't be more than sixteen."Wait, we scheduled a Stan for therapy.""That's me, in the flesh." The young man gave a wide grin, and Toby invited him in and led him to the bedroom.Naria saw the guy and hollered, "Wait, I'm not decent!"Stan blushed and turned away and Naria quickly covered up."Sweetie, this is Stan." Toby watched Naria's face as he introduced the young man. Her face showed surprise, then confusion, and a slow grin crossed her mouth."Well, well. Nice to meet you, Stan. Come on in. I'm decent now, so we can get started." Naria winked at Toby and he smiled and left the room."Where do you want to work, Stan?"Stan reached down and felt the bed. "Well, the bed seems firm enough. We can do it right here if you want.""Here is good. How do you want me?" Naria looked down at her body and smiled. Stan also looked down."Uh, er, well, uh, just lie flat on the bed and I'll start." Naria threw off the covers and Stan gasped. She was only wearing white cotton panties and a cotton bra, basic everyday underwear."Oh, I-I'm sorry!" Stan quickly covered his eyes with his hand and turned away."Do you want me to put on a robe?" Naria asked, wide-eyed. "You're like a doctor aren't you? I hope I didn't embarrass you.""Well, not a doctor exactly, uh, do you mind putting on a robe?" Naria took her time getting out of bed and finding her robe in the closet. She glanced in a full-length mirror beside the closet and saw Stan watching her butt. This was going to fun!Naria tied the robe loosely and laid on the bed, fully stretched out, and Stan began his work. Naria pulled the robe up her injured leg and tucked it into her crotch."There, now you can get to the injury." Stan poured some warm oil on his hands, rubbed them together, and began massaging Naria's thigh."Ouch! Oh! Please go slower." Stan's massage really did hurt, but the pain eased as he continued. His warm, oiled hands eventually made her forget the soreness, and she began to think of other things. Especially when Stan's hand accidentally touched her crotch."Oh!" Naria jumped and Stan backed away."I'm sorry! I'll be more careful." Stan was getting more nervous as he massaged. Naria watched his eyes, and they stayed on her crotch. Naria could feel her pussy getting wet and looked down. Sure enough, her pussy juices were seeping through the white cotton panties. She sighed.Stan finished his work and packed his oil and towels in a small bag."Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Naria.""Please just call me Naria. I'm sure we'll be good friends by the time you finish my therapy." Naria gave Stan a big smile."Uh, ok, Miss, Uh Naria." Stan excused himself and hurried out of the bedroom.Toby entered shortly afterwards. "Well, how did it go. Are you disappointed your therapist is not a woman?" He already knew the answer."Are you kidding? I loved it! He's still kinda new at his job, but we'll get along just fine!" Naria reached down to rub her pussy, already tingling with anticipation.Toby shook his head and went back to work. Naria was ready the next day. When Stan showed up she was dressed and ready. Well, dressed as much as she wanted."Stan! So good to see you. Come on in." Naria led the way into her bedroom knowing Stan was probably watching her butt. Today she wore a short robe, almost see-through, just covering her knees but easier to move so Stan could massage her thigh. And underneath the robe she wore bright red silk panties and bra. Stan would see them soon enough."Well, let's get started," said Stan. He brought out the oil and a towel from his bag. Naria pulled the robe closely around her and laid out on the bed. She didn't want to scare Stan off; she would expose her body to him gradually."How does the leg feel today?" asked Stan. "Any soreness fromyesterday?" He was trying to be professional but Naria noticed he was nervous."A little, yes, but not much today. You're good at this!" Stan beamed, poured oil in his hands and began the massage. Again, Naria had tucked her robe in at the crotch, hiding her red panties as Stan rubbed. He began with slow, long rubs from knee to upper thigh and back again. Then he squeezed the muscles lightly. Naria could feel when he reached the sore muscle but said nothing."What feels the best to you?""When you go all around the leg, top to bottom. That feels so good." As Naria talked, she opened her legs, and saw Stan glanced down."Oh! Uh." Stan reached around to get the towel and brought it to her knee, wiping the dripping oil."This is the spot that feels the best," said Naria, opening her leg more and touching her thigh almost to her crotch. "Can you do me here?"Stan blushed but reached his hand to where Naria pointed. He touched it shyly. "Here? Are you sure?""Yep. That's the spot. It feels so good when you rub there. And when you squeeze it."Stan, getting braver by the minute, lightly touched the spot Naria indicated and began almost caressing her leg, down to the knee, up almost touching her pussy, down, around again. When he reached the top again, he squeezed, and Naria jumped."Oh! That's it. Yes!" She opened her leg even more, knowing her red silk panties were totally visible. Stan couldn't miss them! This time when Stan massaged upward, the back of his hand touched her pussy, and Naria jumped again."Are you ok? Does this help?" As Stan asked, he touched Naria's pussy again, now wet with her juices."Mmmm." Naria moaned. "Yes, right there." Naria sat up, letting her robe fall open and exposing her red bra. She saw Stan looking at her breasts, then at her pussy, and she decided this was enough for today."Thank you so much, Stan! You are so good at this." Naria stood, pulling her robe around her.Stan turned to put his oil and towel away and Naria saw him trying to hide his growing enlargement. Unsuccessfully. He seemed disappointed as he left."Tomorrow, then?""Yes, tomorrow, Stan. See you then."Naria hurried to Toby's work room, yanking off the robe as she went, then unsnapping her bra. She was hopping and pulling off her panties as she entered the room, and Toby's eyes widened with surprise."Naria! What the heck?""Get those clothes off, mister. I need some relief!" Toby began unbuttoning his shirt but not fast enough. Naria just pulled it over his head and attacked his pants zipper."Come on. Hurry up!" Naria pushed Toby onto a chair and climbed on him. Her wet pussy sank all the way down and she groaned."Oh God! I need this!" Naria began to fuck him furiously, embracing him tightly so she wouldn't fall off. Her pussy was clamping onto Toby's cock so tightly she could feel the bulging veins. "Oh yeah. Oh, oh, yes, yes! Yes!" Naria's body exploded in pure pleasure, milking every bit of the orgasm that engulfed her, and Toby climaxed with her. They gradually slowed, basking in the pleasure of their nude closeness."Ah. I needed that!" Naria exhaled. Only then did she tell Toby all the details of how she teased Stan."Hon, I get so horny when another man sees my body. I don't understand it, but I sure do enjoy it." Naria hesitated, frowning."What, Naria? Did something else happen? Why the frown?""I'm not sure, but I think Stan was teasing me, too.""What do you mean? How?" There was something different in Naria's voice."Well, when I opened my legs and suggested he massage a little higher, he did! His hand even brushed my pussy, several times. I think he was teasing me!""So, what's good for the goose... you know the rest. Did it bother you?""God, no! It excited me even more. But does it bother you?"Toby thought awhile before answering. "Not really, but don't let it get out of hand. No pun intended." Toby smiled and Naria giggled."Out of hand...I get it. Say, why don't we put in that camera we talked about. That way you can watch and make sure it doesn't get out of hand." Naria emphasized the last part, drawing a laugh from Toby."Let's go to the store tonight and buy one. I'll install it before Stan comes tomorrow."That night Toby and Naria went shopping. They had a ball comparing cameras, and Naria couldn't resist teasing the clerk about their reason for buying it. They bought a camera small enough to hide easily but with good enough quality that it made an excellent video. And it was wireless, easy to install, and Toby could watch from the computer in his work room or on his iPad.Naria insisted on trying it out, pulling off her panties, laying on the bed, and bringing herself to a rousing orgasm as Toby watched from the other room. The next day couldn't come fast enough for Naria! A few minutes before Stan was to arrive, Naria turned on the tiny camera. It was already positioned and ready to go. She got in bed, pulled her robe around her, and waited.Toby showed Stan into the bedroom a few minutes later."Hey, Stan. Right on time! You're a real professional!""Thanks, uh, Naria. I like my work." Naria had no doubts about that!"Well, I'm ready!" With that she tossed the covers and lay back. "Here I am!"Stan was stunned! Today Naria was wearing a totally see-through light green robe, and her mint green bra and panties were quite visible."You're such a professional I didn't think you'd care what I wore. I just like to be comfortable."Stan turned red as an apple and stuttered, "I, uh, I-I, well, you're fine. Let's get started." He turned away to get the oil and towel from his bag. When he turned back around, Naria saw his emerging problem. He couldn't hide his growing cock!"Where do you want to start, Stan?" As she spoke, Naria opened her legs slightly. She glanced down and saw that Stan wasn't the only one with a problem. Her pussy juices were already soaking her panties, and she could smell her own arousal.Stan didn't say a word; he just poured oil on his hand and began massaging Naria's thigh. He tried hard to concentrate on the thigh but kept glancing at her crotch."Does this hurt?" Stan massaged deeply, working the muscles with his strong fingers. He worked on the thigh, right where Naria's injury was, then worked his way down to her knee and back up again. As he massaged, Naria gradually moved her robe until it covered nothing. Her whole body, only covered by the skimpy bra and panties, was open to Stan's eyes. And with her legs spread, inviting him to look!"Is this how you like it?" he asked. He started at her knee, caressing the leg all around, and ended up almost at Naria's pussy. When he moved, his hand did touch her pussy, and she groaned."Right there! Yes!" Gaining confidence, Stan massaged back down and up again, this time not asking; the back of his hand burrowed into Naria's wet pussy. Naria involuntarily began humping his hand, then stopped.Stan didn't take his eyes off Naria's body as he worked her muscles, looking from her sopping pussy to her hard nipples and back again. Then he took his chance. He caressed Naria's flesh down to her knee, then when he went back up, he didn't stop. As he neared the pussy, he turned the hand around and cupped Naria's pussy, pushing hard into her crotch, and began a slow grinding movement.Naria pushed hard against Stan's hand and exploded! "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh! Uh!" Her whole body was convulsing. She was fucking his hand! "Ah!" Another wave hit her and she groaned and grunted through it.

It was 200 episodes ago today… The world was thrown into chaos by a pandemic that real scientists, like the bumbling, mediocre, former host of a largely stupid, 2000's NBC reality show, knew could be cured with basic medical know how; like injecting bleach. #NegativeCreep #FileHimUnderARock From this weird, wild world of alternative facts and despair came The Untitled Beatles Podcast, and we couldn't be more proud to share our 200th sojourn into the vast, beautiful world of Beatles music and culture. In this special episode, Tony, T.J., and Producer Casey take the rare step of making things about themselves, and discuss how a deep love of Beatles music—as well as the much anticipated sequel to “All The Best”—brought them together. They answer pointedly personal, potentially problematic questions from some loyal listeners, and also consider:

