If It Takes a Whole Life

Canal Walk

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:46:00 +0000

After our Mother's Day brunch, we took a little walk along the canal.

And we stumbled upon the coolest art installation... had no idea it was there. Turns out we missed an entire Street Art Festival in April. Who knew?

Loved all the art and it made for some really fun photos.

Poor fifth flying man. Lost his legs on impact:-0

If you live anywhere in the Richmond vicinity, you should go check this out. We all loved it. Rock on, RVA.

Mother's Day Brunch

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:15:00 +0000

It does a mama's heart good to go out to a Mother's Day brunch with two children this handsome.

We've gone to the same restaurant for Mother's Day brunch every year since we moved to Richmond. It's always the Tobacco Company. The only year we've missed was last year--when we were in Greece instead. Two years ago, Clementine was newly home and even more newly two. And we spent the better part of brunch sulking on the sofa in the lobby.

This year, the kids just... ate brunch. It was weird. It's like they're growing up:-)

How dare the restaurant recover the sofa?!?! It's really messing with my time sequence photos!

Here's a real-time lapse for your viewing pleasure: Mother's Day 2008.

It's something else, huh? Glad we keep going back to the same place each year because it's a really nice way to remind myself how much the kids are changing.

However, in some cases, the more things change... the more they... err... stay the same:

Yup. Twinsies. Never did get to the bottom of exactly whose idea it was...

Anyway, very glad these two kiddos call me Mom.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Mother's Day!

Georgie

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:51:00 +0000

So the first thing you should probably know is that, while I was absent from the blog, we expanded our family by one.

This is Georgie. I may be biased but he's kind of the perfect dog. And we don't consider ourselves to be dog people. Or really animal people:-)

He's 10 pounds of fluff. We adopted him from the Richmond SPCA and from the first night we brought him home, he's managed to wiggle his way into our hearts quite completely. In fact, he's sitting about six inches away from me, snoozing as I type this. He'd snooze on top of the keyboard if I could manage to find a way to type, that's how close he likes to be to his compadres:-)

Back in 2005, we seriously considered naming Gabriel... George. And that was even in the middle of a W presidency:-) Love the name, can't help it. Figured a son by the name was probably not happening, so might as well honor the dog with a for-reals moniker.

My excuse for staying gone

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:42:00 +0000

Ooops. I stayed away two months. I've got major updates coming... everything from Pinewood Derby cars to birthdays to Mother's Day brunches and everything in between. But the big news tonight is that I'm launching my own business... a public relations consultancy called Kismet Communications.

Kismet is why I've ignored the blog and my children and, occasionally, personal hygiene. Just kidding. Sort of. Anyway, if you're the Facebook-liking sort, you can like Kismet Communications' Facebook page yonder.

The good news is that I'm not totally going at it on my own. My lovely and talented sister (who happens to be a graphic designer) is always up for an adventure. I'm very excited about what the future holds, and if you've got ugly logos, outdated brochures and crummy websites, feel free to send them our way:-)

For the long-time fans who have hung in through the hiatus, I'll leave you with a pic of the kids just so you don't go into total Gabriel and Clementine withdrawal! More pics (and stories) coming soon!

The Life of an Academic

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:50:00 +0000

When Kevin complains about certain aspects of his job, it's very difficult for me to take him seriously.

He just e-mailed me this photo. He's been in Banff all week.

This week, I've been balancing a full-time job, daycare/school drop-offs/pick-ups, gymnastics and cub scouts runs, dinner-making and other survivalist activities. Oh, and did I mention that the schools were closed on Monday for snow? We actually haven't been doing too badly... but really? God love him but was it necessary to e-mail this photo while I was still in the thick of things?!?! We're all looking forward to having him back.

Two years ago today

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:48:00 +0000

Two years ago today, Kevin and I boarded a plane bound for Ethiopia.

Today, we have lived with our daughter longer than she lived in Ethiopia, longer than she lived with her mother.

