Thursday night hubs and I are going to dinner with his boss and coworkers and their spouses. I am on a mission over the next 2 days to find the perfect outfit. Every time we have something big like this I always get stressed out about wearing the perfect thing. I don't want to look to conservative (old and frumpy) but then again I don't want to look like a little hoochie! I seriously stress myself way to out out over shit like this :)
Last night The Kid and I went on walk (well she rode her bike) for a little over an hour. It was such a beautiful night and was just nice to get out of the house. We attempted to feed ducks but couldn't find any and had a short visit with my father-in-law where he refreshed her with an ice cream bar. Such a quintessential summer evening!

2 steps forward...1 step back

I cannot say enough how unmotivated I have been lately with eating right and working out. Over the last 2 weeks I have seriously let it all slack and as I stepped on the scale this morning my suspicions had been confirmed...I have managed to gain 5 pounds....eeeeekkkkk! So today I am trying to motivate myself to get back in the routine of eating properly and working out regularly. I tend to go so hardcore with things that I get burned out quickly which is what I think happened. AND I have a 10K coming up in 3 short months that I will completly flop at if I don't get started on some training, these days I feel like I might pass out trying to run down the block! And then a few short months after that we are going on vacation with my best friend and her hubs...and I for sure am not looking forward to being in a bathing suit next to her :)
So with that being said today I have got to channel some inner strength and find some motivation to get going!

I don't like....

Victoria Beckham. I mean why does the woman never smile?You are married to an absolutely gorgeous man, you have sweet kids, your wardrobe is (almost) always rockin'....why are you so bitter?
I would seriously fall out if I ever saw the woman crack a smile :)

Help a sista out!

Hubs and I have started planning for our NYE vacation. We are so excited to be going away with our close friends which is going to make it even better. Our only requirements: someplace warm and someplace with not a lot (or no) kids. No offense to anyone, but I'm leaving my sweet pea at home so I don't want to be around anyone else's!! :)

So if anyone has recommendations lemme have em'!!!

Alligator Pie

Floatin' in the lower nine

Waitin' for a boat to throw me a line
See my Stella smile
Sittin' on a roof eatin' alligator pie
First day the water rise
Second day the sun is high
Third day Stella cries
'Cause night time's dark as a dead man's eyes

Lord
Tell me when help is gonna come
Stella said Daddy, when you gonna put me in a song?

Storm went right on by
Thanked the Lord everybody's alright
Don't mean to throw off a second line
But the Devil broke the levee and left us here to die

Stella said Daddy, when you gonna put me in a song?

Like a dance hall to get y'all down
Like a dance hall to get y'all down
Like a dance hall to get y'all down

All the things we know and everything we hope for
All the things we wanted
Everything that was sure
Now there is a scar where the old men used to be
The corner store and market where Stella used to sing to me
Grace is all I'm asking
When will Grace return?
Grace is all I'm asking

Remember how it feels
Lazy days in the summertime
Then my Stella smiled
Stella said Daddy, when you gonna put me in a song?

Tell me, Lord, when help is gonna come
She said Daddy, when you gonna put me in a song?

-Dave Matthews Band Alligator Pie lyrics

Father's Day

Growing up I was always a daddy's girl. I always went to my dad first when I needed something and always had such a close relationship with him. When my daughter was born I thought I would never be able to pry the two of them apart. They were absolutely glued at the hip...is was seriously the sweetest thing you have ever seen! Needless to say when my dad passed away a few years ago it rocked us to the core. My entire world was shattered...luckily I had my incredibly supportive husband and family to help me through it. Father's Day is always a tough one....I love to do fun things for my hubs cause he is such a wonderful dad, but at the same time I am always left missing mine.
This year we had a cookout the night before at my sister-in-law's house for their dad. We had so much fun eating and playing with the kids...and eating some more! I love big family get togethers like that! And Sunday was spent hanging out. The Kid wanted to take hubs out for breakfast and then after that we headed to the driving range so they could hit some balls. Kind of a relaxing/fun day. Hope all of you had a great weekend!

Delicious Dave

The lovely Dave Matthews!

I'm a little tired and a little hoarse but my heart belongs to Dave!

She's baaacckkk....

The Kid has returned....and I for one could not be happier! She came home last night with at least double of what she left with...gotta love Grandma!! I will post some pics soon....