Tales of a house cleaner with libido.By Dina Petro - Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Impotence Therapy for a grieving man.Frank's lost love took a toll on his manhood.I clean homes as a business. Some clients are on a regular schedule, but some new requests come in; either for one-time services or as a new recurring client.The minute I walked into Frank's house for a cleaning job, he was awkwardly eyeing my body, checking me out, top to toe. He was a big flirt as well. He was an older man of mid-fifties, tall in size with an athlete body. He was wearing athletic Navy blue sweatpants and a red tee shirt.All of his eying and flirting actions were from a distance. He did not get anywhere near me while I was working. I have to admit I was flirting back and acting as loose as I could.Of course, the outfit I was wearing was sexy. It consisted of a lose top and a short, knee high skirt. Being a good-looking woman in my late twenties with silky soft white skin; I must have been a point of interest of that naughty older man who seemed to be a ‘twat-hungry' man from the first minute I met him. I carried in my assortment of cleaners, machines and other supplies.I was about to start cleaning the major living room which was open to the kitchen. It still had a small Christmas tree from the last Christmas, a couple months ago. I confirmed the list of rooms and processes requested, and the full charges for the day's work.He approached me direct this time saying “Julie, I am sure you have noticed my eyeing your body wherever you go. I really like what I see very much, but I hope I did not bother you or harass you other than eyeing your body and flirting with you?”I giggled saying, “No, you did not Sir. I did not complain either, did I?”He smiled saying, “No you did not, but I have a very special request which I am going so spill out directly without going around the bush, if I may?”I said, “Well, go ahead Sir, say it, I will be honest and direct forward as well by answering you.”He said, “I have an offer for you, if you finish the rest of your cleaning job bottomless, I would pay you ‘time and a half; of what we had agreed.”I did not give any reaction right away, I happen to be a sex-loving whore, besides, I do this kind of low-paying job for the purpose of getting better tips, no matter what it would take to make those tips. So, showing my body or at certain situations offering my body, is sometimes part of that. I wasn't truly shocked from hearing his request, it wasn't the first time a client asked me for such thing, but I acted shocked, not disgusted, and without losing my smile. Then I said, “What do you mean sir, and how could I do that?”He smiled saying, “Oh, you know what I mean Julie. But for the ‘how' part, it is easy. Just drop your skirt down, make your panties follow it and continue working like that. Don't hide your lovely womanhood. Simply be comfortable showing me your goodies.”I said, “I would be literally nude by then. I am not wearing any bra.”He smiled saying, “What a nice piece of information. I would love that, but you still can keep wearing your top; as per our deal.”I was silent but grinning. Thinking about it for a while, I wanted to do it by all means. The money he offered was very tempting, but I did not want to sound like a cheap desperate whore. I said, “I am sorry, sir. I can't do that, I need the money, I have a lot of needs. But how could I ever display my body like that?”He shocked me by insisting and increasing the money offer to double the cleaning pay, which finally made me approve of his request without any further hesitation. I found myself wanting to do it, especially since I happen to actually be a sex-loving whore; and it was my chance to seduce an older man by building a lusty fire in his loins. I said, “Okay, Frank. You've got yourself a deal.” I looked him in the eyes and grinned, then took my skirt off and dropped my panties down, right where I was standing. I loved watching his lustful reaction as I stepped toward him, then turned and bent over at the waist to pick up my garments. I continued working the duties like that, as if nothing happened.The man laid down on the couch, propping his neck and head up by a huge headrest. I sure was acting like a slut, I made sure my back was always facing him while I was doing lots of pending over and getting on my knees as I mopped and cleaned the floor areas, making sure my fully bare assets, ass, trimmed cunt and all; were in full display for his ‘cunt hungry eyes'. My walking about the place was quite sultry and with lots of sway in my ass.Frank was getting an instant hard-on. A few minutes later, he was bold enough to pull his cock out from under his sweat pants and started massaging it. It was a beautiful phallus with a wide head and thick veiny shaft. It pointed straight up. I acted as if I did not notice or see him, but I was looking at it through the corner of my eyes without him noticing me. Finally, I looked at his cock smiling, and said, “What the hell are you doing Frank?”He said, “Oh, Julie; I hope that doesn't bother you. I am trying not to bother you, as per our deal. But just eyeing you, to be honest, this is the first time I've been able to get my cock hard and big for a long time. I couldn't help it, sorry.”I was smiling, still looking straight at his hard cock and saying, “It is okay. It is a nice cock by the way. I bet it hurts. It's showing all of its veins and looks like it could burst from the pressure, or trying to get out of its skin, I noticed how hard it is getting.”He said, “Yes, you are right, it is hurting me, but my balls are in more pain. I have to admit to you, I am living my most pleasurable moments since my late lovely wife passed away last December. I wasn't even dreaming to see such a gorgeous body with breathtaking cunt and ass like yours. Suddenly my cock seems to be asking for attention. That is why I am massaging it myself, at least”I grinned again saying, “You are making me feel guilty for making it that hard. I can take care of it? I can give it a little tenderness or relieve it right away. But only if you want me to?”With a wide-open mouth of a shock he said, “Want you to do that? I would love for you to do it! If you would, please, I would be the happiest man ever.”I walked closer to him, knelt on the couch next to his feet, then bent down and gave the shiny phallic crown a little kiss, while looking him straight in the eyes. Then I softly said, “But I am sure you understand that riding your cock and getting fully fucked;  it rightly should increase my tip considerably more. It is not part of our agreed deal, is it?”I knew I was acting like a real hooker by then, and I sure sounded like one, asking for extra money to be fucked by him. But what the heck, I had started it and wanted to benefit from it even as I secretly lusted for it. Besides, I knew by getting him turned on that much, and him wanting to fuck me so bad; he would never refuse anything I was about to ask for.He moaned loudly saying, “Oh God, yes of course, let us say triple, instead of double the amount of the original contract.”For what, Frank?” I wanted a clear set of terms.“Uh, for riding my cock and making me cum while fucking you.” Frank said with a bashful tone.“Sweetie, if you could put the money in my bag now, I'll make you happy, Frank.”Frank walked into his office, his shaft swaying horizontally. He came back naked with a check and dropped in in my bag, then retook his place on the couch. I took the opportunity to remove my blouse and check my appearance in the entry mirror. As I walked into the living room with my ass and tits swaying, I looked at the happy man with a sultry expression. His cock was still extra firm and I did my best not to look too impatient to ride him.I didn't want to waste any time on oral sucking or anything else. I had a feeling he may cum fast. The poor guy seemed to be so happy that his cock was finally working again. He was so proud of his manhood, and he certainly had a cock to be proud of, getting it that hard. I just lifted my legs over his, saddled his body. Then I looked him in the eyes and smiled. I held his cock in my hand and started sliding his tip across my cunt lips, to be sure I was wet enough for the two of us. His huge veins were rigid and I knew it was going to add to my cunt's pleasure.Then I was lowering my body onto it.  After I lined my cunt up with his cock, I felt it pressing my outer cunt lips open. When I rubbed a little, he started lifting his hips up higher, trying to fuck me fast and he screamed, “Please let it go inside, I want to fuck that sweet cunt of yours so bad!”I applied some pressure over his cock allowing it to start sliding in my already engorged and slippery wet cunt. I kept at it till he was balls deep in my cunt, I rested over his cock a little, watching the excellent look of satisfaction over the older man's face while he was closing his eyes. I was enjoying the feeling of his cock stretching my cunt's inner walls. Then I started dancing over his cock, up and down, nonstop.Frank was fucking me, and I was riding his cock like the real whore I am. We were both pushing in and out till he was screaming, asking if he could cum inside my cunt, I screamed “No, please don't, but you can Cum over my tits or in my mouth if you like” he couldn't choose, he had no time for it, he pulled out of my cunt and was shooting his cum loads over my firm tits, lips, cheeks and everywhere he could. He had months of cum bursting in ropes of white cream.I got off him, got on my knees and sucked his cock dry and clean again. I went to the bathroom for a quick clean up.When I came back, Frank was semi flaccid and smiling contentedly.As I worked, Frank told me of his grief and the loss of his active sex life, since his beautiful wife passed away. He said he's been impotent since her death, until I arrived, today.When I finished the housecleaning, I looked at the check in my bag. It also had an extra envelop next to it, with the word ‘tip' written on it.  I turned to him and noticed he was now sound asleep with a beautiful soft cock and balls resting nicely. I bent down and took his warm soft cock in my mouth and gently sucked him deeply, while my tongue gently and repeatedly made swallowing motions.Within a few minutes his cock was waking and stretching into my throat. I used my lips to firmly squeeze his shaft while I pulled halfway out. Frank was awake now, but gently massaging my wavy hair and saying nothing.I reached a thumb and finger around the base of his shaft and began a rapid pistoning of his thick and stiff cock. His breathing became halted and his thighs went stiff. As his ball sack constricted, I knew his load was about to erupt.  Felt the thick cream slide down my esophagus, as Frank's cock ceased it's pulsating.I gently rolled my tongue around his beautiful cock for a few moments while his breathing slowly relaxed.I gently arose and let his shaft plop down on his pelvis.“Frank.” I gently said. “You have a beautiful and very virile cock. You're a wonderful and gentle man. I'm glad I was able to help you with two services, this trip.”I then leaned up and kissed him on the lips and left his house.By Dina Petro for An E StoryThe Cleaning Lady's Preferred UniformThe housewife allowed me to wear slutty lingerie while working.Forward I've been taking on some part-time work to help out my financial situation, using a local service to connect with local folks who have specific work needing to be done.I focused on house cleaning since I'm very good at it and it usually turns into a recurring gig and steady reliable work with folks that I connect well with.A house cleaning service for a few hours was requested from the freelance contractor's service office, They called me and I said I would be there on time. Evidently, this client did a deep dig on the references for several cleaning services, and I was specifically requested by the Hilmersons. When I reached the given address, rang the doorbell of the luxurious home. The door was opened for me by a good-looking middle-aged house wife, “Good evening Mrs. Hilmerson, I am Julie, your cleaning lady” I said.Mrs. Hilmerson smiled, asked me to come in saying, “Please; call me Melinda.”Mrs. Hilmerson briefed me on what was supposed to be done and I went to work right away. About half an hour later, Melinda walked to me saying, “Julie, I hope you don't mind me leaving you alone and on your own. I am sure you already know what to do, and you seem good at it as well. I have some important social club matters to handle for a couple of hours.”I smiled saying, “Of course Melinda, go right ahead, but I have a request please?”She said, “Please, by all means, say it Julie.”I said, “Since I will be all alone in the house, can I wear something more comfortable for me to work in, maybe it is not customary for my job, but it feels very comfortable and makes me feel free. Plus, I move about faster.”She giggled saying, “of course darling, you are free to wear whatever makes you comfortable, even if you wanted to work naked.”We both laughed. Then I said, “not to that extent, but it is very close to that anyway.”She pointed at a close-by bedroom saying, “Okay, go ahead, get changed while I get ready as well, let me see that outfit, you are making me so curious about.”I took my bag with me, got in the room, then striped down to my outfit which was a simple black, totally see-through, and a high rise thong, made of the same material, totally transparent showing almost all of my Brazilian assets. I packed my pleated skirt and polo back into the bag. This matching minimal Ensemble allows me to feel more energetic and limber as I move around the house I also feel so damn sexy, which gives me even more energy to do my job.When I walked out, Melinda was already out waiting for me, she looked at me totally shocked, then smiling while checking my body out, top to toe, thoroughly. She giggled saying, “Hey woman, that looks so hot on you. I almost feel turned on being a woman. What if a man sees you like that?”I giggled saying, “thanks, so sweet of you to say so, does it really look hot? I know it is a slutty outfit, but it makes me feel totally free while working; almost naked, like you said.”She said, “I like it, yes of course it looks so hot on you, but make sure the front blinds are closed. You don't want any prudish neighbors to see you like that. The only person who has the ability to unlock that door is my husband, who is not due until late this afternoon; but;”I said, “But what?”She smiled saying, “well, he has the habit of showing up without prior notice, but that happens only  once every couple weeks, and if he walks in and sees you like that; Girl you will likely get seduced; even if you had an army to protect you, Julie.”I almost screamed, “What? Let me change back into my clothes then.”She giggled saying, “No honey, you got me wrong. I have no problem with you staying like that even if Carl came, as long as you don't hold me despise me for what he talks you into?”Then she continued saying, “I mean, you have nothing to worry about, even if you stayed dressed like that. He will not force you into anything. When Carl comes home unannounced, it is because he is so horny with a stiff cock; and he is big, Julie. He would pull my hand, walk me to the bedroom, strip me naked, and fuck me like there is no tomorrow.”I said, “but you are his wife, he has the right to do it to you. Why would he do it to me? I can't cheat on you behind your back and in your own house; no matter what he says to me.”Melinda walked closer to me, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a little peck on the cheek; whispering, “Honey, do not worry about cheating on me, I am okay with it. Honest, if he likes you, he would give you no chance to refuse anyway.” I have more regular fucking than my fuck-holes can recover from. He's got enough libido for sharing.Melinda gave me a little playful pat on my ass; smiling and saying, “honey, I am out, have fun whatever it is” and she rushed out the door.I stood there, amazed!Damn it! Melinda had left me with lots of urges on my mind, but none of them is to change back into my other outfit. I mean, I am a slut who loves sex. She said he was sex-loving man, and he is big too. Besides, she said she didn't mind if her husband fucked me, so my final decision was to go on working in my sexy, slutty outfit. And I was willing to take the risk, or should I say, I was hoping it would happen.Anyway; Less than half an hour later, my heart beats were racing much faster when I heard the keys jangle, the door click, and the knob twisted,‘Wow! That was fast,' I thought.I was standing by the sink, turned around to find out who it was.My heart almost stopped beating when a good looking, tall, middle-aged man walked in, He closed and locked the door behind him. He froze there for a minute after saying “Hi.”Then he walked slowly towards me saying, “I could almost guess you are the cleaning woman, but you can' be, can you?”I nodded saying, “Yes, I am. Why can't I be?”He was boldly and bravely checking my whole body out, top to toe. I was a little embarrassed. I was almost nude in front of his hungry eyes. True, I tried to cover my tits with one hand and my cunt with the other one; but I was still semi-nude anyway. He pushed both of my hands away from their places, saying, “because you don't look like a cleaning woman, my dear. You look like a beauty queen, honestly.”I almost giggled saying, “What? How does a cleaning woman look in your opinion?”He smiled saying, “old, fat, ugly; but you are totally different. You look like the sexiest woman on the face of the earth. Don't even tell me your job is cleaning houses and such.”I said, “well, maybe it is not my major job, but I do it to make the extra money; that is all. I hope that is okay with you, Sir.”He smiled saying, “Wrong ma'am. Any beauty queen like you would not clean houses and kitchens for the extra money.”I said, “what else should I clean, then?” My eyes drifted to his crotch as I realized I had set up his next tawdry response.He looked me straight in the eyes with the most erotic, hungry look I have ever seen; saying, “I think you should get on your knees and clean cocks, my darling.”By then his hands were already touching me and feeling my body all over. He felt my bare tits after he had pushed the top aside. His other hand went over my hips, then up over my ass and upper thighs. But surprisingly enough, I didn't do anything to stop him, I was just watching him, barely trying to pull back from him; and my ass was glued to the kitchen counter behind me.That was an answer I had never expected to come that fast from him, but I was an experienced slut, and without thinking about it I found myself saying, “And you don't expect that for the same prices Sir, do you?”I mean, I think I blew it right there, I shocked myself by such slutty, whore-like answer, it was a damn implication that I approved of his suggestion if he paid me commensurately.He looked at me with a wide naughty smile, as if he loved my reaction. He unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants and pulled out an almost foot long, rock hard cock. He flashed it to my eyes first, then he placed both of his hands over my shoulders saying, “No my darling. And call me Carl, please. Miss Julie, I don't expect it for the same pay, I expect it to be at least ten times the cleaning girl's pay. I am fully prepared to accept any mutual terms you set, just get on your knees and start cleaning my cock, please.” He softly was pushing me downwards towards his erect cock.Surprisingly enough, I got on my knees, felt his lovely cock, I admired it and massaged it a bit first.Then I got closer and wrapped my lips around it and started sucking on it.