Having spent two years with our darling girl, it's easy for me to put myself in her mother's place. If I had to part with Clementine right now, it'd feel as if I were ripping out my heart.

Born Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:49:00 +0000

This is a little girl who was born ready to go to elementary school:-)

Birthday Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:37:00 +0000

So, I very publicly go and say how I've had three crappy birthdays in a row and that I think I deserve to have a good one. This clearly must incite the birthday gods because on the way to D.C. we very nearly have to call the whole trip off and go to our nearest emergency room instead.

From the backseat, Clementine started to scream. Lucky for all of us, she very clearly enunciated the problem. She had lodged a teeny, tiny piece of Lego inside her ear drum. Mother of all that is holy. I whipped around in my seat to confirm, and sure enough, there was a blue plastic cylinder peeking out at me. I could almost have reached in and grabbed it with my finger nails but I worried I'd accidentally push it further inside her ear and out of reach. So, while she screamed and I held her hands together in her lap (trying to keep her from fiddling with it), Kevin hightailed it for the nearest exit where he found an Exxon that--thank you, thank you, thank you--sold tweezers. Out in the parking lot, with steady hands and laser focus, I performed the extraction:-) Clementine gave me the biggest smile of her life when I waved the little Lego piece in front of her face, pinched between the tweezer's tongs. It was all very dramatic. Clementine was deeply relieved, my birthday celebration was saved a mid-morning trip to the emergency room, and we carried on. Sharing this little story just so we're clear... the birthday day in D.C. was exciting but nothing that happened all day beat the thrill of knowing we didn't have to find an ER in Fredericksburg! Ah, parenthood.

So the day unfolded like this: I sent my mother and sister and best friend an itinerary of all the birthday stuff I wanted to do on Saturday and they nodded their heads and said they were up for whatever I wanted. The itinerary was very official. There were times and addresses and URLs. Serious time had gone into this.

I wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Room and Board store since I love their furniture and had never been. This would usually send Kevin into convulsions but because it was my birthday, he grinned and bore it:-)

Then I wanted to have lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl because I figure if Bill Cosby and Obama like it, it can't be bad...

It is crazy packed in there but totally awesome. We had the half smokes, and the guy who helped us get situated at a table told us that Mom and Eve were sitting in the seats where Sarkozy and his wife sat when they visited recently. I took photos but they're ehhh and then Mom moved to the seat across from Kevin, so you're missing the ACTUAL photo of where Sarkozy sat... sorry! Gotta stop being lazy and whip out my Digital Rebel a little more often. The iPhone is just so easy...

We're guessing this is where Obama sat. Don't know what gave it away:-)

Final verdict: the birthday lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl was a total hit.

Then it was on to the Annie Leibovitz Pilgrimage exhibit at the American Art Museum, which is connected with the National Portrait Gallery. Two for the price of free. Love it. The Annie Leibovitz exhibit was nice but, frankly, I think we all got just as big a kick out of the Black List exhibit, which featured 50 photographs of black Americans by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

The real highlight, however, was almost 200 years old.

You might as well have told Gabriel he was meeting Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy... he was THAT excited about this version of Abe and Mary Todd that he stumbled upon in the American Presidency exhibit. We couldn't drag him away. He had questions, lots of questions for the big man. About the war, about slavery, about whatever it is G learned about this year in his first grade unit on President's Day. Abe was sort of ready to move along to the next child but Gabriel was having none of it. He had an audience with the most powerful man in America (albeit 150 years ago) and he wasn't losing the opportunity to get the REAL story.

Occasionally he knelt. I'm not sure if that decision was made out of reverence or because he planned on staying a while.

He showed Mary Todd a little love as well.

Don't get me wrong... he was psyched about George Washington too. It's just that GW wasn't in the same stratosphere as Abe.

A few more pics in the atrium and it was time to hit the main attraction. Okay, a very nice attraction if not the MAIN one.

