My defense: I have always been a “people pleaser” and a “peace maker” as far back as I can remember. My childhood was riddled with seeking approval. My mother just mildly scolded me about “people pleasing” this past weekend. So to say I’m temperamental is not really true. Until menopause reared its ugly head, I was usually more like a doormat. Now. . . not so much. I’ve mentioned my recent lack of tolerance for BS these days? Yeah, that. Well, THAT came into play today at work.

All I wanted was for this dude to DO HIS JOB. (He doesn’t work FOR me - we more or less work together. But in his mind, I’m pretty sure I work for HIM) But instead, he makes everybody go through the same song and dance and pony show (and waste of time) so that we all understand the power and importance of his job before he’ll do anything to help the situation (which is his JOB). I usually am pretty patient and wait out the dance, but today I was slightly slammed with work and didn’t have time to go through the usual routine. To top that off, he had an attitude that was “dismissive”. . . dismissive, like my issue was of zero importance to him. . . he acted like it didn’t matter one iota. . . and I snapped. I couldn’t take it anymore. I just wanted him to do his job! The one thing he avoids like herpes.

After said blowup, my issue was fixed within about five minutes and everyone was back to work. But my question is, “Why do some people place SO much value on their job that they think they are GOD?” “Why are some people so arrogant to think that THEY are better than others?” Is that the same question? Sorry. This guy’s arrogance has blown a circuit in my brain.

The thing is. . . we’ve worked together for years (while I humored him) and we were friends. Work friends. And leave it to Murphy’s Law where I usually NEVER see this guy. I could go DAYS without ever laying eyes on him. Two hours after blowup, I run smack dab into him in the kitchen. He gave me the evil glare and even grunted, I believe. Me - if my eyes could talk (and I’ve been told that they do), they were giggling. I don’t know why. That’s just what they were doing.

That’s when I realized that I’d finally gotten past a hangup I’ve had my ENTIRE life. I’d always been SO afraid of confrontation because I thought if I upset the other person that they wouldn’t like me anymore. That they wouldn’t be my friend. So, I sold my soul for over 40 years, not contributing my true opinion, my true thoughts, my true self. Well, NOT ANYMORE. I finally don’t need anyone else’s approval in order to believe that I’m a good person. I finally believe that my opinion matters as much as anyone else’s. I finally believe that if a simple disagreement distroys a friendship, then it wasn’t much of a friendship to begin with. And as long as I believe that I’m right, I will state my case.

I’ve finally growing up. Wheeeee!

I have to be honest though. . . I’m not so good at the grilling thing. I cook INdoors. It’s just how I roll.

Pretty often throughout the summer, my “pool buddies” throw an impromptu BBQ. These people come prepared too, let me tell you. They’ve got this grilling thing down to a science. It’s actually pretty impressive. And they’re always nice enough to invite me to join them. (Since I’ve pretty much set up residence at the pool and AM consistently and constantly there - kinda like the furniture, I think they’d feel bad NOT inviting me)

So I just bring what I want to grill, and usually a side dish or a dessert or something. On the 4th of July, the pool area was fairly sparse. I think most folks had either braved the crowds at the beach or they had traveled out of town. But, lo and behold, yours truly was THERE! So when the girls came to grill, they invited me to join them. I knew that I had some jalapeno sausages that would be delicious grilled, but I had to think quick of something else to bring along on the side, something quick so as not to interrupt too much of my pooltime, and something that I had all the ingredients for because I certainly wasn’t going to go trapsing into our local grocery store in my bathing suit. I mean, it’s a cute suit and all, but. . . . I’m just sayin’.

So I thought of this recipe that I had come across several weeks ago in one of the jillion little cookbooks that I pick up at the grocery store for a cute little dessert. This one was from Pillsbury. It seemed quick and easy. AND I had everything required. Wheee!

GRAND LIL’ PIES

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup chopped Nuts, optional
1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Flaky Layers refrigerated biscuits
1 can (21 oz) apple, blueberry or cherry pie filling (whichever floats your boat)
1 to 1 1/2 cups whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in cold butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts.

Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Split each biscuit in half to make 16 rounds. Flatten each to form 4-inch round. Press each biscuit round in ungreased muffin tin.