Vic Verchereau welcomes Linda Hundt, who is the Founder of Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe, and Ellie Hundt Sutherlnd, who is the General Manager. Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe is a charming small business located in downtown DeWitt, Michigan. The vintage ambience paired with delicious, old-fashioned food makes for a perfect dining or take-out experience. In 2002, Linda Hundt established Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe as a home-based business, selling her fare at farm markets and high-end restaurants. The business has grown into a nationally recognized success. Her Daughter, Ellie Hundt Sutherland has joined the team as the General Manager and a food scientist. Set in a vintage brick building in historic DeWitt, the entire business is based on nostalgia through the business' mission, comfort foods and pies, atmosphere, music and merchandise. Vic Verchereau gets this dynamic duo to sit down long enough to hear their story and all about their passion for pies, people and the family business! Don't miss this sweet edition of the Leadership Lowdown! » Visit MBN website: www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/ » Subscribe to MBN's YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MichiganbusinessnetworkMBN » Like MBN: www.facebook.com/mibiznetwork » Follow MBN: twitter.com/MIBizNetwork/ » MBN Instagram: www.instagram.com/mibiznetwork/

What if the secret to spreading love was as simple as baking a pie?In this episode, we visit Sweetie-Licious Bakery in DeWitt, Michigan, where Linda Hundt turned her passion for baking into a mission of joy and connection. From battling personal struggles to earning national acclaim, Linda's story is proof that love can be baked into every bite. Join us as we uncover the heartwarming journey behind Sweetie-Licious and the legacy Linda is creating, one pie at a time.What you'll discover in this episode:The life-changing moment that led Linda to embrace her calling.How Sweetie-Licious grew from a farmhouse porch to a nationally recognized bakery.The powerful connection between food, tradition, and community.Tune in for a slice of inspiration, baked fresh from the heart!Links:Sweetie Licious Bakery Website: Click hereSubscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichiganWatch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichiganShow Notes:00:00 Introduction01:24 Linda's Background and Education03:57 The Love for Baking Begins05:15 Family Influence and Early Baking Memories12:50 The Turning Point: From Politics to Pies18:06 Starting the Pie Business19:44 Challenges and Triumphs25:20 Legacy and Family 28:43 Connecting 30:43 Conclusion

Santa & His Team Makes Up For A North Pole Screw-Up. By Demi Urging. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. It's the wee hours of December 26th. Rick is finally shoving the last of his teetering friends through their front door, He volunteered to be designated driver again, for about half a dozen friends & co-workers. Another Christmas gathering passed as the clock ticked into the next day and it seemed he'd be single again into the new year. He thought he would have gotten over it by age thirty.He did have a pity date from last year  for New Year's Eve. It hadn't been a nice date, either; she stayed for a single kiss at midnight and left without another word. The same woman has a boyfriend this year, so Rick couldn't ask again even if his pride would allow it. Now he'll get plenty of sleep. The only sign of the holidays in his life was the box of fudge sitting on his counter, Which his elderly neighbor gave him the night before Christmas. He wouldn't even eat it tonight. Sleep had to come first, then he had a week off, since the boss knew most of the team would be useless if he had them come in that week. Climbing the stairs, he smelled something delectable, coming out of the 4th floor stairwell. He thought one of his neighbors must have made actual food instead of subsisting on beer and crackers like his friends had. Maybe he would eat some of that fudge after all, since a glass of water and a handful of crackers in the face of a home-cooked meal seemed inadequate. It had to be Miss Thompson. Rick thought that the old gal had gone off to the country for the day to visit with her kids, but the smell of his mom's ham with orange & clove seasoning didn't lie, and it was absolutely coming from somewhere on this floor, getting stronger as he approached his own apartment. Taking a final pleasant sniff before entering his lonely apartment, Rick turned, halfway opened his front door, and was smacked in the face with a bouquet of aromas that sent his mind back to Christmas dinner with mom and dad. Rick stepped back. Wrong apartment, he thought. But when he checked the address, expecting to be on the wrong floor somehow, he was met with the very same number he saw every day. He considered calling the cops, but wanted to know the actual situation before making that decision. So, flicked-open pocket knife in hand, he very slowly pushed the door open again. “Aren't you coming in?” A slender, bright-eyed young woman in an apron and a horribly ugly holiday sweater three sizes too large, only bare leg showing underneath its hem, was standing in the entryway. She giggled, fluffy blonde locks bouncing around peaked ears, and took Rick by the hand, gently tugging him inside. “Come on, silly, it's nice and warm. I have a fire going that's the perfect size for snuggling and supper just came out of the oven.” Ah, so a crazy person broke in. At least they… “A Fire!?” Rick asked as he pulled himself out of her grasp and ran further inside, desperately trying to remember where he kept the extinguisher. But he stopped when he saw what she really meant: his television was showing a video of a fireplace and putting out the smooth jazz version of Christmas favorites, & also a heater stationed below it provided heat along with what looked like a genuine polar bear skin rug. Jittering followed as the girl joined him. “I am sorry I couldn't have a real one tonight, but there was no fireplace so this is the best I could do. Now, let's get you fed while it's nice and piping hot, and then we can open presents.” A glance around the room revealed a small pine tree, dazzling with ornaments and laden with expertly-wrapped boxes underneath. Rick's dining room table held more food than it ever had before and glimmered with candlelight that danced gleefully as the girl dimmed the lights and retrieved the last item from the oven, coming around with a ceramic dish of bubbling, hot food to finish off the spread. She pulled a chair out for him to sit, pouting when he declined her service. “What is this and who are you?” Rick discreetly tucked his knife away. “This is Christmas dinner for my sweetie, of course. It'll start getting cold soon, so why don't I make you a plate? While she scooped Rick's plate with food, He considered his plan of action. The way she bounced to a beat, humming along with the television, the points of her ears were over-worldly? Rick reached out and tugged on one of the girl's ears. She yelped, tightening up so as not to drop the plate, and begged him with a tremble in her voice, "Sweetie, please don't.” When he released her, she set his place at the table and did the same for herself. He took his seat. “Merry Christmas, my sweet one. While you were away, Santa came along and dropped off a bunch of presents for you. I thought you would like the surprise and we could eat first before talking, but I guess I crossed a line, haven't I?” Rick put a bite of ham in his mouth, the girl brightening up as he started to eat. It had to be one of the most delicious things he'd had the pleasure to shove in his face. Mom's cooking, with its nostalgic advantage was still blown out of the water, and Rick felt sorry that he would never get to taste this for the first time again. Too soon it was all gone and the girl was carrying out a plate of apple and chocolate pie with ice cream on the side. This too didn't last and something about her constant giggling warmed him inside in a way he couldn't very well describe. As he finished the last bite of chocolate pie, she came over to his chair & wrapped herself around his neck from behind, softness and warmth pressing into his back and fluffy, blonde hair tickling his cheek. “Oh, Messy boy” she said, and leaned forward to smooch a crumb off his cheek. Before Rick could object, as little as he was inclined to, she had already slipped away to put dishes in the sink and his back felt uncomfortably cold with her absence. “That was pretty good; amazing actually.” Rick said, “But seriously, who are you? Did one of my friends hire you or something?” He dismissed the idea. “No, my mother? She's one of the only people with a key to my place. Unless; it was the landlady?” The girl stretched in the warm air with a luxurious moan escaping peachy lips, the neck of her XXL sweater spilling over a shoulder, exposing so much skin underneath that it was impossible for her to be wearing anything underneath. “I'm an elf!” she proclaimed. She curtsied, at least there were denim cutoff shorts underneath the sweater.  Rick just stared. “Didn't you hear me? Santa came by, because you were such a good boy, and we set all this up for you. Well, not to toot my own horn, but I did all the cooking and decorating, Santa brought presents. Oh, and I'm Sugarbell. I'm here to make your Christmas wish come true!” She'd taken a pose as if she was popping out of a giant layer cake; like there should be celebratory confetti shooting out. But she just stood there in awkward silence. Rick sighed, so she was a crazy chick after all. “Okay, miss elf, why don't you get out of here before I have to call the police. And how did you get in here anyway?” “Magic,” Sugarbell said, looking crestfallen, her ears drooping. “You're not giving me a good argument not to call the police. Can you at least take off the fake ears so we can really talk about this?” “Fake? Sweetie? She skipped over to a green sack by the door and plucked out a wrinkled, yellowed piece of paper. "Ahem, ‘Dear Santa, I've been a good boy all year if you don't count that stuff that my sister says and all I really want is a girlfriend.' and then there's a colored pencil drawing of a girl with black pigtails who I think is your crush. 'It's okay if I don't get one, I know that's asking for a lot, but it doesn't look like mom and Dave are going to be able to give out lots of toys this year, so don't worry about it if you can't. Merry Christmas. BTW I'm making snickerdoodles this year, so make sure you grab your share before Dave can steal them all again.' and there's your signature.” She handed the letter over for inspection. It was definitely his handwriting, his drawing skills from almost two decades ago… “So you were sent by my mother. You could have just said that and we'd have been fine. I'm sorry, she's pushy but I know she means well… should have told me I'd have company and I would have skipped that party. Anyway, what's your actual name?” “I'm Sugarbell. And I wasn't sent by her, Santa brought me. Here, look.” She tugged on her ear, leaning up so Rick could look closely. It was either real or the seam of the rubber was so well hidden that it might as well be. “I suppose this would be a little hard to believe for an adult. Sorry, I haven't actually spoken with a human for a few years.” Rick shook his head. “Your makeup's good, I'll give you that.” Rick angled his hips so the elf wouldn't notice a certain reflex to her melding to his shape. She was incredibly soft in his arms, just short of purring, the smell of peppermint coming off as she rubbed against him. Sugarbell stared up at him, her wide, green eyes shining with reflected candlelight. “But I'm not a crazy. I…” She went to the polar bearskin rug in front of the television, so big for the room that it bunched up against the walls in that corner, took a seat and patted the place beside her for him to take. Rick was not so troubled as he was amused, so he sat next to her on the rug in front of the sofa, facing the fake fire. She rested her head against his shoulder and twined her fingers in his with no resistance. “Um…” he said, “You got me, I guess, but what is all this?” “It's a little embarrassing for all of us who screwed up,” she said, “You see, back when we got that letter, we were using a new kind of mail bag and, as we would soon find out, letters would sometimes get caught in the seams. And the elf in charge of distributing letters wasn't especially conscientious. Rather than going through the trouble of digging out the trapped ones as he knew there would be, they instead ended up stuck inside, in a pile in the corner of the sorting room. It wouldn't have been that much of a problem, aside from that one elf's termination we would have just sorted through when we found the pile and spread out what good will we could. But then we arrived at your letter.” “I mean, I was a dumb 10 year old kid. It's not something I would ask for these days.” Sugarbell airily giggled, her cheek burned against his arm. “Sweetie, that wasn't the problem. We get so many requests for things like that; puppies, little brothers or sisters, a bunch-a edgy. Usually, we'd plan on whatever we could. Are the parents getting a pet? Is someone pregnant or likely to be? If not, a stuffed animal or baby doll would do the trick, and plastic weapons are wholesome enough as it is. The trouble came in an unfortunate fact: you were in the top hundred of the nice list that year.” “First of all, I don't believe you, but why would it be an issue?” “Top hundred and a random assortment on top of that get their wish, period. According to our records, you didn't submit one… had we known what you wanted, we couldn't very well kidnap someone and brainwash them, but we absolutely could have an elf facilitate a meeting, and stick around to help out a burgeoning romance. Of course, we didn't find your letter in the pile until this year. It wouldn't do for us to get off with as light as a card and a toy anymore, so here I am.” Sugarbell hugged his arm tightly to her chest and kissed his cheek. “I'm your present this year. Sorry it took so long for your wish to come true.” It doesn't make up for the twenty years you've lost, but We can only fix today. Rick reeled from the stream of revelations, not the least of which being that Santa was a real guy. And here was an eager, adorable, blonde lovely thing clinging to him, unwittingly giving him quite the show as her sweater's wide neck dipped down with her promised land hiding behind a tantalizing, flickering shadow. He averted his eyes, hoping she couldn't feel his heart going crazy through his palm, but her puckish smile said that she knew very well the effect her supple, inviting cuddliness was having. He paused. “So Santa just gave me one of his elves? What, did you draw the short stick?” “We're not slaves, you know. It's a career.” As he leaned back, supported by the sofa seat; Sugarbell straddled into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. There was no way she couldn't feel the ‘wooden soldier' poking her thighs from below. “Upon discovery of your letter, several of us thought that we could still make your wish come true, so Santa put out a call for volunteers. I won.” Before he could respond, she leaned into him, rocking him onto his back while she straddled; her warm, green eyes glittering in the false firelight on the tv as she came in for a transient peck on the lips. Then she teased him by hopping up and padding over to the kitchen. From where he lay, Rick watched her pull a tray from the oven and came back to the fire to kneel beside him. He asked, “People volunteered to be with me?” It was hard to imagine even two women fighting over him. Sugarbell frowned like she knew this conversation was going to happen sooner or later and could no longer be postponed. “Fifty of us young lady elves entered the pool. We played rock paper scissors for the position, and I won the tournament. Of course; if you don't want me, I'm sure we can drop someone else off for you. Any one of them would love to take my place.” “I just can't believe it.” Rick sat up and drew her into his arms, sitting her on one leg so the soldier couldn't get in the way. It seemed that she prepared to be rejected at this point, and he'd said so much to make her think he would, threatened to have her removed by the authorities after all. “It's a lot to take in, you know? How the heck was I in the top hundred? I don't remember doing anything especially great. Why not give my place to one of those prodigies out saving the rainforest or whatever?” She'd relaxed in his arms, nestled into the crook of his shoulder and curled in her slender legs. “We take lots of factors into consideration. The kindest people don't pay attention to how kind they are. They just do the right thing. "And I thought you were a home invader.” “Nuh-uh.” She wiggled herself up until her lips touched his earlobe and whispered, “It's only home invasion when the owner doesn't want you there. Tell me who laid out milk and cookies all those years? Wasn't that you?” Her nuzzling and shimmying had tugged the overlarge neck of her sweater so far down across one shoulder that she was in danger of revealing herself from just the swell of her curvaceous breast with every breath, not that it seemed she would mind. Sugarbell wagged her pert butt in his lap, her fingers wandered underneath his sweatshirt and sweetly tugged at the t-shirt underneath when she found it was tucked in. The same breath which raised her chest came to him as a cool breeze on his neck. She said, “Tell me, what's the one thing you've always wanted to do, that you couldn't without a girlfriend?” One corner of his undershirt came free from his jeans. It was too fast, Rick hugged her tighter, trapping her hands to squirm uselessly against his belly. He grabbed her sweater and pulled the neck back off her shoulder, saving her from the risk of exposure. Giggling wildly, she plunged her hands under his plain gray sweatshirt and tickled his armpits without mercy until it was just too much to bear and Rick fell sideways, holding in suppressed laughter, landing onto his back. But it didn't end, Sugarbell seized the moment of his weakness and took hold of the sweatshirt's hem, pulling the whole thing up above his head in a smooth motion and trapping his arms in a cottony prison. She laid herself over his chest and at last succeeded in untucking his shirt. Meanwhile his bulge rested between the two cheeks of her very toned ass, and she rubbed against it with her subtle motions. Eagerness burned in her rosy cheeks. Her downy, golden hair fell around their faces, dividing them from the world, but a few deep breaths later, her giggling petered out and she rolled off, spending the last of her laughter beside him on the floor. “Sorry, sorry, we haven't even eaten dessert yet.” she said breathlessly, jumping up and scurrying back to the kitchen. Rick discarded his sweatshirt; it was already getting too warm for him. Watching on as Sugarbell's perky rear bounced away did nothing for dissipating his erection, begging him as it was, to just get on with it already. It didn't have long to calm down before she returned with a plate of tiny, pink cookies. “No, don't get up,” she said as she set the plate down on the rug, “Go ahead and try one, I'll pick a present for both of us, from the North Pole team.” The first bite of the little cookie exploded with crispy flakiness and a sophisticated undertone of strawberry. Rick snuck a second cookie before Sugarbell had time to return from the tree, with a couple gifts. “These are incredible!” he blurted through a cheekful of crumbs. She took one for herself and examined it between pinched fingers. “I wish I had more time to make them. It's the little touches that make the difference, but I wasn't able to let the egg whites get to room temperature before I beat them. And I know they say you can use a hand mixer to get the same results, but I think merenge needs the personal touch of a handheld whisk, even if it takes longer.” “What are you talking about? They're delicious.” Sugarbell sat next to him, leaning against the sofa, and kissed his cheek. Then sliding a present into his lap to open. “They're called sugarbells. My mom's version is so much better than mine.” Rick looked at the gift tag, but the sender's name was in Cyrillic so it was hopeless to try reading it. “Where did all these come from anyway?” “Let's see… that one's from the workshop, most of them are. The sender is an elf named Tart. Technically it's actually Tort, but that's what he prefers.” Rather than carefully preserve the beauty of the wrapping on her gift, Sugarbell plunged her fingertip under a flap and ripped the paper off in a single ragged chunk. She tipped the lid up to see inside, yelped, and put the package out of reach. “What was it?” Rick asked. The box was on her other side and she leaned in the way of his arm when he started reaching around to get at it. “Well, it was, uh,” she stammered, eyes darting back and forth until she realized there wasn't a way out of telling him the truth. “It's something of a gift to both of us, from the workshop's confectioner.” She waved him close and whispered with a warm breath against his ear, “Edible underwear.” Before he could respond with his own bewilderment, Sugarbell crawled away to fetch another pair of presents from the pile. She wouldn't look him in the eye when she thrust the next one into his hands. Did she think she hadn't already crossed the line from adorable into suggestive, or was it just too much to be hit smack in the face with the implications? This self-conscious side of her was adorable in its own way too. He decided to prod her. “Alright,” he said, “New rule: no hiding anything, and presents have to be tried out right away. Okay?” Sugarbell nodded solemnly and began drawing the hem of her sweater up, laying bare her tight, smooth belly, and was saved at the last moment when it crested her ribs and Rick caught her wrist. His bluff overwhelmingly called, Rick let her off easy and kissed her forehead. “Sorry, I just meant we should show off what we got. No need to strip right here and now.” “So,” Rick said, uneasy in his seat, “Are there going to be any of these that aren't… romantic?” At least Sugarbell looked ruffled too, swaying on her knees after pulling out another couple gifts. “Most of these are from elves who really wanted to be with you tonight instead of me.” She stuffed a cookie in her face rather than continue explaining. They opened the next wave of gifts in one fell swoop of torn paper and ribbon to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment. Out came a matching set of horrendously ugly sweaters in their respective sizes and a book titled 'guide to faeries' which Sugarbell suspiciously slid underneath the pile without mentioning in any way. Rick said, “Well, at least we haven't found any dildos…” There was a pregnant pause as Sugarbell's eyes flicked toward a long, slim present leaned up against the wall. Sugarbell reverently set each box before them and for the first time went to the trouble of finding an edge to peel back instead of ripping the thing to shreds in a festive feeding frenzy. “These two,” she said, “Are from Santa himself.” In the first box, addressed to Rick, there was a wooden doll in the shape of a tiny, flaxen-haired elf complete with a red dress and curly-toed shoes festooned with actual, minuscule bells. The other package, Sugarbell's, opened to reveal a group photo with dozens of short people trying to get their heads in frame all at once, almost crowding out the wizened man in the center. She held it close to her chest for a long moment and set it aside. “Good thing that's the last of them, garbage bag is near to bursting.” Rick said. “That wasn't the last one.” She tugged on his shirt to keep him in place before he could retreat to take out the trash. “What do you mean, did I miss one under the tree?” Sugarbell crawled behind him and when he tried to look, she gently turned his face away. Moments later, the muffled sound of wool dropping on the carpet came amid the soft jazz Christmas carols and the crackle of fire. Pale arms enveloped his neck and naked softness pressed against his nape. “You still have one more present to unwrap.” she whispered. He took her hands in his and pushed down his feelings; this was too good to be true. “It's okay, I understand everything now. I had a lot of fun tonight and I appreciate the gesture, but you don't have to go that far for someone like me.” She slid down his back like dripping cream and he felt her lips lay a line of pecks up from his neck to his ear. She whispered; “There's such a thing as being too nice, you know. A girl might get her feelings hurt like that.” Her tongue ran the length of his earlobe and she nibbled at it as a penalty. Her voice was sultry and inviting; “I'm not wearing a bra, can't you feel that?” She rubbed herself against him to ensure he would feel her firm nipples tickling across his back. “Does it feel like I'm coerced? Or do I seem like the kind of girl who would act this way for just anyone? We found that letter six months ago… I've been watching you, falling in love with you, for so long.” Each passing day my desire for you has grown. “There's no way…” “No way someone like me could fall for someone like you?” Sugarbell bit his neck. If only the really big things counted toward being good, there would be so few good people, wouldn't there?“ "I mean, as long as you're okay with it.” There was some rustling behind his back as Sugarbell wriggled and reached back, producing her little, denim shorts so he could see and dropping them in his lap. The girl hugging herself so tightly to his back was wearing nothing but panties and moaned into his ear, “Carry me to the bed, please?” Libido won out; Rick turned and scooped her up to a giddy squeal, as her legs locked around his waist, Rick was blessed with handfuls of bouncy ass and hurriedly carried her to the his room to set her down in bed. She'd done her magic in there as well, ceiling hung with red and gold garlands, mistletoe above each doorway. The bedspread was made with a quilted comforter patterned with reindeer frolicking across the tundra. It was obvious that she wanted to end up in there from the start. Sugarbell pulled his head down for a kiss, prodding between his lips with the tip of her tongue, eagerly melding herself to his body, mingling her tongue with his. They came apart with a heavy breath, forgetting how long they had been under. She covertly undid the buckle of his belt and tugged his pants down into a heap at his feet, then delved underneath his t-shirt again, spread her delicate fingers across his chest, and pressed herself into him as he drew it over his head. Abruptly, she tweaked his nipples and retreated before he could retaliate, plopping herself on his bedspread and, calming herself a pinch, spread her knees apart. The one article of clothing between them was a pair of red, lacy panties with a cotton sprig of mistletoe hung by a little bow. As Rick gawked at the dainty outline. The panties were tied at both hips, with stretch lace straps. Sugarbell squirmed, her own gaze flitting to and from his growing erection, but she kept her legs open. “It's mistletoe…” she said quietly. “Um, yeah.” “You know what that means, don't you?” In answer, Rick crawled down and kissed her thigh. Her fingers twined in his hair and an unrestricted murmur of pleasure came from above, encouraging him to advance toward her heat, laying kisses all the way up her creamy thigh until he was inches away from her warm aroma. The fabric was in the way, but he could feel her silkiness on his lips, against his tongue. Her fingers left their comfortable place in his hair to pull on the knots at her hips, let her panties fall away and revealed bare, pink skin. Rick wasted no time, pushed forward to kiss her again, running his tongue along her lips, pausing to pin in his mind the spots where she moaned or her leg twitched against his head. Already he could feel wetness on his tongue, heat spreading throughout her body. A chorus of gasps and moans fell from above and quick peeks down below showed that Sugarbell's toes were curling. Pride swelled in his chest as he smooched and licked her most sensitive spots. “Okay, stop,” Sugarbell pushed his head away and sighed, falling back for a second before rolling backwards onto her knees on the bed. “Come here,” she said, patting the space beside her, “Lie down right here, on you back.” He obeyed and had a shock. He would have said something, but a lingering lick up his shaft to the tip stole his words with a moan. Delicate fingers wrapped around it and gently stroked as she nestled against his thigh and lapped at his balls, merrily humming as she took pleasure in the situation. Popping a testicle in her mouth and swirling it around with her tongue, Sugarbell's pert ass swayed in the air, her other hand wandering up her leg so she could rub herself against her palm. Rick could only reach down to pet her head as she suckled. Sugarbell slowly ran her tongue around the rim of his glans, so sensitive that Rick almost lost himself in the pleasure, but he relished every moment of those bright, green eyes bobbing down on him. She took him deeper into her mouth, rubbing the tip of his cock against the inside, bulging her rosy cheek like a chipmunk. Her hips bucked against her hand and mewls of pleasure escaped from her glistening lips, bringing Rick to the just before the point of no return where his whole body clenched to keep the amazing feeling from ending. And she flopped limp between his legs, tenderly lapping at his balls as his cock twitched for release in her hand. "Come on, sweetie pie,” she said, “Isn't there somewhere else you'd like to do that?” Rick sat up and pulled her into his lap facing him; where her soft slit straddled his throbbing erection. “Do you have any protection?” he asked. Sugarbell bent her head into his chest and sputtered laughter. “Like I said, there's such a thing as being too nice.” She guided the tip of his cock to her entrance and started putting weight on it, softly grunting with the effort of fitting him inside, squealed when it pushed in the first inch. “Does it hurt?” “Shut up.” she moaned, hugging herself close so he couldn't see the pain in her eyes and insist they stop. “I j-just need to get used to it, okay?” Over the next minute her warm tightness enveloped his cock inch by inch until Sugarbell's butt rested comfortably in his lap and she breathed a sigh of relief. Rick turned up her chin for a kiss, hoping their intertwined tongues would distract from the pain, stroking her creamy, pale skin with special attention paid to her ticklish spots, taking a breast in hand and fiddling with a nipple like a hard pebble. Her sighs of pleasure washed against his chest and she closed her eyes to enjoy each touch to its fullest, savoring the feeling of fullness in her loins. She snaked her arms around him, linking her fingers behind his back, and began swirling her hips, gently moving his cock inside her, sliding her bouncy ass across his thighs. He felt like he could burst at any minute, couldn't resist taking a handful of ass, causing a refreshing whimper against his chest as he squeezed. Rick buried his face in her fluffy, golden hair to keep his senses, taking in the invigorating scent of peppermint and sweat. Little tickles made moaned giggles fall on his ears and Sugarbell slowly became more comfortable with his size, increasing her motion's intensity until she was almost thrusting against his last inch. Her bright, green eyes appeared again as Rick surprised Sugarbell by slowly flipping her down onto her back. He kept the last pace she was comfortable with, guided by her tiny, urging moans to start going faster and deeper. She splayed her arms above her head and gripped the pillow she found there, handing over control to him with her legs wrapped around his waist. Free to go wild, Rick slowly pulled out and pushed himself back in to the hilt, leering at the way Sugarbell squirmed underneath, her breast rippling with sharp breaths. Then again, a bit faster, and again until he was properly thrusting, and he joined the chorus of moans. Sugarbell pulled his head down into a kiss and shakily whispered, “Harder~” He grabbed her waist, ramming himself inside her pussy as she wriggled in ecstasy, bright eyes rolled back and she bit his shoulder in anticipation of the finale. It came on like a wave, forcing him as deep as he could go, balls slapping against wet ass cheeks as he flooded her tight pussy and she tightened in gratification, overwhelmed by sensation as Rick pounded inside her. When the moment of passion had passed, Rick laid at her side as she relaxed into quiet contentment. But it didn't last long before she crawled atop him, laying her head on his chest humming a festive tune. “That was amazing.” he said, absentmindedly stroking her hair. Sugarbell kissed his chest. “Lots better than your hand, isn't it? Heh, you're pretty big. Human girls don't know what they're missing out on.” Her fingertips traced the way down between his legs, wrapped around his shrinking dick and said, “Good job, mister, wanna take me for another spin?” Rick laughed and she rubbed herself against his chest as she joined in, bright eyes merrily twinkling. “Can't fault a girl for trying, can you? It is two in the morning I suppose. Christmas night's almost over and done.” She tugged up the blanket they'd displaced and snuggled herself against him, pointy ear tickling his neck, and hummed a lullaby as the day's exhaustion made sleep less and less voluntary. The morning sun muddled through snow-filled clouds to gently wake Rick. He'd slept clean through the usual time, had a transient shock before remembering the office would be closed for the week. And he was alone. Last night had to have happened. Peppermint lingered in the air and a hickey stung on his neck, but she wasn't there. Of course, he thought, it was a monkey's paw. She'd said she was a Christmas present, and the day had passed… He forced himself out of bed and dressed, then headed for the kitchen. Where a woman in a red turtleneck and costume antlers was using the stove. “Morning, sleepy-head~” Sugarbell cooed, “I'm almost done with brunch so go ahead and take a seat.” “You're still here.” “Of course I am, why? Oh, there's nowhere I need to be.” “I thought I was only going to get the one night.” Sugarbell turned off the stove and set the table with leftover ham omelets and freshly-baked cinnamon rolls. “That's not a girlfriend, that's a one-night stand.” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, “And we still have to continue where we left off after all.” By Demi urging for Literotica