I told everyone that I didn't care how long it took, I was eating a birthday cupcake at Georgetown Cupcakes. Every time I've ever walked by, the line has been out the door but today, come hell or high waters, I was gonna sample one of their cupcakes. You probably think I'm being dramatic about the line. I'm not.

It was sick. All those people in line for a cupcake. You would have thought the cupcakes had healing powers or something. That being said, I happily went and stood at the end of the line with my entourage. The line took so long to get through that Kevin and Jimmy ditched us, went and had a beer, and came back but no matter... it was worth it once you got inside:-) The promised land...

According to the girl who checked us out, they do 12,000-15,000 cupcakes a day. In case you were confused, that is a lot of cupcakes.

Almost too pretty to eat. Almost. One of the coolest parts about the cupcake expedition was watching what happened in the kitchen. Making 12,000-15,000 ANYTHINGS a day seems like it'd be a logistical nightmare but they've got it totally under control. It's like watching an orchestra perform.

Do you think these people see so many cupcakes that they've totally sworn off of them? It seems impossible to believe but maybe...

So we ate a cupcake. And that pretty much concludes my birthday celebration. Room and Board, chili, art, cupcakes. All done with family and friends in tow. No trips to the emergency room for Lego extractions. A fabulous birthday all the way around. The bad birthday streak is officially broken.

Birthday thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:43:00 +0000

Today is my 31st birthday. This year, I am attempting to take back my birthday.

Three years ago, we spent the week leading up to my birthday in the hospital. Dad had half his pancreas removed. The whole thing was scary and intense but we hoped it was just the first of many steps on Dad's road to recovery.

Two years ago, on my birthday, my mother called to tell me that Dad's cancer was back and that there was nothing more we could do.

Last year, Kevin had already hightailed it to Greece for the semester and I was at home with two kids. For a month. Trying to simultaneously wrap up things at work, clean the house within an inch of its life, pack, arrange homeschooling stuff for the G-man, find renters, and take care of just about any other obnoxious task you can think of. The prize (three months in Greece) more than made up for all the aggravation but I was not a happy camper during pretty much the entire month of February.

This year, I declared that I was taking back my birthday. I only get so many of these and, dammit, I need to smell the roses. When you have a father who dies at 58, your perspective shifts. If you'd asked me a few years ago, I'd have told you that 31 is no big deal. That I'm a third of the way through a full life. That I've got a half a century ahead of me. Now--whether I want to or not--I come at this with the perspective that my life is half over. Quite possibly more than half. It's a glass-is-half-empty mentality but it's the truth. I figure that if I live to be as old as my father, I'll be lucky. 58-31=27. 27 more years doesn't seem like such a very big number. I'd like more time, please.

The only way I can get okay with 27 remaining years on the planet is if I promise myself that I'll enjoy all of them. Hence the taking back of the birthday. I've had three years of horrid birthdays but that streak ends today. I am 31 years old and I am alive. That is something to celebrate. This Saturday, we're going up to D.C. for the day. We're going to shop and eat good food and see art. It should be fun.

My uncle Marshall died on January 23. Less than a month ago. We went down to South Carolina and buried him at the foot of my father. Same horrible disease. Same burial. Our time here is so fleeting.

Marshall was the carpe diem king. He lived well. Even near the end, if the weather was good and the effects of the chemo weren't too severe, he'd drive himself out on the golf course and hit a couple of rounds. Seize the day.

Maybe she's magic

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:30:00 +0000

My Facebook friends are getting this twice but it's too funny not to document here.

We're letting Gabriel stay up late tonight to watch the Super Bowl. He's been saying sporadically throughout the day, "I can't wait for the Super Bowl!"

He bought a ring pop at the corner store this afternoon with some spare change he had. I made him buy one for Clementine too. She ripped hers open as soon as we arrived home. Gabriel saved his until the kick-off.

During the first quarter, Gabriel looked up at his dad, sitting next to him on the sofa, and told him that today is the best day of his life. If that's not worth letting him stay up past his bedtime, I don't know what is.