I did manage to watch the Real Housewives finale last night after she went to bed, and hubs too cause he hates that show with a passion! These girls are downright crazy...the drama that went on on that show is unbelievable. I know that I would not want to be on the receiving end of Caroline's wrath that's for sure!! And is it just me or does Theresa have the smallest forehead ever?!?!

I am super excited to go see Dave Matthew's tonight!! I love love love their music and couldn't be more pumped to go see him in person!

Impressive

I was reading one of the blogs that I love and she did a post on something that she did to impress her date. It made me think of a certain little incident when hubs and I had just started dating...

The Kid was 2 when hubs and I met. I was living with my mom and dad at the time so once things between us got serious he would spend a lot of time at my house. One such evening after The Kid had went to bed we were hanging out watching a movie and drinking a beer. Out of nowhere Hubs dared me to chug my bottle of beer...not being one to back down I said bottoms up. Of course I dominated the beer and drank the whole thing, which completely impressed him!! To this day we still laugh when it gets brought up, in part because that is something I never do and have never done since! Oh the things we do to impress the men in our lives!!

On a side note...I talked with The Kid this morning and she is having the time of her life in Chicago. She told me all about The Navy Pier, their hotel, and the scary cab driver that kept saying a naughty word "You know Mom....(then she proceeded to spell it very very quietly) F-U-C-K" I'm glad that she will look back on her trip and remember that of all things!
One more day till my sweetness is home!!

Got Mad Love For.....

This sweet girl....









I am spending time tonight and tomorrow getting The Kid ready for her big vacation with Grandma! She leaves tomorrow afternoon to head up to my mom's where the girls are going to take the train to Chicago and spend a few days. At the top of their list of places to go is

The American Girl Store!!!!

The Kid could not be more excited to go here. She has her dolls ready and is spending one of the days eating in the cafe, doing a photo shoot with her dolls, shopping in the store, and one of the dolls is even getting her hair done. Could there be anything better for a 9 year old?!?! Although I'm a little sad I'm not going I am super excited she is going to have this awesome vaca with my mom....these are the things you remember when your all grown up.

Crazy people

So I, along with lots of other people, had been following the blog about April's mom...... The woman who was carrying a terminally ill baby. Well it came out this week that it was all a hoax...some woman made the entire thing up. I mean who does that?!?! Well I was reading the website of one of the local papers and there was an article on her. She is a social worker for crying out loud. The whole thing just makes me sick....there are people out there that terrible things like this actually happen to and here we have some sick-o, attention seeking, crazy lady making this shit up. It's scary to think that she is in a field where it is her job to help innocent people.....I for one hopes she is removed from her position ASAP

My first award!

Well the lovely Trixie over at Swooning The City tagged me for the Honest Scrap award!! I am too excited as this is my first award...thanks Trixie!!!






So for this award you have to tell your blogging buddies 10 true things they may not know about you and then you have to tag 10 people. So here goes:

1. Until a month before my wedding I had a huge gap in my front top teeth...by the grace of God I found out about bonding and now by looking at them you would never know!

2. I tend to get road rage...something I am really not proud of and working to change.

3. I was adopted by my wonderful parents when I was 5 days old.

4. I would like to one day adopt a child

5. I hated sleepovers as a kid...I was always the one that wanted to go home!

6. I could eat cereal for every meal....I love it entirely too much!

7. I would like to take piano lessons again.

8. I want desperately to get another tattoo....but my husband hates them. I think I still want one despite that.

9. Before I got pregnant with my daughter I used to smoke a half a pack a day. Thanksfully I haven't smoked in a very very long time

10. I am not opposed to getting plastic surgery as I get older...specifically a tummy tuck!

And my 10 bloggies tagged are.....

A H.I.T @ A NYC Housewife-In-Training

Ashley @ Drew and Ashley

Mojito Maven @ Make Mina a Mojito

Life @ the White House

Kelly @ Kelly's Korner

Good Gals Inc.

Simply Said by Simply Me

Pink Sass

d.a.r @ Just Another Day in Paradise

shannon @ ..::IT'S TRICKEY::..

Have fun girls!!!!

Blah

I am in a complete funk this week...and I can't seem to snap out of it. So here's to a weekend hopefully filled with fun and I will be back to posting next week cause I have some too sweet pics of my sweet girl. Have a great weekend!