Gilian from Hi Ho and Birdy from Sweetie jumped in my car at the end of 2024 to talk about their free show at Schubas (also including Reckoner), happening on 12/30/24 (New Year’s Eve Eve). We’d originally planned to go food-less for this one, but to my surprise they arrived with freshly-baked cookies. They weren’t chocolate chip cookies, though, because Gillian’s not a fan (please don’t cancel her). Things discussed in the episode:*Birdy’s love for alliteration. She’s a fabulously fun, fervent francophile. *Gillian joins the “5 timers club,” while Birdy is right on the edge with her fourth appearance. *Gillian’s reemergence after “this non-musical and extremely medical year.” *The state of Hi Ho: New music on the way. *Birdy Vee is known to warmly greet her community of fans when Sweetie takes the stage. She’s demure. *Sweetie will release a new album (on vinyl!) in 2025. *Birdy plays rugby. Don’t mess with her. *The HOOF Fest, and why Gillian is such a fan of it. *Gillian’s secret to building a band (Sweetie has a similar road map). I don’t know if it was the holidays in the air, or just the combination of Gillian and Birdy, but holy shit, this episode was a lot of fun to record. Please support these fine bands (for ZERO POINT ZERO DOLLARS) on December 30! ## Car Con Carne is sponsored by Easy Automation: easy-automation.net Transform your living space with cutting-edge home automation. Experience seamless control over audio/video, lighting, climate, security, and more. Embrace the future of smart living – your home, your rules. Get a quote by visiting easy-automation.net, or give Dan a call at 630.730.3728 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joe returns and begins with sharing his feelings about the cast and the JBP episodes in his absence before the crew of Marc, Melyssa, Parks, & QueenzFlip dive into Jay-Z's accuser having major inconsistencies in her allegations as Hov and his legal team are prepared to take action against Tony Buzbee (27:20). Joe shares his thoughts about the new Jamie Foxx special on Netflix (40:41) as well as his recent experience at Usher's show at the Barclay's Center (46:32), Travis Hunter wins the 2024 Heisman as him and his fiancée also remain in the news (1:12:28), and Luigi Mangione has hired a lawyer (1:31:26). Also, Marc doubles down on his take when it comes to playing spades (1:35:38), the drone sightings in New Jersey (1:57:00), and much more!  Become a Patron of The Joe Budden Podcast for additional bonus episodes and visual content for all things JBP! Join our Patreon here: www.patreon.com/joebudden  Sleeper Picks:   Joe | KountyBoy Solo - “Identity Crisis” Marc | Homeboy Sandman - “Couple Bars (Honey, Sugar, Darling, Sweetie, Baby, Boo)” Parks | Fashawn & Little Vic - “Capo” QueenzFlip | Connie Diiamond (feat. Don Q) - “Make Amends” Melyssa | Rose Gold (feat. Like) - “Stay Down”