Spoon 2 tablespoons pie filling into each biscuit cup. (I used blueberry)

Sprinkle each with about 2 tablespoons crumb mixture. Cups will be very full.

Bake 15 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups and place on cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Now, you COULD beat some whipping cream until stiff peaks form, OR you could just use Cool Whip. (That’s what I did because I was in a hurry)

They did turn out to be quick and easy. (I didn’t miss too much sun) AND they were a big hit!! I, personally, wished that I had a scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with them.

Now, you need to store any leftovers in the fridge. So I just reheated mine in the toaster oven and the ONE that I had was totally delicious. I’ll be making these again. I’m thinking little apple pies in the Fall. A nice little treat to have out around Thanksgiving. That’s just me thinking outloud.

How in the world is this done?

That’s how my brain works. I don’t go, “Oh, that’s cool!” or “Oh, how funny!”. No, I go “HOW did they DO that?” And I want to learn how. This is what I found over at VizWorld:

MPS helped Evian make their latest commercial where a group of choreographed roller-skating babies dance to The Sugar Hill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight. They filmed 134 different babies and then matched live-action heads with CG bodies over motion tracked data.

“MPC’s team of animators used Autodesk Maya to create the baby skaters’ bodies. To ensure the babies appear fully realistic, it was important to carefully match movements, paying special attention to interaction between the shoulders, neck and head. To help achieve this, full CG babies were created and their heads were replaced later by the live action versions from the shoot by MPC’s compositing team led by Ludo Fealy.”

I then followed links over to Eat3d.com.

NOW! That’s incredible technology. I won’t know what to believe when I see it anymore. Like this video I saw on Good Morning America.

I REALLY wanted to believe that this was a bunch of guys with a tremendous amount of time on their hands.

But is it really?

Here is Kyle explaining the basics of skimboarding; the running, the dropping of the board, the jumping on the board and the skimming of the water. Chris thinks he’s got it, so off he goes.

NOT BAD, Dude! **see, I’m getting the surfer lingo down** First time out, I thought he did pretty well. But Kyle still saw room for improvement, so he demonstrated for him.

WOW! Dude caught some air on that one!! **That’s right! More surfer lingo** Awesome!!

So Chris tries again.

Wipeout!!! His mommy cringed a little on that one. It looked like he broke his back to me. But I was trying to be “cool surfer mom” so I didn’t go running down there to kiss his boo boos. I waited patiently until he bounced upright. My boy sure is tough. If that had happened to me. . . I’d be in traction somewhere with white walls and Jello.

I’ll stick to taking pictures. . . . and soaking up the sun!

I took Thursday off for a reason, a very special reason.  Oldest child, Chris, bought himself a surfboard and with his crazy two-job schedule and my ample unused vacation days, we decided to go out to the beach on Thursday.  We were also considering the holiday beach rush on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We locals tend to avoid the beach during such chaos and mayhem as the major tourist holidays and stick to our local pools. 

So Thursday morning, we were up and out the door early.  He and a couple of his friends (who didn’t mind “MOM” hanging out with them cuz they’re cool like that) hit the beach. 

I LOVE the beach!  Have I ever mentioned that?  This is just one of the many houses I’d like to live in one day.

And wake up to this every morning.

But I haven’t won the lottery yet, so until then. . . I’ll just drool. 

Anyway, back to the weekend.  His friend, Kyle, is a surfer dude, very cute, very chill, and very Mormon (I know. I don’t get the combination either, but he’s a good kid) and he was there to teach Chris how to surf.  I was just there to soak up the sun (my favorite pastime) and take pictures.  And relish the idea that I now FINALLY had a beach buddy.  He’s always hated the sun and grew to hate being dragged to the beach, but realizing how much fun Kyle was having (while Chris was photographing him), he caught the surfing bug. . . even though there is sun involved.  I think the addition of hot chicks at the beach was a definite Pro in this decision of his too.  I’m just thinkin’.

Chris has always been my stocky child, and with this comes a child young man with tremendous upper body strength - tremendous.  And even though he had little confidence that he’d actually get up on the board the first day out, I had no doubt that could and would.  He’s a determined sort and extremely strong.  He could have made millions in football, but we’ve been all through that already.