Whoops......

I forgot to mention a new blog that I stumbled upon. I have been doing Weight Watchers for a while now and have noticed lately that I am just not excited about it anymore. I have been eating the same things and you know how quickly that gets old. So I found this blog with awesome WW recipes....Bon Appetite!

I Did It!

I did it...I completed my very first 5K! And let me tell you it was a lot harder than I thought....now looking back at the "training" I was doing to get ready for it I was going about it all wrong. I primarily did all my running on either the treadmill or the indoor track at our YMCA. Well for those of you that run you know how totally different that is than actually getting outside and running. So it was a lot harder and a lot more tiring than I expected but I still managed to finish, which was my goal all along! A little past the first mile I had to stop and tie my shoe because of course I was too amped up before hand and forgot to double knot! I also managed to forget to wrap my knee which has been giving me problems lately. So coming up on mile 2 it was really starting to hurt and I was starting to question whether or not I could finish when I came over a small hill and what do I see....none other than my sweet Hubs and daughter. I would have never expected them to pop up somehwere in the middle of the race but seeing them cheering me on made me want to cry! And it gave me exactly what I needed to finish! So aside from walking up the second half of a monster hill right at the end of the race I was happy that I was able to run the whole thing! So the biggest thank you ever to my amazing husband and daughter for being my cheering section....couldn't have done it without you! The Kid managed to snap a picture of my friend and I before we started so I will make sure to post soon along with pics of my sweet girl playing in the rain on Monday!
And my running buddy and I have decided that we are going to tackle a 10K in the fall....I've officially been bitten by the running bug!
Hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day!

Channeling my inner Forrest Gump

So this Saturday I am doing my first 5K. When I started working out, I mean really consistently working out, last fall I had to give myself some sort of goal to work towards. I have always secretly been an admirer of runners...the way they look when they're running, seeing them cross the finish line, the whole thing, it all just gives me goose bumps! So I thought, I will work towards running a 5K. Easy enough or so I thought....I could not have been more wrong. I was not in great shape by any means, but I could not believe how difficult it was to even run one lap around the track. Well the time has come and I could not be more ready or more excited. I can already smell the morning air and feel the excitement. I cannot freakin' wait!!! My whole goal is to simply finish....and to run the entire time, I mean I am certainly not going to be breaking any records here. And maybe seeing how this goes I might shoot for something bigger and better in the fall!

Four Square Funnies!

Every day when I pick up The Kid from school I always ask her about her day....what did you do, what did you learn, anything interesting happen, etc...etc...... She usually replies that her day was good, learned some things, and then proceeds to fill me in on all of the drama that accompanies the lives of 3rd graders. It is just unreal!! Yesterday the big drama of the day came on the Four Square court. Do you remember that game...it was one of my favorites to play during recess ;)
Well yesterday her teacher took them outside to play Four Square during the morning recess and her teacher got to be in the first square, or Ace as The Kid says it now called. She then proceeded to, in her very dramatic and slightly whiny voice, tell me how even when she got her teacher "out" she didn't leave and stayed in the first square..... "Mom that's just not fair, she is not even following the rules...what kind of example is she setting for us kids,huh?" I mean really how does one respond to that, she did after all have a valid point. I told her when she got to be the teacher she could do what she wanted to too.
I get absolutely the best stories from her....never ceases to make me giggle. Sure wish I got recess as an adult!

Mad & sad all thanks to People.com

I am not happy.....
I was with The Kid last night at gymnastics and as I have every Tuesday night this season I recorded Biggest Loser and then Wednesday night she and I watch it. I am always very careful what I read on Wednesdays as to not give away what happened. As part of my morning routine I always check People.com to see the latest goings on with the celebs (I love it what can I say?!?!). So I go on there this morning and see the headline:

Helen Phillips Drops 140 Lbs. to Win The Biggest Loser.

Nothing about Spoiler Alert...just that big bold headline. I was so pissed...now I have to watch the show tonight know the whole time what the outcome is.

On a side note, another People.com article was talking about Jon & Kate Plus 8 and all of their struggles lately. It all makes me so sad. While I have not always been Kate's biggest fan (I think that way she talks to Jon on the show is a TOTALLY inappropriate way for one to talk to their spouse) I am really hoping they can pull it together, especially since there are children involved. It seems as though being in the public spotlight like that is not all it's cracked up to be.