This week, Julie & Brandy discuss some news around the internet, and turns out… half of it is fake! ** CHECK OUT OUR PATREON PODCAST! No Politics! No Ads! FREE PATREON EPISODES: **Wrong Side of Go Fund Me – Feb 2024 **Blind Item Friday – April 2024 **Windows Up, Sing Time – Sep 2020 **Trunkkies – Feb 2019 ** WATCH A FREE EPISODE OF BRAVO'S VANDERPUMP RULES AFTERSHOW! (Hosted by Julie & Brandy!! Starring the entire cast of Vanderpump Rules, Season 4. The only AfterShow EVER aired on Bravo. *All 12 episodes available with Patreon Subscription**) **CHECK OUT OUR T-SHIRTS! ** *** FOLLOW JULIE ON INSTAGRAM *** FOLLOW BRANDY ON INSTAGRAM

Hey kids, it's Tuesday and David Waldman is here to lead our Camp KITM Sing-Along:  Second verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a whole lot worse! Upcoming confirmation hearings for Pam Bondi will reveal the intrinsic corruption, looming danger... etc. etc. Scales will fall from eyes that tune into… Spinco, or some such. Ok, so 25% tariffs go on Mexico and Canada if our drug and immigration problems aren't fixed. Well, FAFO, as we used to say 2016-2020, in between posting “But Her Emails!” memes. Good times. Once again, a new group of backstabbing villains gather to loot as much as they can and yet find that they don't get along. As usual, it's all good as long as the boss gets the two scoops of ice cream. Boris Epshteyn is a double dipper. No one is sure how evil Brooke Rollins will be. Sometimes, you have to play your evil rookies off the evil bench. Citizens United is the funniest joke Elon Musk has ever heard, and one of the cheapest laughs he'll ever buy. How does Natalie Harp do it? Sweetie 2.0 has a lock on the ear and rear of all that matters to her. 

What's in a name? Daryl Walker aka Sweetie has been in the bbq game for some time now. As a competitive bbq cook, as a backyard warrior, as a food truck operator, as a restaurateur, as a rub and sauce maker. He even did a little TV time for bbq. This makes him super well rounded as a Pitmaster but he remains the ultra humble guy in the room. Sweetie is also the guy that you know exactly how he feels. Especially when it's a winning weekend, dancing, singing, hooting, passing out or shedding a bit of a tear as he makes his way to the top. His raw emotion is as real as it gets. It's why the TV folks were after him to be on the show it's why he is one of my favorite bbq guys. He is real, he is raw, he is talent. The real deal trying to make his family proud and doing a great job at it. Sweetie was one of my favorites to have on the show and I can't lie talking to him gets you in your feelings too.

Hello, Friends! On today's mini-pod, Karen and Katie chat about the importance of speaking nicely to ourselves and taking compliments with grace and gratitude. We love you all, thanks for listening!