That being said, Gabriel was less than thrilled about the halftime show. His mom loved every second of it. At one point, he asked me when it'd be over.

When Madonna made her stage exit in a dramatic cloud of blue smoke, he asked us, "How'd she do that?" We told him we didn't know.

In a totally deadpan voice, he said, "Maybe she's magic."

He might be on to something there.

Motley Crew

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:53:00 +0000

Together, they're a motley crew. Yesterday, Gabriel wore the following outfit to the grocery store.

He found the outfit in the back of his closet, leftover remnants from weddings and whatnot. He said it's his Barack Obama outfit.

I need a ber

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:27:00 +0000

At school, Gabriel's teacher has been prepping the kids to take the SOLs. There's a language arts SOL that covers letter-writing. Naturally, there's a rubric that goes along with the whole thing. When a child writes a letter, there should be a greeting, the body of the letter and a clear closing. The child should try to use interesting words. Frequently used words should be spelled correctly. The child should form letters correctly, using capital and lowercase letters appropriately. The child should stick to a topic, ask for something they want and state why they want it. All very well and good.

Here's what Gabriel wrote:

Dear Dad and Mom,
I am wrkan hord in sool and I wot a noo pr of skechrz that lut up and bi the way win I come hom you will look at my haz I will have ber in my haz. Love, Gabriel

Translation:

Dear Dad and Mom,
I am working hard in school and I want a new pair of Sketchers that light up. And by the way, when I come home, you will look in my hands and I will have beer in my hands. Love, Gabriel

Our son wrote a letter to us about how awesome it will be when he gets a beer out of the fridge for Kevin. Yup. For real. His teacher even clarified with him to make sure she was interpreting correctly. He told her he thought his Dad would be REALLY excited. We guess it's like meant to be a favor in return for us giving him a pair of Sketchers? We're a little baffled and a little entertained all at the same time.

Required Florida Porch Swing Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:14:00 +0000

Finally going through holiday pics. Thought I'd start with the customary porch swing photos.

Hi. I'd like you to meet my two children, Less-Excited-About-Family-Photos and More-Excited-About-Family-Photos.

Ah, that's a little more like it. A happy medium.

Couldn't convince Gabriel to sit for individual shots but Clementine was more than willing.

We've been doing these porch photos a loooonnnngggg time. Here are the pics from last year if you
want to see how much the kids have grown:-)

You're not ready for the cuteness

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:33:00 +0000

With the title of this post, I'm trying to give you fair warning. But there's really no amount of mental preparation that can help you come to terms with the ridiculous adorableness that is...

Clementine in her very first ballet costume.

I'm not wrong, am I?

Clementine has been begging, pleading, and praying to take a ballet class. I don't even know where she came up with it because it's honestly not something I've been pushing. At. All. But she had it in her head she wanted to do it. She's asked on and off for months but after the holidays, I started getting it every single day. Morning, noon and night. I'd say things like, "I'll call and look into it," and a few hours later, she'd come looking for me, asking if I'd called. When I told her I'd e-mailed a few places, she wanted specifics. "Mommy, did you color a ballet picture and send it to them on the e-mail?" Doh. I forgot that part.

It turned out to be trickier than I thought it'd be to find a Saturday class. It would seem that in our neck of the woods most prima ballerinas must have stay-at-home mommies because I only found one place with Saturday classes. And they were full. I took a cue from my darling daughter and begged and pleaded... and sure enough... a space opened up and she's in.

So then I went and cleaned out her college fund paying for the class and the gear:-)

When the girl at the local dancewear store rang me up and I let out a little squeak at the final tally, she said, "Yeah, you're gonna want to try to steer her towards modern dance as she gets older." "Why?" I asked, clueless. "No shoes," she said.

So far, it feels like it'll be worth every penny.

Deep thoughts related to Elvis

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:14:00 +0000

We checked out the VMFA's Mummy exhibit this afternoon, which turned out to be a terrific way to spend Martin Luther King Day.

While we were there, we wondered on over to this Alfred Wertheimer photography exhibit, "Elvis at 21." The photographs were beautiful... all of these big, black and white shots of Elvis just before he became really, really big.

It struck me, walking through the exhibit and answering questions of Gabriel's like, "Who was Elvis?" and "What did he sing?" that this isn't what it was like for me...

I learned about Elvis from my father. My kids are learning about Elvis in a museum.

What will museums be teaching my grandchildren about the way we live now?

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:28:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

New Years Resolution #1: Blog More.

Perhaps a real resolution post will present itself at some point but, for the time being, suffice it to say that it's 2012, and I have finally extricated myself from my pajamas. It was a good break.

I've got more holiday posts coming but some big news is that, as of New Year's Eve, Kevin and I have known each other/been together for an entire decade. We met before the stroke of midnight... December 31, 2001... at a college New Year's party a friend of ours threw. The rest is history.

For a few years, I hung onto a photo someone had taken that night. There were a bunch of us standing there in the kitchen of this townhouse, and there we are in the photo, totally unaware that our lives are about to change. In one of our moves, I lost the photo. It's a bummer. So you don't get treated to a real before-and-after. This is close:

It's starting to feel like there's a lot of distance between us and that long-lost photo. Kevin reverted to his original hair color. I lost my natural hair color:-) We've lived in three states. Bought two houses. Earned a few degrees. Oh yeah, and become parents to two children far more fabulous than any we could have dreamed up in those early days.

I'm signing up for another 10 years. And then 10 after that. And 10 after that. And...

Clementine 101

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:46:00 +0000

I tore this pic out of a magazine a while ago, meaning to frame it. And then I saw this bright green frame at Target the other day for $5.99 and it fell in my cart.

Lest Clementine ever get confused, this should help her clarify the difference between a clementine, a satsuma, and a tangerine:-)

How Gabriel spent his day

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:38:00 +0000

I worked from home today. Clementine was at daycare but Gabriel and Kevin are both out of school. So that I could concentrate, the rule was no T.V. and no video games for the G-man. Quiet self-reliant entertainment was the goal.

The house had been quiet for a good long while when Gabriel came to find me.

"Guess what, Mom?!?!" he said, looking very pleased with himself.

"What?"

"I'm playing Angry Birds!"

"But I said no video games!"

"Come see, come see, Mom!"

With a bunch of leftover Amazon boxes, he created a real-life Angry Birds game.

I gotta give the kid some points for ingenuity.

Ruff, Ruff

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:24:00 +0000

Poor Gabriel told me the other day that he was trying to decide between getting a real dog and getting a remote control dog. I asked him which he thought he'd prefer. He told me that he'd like a real dog but that if a remote control dog could walk him to school, then maybe it'd be all right. Hope he wasn't holding his breath on the real dog because tonight the Chanukah aardvark delivered on his request... sort of:-)

Kevin and I are not yet ready to take on the responsibility of a living, breathing dog (and simultaneously raise small children) but when it comes to remote control dogs, those we can deliver!

Oh, the Iron-Man costume has nothing to do with Chanukah and everything to do with Gabriel's personal hierarchy of needs:-) Halloween costumes are worn year-round.

It's a question of perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:04:00 +0000

I overheard the kids playing on Sunday. They were each carrying a naked baby doll (all Clementine's babies are in a constant state of undress:-) and Gabriel was clutching a pretend cell phone to his ear. I heard him say into the phone, "Yeah, we just got home from the hospital with these babies but we haven't gotten them adopted yet."

My gift pick for the holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:20:00 +0000

If you're still struggling to fill out a few more nights of Chanukah or find one or two more presents for under the tree, might I suggest a book?

And this won't just be any book.

Oh no.

This'll be a book written by our friend and former neighbor, Anne Ursu, who happens to have written an irresistible tale called Breadcrumbs.

Don't take my word for it. NPR thought it was irresistible enough that they made it their December Kids' Book Club Pick. <---Go read all about it.

The book is about a little girl named Hazel who ventures into the woods, looking for her best friend, Jack. A modern day Snow Queen.

Interesting side note: Hazel just so happens to be adopted from India. Anne was very, very kind and e-mailed me recently to tell me that the year we lived next to each other in Massachusetts, when Gabriel was just two years old, inspired her to write Hazel as an internationally adopted child. Flattery will get you everywhere:-) I'm beyond touched.

A review reads, "The crumbs that lead us are stories, which point the way toward understanding and acceptance of loss and sorrow and change, and which shout at us of hope and friendship and love."

Now of course, since I'm reading this with Gabriel and chapter books are relatively new terrain for us, I can't verify with 100% certainty that the end is as illustrious as the beginning... but in an effort to get this blog post written BEFORE holiday shopping is complete, you're going to have to have a little faith and just go buy the book. If you don't love it, you can take it up with Gabriel;-) Impossible, I say. You'll love it. Without a doubt.

Two blogs collide... Lost Planet Style

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:52:00 +0000

Sometimes people ask me about the blogging thing and whether it freaks me out to share stuff about my family online. And I mean, sure, if you're blogging... it's healthy to have some trepidation as you wade into the waters of the unknown. But, overall, I tell people that blogging is fabulous and that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. Because the benefits go a little something like this:

Two women meet on an online adoption forum. Stalk each other's blogs for a period of, I dunno... YEARS. They read through the wait, the homecoming, the happily ever after and all the spilled milk in between. They comment, they post, they eventually even e-mail.

And then, miracle of miracles, one fine day in December, their daughters meet.

And all that blog stalking turns out to have just been a precursor to a friendship that was meant to be. Born two months apart in Ethiopia, these girls were meant to be friends.

Those of you Ethiopia mamas who follow Mindy's blog will be green with envy right about now... yup, we have been to the Lost Planet:-)

I may have squealed when we arrived and everything looked EXACTLY as it does in the online version of their lives;-)

Don't know what I was expecting exactly but, ya know... small pleasures.

Two blogs collide. We have a hunch you're gonna be seeing guest appearances on both blogs for the next 15+ years at least. By then our girls will probably be doing the blogging and we mamas will be lucky if we get to make guest appearances on theirs!

Global Warming

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:52:00 +0000

You can't tell me there's no such thing as global warming.

Gabriel wore shorts to go see the James Plaza's Christmas lights. If you had told us we lived in Florida, we would have believed you. It's outrageously warm for mid-December in Virginia.

Not that we're complaining!

Parade sightings

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:50:00 +0000

We had a really nice slow weekend, which was sooooo great. There was a parade and a Christmas party and Sunday school and a Guatemalan adoptive families holiday potluck... like I said, slow. It's all a matter of perspective!

We did the parade mainly because Kevin and Gabriel were in it. Kevin's fitness group was participating, so there was a spot for Gabriel to ride along with some other kids in the flatbed of a big truck going about three miles per hour. For two hours. Sounds like a good time, no?

He loved every second of it. Kevin and the grown-ups stopped along the way to do push-ups and other really random exercises.

Like I said... random:-)

Clementine and I stood curbside for what turned out to be the better part of the morning. We sipped some hot cider and chatted with our curb neighbors and just generally looked cute while doing nothing.

But lest you think it was all fun and games, I'll have you know we had to sit through quite a few very scary "floats" before Kevin and Gabriel appeared on the scene.

Seriously? They have a group? With local affiliates? Have they not gotten the memo that small children uniformly consider them to be frightening?!?

Okay, this one was a little bit awesome:

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

Rudolph gets a Bandaid

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:27:00 +0000

You know the economy's not in great shape when this happens to Rudolph during Richmond's 2010 Christmas Parade:

And this becomes the solution for the 2011 Parade:

That'd be a larger-than-life Bandaid you're looking at:-) It's resourceful. For sure.