PS..Stumbled on a great new blog (new for me anyways!) and she has a this great giveaway going on for a free 16x20 print from UPrinting for a picture of your choice. Great idea!!

Little bit of this...Little bit of that

So I am a few days behind in my Biggest Loser recap but here goes...I was so proud of all of them for finishing a marathon. I have not been Ron and Mike's biggest fan lately but could not help but to ball like a baby when Ron crossed that finish line...I mean come on!! I am so sad that next week is the finale.
While doing some online shopping I found this little gem that I heard calling out to me "Take me home"...but alas my will power prevailed and I didn't buy it.
My husband simply does not get why women's clothing and accessories cost so much (at least he thinks it's a lot) I couldn't figure out how to explain spending close to $100 on a clutch. Let's be honest he wouldn't even know what a clutch is!!

Over It

As in...I am so over Spencer and Heidi. Aside from being in the Hills...what exactly are they "famous" for. It is nauseating to see how they sell themselves out a little more each day.......


Sorry to my fellow bloggers who may like them, just had to get that off my chest!

ER Excitement!

So a bit of a delayed post as this has been a busy week! We started off the weekend by visiting here:








While attempting to take down our storm windows and put up our screens my darling hubby sliced his hand open after one of the windows broke. And of course it was one in The Kid's room. So after one lovely Saturday afternoon at the ER, stitches, and a tetanus shot we got to go home and clean up the glass that was all over. Luckily he was ok and his now chief complaint is how sore his arm is from the shot!
I took my car in for service on Monday only to find out that some fans needed replacing and after all was said and done would cost around $2K....not exactly what I wanted to hear as it is a leased car and we are turning it in in a little over 2 months. So....we opted to buy a new car!! Yipee for me! Although it is not my dream car (my BMW will have to wait for me for a couple more years!) I am very excited!

Who watched the Biggest Loser this week??? Ron is just straight pissing me off. Early on him and Mike were one of my favs. I was so mad at the fact that he sat their and lied to Bob; kudos to Bob for not buying a word of what he was saying!! I wish i had a Bob and Jillian with me all the time to motivate my lazy butt! I am hoping to be able to watch RHNYC tonight so i will be up to speed tomorrow.


Later!!

Yay for Etsy

So in a previous post I talked about my fist Etsy purchase for my friend's new baby and while the actual product is en route to my house Christie over at TaylorMadeBowtique who made it, posted a picture. I am even more excited now that I can see the actual product...I can't wait to give it to them!


I finally caught up on Biggest Loser and RHNYC last night. I can easily say that I was disappointed in Mike and Ron's behavior. They used to be up there on my favorite's list but have quickly fallen. I was so sad to see Kristin go....it was total game play what Mike did and I thought it was totally shady.
As far as the girls on Real Housewives...they are just a crazy mess but I love them all!

Summery Giveaway!

To get you ready for summer check out Southern Starlet's blog and her Kate Spade sunglasses giveaway. Someone, hopefully me, is going to be looking fierce this summer in those knockout glasses!

Name Game

I am a lot of things, but creative and clever are generally not included. I really want to be though! I came to this conclusion after reading lots of different blogs and everyone has such a cute clever display name. And now that I'm kind of bored with mine, I am going to put some thought into this and channel whatever I need to channel and come up with a different one. Wish me luck...and if you have any suggestions send them my way cause let's be honest...this is way over my head!

Please pray for Stellen as he is having his surgery today...

Monday Funday

This weekend was another busy one! The Kid had her first tennis lesson on Saturday. While I am not counting on her being the next Serena Williams, I am pretty sure she was the cutest/best dressed little girl out there. We were in such a rush I forgot to bring my camera but will post a pic next lesson.
We had the usual Sunday night...finishing dinner in time to watch Amazing Race. Another one of my all time favorite shows. I am pretty sure that one day I want to be on it...not sure I could do it with my hubby though. While we work together well, that stressful of a situation might be a little much. I'm honest.....I know my limitations :)

The Kid has her 3rd grade play tonight, a musical about Illinois and Abraham Lincoln. We are very excited....she only has one line (but a good one!) and then lots of great songs! Who thought they could make a musical out of the history of Illinois, should be interesting!