Rebekah's first Cesarean was a birth center transfer after her baby boy unexpectedly flipped breech during labor. Though she was confident in her decision to consent to a Cesarean, she was devastated and left with a lot to process. Right away, Rebekah's midwives instilled confidence that she was a great VBAC candidate and introduced her to The VBAC Link. Rebekah thoroughly researched and prepped for her VBAC knowing it was the path she wanted to take. She decided to stay with the same birth center as she felt so loved and supported by them. Her second pregnancy was filled with physical, mental, and spiritual preparation for her VBAC. Rebekah developed a deep connection with her baby girl and shares precious stories during both her pregnancy and labor when she knew just what her baby was trying to communicate. Rebekah's VBAC was healing in so many ways. It was particularly special to birth in the same suite that she labored in with her first and have such a different outcome. All of Rebekah's intentional work paid off to help her have a very sacred birth and postpartum experience!How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull Transcript under Episode Details Meagan: Hello, everybody. Welcome to The VBAC Link. We have our friend, Rebekah, here today and she is local to me here in Utah so it's always so fun to hear a Utah story especially because I usually know the provider and the location and things like that or I've served with them so it's fun to hear the stories that I have served with the people who are serving these amazing VBAC mamas. We have our friend, Rebekah, like I said and she is a mama of two. She is a stay-at-home mom and is in Spanish Fork. She is passionate about birth and hopes to one day pursue birth work. She hired one of our VBAC Link certified doulas so just as a reminder, if you guys are looking for a doula, let me just tell you that our doulas are amazing. These doulas truly love birth and love VBAC and are all certified in VBAC so you can check that out at thevbaclink.com/findadoula if you are looking for a doula. Rebekah left us a note. It says, “The after-birth high doesn't always happen. I have heard so many stories of women who experienced it and I was expecting to feel that. I however did not.” She says, “Don't feel robbed of it.” She was confused why she didn't feel it but she is going to talk a little bit more in her story. I love that message because I didn't feel the birth high with some of my kids either and it is weird. I remember sitting there thinking, Wait, aren't I supposed to be crying right now or aren't I supposed to be screaming how happy I am right now? It just didn't come. Please know that if you didn't have that immediate birth high, it's okay. It's totally okay. We do have a Review of the Week. It is from Yulia and this is actually on our VBAC Course. It says, “This is an amazing VBAC Course that helped me understand how I can educate and support families in the best way.” She is actually one of our VBAC doulas so again, if you guys are looking for more information on VBAC and you really want to learn just all of the history of VBAC and Cesarean and how you can increase your chances of VBAC, check out our course at thevbaclink.com and let us know if you take it. Let us know what you think about it. All right, Ms. Rebekah. Your hometown is Utah, same as me. We are here together. You're in Utah County. You're probably 45-50 minutes away from me so just shy of an hour. Where did you give birth for your VBAC? Rebekah: It was the Utah Birth Suites in Provo. Meagan: Okay. Awesome, awesome. Well, I'm so excited to get into your stories today. I know that with your first one, you went through it. It was spontaneous labor turned unplanned Cesarean. Now if you are listening, I'm sure you can raise your hand. How many of us are having the same situations? We are going into labor and we have that unplanned Cesarean. It's so, so hard. Before we get into your story, are there any suggestions that you would give to the listeners or any tips for moms just like us for moms who went into labor and had an unplanned Cesarean?Rebekah: The heartbreak and the trauma that comes with that is really hard to navigate so in planning a VBAC, my number one piece of advice is hire a doula. Hire a VBAC-certified doula and do all of the hard work you can to mentally prepare. Try not to blame yourself for the C-section because I know we all do that at some point if it wasn't planned. Meagan: Yeah. I love that you said that. Don't blame yourself but at the same time, let's arm ourselves up with information and even first-time moms, there are so many times that we go in and we think we sort of educated ourselves but we didn't. If we can try and educate ourselves a little bit better, we can hopefully be a little bit more armed for the unexpected and even then when the unexpected happens, it's not easy to be armed. It's not easy to be prepared. Okay, so let's talk about that first birth that was an unplanned Cesarean. Rebekah: Yeah. I got pregnant in 2020 so COVID insanity and I had known even before I got married that I didn't want to be in a hospital. I'm number 6 of 7 kids and my mom had all of us unmedicated. I was a home baby. Some of us were born at home. Some were in a hospital. Some were in a birth center. I just really felt that in my bones and in my genes that I can give birth. It's not scary. My mom did this this many times without medication. My sister did it 5 times so I really felt confident. With everything happening in hospitals during COVID, I just was like, I don't even want to try to mess with that so let's go the midwife route. I got in contact with a friend of mine who was a doula and she recommended the Utah Birth Suites in Provo. I reached out to them. We toured a couple of different birth centers and that birth center just felt right. We met almost the entire team that first day in the interview. They spent almost an hour just chatting with us. I was about maybe 18 weeks, 20ish weeks. I was about halfway through my pregnancy. I had two or three meetings with an OB because I didn't have a midwife and it just wasn't my favorite. It was so long between visits and they lasted about 15 minutes. I saw a different person each time. It felt very impersonal and I don't like repeating myself over and over again to all of these different people. It didn't feel right. It wasn't really what I was looking for. I found the Birth Suites and they took care of me for the rest of my pregnancy. I had a little bit of hypertension issues toward the end so the last three or four weeks were really juggling this game of, are we looking at induction this weekend? My blood pressure would read really, really high then I would do all of the things to bring it back down. I was watching my nutrition and taking the vitamins and everything to bring it down. It would come down just within a safe enough range to keep giving me care. Legally, if it crossed that line into worries of preeclampsia, then legally they had to transfer me into the care of an OB. My midwife was really working hard with me to keep it down. It was doing this up/down thing and by the end of each week, it was like, “Okay, we might have to induce you in a couple of days if you want to stick with us.” I was okay with that. My midwife had talked with me about that so it wasn't pushed on me. I was doing everything to stay within their care. That was my whole goal so if I had to be induced, that's what I would do. But every weekend came and passed and my blood pressure would come back down. Finally, it was the day before my due date. I went into labor in the middle of the night. It was maybe 2:30 in the morning. I felt my first contraction. I could tell it was labor because it was different than all of my Braxton Hicks. The only sign I had that labor was going to start was that I had cramping the day before. I was like, “Oh, this is kind of uncomfy.” I didn't think anything of it. As a first-time mom, I didn't know a ton. I did as much research as I possibly could but labor is so random with every mom and baby. There really is no way to tell. I go into labor early in the morning and I woke up my husband. I said, “I think I'm in labor. I think these are contractions. They're not stopping. They're getting really intense.” Intense compared to the Braxton Hicks I had been feeling. I let him sleep and I went into a different room and classic first-time mom mistake. Instead of resting, I got up and started moving and trying to get things going because I was all excited. I didn't want things to slow down. I was timing them and texting my midwife. She said, “See if you can lay down. Take a Tylenol if they are super uncomfortable and try to get as much sleep as possible because you've got some time.” I tried doing that. It wasn't working for me. I was super uncomfy laying down. I did not like it at all. I felt good when I was up and moving because I think that slowed things down but I didn't know the difference. I just knew it was less uncomfortable. I was like, “I'm not going to be sleeping. Let's just go do something.” We went on a drive. We did a little shopping. We walked around. We went back home. We hung out for a little bit. Then my husband was like, “Do you think I'm okay to go to work?” I was like, “I think you are. You can go to work. I think we have plenty of time. Things are still pretty spread out right now. We can call our doula and she'll come hang out with me at home.” So that's what we did. Our doula came over and my husband went to work and everybody was like, “What are you doing here? Your wife is having a baby. What's going on?” He was like, “She's fine. She has our doula.” Our doula was with me for a couple of hours and things had picked up enough to where I felt like he needed to be home so we called him back home. Things were moving on not slowly but slower than I wanted. I was just trying to be patient and let things go–Meagan: Trusting the process. Rebekah: Yes, exactly. I'm not a very patient person so this really was a big learning experience for me. So my doula is keeping contact with our midwife and eventually, it was like, “Okay, I think you're good to head to the birth center. It looks like things are pretty steady now.” We got to the birth center. I really wanted a water birth so they drew a tub and I relaxed in the water and tried some different positions. Hands and knees in the water were hard and uncomfortable. They gave me a towel to keep from slipping around but it was really uncomfortable. My knees didn't like staying in that position and I didn't want to be laying back. So I just wiggled around in the water a little bit. They were like, “Let's see if we can get you in a different position and try to get things moving a little bit.” So they got me out of the water. We tried the birth stool. I did not like the birth stool but it helped me progress a ton so that was good. I think I lost my mucus plug on the birth stool. I was feeling tons of pain in my lower back, like lots and lots of pain in my lower back. My thighs were shaky and I felt a lot of intense sensations in my thighs whenever I would have a contraction. There was a lot going on with my body that I wasn't really prepared for or expecting. I got back in the water to help relieve my back a little bit and I ended up getting stuck on my back lying back in the tub. It was getting to the point where I was almost passing out between my contractions because I was so, so tired. My body had been working for so long and it just felt like things weren't quite where they needed to be with how long I had been working. Again, my midwife said, “If you pass out, we will have to transfer you.” They gave me the oxygen and some essential oils to smell to keep me awake. They were trying to help me as best as they could. I guess my husband was out in the hall with the midwives and it was student midwives who were taking care of me and there was the head midwife who was overseeing them. They had a little pow-wow about what they thought we should do. The midwife was very big on mother-led labor. She was like, “Well, she's a first-time mom.” I had been in labor for so long that things were concerning at this point so it was just, “Let's give her a little bit more time and try to keep her awake and see how things are going. She's doing great. She's tired and this is normal.” A bit more time passed and one of the student midwives was like, “We need to check her. She should be farther along by now. She says she's pushing. She feels like she's pushing but we are not seeing the water separation and as much opening as we would like to see.” They got me out of the water and onto the bed and the head midwife performed a cervical check to see what was going on. I had a contraction while she checked me and my water broke. It was just full of meconium. She said, “I can feel his bum. He's breech.” It was crazy because we thought he had been head down the entire time but when I was in the water, there was a big movement in my belly and I was like, “Oh, that was kind of crazy.” We thought, did he flip? When we realized he was breech, was that movement him flipping while I was in labor?Then my midwife also made a comment later, “Well, maybe he was bum down longer than we thought he was. Maybe that wasn't the flip.” It had everybody baffled. My midwife has been practicing for a couple of decades. She's very experienced and this had everybody stumped. She had never really seen anything like this happen before so at this point, she said, “Well, you have two options. We will send you home and send you a midwife who can deliver breech babies,” because she was licensed and in Utah, licensed midwives aren't allowed to deliver breech babies which I think is silly. She had the training and experience. She just legally wasn't allowed to do it. She said, “We can send you home and send you a midwife or you can go to the hospital where they will definitely do a C-section.” She gave us a couple of minutes. We weren't in any emergent situation. The baby wasn't in distress. His heartbeat had been great the whole time so there was no reason to believe that he was struggling at all. She gave us a couple of minutes to decide. Earlier in my pregnancy, I received a blessing from my husband and was told something like, “However our child is supposed to come into this world–”, and I was like, “Well, that's silly. He's going to come how we are planning on him to come.” I remembered that in this moment and said, “I think this is what that meant. I think he was always supposed to be a C-section.” It was a very interesting combination of feelings happening at the same time, remembering that and knowing this was how it was supposed to go but also being beyond devastated that this was the path things took. So we chose the C-section not because first of all, the thought of having more contractions in the car was like, I'm not going to do that. I just knew it wasn't safe. I was almost passing out and I knew that a breech baby can sometimes be a bit more work. I was in no position to do that. So my husband drove us to the hospital and I had maybe three contractions in the car. Our midwives called the hospital to tell them what was going on and that we were coming so they were ready for us. It was very quick. We got there. They took great care of us and had me in the operating room and the rest was history. We had the C-section. The anesthesiologist was so sweet. He was this old man who spoke really softly and assured me that everything was going great. He stayed with us the whole time through the surgery. I heard him cry and it was great. They wrapped him up. They held his cheek against mine for a minute and then they took him out. My husband followed him and then they stitched me up. That was my C-section. We spent 3 days in the hospital. My birthing team came to visit me one by one in the hospital and every single one of them told me that I was a great candidate for a VBAC. They told me about The VBAC Link so that's when I started on my whole journey listening to you guys and started to really plant those seeds that, “You are capable. You didn't fail. You are able to do this still.” I know that some moms after having a birth experience don't really want to hear these things and they weren't in a place to hear those things, but for me, it was really great to immediately have that confidence spoken into me. That was my C-section. Meagan: Yes. I love that your team knew you so well to know that that was what you needed to hear in that time. Those were the things that you needed to hear. So knowing right away that you were a good VBAC candidate, was it something that stayed with you and you were like, this is what I want to do?Rebekah: Yes, absolutely. It wasn't ever a question if I was going to have a repeat Cesarean. That was never part of my plan. You can't really plan birth but I had never really had that fear of, Am I going to need another C-section? There's always a little bit of it there, but it was always, I'm going to have a VBAC. That's what we're going to do from that point forward.Meagan: You knew. You felt that it was right. You found out about us at The VBAC Link. You had your providers already. Did you stay with the same providers or did you switch? Rebekah: Yeah. Meagan: Okay, stayed. Rebekah: Well, technically yes. I stayed with the same Birth Suites and the head midwife who was overseeing the student midwives who cared for me in my first pregnancy was the one who cared for me during my second. I got to know her a little bit better during my second pregnancy and she was ahead of everything at that time. Meagan: Okay, awesome. So you are pregnant now for the second time. Tell us about this amazing VBAC journey. Rebekah: Yeah. So I got pregnant– when was it? It was probably late summer, early fall when I got pregnant with my second. I immediately reached out to– she's a licensed midwife now but the student midwife who was in charge of my care the last time. I reached out to her because I loved her so much. I said, “I'm pregnant again and I would really love for you to take care of me.”She said, “Well, when you are due is right when I go on leave.” I said, “That's great timing.” I reached out to another girl who was on our team who I loved and the same thing. They were taking their leave at the same time. She was like, “But it's within a week. You're due within a week of when I go on leave. If you end up having your baby before I go on leave, are you okay with me being there?” I was like, “Yes. I would love for you to be there if you can to support.” That's not what ended up happening, but it was fine.I reached out to Melissa. She's one of the owners at Utah Birth Suites. She started that whole business. I got to know her with my first so I reached out to her and said, “I'm pregnant again and would love to be in your care.”It was really great that she already knew my history with my first pregnancy and first birth. I had stayed in contact with them. They do a lot of things in the community and they try to stay in touch with their moms who they take care of. It's not like it had been 3 years since I had seen her. I had seen them here and there so I felt really comfortable with her. I had a couple concerns with this pregnancy with the hypertension issues and stuff that we had with him being breech. There were just things that I really wanted to stay on top of and keep an eye on. My blood pressure was fantastic throughout this entire pregnancy. It was at such a healthy level the entire time. We never had that concern of preeclampsia or hypertension because it just wasn't a factor. It was really nice. I was doing all of the things this time around with the vitamins and supplements and nutrition and water intake and all of the things that I neglected with my first pregnancy. I was super, super determined to have this VBAC. My midwife really pushed protein– lots and lots and lots of protein. We really wanted to strengthen that uterus and try to be as strong as we possibly could so I really took that to heart and tried my best. I got really excited when I came up with a new recipe that had a ton of protein. I would take a picture and send it to her and write up the recipe. I was like, “I'm so excited about this one.” It's like when a kid draws a picture and is so excited and their parent sticks it on the fridge. That was how I felt. I was like, “Look at me. I'm working so hard this time.” I was worried about her flipping breech but that was never an issue either. She stayed head down the whole time. This was a little side note that was interesting. During my anatomy scan to find out the gender, the ultrasound tech was looking over everything and he said, “There's no way to really tell for sure because your uterus has expanded now,” but he said, “I wonder if you have a bicornuate uterus.” He said, “Because your birth was breech, right? He flipped?” We had seen this ultrasound tech for the first so he knew everything that happened there. So I said, “Yeah. He flipped breech.” I had never heard that word before. I didn't know what that was. He explained it to me and said, “It's really common for women with a bicornuate uterus to have babies who flip breech.” So I was like, “Okay, that's interesting.” He said, “After you have this baby and your uterus shrinks back to normal, we should take a look at it.” I have yet to do that but I'm curious too. She never flipped breech so I don't know. Maybe I just have a goofy-shaped uterus. I don't know.Meagan: Maybe or it was just a freak thing. Baby needed to be head up. Rebekah: I don't know. That was interesting and I'm curious to see what the results of that are. But anyway, we got in contact with a doula, a VBAC-certified doula in the area. Her name is Isabelle and she is fantastic. She is absolutely phenomenal. She is also a birth assistant so she is fully immersed in this birth world. She is so knowledgeable and has tons of experience. We clicked really fast and I knew that I wanted her to be our doula. She really just was invaluable the whole time. She recommended that I do some fear-release exercises and meditations to work through some of the trauma that I didn't really realize that I had from my first birth. I thought I had processed and accepted as much as I could but I think healing isn't a linear process and being pregnant again and having another baby brought up a lot of stuff and a lot of fears. On a personal note that I won't really get into, I had a different set of fears surrounding this pregnancy for different reasons so there was just a lot to work on emotionally and mentally. I took that very seriously. This was a very sacred and spiritual pregnancy for me. Maybe it's just like that mother-daughter bond. I don't know. I felt way more connected to my baby this time and I really wanted to do my due diligence in making sure that my mind and my spirit were in a good spot for this pregnancy and this birth. One of the fear release exercises she sent me was one provided by The VBAC Link. It was a little worksheet to get your mind going and there are specific questions on there about what are some fears you have and where do you think those fears come from? It was that kind of stuff and toward the bottom, it helps you reframe those a little bit. Meagan: Yeah. Rebekah: It had me write out what my fears were and then to write an affirmation to counter each fear. I had 20 affirmations all written down just to go along with this list of fears. Then I actually used a couple of those and printed them out as my visual affirmations for when I was in labor. So fast forward, we're about 38 weeks and I was thinking for whatever reason that this baby girl was going to be early. So 38 weeks came around and I was starting to get excited. I'm like, “I think she's going to be here pretty soon.” I was starting to have some prodromal labor which I didn't experience with my son so that really reinforced the idea that she would be here soon and that was not the case. I had 2.5 weeks, well yeah. I guess it was about 2.5. Normal labor started around 39 weeks. So every night on the clock from 8:00, I would start getting really intense contractions that felt like early labor with my son but I also had much stronger Braxton Hicks this entire pregnancy so I was like, “I can't really tell the difference.” I told my doula that. I was like, “I'm afraid I'm going to miss you and I'm not going to reach out to you in time or you're not going to make it to us in time because I won't know when labor is actually happening.” That was a big worry of mine this time around. It was so different than with my son. She said, “It's okay. You can just text me as much as you need to and as much as you want.” So I did. I texted her a lot the last few weeks and she was like, “Your body is doing great.” She told me that in her experience, she said, “Just from what I've seen with my VBAC moms, I actually see prodromal labor happen a lot. I personally think that it's the body's way of being more gentle rather than doing all of the labor hard and fast at once. It's lots of little bits of labor to get your body ready and ease into it so it's not as intense on your body.” I was like, “You know, that makes sense.” I don't know. I don't think there are any studies around that that I know of, but that made sense to me. I really tried to just internalize that and not get too discouraged when things would stop as soon as I went to bed which they did every time. At 8:00, they would pick up and be there for a couple hours then it would stop when I fell asleep then I'd be fine until the next night when it would pick up again. My husband and I would go on a walk every single night and on these walks, I could have sworn that she was going to fall out. I could feel that she was right there. I could feel that my body was literally opening. I could tell that I was dilated. I never got cervical checks this time around which was oddly empowering. I really trusted my body and knew that things would happen regardless of the number that my body was dilated. I had no idea but my midwife was like, “You know, it wouldn't surprise me if you are sitting at a 4 right now.” So if anyone has experienced prodromal labor, you know how exhausting it is and how discouraging it is mentally, physically, emotionally– all of it. It had been a couple of weeks of this and I had officially gone past 40 weeks. I'm officially overdue and my son being born right on time, it was really frustrating that I was going past my date with this one. I didn't want to be induced. There was really no reason for it other than I was getting tired of being pregnant. My midwife was supportive if I wanted an induction. After I hit 40 weeks, I think she would have done it. She said, “Oh, we can do this,” but she also was really encouraging and assured me that my body was doing what it needed to. It was normal to feel discouraged, but let's just give your body time, especially with a VBAC. Induction can come with its own set of risks. I knew that. It was just such a mental battle trying to remember that. I know the risks sometimes can be small, not that it would worry me personally. For some moms, I know it would but for me, the risks that came with induction weren't enough for me to say no to it completely. But also, you never know so let's not play that game. Let's just be as patient as we can. A couple of days before I went into labor, I had it. I was over it. I was in the middle of a breakdown in tears just exhausted. I was with my husband and I said, “Why isn't she here yet? Why doesn't she want to come?” I was just processing things out loud and I said, “I know my body is ready. I can feel it. My body is open. She is so far down there. I feel like her head is going to pop out any second. What is going on? Why have I not gone into labor?”Then he just was really comforting to me and letting me process how I needed to and then I said, “I feel like she's scared.” That was a really interesting feeling. Like I said, I felt more connected to this baby and it was like a lightbulb that was the answer. Your body is ready but your baby is not. We were overdue at this point so I said, “I feel like she's scared. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm almost positive that's it.” So I took a moment to kind of then go into myself. I went into a different room by myself and again in tears was just sobbing and praying and spent some time talking with the Lord and then I spent some time talking to my baby. I told her, “We're ready for you. We are so, so ready for you. I know you are scared. I don't know why but you're not going to be alone. We're going to go through this together. You're going to be safe. Mommy and Daddy are going to take care of you. You're going to be okay.” It just was a really, really sweet moment. Two days later, I went into labor. Meagan: Ohh. Rebekah: I guess she just needed that reassurance that things were going to be okay. Meagan: She needed the okay. Yeah. Rebekah: Yeah. I think she felt that something was coming with all of this prodromal labor. She knew that things were picking up and she just needed a little pep talk. So this time around, again, around 3:00 AM– I guess that's when babies like to come. I hear that so, so many times between 2:00 and 3:00 AM is when things start to happen. I don't know why that is the magical hour, but it is. This time, because we know I was afraid I wouldn't know when labor had started, this time is started with my water breaking. My water didn't break until after 17 hours of labor with my son. I was asleep and woke up to re-situate myself and I felt this pop inside my body. It kind of hurt a little bit. I was like, what was that? It was a really weird sensation. I thought, Was that my water? I reached down and I feel around. I'm like, Well, I'm not wet. I stood up just to see what was going on and there was this huge, giant gush. I was like, Well, yep. There it is. This was probably my favorite part of my entire labor. My husband was asleep and I said, “Honey, honey, my water broke.” He was still half asleep and he said, “Do you want me to fill it up for you?” He thought that I had dropped my water bottle or something. I was like, “No, honey. My water broke.” He jumps up and he's like, “Oh, oh.” He started freaking out and he was like, “What are you supposed to do?” He was frantically looking around. He was still half asleep. I was like, “Okay, take a breath. Go get me a towel first of all,” because I was gushing all over the floor. “Get me a towel and then text Melissa (my midwife)” or my doula. I didn't know who it was. I said, “Let them know.” He said, “Are you okay? Do we need to go somewhere? What's going on?” I said, “No, we have time. Water breaking is not a big deal.” I had done lots and lots of research and listened to a million birth stories so at this point, I feel like a pro because I am fully immersed in this birth world. I said, “No, I'm okay. I'm just going to change and lay back down because I'm not having contractions yet. I feel fine, but I do need to rest so I'm going to change myself and lay down.” That's what I did. I wasn't going to repeat the mistakes of my first birth of moving too fast. Meagan: Getting too excited and yes. Rebekah: Yeah, especially with the exhaustion that I was feeling toward the end of my labor with my son, I was like, I don't want to feel that again. I lay back down. I know myself well enough that I wasn't going to fall back asleep. There was no way that was going to happen, but I was like, But I need to stay as relaxed as possible. We kept the lights really low. I put my birth playlist on and just really did some breathing to keep myself relaxed and as open as I possibly could. That's how I labored for the next several hours but things got intense really fast. As soon as my water broke, I knew that my contractions were going to be more intense. Even though labor had technically just started, I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be in labor for very long because it had been 2.5 weeks of prodromal stuff. I was like, I think this is going to be quick. I was really unsure of what to do though because I was timing my contractions. I have screenshots and was sending them to my doula. She said, “Oh, those look great but let's wait an hour and see how that goes.” But I was feeling like things were picking up. I felt like things were getting more intense but people kept telling me to wait. My midwife was like, “Oh, you have time.” My doula was like, “Oh, you have time.” I told my husband, “I don't know what to do because everyone is telling me that I have time but I don't think we do.” Every time I stood up to go to the bathroom or get in the shower– I tried the water in the shower because my doula said, “Sometimes that can make things a little bit more comfortable. Some women like to labor in the shower for a little bit.” I thought I'd try that. I loved the water but I did not like being upright. I did not like standing because it made contractions so, so intense but they were short. They were half the length than when I was lying down. I think they thought I had time because there were still several minutes between contractions and they were still pretty long. They were like, “We want them just a little bit shorter and a little bit closer together,” or longer contractions. I don't remember. I was like, There is something in me that is telling me that this is moving pretty quickly. I don't like being upright and I feel like I need to rest. It was a lot of weird stuff going on in my head trying to figure out how to handle things. I stayed in bed. It was this instinct in me, “You need to stay lying down.” Any time I stood up, it picked things up and for any birth with other moms, that's what you want, right? You want things to pick up and you want things to progress and technically standing upright was progressing things, but it didn't feel right to me for whatever reason. I knew I needed to be resting and lying down. I was starting to get tired. I texted my midwife and said, “I'm starting to get worried because I don't feel like I should be this tired this early, especially with how much I've been lying down and resting.” She said, “I think you need a little boost of energy.” She said, “Eat a snack and go outside and take a walk. Get some fresh air. Get some sunlight.” In my head, I was like, I don't want to do that. I don't want to be up. Every time I stand up, I can't explain it. Everything in my body and spirit was like, “You need to stay lying down.” I was like, “You know what? She's been doing this longer than I have. I'm going to trust her. I'm going to do it.” I make my way upstairs and as I'm getting a snack, I have a contraction that just had me seeing stars. I almost passed out. It was so, so intense and I told my husband, “I'm going to throw up. I'm going to pass out.” I leaned against the counter. He rubbed my back and when it was over, I ate my snack really, really quick. It was a sugary snack to give me a blood sugar boost. I ate my snack really fast and then immediately went to the living room and got on my knees and leaned against the couch. Again, I can't be standing. Meagan: Yeah, and gravity is causing it to happen too much. Rebekah: Yeah, and I was like, I don't have the capacity right now to handle these standing. I need to be more grounded. I got on my knees on the couch and my husband was like, “Are you okay?” I was like, “Yes, I just can't stand up.” I had a few contractions on the couch because everyone was telling us to wait so I was like, “Okay, let's just do a few more contractions and see how these were going.” That's when I hit transition. It was a little before 9:00 AM or it would be 8:30-8:40. I had a few contractions and they got really, really intense really quickly. It was starting to get a little bit more painful. I was feeling a lot more pressure in my bum and I had to physically relax my pelvic floor and open it because things were starting to feel a little bit pushy. I say that's when transition was. I actually don't know. I feel like I breezed through the transition phase because things just happened so fast. I would guess that's when it was. We called our midwife. Our doula hadn't come to us yet. I called maybe an hour before and said, “Why don't you make your way to us because things are starting to pick up?” She said, “Okay.” She lives maybe an hour away. So she's on her way to us and hasn't made it to us yet. We call our midwife and say, “Things are pretty intense over here.” She listened to a couple of contractions over the phone and she said, “Those sound great. You're doing awesome.” These contractions, I was getting really, really vocal through them, and having gone through labor unmedicated with my son, I knew that I was pretty close just based on the noises that I was making and the way my body was feeling. I was like, We're pretty close here. She said, “Okay, do you want to meet me? Let's meet at the birth center at 10:00,” which means we would have had to leave 20 or 30 minutes from that time or from the time we were at. I said, “We can't do this at home for another 20 minutes.” I had another contraction and my husband and I both go, “No, we're coming now. We can't stay here and do this for another 30 minutes. Things are moving too fast.” She said, “Okay, great. I'll meet you there.” We called our doula and we said, “Go straight to the birth center.” The birth center is kind of in the middle of us so she didn't have to backtrack. We get to the birth center. Our doula met us there. She said, “You had one contraction after you got there and the next one, you were pushing.” My midwife was there maybe less than 10 minutes after we showed up, between 5-10 minutes but I had a couple of pushing contractions with just my husband and my doula at the birth center. When I got to the birth center, I assumed the position. I got on my knees and leaned against a chair because that's how I had been doing it at home. I loved it. Every time I would have a contraction, I would put my hands on the ground so I was on hands and knees and I would lean back a little bit. Everything in my body just told me to get as low to the ground as you possibly can. Any amount of pressure or sensation on my body was amazing. It just kept me feeling grounded because of my son, when I was in the tub leaning back, I kept reaching up like this saying, “Help me. I need help. Help me.” I felt so untethered and nobody knew what to do for me because I was in the tub. They couldn't do counterpressure on my hips or my back because of the position I was in. It was just like, there's nothing we can do for you. I refused to move so it was like I got stuck in this position where I felt so ungrounded and untethered. But this time around, I was solid. I loved it and I actually had a bruise on my forehead the next day because I was pushing my forehead against the chair every time I had a contraction. But it was awesome. I loved that feeling of feeling so solid and grounded. I had pushed for maybe an hour before she was born and I felt that ring of fire. It made me say a bad word. I was like, “Oh my gosh,” because I didn't feel it with my son. When I leaned back during a contraction, I could see some blood on the chucks pad on the ground that I was moving on and I asked them, “Am I tearing?” There was a pause and my midwife said, “Your body is stretching exactly how it's supposed to.” So that was tearing. She was not going to tell me, “Yeah, you are.” She was really encouraging and she was like, “Your body is stretching the way it is supposed to,” but in my head, I was like, I know I'm tearing. I could feel it. It wasn't horrible, but I could tell. I had this memoir going on in my head the whole time where I literally had to tell myself, You're not going to break. You're not going to break, because those sensations on my pelvis while pushing her head out were so intense. Meagan: Intense, yeah. Rebekah: It just felt like my pelvis was going to crack but I knew that wasn't the case. My body was made to do this. It was doing what it was supposed to do. It was really a big mental battle. I've heard a lot of women talk about how they go into labor land and it was this out-of-body experience, but when I tried to do that and let go I guess is the term, that's when I started to feel fear set in and I felt really uncomfortable when things got more painful so I really had to keep myself in my body. I am not the type that can just close my eyes and say, “Okay, my body is just going to do the work.” I couldn't do that. I had to really stay fully present. I guess I needed to feel that sense of control so I was talking myself through it the whole time. “You're doing okay. Keep your voice low.” I was very, very loud. “Keep your screams and your moans in a low tone and keep yourself open. You're not going to break.” I had to keep telling myself these things. My husband was talking to me, “You're doing so great. You're amazing. Our daughter's going to be beautiful. You're doing such a great job.” My doula was scratching my back and doing counterpressure. Everybody was just amazing. The vibe in the room was just absolutely incredible. She started to crown and my midwife said, “Rebekah, why don't you feel down and you can feel her head? That might be encouraging to you.” I think she could tell I was getting frustrated. Every push I was sure she would come and she didn't. I would get so mad and I would push harder than I probably should have and maybe that's why I tore because I was being impatient. I feel down. I could feel her head crowning. I started talking to her. I started crying. I'm like, “Sweetie, I'm so excited to meet you. Hi, sweetie. You're doing great.” A couple of contractions later, her head came out. Then we chilled with her head out. We chilled between contractions. One of the girls on our team got an awesome shot just from right behind. She took a picture of her head sticking out so it was just a straight shot of my bum with her head and it was just a beautiful, beautiful picture. So I feel down and I feel her head. I'm rubbing her head. I'm talking to her and I'm breathing. I got water between every single contraction. I took a drink of water. I took some electrolytes. Oh, between contractions, I would sit up and lean on my husband. I would lean on his lap and then during a contraction is when I would go down on all fours. It was just this up, down rhythm that I got into. That's what I did. Meagan: That is awesome. Rebekah: It was awesome. I really got into a groove. I felt safe and comfortable. After her head came out, the next contraction, her entire body just slipped right out and I got to reach down and grab her and pull her up onto my chest. It was just amazing. But I didn't feel that birth high. I was expecting to feel it. Everyone talks about this incredible rush of endorphins and “I wanted to do it again. I had just done this amazing thing and I got a rush of these feel-good hormones”. I was expecting to feel that and I didn't. It was a beautiful moment and I was so happy to be there but I kept waiting for that high to hit me and it wasn't hitting me. I was like, “Oh, that's weird, but okay.” I had hemorrhaged after my placenta came out. It wasn't enough to really be emergent, but it was kind of concerning. They were doing the fundal massage. They were putting pressure on it. I was holding my baby the whole time leaning on my husband and my husband was like, “Is she okay? What's going on?” I asked him to say a prayer and to pray for us. So the midwives were working on me quietly. My husband says this quick, beautiful prayer just that everything would be okay and that things would go the way they were supposed to. My midwife asked if I would be okay with Pitocin to help stop it and that was fine with me so we did a quick shot of Pitocin and a couple of minutes later, it completely stopped and I was good to go. It was just a few minutes of this and even hearing the word “hemorrhage” or “You are losing more blood than we would like,” I still never really panicked or felt afraid because I trusted my team so much and I knew that if things were emergent, things would be going differently. There would be a different energy but no one was concerned. No one was rushing around. No one seemed panicked. It was just like, “You're losing a little bit of blood, but–”Meagan: We're taking care of this. Rebekah: “We're taking care of this.” It was so quick. It was so quick. It was taken care of and I'm so blessed that that was how things go because I know sometimes that's not the case for other moms, so in my case, it really wasn't that big of a deal. Meagan: Yeah. Rebekah: I got to take a postpartum bath. Well, I guess they did the stitches first because I had a second-degree tear that required stitches, and when they were checking my tear and they told me, “You're going to need some stitches,” I immediately burst into tears because for whatever reason, that sent me back to my C-section because to me, stitches meant, “We're stitching you up. We're closing you up.” Meagan: Yeah, yeah. Rebekah: It was this weird flashback moment that caused me to panic and I started crying. I told them it reminded me of my C-section and I know that sounds silly. It's just a few stitches from tearing in comparison to stitches from a C-section.Meagan: It doesn't sound silly. Rebekah: But to me, it wasn't. Oh, also, I was in the same birth suite that I was laboring in with my son the first time around. I was on that same bed when the midwives told me, “He's breech. We have to do something else.” So it just was like I was back in that same space where I was being told that I have to do something that I don't want to do that was scary to me. My doula was really sweet and talked me through it. My whole team talked me through it. They were like, “You're fine. It's okay. It's not a big deal.” They were very validating like, “I understand. That's why you are scared and why this is bringing things up again but you are safe. We're going to take care of you. You're not even going to feel it. We're going to numb you.”Meagan: Numb it up, yeah. Rebekah: Yeah. My doula stayed with me through my stitches and she was like, “Let's put on some music,” because I was talking about this music that I loved. She was like, “Let's find this album and let's listen to it.” So she found this album and she talked with me the whole time through the stitches. Then I got to take my beautiful postpartum bath in the salts and the flowers and stuff. It was just beautiful. My doula got a picture and she was like, “You look so angelic like a mermaid.” I was lying sideways and my hair was all draped. She was like, “There are flowers in the water. It is beautiful.”Again, it was a healing full-circle moment when they handed me my baby to take this bath together because the tub was another source of stress and anxiety from my first birth. I felt stuck. I felt abandoned. I felt like I didn't have a ton of help. I had help but it didn't feel like it. So just a lot of little moments throughout this suite that I was in that helped heal me a lot from my first birth that were all of these trauma points from my labor with him. They did the newborn exam. I got to hold her and be in the same room as her the entire time. I held her the whole time they did my stitches. We waited to cut the cord until it was white. My husband got to cut the cord. It all was incredibly, incredibly beautiful and healing. I did have to have two bags of IV fluids because of the blood that I lost which kind of helped rebuild that. My doula fed me soup while I was in the tub snuggling my baby. It just was a night and day difference. Meagan: Yeah, such a different experience. Rebekah: She's 7.5 weeks old and we're doing great. I healed very well, so much faster than with a C-section. Again, night and day. I don't even feel like I had a baby. Healing this time has been incredible this time especially having a toddler and worrying, Am I going to be able to do these things?Meagan: Yeah, that was actually one of the reasons among many that I did want a VBAC too. A lot of people were like, “What are your reasons?” One of them was that I want to have a better postpartum experience physically as I'm recovering because I just remember being so– and it can happen with vaginal birth too. Vaginal birth doesn't just eliminate your chances of not a great experience. You can still have a not-great experience with that with a vaginal birth, but yeah. I was like, “I want to be able to pick up my kids. I want to be able to drive if I needed to. I want to be able to–”. Rebekah: Go to the bathroom and shower by yourself. Normal human things. Meagan: Right, not have my husband holding me up showering. Yeah. That, for me, was such a big difference too in my recovery. That alone. Yeah. I'm so happy for you. I'm so glad that you were able to not only just have a different experience that was healing just in general but then all of these little things that you were able to heal from in addition like you said with the tub and these peaceful experiences and your connection with you and your daughter like, “Hey, I think she's scared and I need to go talk with her. I need to be with her.” And even during the pushing, you had that connection again. “Hey, honey, we are excited.” You were touching her and talking to her. It just goes to show so much how much more connected these babies are than we think they are. They really, really are and your body was ready. Your baby wasn't ready and sometimes that is the case and we have to understand that usually when spontaneous labor is going on or whatever, it's a team effort– body and baby together. Sometimes it's not and we have to help them. Rebekah: Yeah, exactly. It was crazy actually pushing a baby out. I don't want to say that I'm scared of doing it again but I wasn't expecting it to be as intense as it was. With my son, I was complete. I had dilated to a 10. I was fully effaced. His bum was right there. I think if we hadn't known sooner that he was breech, I wonder if we would have had an accidental breech delivery at the birth center because I was complete. I was ready to push a baby out. My body was already pushing. I had done all of the labor up to the pushing a baby out part. I think I had just built it up in my head, “Oh, you've done this before. You've done this before. You'll be okay.” I had done everything but the pushing phase. Feeling her actually coming out of my body was such a bizarre sensation. After her head was out, I actually felt a little wiggle. She wiggled her body in there and I said, “I can feel her moving.” My midwife was like, “Yep. She's getting ready to come out.” It was incredible that I was able to actually feel all of these things even though it was painful and it was hard. That's the only thing I wanted. I wanted to feel what it was like to actually birth my baby out of my body and do what it was designed to do. It just was incredible and it doesn't take away from the experience with my son at all. Both labor experiences and both birth experiences taught me so many things in completely different ways. When I tell my birth story with my daughter, I really hope that it doesn't come off that I was trying to rewrite history or trying to erase the way things happened with my son because it's not the case. The stories don't exist without the other. It's just been incredible to see how their personalities are different just based on how labor went with them. I really believe that the way your labor goes and the way your pregnancy is, you can almost tell what your baby's personality is going to be like based on those things and how they go. Definitely with my kids, that has been true. Meagan: Yeah. A lot of people especially with breech are like, “Oh, this stubborn baby. This baby wouldn't flip. This baby threw us a curveball,” then they come out and they're like, “They're still throwing curveballs. They're still stubborn.” I mean, I've heard that is definitely something that can happen. The babies set the stage. Rebekah: Yeah, absolutely. I kept saying when I was pregnant with her that I felt like she was going to be a feisty baby and be fiery. That is how she is. It was beautiful. Meagan: Well, I'm so happy for you. I absolutely love, love, love your birthing team over there. They are just so amazing and I'm so glad that you had a doula and you had the support and that you were able to find healing through this birth experience. You know, every single birth is unique. You're going to heal and grow through every single experience. It's the most beautiful thing. Rebekah: This podcast helped a ton. That was another thing that I did during my prep. I was listening to The VBAC Link Podcast and a couple of other podcasts. I watched lots of birth stories so for VBAC moms, it is another piece of advice I have. Really just soak in all of those VBAC stories and instill that confidence in yourself because I have heard some moms who stay away from podcasts and they like to just have their thoughts and their experiences be their own. That's great and that's fine, but for me, I really needed that support and I really needed that constantly spoken into me. So hearing birth stories, especially VBAC birth stories for VBAC moms is invaluable. It was incredibly empowering. I'm so thankful for your podcast and the fact that you do this and put this community together for moms who listen to it.Meagan: Thank you. It's definitely something that I missed out on in my pregnancies and wanted. I was searching and searching and searching. There would be VBAC stories here and there but I really needed something more. That's why we started this so we could hopefully help people along the way and have more and have that community and that support and just that drive. I feel like you hear these stories and it really helps you be like, “Oh, okay wait. These hundreds of women before me have done this. These are not even half of the women out there.” The amount of submissions that we get and the amount of stories on social media, there are so many stories out there. You are all Women of Strength and you can do this. I think you are right. Listening to these stories, you're going to find something. You're going to find connection and nuggets. You might even find healing through other people's stories. It's weird to think about that but truly, yeah. Rebekah: Even the repeat C-section stories, I loved hearing those and that was what my mental and emotional prep this pregnancy revolved around. I was like, If we're going to have a VBAC, we're going to have a VBAC. That's not what I was worried about. It was that I wanted to make sure that my mind and my spirit and my body were in a place to receive another C-section if it needed that. If I have to have another one, I'm going to make sure that it's a positive experience this time around. So hearing those stories from women who had repeats and even that was healing for them was awesome to hear. Meagan: Yeah, and you were talking about that in the beginning with that unexpected. Your unexpected was that you had an unexpected breech, surprise baby and you were exhausted. That was the route that felt right and some people go into spontaneous labor and it turns into a Cesarean for whatever reason or they go into an induction and the body wasn't responding and baby wasn't responding. We have these unexpected experiences and it's hard because when we are preparing for unmedicated vaginal birth or a medicated vaginal birth or vaginal birth in general, we don't want to think about that Cesarean. We don't. It's easy to push it aside. That's one of the reasons why I think sharing CBAC stories and scheduled C-section stories on the podcast is so important because it does happen and it's important to learn your options there. We just share stories here and we want everyone to find what's best for them and if we limit what we can learn, I think we are doing ourselves a disservice. Rebekah: Absolutely, yeah. Yeah. I hope to get into birth work someday. Ever since I got pregnant with my son, I have been completely immersed in all of it. My Instagram feed is 90% birth workers. So I have learned so much and I used to do that. I used to only really pay attention to the holistic, natural, unmedicated side of things but now, I follow several labor and delivery nurses and OBs and take little pieces from here and little pieces from there. As you are preparing for a new baby, you can't possibly know everything or prepare for everything but knowledge is power and knowledge helps to dissipate fear. As much as you possibly can, learn and arm yourself with it. Like you said, I think that's why doulas are so important too. They can help you in that process of figuring out what education you can focus on or should be focusing on based on what you want. Yeah, it's just incredible. Birth is incredible no matter how it happens. It's hard and it's gritty and beautiful. Meagan: Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Well, thank you again so much for being here with us and sharing your stories. Rebekah: Thank you so much. ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Well shit my ex-husband has a fancy new way to summon powerful monsters, what am I supposed to do? Change my strategy and maybe not rely solely upon the pure attack strength of my monster cards? No! In fact, I'll double down until I'm vindicated by the writers! Watching: Episodes 111-113 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Argyle | Dan | Max Edited by Argyle! Twitter | cohost | Discord | YouTube Support the show on Patreon! A Noise Space Podcast

