Thanks so much - as part of my goals, I'm trying not to rant (a big problem for me, my mouth gets me in trouble a lot) but this is a good place to let 'er rip.

My mom doesn't always mean well - she can be spiteful. I don't dislike her but she suffers from something and refuses help. I lived a while with the same sort of anger (not sure why, like most of us) but I went to get help and I'd like to think I'm getting better.

My family goes to her for affirmation of our lives and it's never good enough. Time and again, we find ourselves disappointed. She grew up being told she was never good enough and then just passed it along to us. In many ways, that was her generation - post war babies that grew up with fathers who fought in the war and subsequently drank themselves into oblivion. My grandfather was a good provider but spent a lot of time alone in his cabin hunting or down at the VFW boozing it up.

My sisters have an interesting theory - she doesn't really have a full capacity to love. And, as Chickenkicker said, every discussion we have, no matter the topic, degenerates into some sort of argument. It's so tiring. I refuse to let her push me around like her parents did to her. My sister cracked up this AM when I told her "every time I talk to mom, my BP gets worse". That's why they haven't spoken in a long time. My mom refuses to get help and refuses to acknowledge that she's the problem.

OK enough about my mother. Let's talk about how awesome hash browns are with any breakfast.