Here is a picture of a recent trip to the eye doctor. Love it!!

Biggest Loser

I was finally able to watch The Biggest Loser last night. God, I love love that show (and my DVR)! I'm sure I'm not the only one, but every time I watch that show it makes me want to get up off my butt and work out. How amazing did all of them look after their makeovers?!?! And when Ron's other son had his break down I just wanted to hug him through the TV...I wish the producers would automatically cast him for the next season. I was slightly overweight in high school, so I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for him. I would really like to see him get some help. I can't say I was terribly sad to see Laura go home. I like her and Tara enough but I am a little sick of Tara Tara Tara. I was totally pulling for Felipe to beat her...so sad.

On a side note I was so excited for my weekly weigh in this morning to find that despite all of my horrific(but yummy) eating over Easter weekend I still managed to loose 2 pounds. One little pound away from hitting the big 3-0!

First Etsy Purchase

How cute is this! Our good friends with the new baby boy are having

him baptized later this month and I have been dying to make my

first Etsy purchase! So I thought this would be a great gift, obviously in darling boy colors! I found it from Taylor Made Boutique,

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6653420

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Playing Catch Up

Today is going to be kind of a catch up post...Last week some of our dearest friends had their baby, a very sweet little boy!! He ended up having some complications and spent about 9 days in the NICU. Joyfully, he was released on Monday and got to go home with his very happy parents and big sister. I spent a lot of time thinking and praying for my friends last week. The Hubby and I got to spend some time with them at the hospital over the weekend....I just love little babies! Even thought they have a long road ahead of them I couldn't think of 2 better people able to do it. With all of the baby talk over the last week got me thinking of how wonderful it would be to have another one. I know The Kid is more than ready for a brother or sister, I'm just not sure I am at this point. I work full time now and I really want to be able to stay home with my next one, so I think a little more waiting is in order for now.

I had my weekly weigh in on Friday and I am officially down 26 pounds!!! Until....we went and had Mexican on Saturday night with one of my friends. I couldn't resist, I had been dreaming of margaritas and salsa all week long. Oh well...

Happy Hump Day!!

Knockin' on Wood

Let me start off by saying that I am not writing about this because it has happened but I overheard part of a conversation last night at Walgreen's last night that made me start thinking about this....
There are few things that just make my skin crawl the way that the thought of lice and pink eye do. I think that because they are both SO contagious is what makes me freak out whenever I think about it. I have had the pleasure, on more than one occasion, to have pink eye and it is terrible. I was constantly paranoid about touching my eye and then touching something else for the fear of spreading it, I Lysoled everything that would stand still (and sometimes even The Kid and The Husband got it too!) I washed load after load of sheets and towels and clothes just in case I touched any of them. I got a little carried away! That brings me to lice...I am knocking on wood the entire time I am writing this, but my daughter has never had lice. With her thick, extremely curly hair I truly feel bad for her if she ever gets it because I think that I might just have to shave her head. I have pounded it in her from her first day of school to never ever ever put on someone elses hat or use their brush or hair pretties because of my fear of this. So to the poor mom at Walgreen's last night buying lice shampoo.....good luck!

March Madness

Bring on the basketball! I do not regularly watch college basketball except for when my husband makes me, and even then I usually nap through it (the exception to that is Illinois basketball, of course). But when bracket time rolls around I just can't help myself. I think it comes more from my love of competing and gambling than actually watching the games! So with brackets done and ready let the games begin!! My hubby thought of a great idea last night to get The Kid involved...we are each going to do a bracket and whoever has the winningest bracket at that end will get to plan a family fun night. I thought this was such a great idea and The Kid is over the top excited!!


I am also very excited to report that I am just 2 little pounds shy of the big two-five mark!! So I am working out extra hard this week with hopes to hit it by Monday!

Stressed

I am a worry-wart. I worry about almost everything and it is one of the things that I dislike the most about myself. The economy right now worries me, while I feel secure (mostly) in my job there are hundreds of people each day that are losing theirs. And today I found out that my husband could in a few short months lose his. While, like most people right now, we are pinching pennies and being careful about what we spend at what point does it end. I worry about how much worse the economic situation can get before people can catch a break. My heart breaks for the people losing their jobs, their homes. I am tired of turning on the news and hearing nothing but bad news...after a while it just wears you down. I think that's where I am now...just worn out. I am almost too tired to worry.

On an upside I am very excited to be having all of our close friends over on Saturday night to celebrate with some very dear friends the upcoming arrival of their baby boy. We have the greatest friends and family, for that I feel truly blessed.

Why can I not be on vacation every week? This week so far has been nothing short of relaxing and wonderful. I guess if I was always on vacation I would not appreciate it nearly as much as I am now! I have enjoyed the most taking and picking up The Kid from school everyday...she is lovin it!! I spent an entire day doing nothing but reading, I need more days like that. However, I am not getting The Kid's room painted. I was just not mitovated to do it and am having a hard time trying to decide what to do and what colors to paint so I just deecided to wait, I have been putting it off for a year, what's another couple weeks ;) Today is being spent babysitting my sweet nephews, I am overjoyed because I wish I had more time to spend with them. I think we are going to go to the park.........

Fun Fun Fun

Check out this fun blog and her great idea for a giveaway:
http://drewashleyporter.blogspot.com/2009/02/secret-shopper.html

This is one of my favorite blogs....I'm sure you'll love it too!!

This way or that?

I am officially on the count down...I have 3 days left of work before I get 1 wonderful well deserved week off! I cannot wait, I'm pretty sure the rest of the week is going to go by at a snail's pace. I am thinking about redoing The Kid's room. She got some super cute new bedding for Christmas (ok ok... it was the Christmas of 2007, I not on the ball with this I know!) so now I want to repaint her room to match. When we first moved in to our house I painstakingly spent 3 days painting polka-dots on her walls and I am sad to see those go, which is maybe why I have procrastinated so long. Anyways, I am trading dots for stripes. I can't decide on whether to do vertical or horizontal, any suggestions? Here is my one inspiration so far:

Goals

I have never really bought into the whole New Years resolution thing...I usually end up breaking them by the end of the week anyways. I have for some reason decided to set some goals for myself this year and see how far I get in accomplishing them. My biggest one, like lots of people, is to loose some weight. I want to be in shape. I have decided that I am too young to be out of shape and not happy with how I look. So, a friend and I have decided to run a 5K at the end of May. To most people that may not sound like a lot (hell, my coworker's husband runs that every morning!!) but for someone who has never ran a day in her life that's huge! So to prep for this milestone I have started running. I want to like it, I really do...I am hoping the warm fuzzies for running come soon. I definitely feel empowered after I run...all 2 minutes of it.
As phase 2 of my weight loss journey I have decided to start following Weight Watchers, and since I am doing it that means my darling husband has to too. Don't you like how that works?!?! Stay tuned for updates.....

The Kid is 9 going on 19...I'm pretty sure one of us is not going to survive her teenage years, it is yet to be determined who. I have always been so proud of the fact that she is so smart, quick witted like her dad, beautiful, and a sweet caring little girl. Where on earth did this attitude come from...not my sweet baby?!?! Every day it seems I catch a glimpse of it, and if it is any indication of what lies in store for us when she gets to be a teenager we are in seriouse trouble!

Working for the weekend

I am glad it is finally Friday and in a short time the weekend will be here! I am going to get a handle, finally, on this blogging thing...had some great advice as how to jazz up my blog. I struggled with it all day, enlisted the help of my coworkers, and finally have a different background. It only took 8 hours...are you impressed?!?! I am glad to be spending an evening at home with my dear hubby and daughter. We just got our DirectTV hooked up today so I'm excited to get my DVR set up...wouldn't want to miss any of my shows!!!

Learning Curve

So I spent quite a bit of time today trying to "customize" my blog....did you notice that it still looks the same?!?! I have blog envy of those who have beautiful backgrounds and pictures, and how on earth do I put a button on my sidebar (English please!!) Needless to say I am going to have to put in some time this weekend getting a handle on this thing.

So we have spent a lot of time this week working on different projects that CeCe has for school. Most recently was her President Project...she chose Jimmy Carter. It is turning out to be a great way for her to learn about past Presidents. Did you know that he was the first President to be born in a hospital?

Here goes nothing......

Seeing my friends and family with their blogs I have decided to join the band wagon and start a blog about the daily events in the Schumacher household, however big or small they may be! So here goes nothing......