La comédienne, réalisatrice et artiste-plasticienne, âgée de 38 ans, nous reçoit chez Idem, un atelier de lithographie situé à Paris dans le 14e arrondissement, à l'occasion de la sortie en salle du film « Niki », signé Céline Sallette, dans lequel elle incarne Niki de Saint Phalle. Charlotte Le Bon évoque son enfance à Montréal, au Canada, auprès d'une mère et d'un beau-père comédiens. Elle évoque le décès de son père alors qu'elle avait 10 ans et sa passion précoce pour le dessin et le plongeon. Elle commence à la fin de l'adolescence une carrière de mannequin dont elle garde un souvenir assez sombre puis pendant une année joue les Miss Météo sur Canal +, une expérience libératrice qui la mènera ensuite à faire du cinéma. C'est aujourd'hui dans la réalisation qu'elle s'épanouit le plus, regrettant la passivité attendue souvent des comédiens. Charlotte Le Bon aborde également son travail de plasticienne, son attrait pour les aspérités et son admiration pour le travail de Stanley Donwood, Carl Gustav Jung, David Lynch, Claire Tabouret ou Christo et Jeanne-Claude. Elle revient longuement sur son admiration pour le travail de Jane Campion : « J'ai découvert récemment ses deux premiers films, “Sweetie” et “Un ange à ma table”. Ce sont de grands films. C'est tellement risqué, tellement audacieux. Et puis il y a un truc qui est génial aussi avec Jane Campion, c'est qu'on ne s'ennuie jamais. Je sens vraiment ce désir chez elle. C'est tout sauf prétentieux. »Depuis six saisons, la journaliste et productrice Géraldine Sarratia interroge la construction et les méandres du goût d'une personnalité. Qu'ils ou elles soient créateurs, artistes, cuisiniers ou intellectuels, tous convoquent leurs souvenirs d'enfance, tous évoquent la dimension sociale et culturelle de la construction d'un corpus de goûts, d'un ensemble de valeurs.Un podcast produit et présenté par Géraldine Sarratia (Genre idéal) préparé avec l'aide de Diane Lisarelli et Juliette SavardRéalisation : Guillaume GiraultMusique : Gotan Project Hébergé par Audion. Visitez https://www.audion.fm/fr/privacy-policy pour plus d'informations.