Here’s his first attempt at surfing . . .

He did this over and over. 

And there was a lot of this too.  Sitting around waiting for a wave.

I have many more pictures that I’ll bore you with share later.

I was QUITE proud of him!  It was a lot of exercise!  And a lot of sun!

And more importantly, HE had A LOT OF FUN!  A LOT!!!!

When he was done surfing for the day, he sat with me and his friend, Ashley (Kyle had to leave early to go to work) and we were just chatting and laughing and joking around when I realized that I had NO idea what time it was.  I looked at my phone, then it hit me. . . I would be sitting in the office right at that very moment had I not taken that fabulous vacation day to go to the beach. . . Eeewwwww!  I wanted to stay at the beach forever!  I want to retire and do this every single day.  Until I realized yet again, that I haven’t won the lottery yet.

We had the best time!!!!  This is why I can’t imagine NOT living so close to the beach.  Instant vacation on a whim without all those stinking reservations.  HOW FUN!

Nutritionist Says Jackson Pleaded for Insomnia Sedative Since when are sedatives in any way involved with a nutritionist? Is this the latest and greatest diet fad? I mean, I’ve joked about how I wish there were a Sleeping Diet where you just go to sleep for a couple of weeks and wake up 20 pounds lighter. But somehow, I don’t think that’s what Michael had in mind. I’m thinking that maybe he should have tried Tylenol PM. It worked for my insomnia!

What Is Sex? Americans Can’t Agree Now it’s been awhile since I’ve HAD sex, but I’m pretty sure that I remember what it IS! What is wrong with people in this country that they’re arguing about what sex is? Please.
This article is about that South Carolina Senator who had an affair with an Argentinian woman and even went so far as to describe her as “his soulmate”. And now people are actually debating on what “technically” constitutes an act of SEX. Again, people please! There are thousands of “technical” facits to it, but why do people have be technical at all? Sex is sex. Intimacy is intimacy. Sex WITH intimacy is fantastic, but you can certainly have sex without it. And you can certainly have intimacy without having had sex. (It’s STILL considered an affair) And oral sex IS sex, hence the word “SEX”.

Sarah Palin: “I Betcha I Could Beat Obama” Well, she couldn’t beat him in the political race, so she’s challenging him to a foot race. Is she kidding? Is she 7? She IS spunky. I have to give her credit for that. But I think it’s more inflated ego than anything else. She was so sure that she (and John) was going to win in the presidential race too, but we see how that turned out. (Ooops, there I go pissing off my Republican friends). I’m sorry, but Sarah needs to. let. it. GO.

Now on to something completely different. Remember the response that Britain’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle received on YouTube? Well, now America’s Got Talent has it’s own version of Susan Boyle, and his name is Kevin Skinner, aka. The Chicken Catcher. I watched this last night and was wowed by this guy. He is as country as country can get and he’s got the Southern Drawl something fierce (he sounds just like my brother), but when he starts singing. . . WOW! There was just something so genuine and endearing about him, his voice, his charm, I don’t know. I found myself swelling with pride FOR him, like I was his mama or something. Why do I feel like everybody’s mama? I’m a sap, that’s why.

I marvel at people that have such talent. It’s a gift. One of which I do not possess, but surely appreciate when I see it or hear it. My dear, sweet friend, Julz, from South Africa has such a talent. I’ve been one of her biggest fans for years. Now, it looks like she and her band are on the road to becoming big rock stars and I couldn’t be more proud if I WERE her mama.

My drug dealers/car thief neighbors are gone. FINALLY! They have been a source of unease and entertainment (sort of like watching a horror movie) and drama for the last two years. I’ve complained and complained to our Home Owner’s Association, but they never did anything about it because I didn’t have any PROOF. What? Did they want me to wind up dead to PROVE it to them? Well, nonetheless, they’re gone. What in the world WILL I do now without constantly peeping out my windows at the drug deals and cop drama?

Things at work continue to slowly plummet into a suckhole of bull$hit. I hate this economy and what it does to the managers and the “number-crunchers”. I SO hate it when they say, “You’re going to have to take a 10% paycut and you’re going to be happy about it cuz at least you have a job!” HATE THAT! (That didn’t happen to me personally, but I know a lot of people that it DID happen to) I have the mindset that NO ONE is going to hold me hostage in a job. I work too hard and care too much about my job to even BE around people that think like that.

My ex’s birthday was the day after my last post and I intended on giving him a hard time about turning 50! But something’s lost in translation when you’re a week late.

I’ve been suffering from Spring Cleaning Fever and I’m slightly annoyed. . . because it ISN’T SPRING! I don’t know what constitutes my sudden urge to clean out my closets and redecorate my house. I want to be outside!! Not in a dark, cluttered closet. I have conflicting personalities apparently. Just call me Sybill, okay?
So I’ve come up with a compromise and that’s when it’s dark and the pool is closed and when I’m usually posting something on my site, I clean closets. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I HAVE discovered some fun stuff (pictures and stuff) that I can share later.

Okay. Then there was everybody dropping dead last week! What in the world was up with that? Shocking and surprising deaths almost everyday! Major celebrities dropping dead left and right! And the causes are all so drastically different.

Ed McMahon - he was just old.

Farrah Fawcett - poor thing suffered from that nasty cancer for long enough.

Billy Mays - don’t know. A bump on the head or something. Just woke up dead.

Michael Jackson - well, when you take 8 jillion drugs and eat like a bird, something’s got to give. I’m just sayin’. And there’s a lot more I could say, but there are a billion people who would probably linch me in my sleep. So I’ll just leave it to Chris Rock! He puts it like only Chris Rock can put it. He cracked me UP!

So even though last week was a little busy and hectic, you can still bet that I made time for the sun. My boys came over again over the weekend and swam in the pool. Two weeks in a row!!!! I say that surprised-like because I don’t think that Chris got in the pool once last year. It’s so fun when they’re in there together.

And cannonballs are ALWAYS in order.

Then, of course, Chris can’t let his little brother even THINK that he can make the biggest splash.

But it’s not always about the splash. Sometimes, it’s about the height.

What do you think? I think Adam’s got the height.

What a fabulous weekend!

First, I finally got some sleep. Folks, I had been running on virtually ZERO sleep for the last two to three weeks, making for a Donna that didn’t feel very well. It was rough. I do not know WHY I couldn’t sleep (because my body was absolutely SCREAMING for some shuteye). All I know is that I felt like a drugged up zombie (minus the drugs) with the reflexes of a tree stump, barely functioning. I couldn’t even think. UNTIL . . . I was talking to a neighbor at my pool. She’s an older lady that I absolutely adore and she had the cure - Tylenol PM. I had been taking Benedryl, but it wasn’t working one little bit. So I tried her Tylenol PM and SHAZAM. . . I slept. It was wonderful, blissful sleep. It took a couple of days to get back to my regular perky and peppy self, but the difference in how I felt was staggering.

Second, despite the weathermen’s predictable “cover their behinds” forecast for the area of scattered thunderstorms, we only experienced a very slight sprinkle that lasted less than five minutes the entire weekend. The clouds looked ominous when the slight sprinkle began and it sent all the lightweights pool-goers running for home. But not this chick. Nope, I walked up under the overhang very calmly and very patiently, stood there for about a minute and a half and then marched my behind right back out to my chair. The skies behind the ominous ones were bright blue and the sun returned.

My two boys came over for dinner. I made roast beef with gravy, smashed potatoes, roasted squash and zucchini, and brownies and it was all very tasty. Then after cleaning that up, we went out to the pool. My boys did not inherit my love of the sun. Actually, they despise the sun, so with the sunlight fading behind the condos, they felt it was safe enough to play in the pool.

And play, they did! I got these action shots.

This is Chris (aka Shark) sneaking up on his brother

who is innocently trying to show me how to sit on the bottom of the pool. (I simply can NOT do it! I FLOAT right to the top. I think it’s because of the two bouys attached to my chest.)

When suddenly he’s attacked!

“What the world!”

Chris is a brute! I often wondered why he never played football and made me millions cuz he’s so strong that I’m sure he could take those bigass dudes down at the knees.

Adam is resisting this attack the best he can. Bless his heart!

But Chris gets bored and tosses him aside like yesterday’s newspaper.

“BAM! Take that little brother!”

(Chris has done this to Adam his entire life)

Now he drags him around

to press the point that HE IS THE KING OF THE POOL!

He’s victorious!

But Adam doesn’t mind at all. You know why? Cuz he’s got other things to think about. . .

HE’S got the girl! (She’s the new girlfriend and is extremely camera shy so this was the best I could get) (Oh, and I like her too)

Like I said. . . a super FUN weekend! I have many more fun AND funny pictures, but until my hard drive starts playing nice with my memory card, I have to stop for today. It’s killing me!

**Hot flashes
**Weight gain
**Facial hair
**Sleep Disorders
**Mood swings

Doesn’t really rate high up on the “Can’t wait to get there” scale.

**And finally, the one I’d always heard. . . It only lasts for about six months. **insert loud buzzer** WRONG!

I had to have my womanly parts yanked out when I was 30 years old. (Thank goodness I’d already had my two boys) They told me then that I could go through menopause at any time in the next 20 years. Well, I made it 10. In my early 40’s, things started to change. And I remember feeling self-assured that it would only last six months. I could make it six months. Piece of cake. That was EIGHT years old.

Which brings me to that last one. I’ll address the last one first because that’s the biggest crock of all of them. Menopause can last as long as it bloody well wants to last. According to my reading, it can seriously last anywhere from six to thirteen years. YEARS, people! Welcome to my hell world.

Hot flashes! This seem to be the keynote sympton to menopause. The one thing that states “Game On”. The change of life is here. But I want to set one thing straight right now. When I say hot flashes, I mean it is NO. JOKE. HOT! There’s no warming up to hot. It’s not like Nelly’s song “It’s gettin’ hot in here” hot. NO - it’s like you’re perfectly fine one second and the next second, you’re blazing-on-fire-you-think-you’re-going-to-die-strip-till-you’re-naked-right-this-second-hot. I had the majority of my hot flashes during the winter which worked out really well for me (well, as well as hot flashes can go anyway). However, I LOOKED like a freak of nature to everyone I knew, and more especially, those that I didn’t know. I went to work that entire winter wearing my summer clothes, skirts, tank tops, sandals. Not a single coat/jacket/sweater in sight. Not once that entire winter did those particular garments touch this body. I was walking across the parking lot going into my office one morning and a lady slightly older than I just looked at me (she didn’t even make a face as most people did) and simply said, “Menopause?” Me - “Yep”. Enough said. End of conversation.

But then there was home and . . . my children. Not once did I turn the heat on in the house because I was certain that I would DIE. I kept my bedroom windows wide open (but I had my door closed so not to freeze out the rest of the house) and I walked around in shorts and a t-shirt. I remember my oldest boy coming to me several times. He was wearing three layers of clothes and a beanie on his head telling me, “MOM! I can see my breath in the house!!” I’m sitting there in my t-shirt perfectly fine explaining how I would melt into a puddle if I turned on the heat. Did he really want me to melt? He didn’t answer that.

Weight gain! **insert buzzer** I think it’s different for everybody. I, personally, haven’t gained anything. BUT! Oh, there IS a BUT! But, your body shifts. I mean it totally reshapes itself. It morphes into something that you never signed up for. My entire behind moved. I didn’t lose it. It just MOVED. It moved to my midsection. Left my behind (not that I ever had much of one) altogether. Gone. Welcome to my midsection. But then comes in the whole “care factor” and it’s not that big of a deal. Ten years ago, I’d have been destroyed by this morphysis, but now. . . not so much. I am who I am. Now, I just am with a little baby belly and NO ass at all.

Facial hair! Really? Now I KNOW that God has a sense of humor. Why else would he do this to women? Seriously! Wrinkles aren’t enough? He has to throw in a mustache as icing on the cake?! Well, thank goodness that I’m blonde! It’s not HORRIBLY noticeable, but I DO have to shave it off every now and then. It’s just not fair. We already have to shave our legs and our armpits. So I was thinking maybe I could let it grow and I could shape myself a handlebar mustache. You know, start a trend. (I just made myself shudder in thought)

Sleep Disorders! This one is not even funny. I NEED MY SLEEP! Throw in the hot flashes (which are then termed night sweats - FUN times!) and you are one miserable puppy. This has been going on now for several years for me. It comes and goes, but mostly it comes. A month or so ago, I went two whole weeks straight where I slept all night and the difference was so noticeable in how much better I felt. I was happier than usual, more carefree, less likely to take someone’s head off. I thought my sleep loss had come to an end. Then the sleep robber came again. This week has been especially bad and I. AM. EXHAUSTED. Monday night, I slept fantastic. . . from 11pm until 1am. Then WIDE awake the rest of the night. Tuesday night, I slept great from 11pm until 2:06am., then again, wide awake. Wednesday night, I got a whopping four hours of sleep. I made it until 3:10am! I almost threw a party, except I had no energy. I’m like a drained noodle. Which leads me to. . .

Mood swings! What can I say? Hormones are shifting and they wreak havoc in many forms. It’s everything from crying for no apparent reason, to blowing a gasket if the toilet paper is upside down on the little spinny thing. And there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. But I think it’s so much more than that. I think the mood swings/hormone shifting has shifted my entire attitude. My “What’s Most Important” ideals have changed as well. My “Who Gives A Shit” factor - shifted. And my “Tolerance For Bullshit” has. left. the. building. One might consider me a tad cranky. I don’t see it that way though. I see it as the vail of pretense has been lifted. What you see is what you get. I’m too old to play games, but I’m old enough to have learned what really matters. And whether I drive a fancy car, or buy highend clothes, whether a neighbor likes me or not, or whether I’m having a bad hair day and a zit that would rival any volcano. . . really? Does any of that REALLY matter in the grand scheme of things? Will I remember any of it five years from now? Probably not. So who gives a shit? Do you have any idea how refreshing that feels? I feel ten pounds lighter without all that worry.

To summarize. . . hormones SUCK.

So yesterday, I had a dentist appointment. (Just a cleaning. No cavities, thank you very much.) My plan was to go to the appointment, then go home (I was waiting for a package that needed signing for - again - damned XBox) and I was going to work from there for the rest of the day. But as I was sitting in the dentist chair looking out the window at a beautiful sunny (and HOT) afternoon, I was thinking, “Hmmm. Maybe I should just go to the pool after the UPS man comes, then work from home tonight.” It sounded like a great idea to me! Apparently, Mother Nature didn’t think so.

It was beautiful (and HOT, did I mention that?) when I left the dentist’s office. It was beautiful all the way home. I got home, logged into the office and worked for about an hour before the UPS man came, and as soon as he drove away. . . . not five minutes later. . . some seriously dark, lightening-filled clouds rolled in and said, “NO! You will NOT go to the pool! Get to work girlfriend!” **whimper**

It was a crazy storm!! There have been crazy storms all over the U.S. lately. I guess storm season is among us. Anyway, this storm went on for hours. It was just stalled right above us. So I finished out my workday, watched my soap, The Young and the Restless (Damn, hottie Nick went back to that slutbag, Sharon and left fiesty Phyllis), and I started baking.

I have no reason to bake other than the fact that I can’t sit still (unless I’m lounging in the sun) and I have this compulsive urge to find tasty recipes for the Hell of it. So I went back to last Sunday’s game plan before it got so rudely interrupted with sunshine - Paula Deen’s Chewy Cake. Here’s what you need:

CHEWY CAKE

1 stick butter (there’s a surprise!)
1 box brown sugar (yes, the whole box!)
2 cups self-rising flour
3 eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
1 cup coconut (optional)
2 cups chopped pecans (optional, or you can substitute walnuts)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional, but why would you leave them out?)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream sugar and butter really well. Sift in flour; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Then add vanilla, mix well. Stir in coconut, pecans, chocolate chips. Mixture will be stiff.

Spoon into greased 9″ x 13″ pan and bake for 30 - 35 minutes.

This is what you get!

They are EASY! (And I DO love me some easy) They ARE chewy! They ARE tasty! And they ARE different. But I like different. I’M different. It’s how I roll. And trust me, I WILL be rolling if I eat this whole pan. So I took them to the office.