Is Ole Miss fraudulent? Stock Market game, Who's up and Who's down bad + the first ever Sweetie off ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Support us by supporting the brands that sponsor our show! Visit highnoonspirits.com to find it near you. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to https://RocketMoney.com/ROUGH. Score big with DraftKings all college football season long. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app NOW and use code ROUGH. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), or visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). 21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min. $5 bet. Max. $200 issued as non-withdrawable Bonus Bets that expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Ends 10/31/24 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK. Use code ROUGH on https://rhoback.com for a generous 20% off your first purchase through the end of this week ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Follow the podcast on... Facebook: facebook.com/UnnecRoughness Instagram: instagram.com/unnecroughness/ Twitter: twitter.com/unnecroughness/ TikTok: tiktok.com/@unnecroughnessYou can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/unnecroughness

February 26 - March 3, 1972 RETURNING guests to the show comedians Irene Bremis (watch her special Sweetie) and TV's Frank Conniff join Ken this week. Ken, Irene and Frank discuss growing up in New York, the horrors of Staten Island, good pizza, racism, Mary Tyler Moore, Sherlock Holmes cigarettes, Doral Cigarettes, True Cigarettes, killing women, Rain Barrell, questionable protein stains, fabric softener, The Old Man Who Cried Wolf, movies vs tv series, where Irene and Frank met, Brian Denehy, the map of Ireland on Frank's face, Maureen O'Hara, psychic detectives, Saturday night death slots, MTM productions, strong women, Maude, how awful Bill Cosby is, dying on stage, Bob Hope, Dana Gould, Bing Crosby and Friends, women's lib, Ear Stoppies, wigs, Rowan & Martin, Gene Hackman, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, comic comradery, Sid & Marty Kroft, Hart to Hart, the show with the woman, James Garner, Left Behind, Kirk, Christians, losing your mind, cycle cell anemia, Greeks, Cannon, William Conrad, MeTV, It Takes a Thief, Carson, Serling, meeting Dick Cavet, Adam 12, Dick Clark, Hellzapoppin the TV series, Dom DeLuise, George Wallace, working on Sabrina, That Girl, Cannonball Run, Eddie Murphy, Red Foxx, Sandford and Son, Soap, Room 222, and watching MeTV at 2am. 

Billy is done with Netflix and their password sharing protections, Jessica has some college football trivia for the crew, and Eric Mangini returns to TV. Do you remember his cameo on The Sopranos? Then, rumors are swirling about Jeff Bezos buying the Celtics, and another billionaire is in the news for disappearing... was it an inside job? Plus, Ron Magill is here to discuss his trip to the Galapagos, anniversary presents, 6-toed cats, and his RSVP to Greg's birthday party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Friday, Fckers! On today's episode, your favorite childless mothers, CORINNE FISHER and KRYSTYNA HUTCHINSON, are talking about the baggy-clothed charm of Reneé Rapp, a curious case of male friends saying ILY and whether or not one listener should break up with her porn addicted boyfriend. The duo then welcomes beloved Impractical Joker and stand-up comedian, SAL VULCANO, to the studio. They discuss the rare male sweeties of comedy, fingerless gloves, the trials of being a sensitive boy with ADHD and a splash of OCD, maintaining connection by being consistently thoughtful, and some seldom heard praise for married life.    Watch Sal's comedy special, TERRIFIED, on YouTube Follow Sal on Instagram @SalVulcano    Follow GWF on all social media platforms: @GuysWeFcked     Follow CORINNE FISHER: @PhilanthropyGal Get tickets for Corinne's EYE OF THE TIGER TOUR at www.corinnefisher.com   Follow KRYSTYNA HUTCHINSON: @KrystynaHutch Sign up for Krystyna's Patreon at www.Patreon.com/KrystynaHutchinson   Follow ERIC FRETTY @EricFretty   Want to write in for advice? Send your dilemma to: SorryAboutLastNightShow@gmail.com    Watch full episodes of GWF on YouTube www.YouTube.com/GuysWeFcked     MUSIC FEATURED ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Artist: Colin Smith Track: Take a picture https://music.apple.com/us/album/take-a-picture-single/1694362493See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was supposed to be a cute little road trip.  12-year-old Isabella, her best friend Asunta, and Isabella's mom were in the car heading towards the beach.  Isabella's mom tried to keep the spirits high for the girls -  “Okay, why don't we all share a story! Get our creative juices flowing!” 12-year-old Asunta offers to start. Her voice suddenly shaky -  “There once was a girl who laid in her bed to sleep. She awoke to a man in a mask dragging her body off her bed, covering her mouth, and then choking her with his big strong hands. The girl could not breathe. She could not scream. She was going to die.” Isabella's mom pulls the car over to the side of the road because Asunta is bawling her eyes out. “Sweetie, are you alright?” Asunta was not alright. This was a true story, and it happened to Asunta - a man broke into their home and tried to kill her.  But when Isabella's mom talks to Asunta's parents about it - she's even more confused. Why are they not freaked out? Why didn't they report this to the police? Who is this masked man, and is he still out there? Why would he want to kill Asunta? And did the man come back? Because 2 months later, Asunta would be murdered.  Soon - everyone in Asunta's life would become a prime suspect. Including her wealthy adoptive parents.  Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices