I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Living

10 Reasons Why You Need a Moms’ Brunch

10 Reasons Why You Need a Moms’ Brunch- fun and practical reasons to get together with your girlfriends to connect & escape your kids. Ha!

Making friends as an adult can be really hard. No longer do you meet other kids at the lunch table and declare them your best friend by the end of the week. Instead, you need to put yourself out there in a crowd and meet someone.

My mom and her best friend met while they were getting their nails done. Both of them were getting their nails done in a bright red, both their (then) husbands disliked it. Clearly, this was something to bond over. They have been friends for over 30 years.

I have the most wonderful best friends that live far away. For one, I see her about 1x a year as we mix things up between us visiting each other in Seattle and Tampa. And another, who I chat with daily, on multiple apps (at the same time), and we have only been together 2x in real life. Friendships come in all different ways so you need to savor them, whenever and wherever you can.

Thankfully I have some absolutely fantastic friends here in Florida.

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The Week in Rewind #24

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I think this year is on warp speed. It all is just flying by sooo quickly!

I like to try to knock out our errands for the week on Monday, so it feels like we are tackling a lot of things and then we are free to have lots of fun. So, we ran around a bit to get some wipes of HHunter, get a gift, go grocery shopping, and get the dogs more dog food. And then we were free for more awesome stuff like Tea Parties.

 

Autumn had been talking about having a tea party for a week and that is needed REAL flowers, so they were on our list and once we had them… time for tea. But really just getting to sit down and chat while drinking water and snacking on some things like blueberries and grape tomatoes. It was just so fun that we had that moment together.

Thank goodness Monday was so great because Tuesday was rough.

When do kids listen to instructions? Because I need that to happen now.

I’m not talking about the now “get your shoes on” crap. I’m talking about instructions for activities. “Put the beads on the string for the necklace, then wait for me.” Errr, wrong. I’m going to discover the beads are on the string that is now cut into 3 pieces and the piece with the beads is glued to a piece of paper. Ultimately, the beaded pieces of string were going to get adhered to the piece of paper, but wtf… just listen.

Send help.

 

Wednesday was back to normal, or more routine.

We went on a walk in the morning and then we went to the pool in the afternoon.

Plus, it was our 3rd year wedding anniversary.

Price had to work in Orlando for most of the day, so he didn’t get home until after 9, which was a bummer since I really wanted to have sushi for dinner and the place closed at 9. whomp whomp.

But we chilled on the couch and ate some leftover cake. I guess that is how you do a mid week anniversary with big projects and kids.

On Thursday, I decided to treat Autumn to a Ken doll because she kept making Anna (from Frozen) the Dad when playing with her dolls. We went to Target to pick up a Ken doll

Then we stuffed ourselves silly with Chinese food from Lee House since the Olive Garden had a 25 minute wait. Ummm, no. I’m not waiting for the Olive Garden. Ever.

The biggest thing going on in our house right now is that our TV’s “broke.”

Oh no, the only channel that works now is PBS Kids. Too bad “Shimmer and Shine” and “Paw Patrol” aren’t working. I just couldn’t take any more genies or arguments for more Paw Patrol or whatever. Now, we have lots of educational shows and less annoying sparkle sounds. I swear that sparkle has a sound. ugh.

Maybe we need to send our TV’s to Santa, so he can fix them along with the tablet. ha!!!!

 

Friday was a big day for Price since it was Bonus Day at work. While he went out the office to go bowling, I took the kids to Wine Down. I had the most amazing burger from a food truck that came. Holy smokes!

While the burger was really good, the best part of the night was that I got to relax in the tub. Ah, soaking my worries away with a good book. My perfect kind of Friday night.

I went to a my friend’s surprise 30th birthday party on Saturday night. It was great to be there and to celebrate her and our other friend’s birthday. So fun!

The food was just as incredible as the company. Watching my budget, I went with the cheapest thing (which was still $19!). Two burgers in 2 days was not intended, but they were both so good, so worth my tight jeans.

And then Sunday was Father’s Day!!!

We went to the pool at my dad’s community, as our big pool is not yet ready. And, going on a slide is a must.

Afterwards, I ran around to the grocery store for stuff for dinner and Price mowed. Ah, even on Father’s Day, there are chores.

At least we all got to relax at night so that we could enjoy some grilled pizza when my dad came over.

The kids went to bed, we cleaned up, and then I got to work!!! Ah, 1am comes way up way too quick.

It was a great week.

 

The Week in Rewind #19

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Nothing says “Monday… oh, it’s you again…” than a red eye flight that arrives at 6.08am. Oooph!

 

The busy, fun, tiring weekend away in Seattle whooped my butt so Monday was pretty chill with the kids. At least I came home to the living room all set up again. Price worked so hard all weekend and set the furniture back up and wall mounted the TV.

I had the goal of having a more productive Tuesday, so we went to the library in the morning, but I was still so zonked from the weekend that I tricked Autumn into taking a nap with me. Except that she bailed on me at the last minute and I slept while she colored in bed next to me. Thankfully I set an alarm and we made it to gymnastics in time.

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The Week In Rewind #1

Years and years ago I started to do a weekend recap on my blog because I was listening to Martha Stewart Radio on Sirius and they used to have a Monday morning series where you could call in, email, or tweet them a weekend recap explaining “How Martha You Were”. The person who was most “Martha” won some prize.

I knew I was being an awesome weekend warrior and I could win, so I started to document these weekend wins on the blog. I would then email or tweet them the link.

Every damn Monday.

Did I ever win?

Nope.

There were some real legit winners who did super cool things in a weekend like  building a tree house, canning 300 jars of jam, knitting 15 hats for preemie babies, running a marathon, etc. BUT, some weeks. The lamest people would win and I’d call BS on some of the winners since they would report something like “I saw my grand-kids and I baked cookies with them,. Then we enjoyed them with hot chocolate” and I’d listen in going “WTF! I made marinara sauce with 50 pounds of tomatoes!!!” Or I would have thought “WHAT?! That is nothing! I built our raised beds this weekend and I split 8 hosta plants and planted 8 tomato plants, 3 pepper plants, etc, etc!!!”

Eventually, I gave up sharing my weekend warrior wins, but kept up the tradition of posting weekend recaps. I stopped last year as I was really feeling disconnected with blogging since we had so much going on- finish the construction of our house, moving into it, getting settled in it, having Hunter, etc.

 

I missed documenting all that fun stuff, so I’m back at it! However, I’m changing it up so instead of just talking about the weekend, I am going to do a recap for the whole week. I think this change up will be great to talk more about our day to day lives; which are pretty awesome. It is going to be fun to feature the fun and mundane things that Autumn, Hunter, and I are doing, now that I am staying home with them too.

Let’s kick things off with a little recap of what was happening the first week of 2018!

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We aren’t that big into New Year’s so the fact that we went out to our friend’s house for a party on NYE is a big deal. Granted, we wrapped things up before the ball dropped since Hunter wasn’t staying asleep at our friends house. We could have kept trying to get him settled but it didn’t feel very fair for him. Plus, I value sleep above all else and if the kids are sleeping, I am then sleeping!

Autumn sorta made it up for the ball drop since she dozed for a few but then work back up again for the countdown with Price. I didn’t care and I called it quits at 11.58. I’m a party pooper.

New Year’s Day was super chill. We slept in later than normal since everyone was up later than normal. We just hung around in PJ’s and just relaxed. The best way to kick off 2018.

The 2nd was our dating anniversary… 13 years!

We always recognize the importance of the day but we didn’t get a chance to do anything for it with the busyness of the holidays and the fact that was a Tuesday, and blah blah blah. We are old and lame.

But in reality, we are going to have a little solo date night to celebrate our anniversary and my upcoming birthday while we are on our cruise later this month. OMG I can’t wait for that cruise.

On the 2nd, I also went back to work for my last week of work. To say I was trilled, is an understatement. I’ve been looking forward for this change for a long time.

The rest of the week coasted by with us being super thankful that we were no longer in Boston. Every morning we enjoyed watching the news covering the Bombogenesis as we dealt with our old cold morning temps in the mid 30’s. ha!

 

My friend & coworker took me out to lunch on Wednesday. Everything was incredible.

Wednesday’s Orange Theory Fitness class kicked my butt. I’m loving it though. I’ve been having some issues with the heart beat monitor which stinks since my stats aren’t accurate, but I am just glad to be going.

 

Autumn and I went out to dinner with my dad and Aunt at a Chinese food restaurant in preparation for a memorial service that my Aunt was going to hold on Sunday for her best friend. I had salt and pepper shrimp which is my FAVORITE dish and I haven’t had it in years. Bliss.

I then had another Orange Theory Class. OMG, I am never eating before class again. That was so awful. Lesson learned.

Friday was my last day of work. It flew by since I was so busy wrapping things up, teaching people some things, saying bye to people, but I still managed to take a moment to enjoy some lunch with my coworkers.

The hardest part of the day was writing an email to my old office and current one saying bye. I’m glad to be staying home with the kids now, but it was tough thinking about where I started when I first started interning in Boston and everything that I learned and worked on over the years.

But spending my days with these 2 nuggets is going to be so awesome.

Even if they drive me to hide in the bathroom. ha!

I got in another OTF class in the morning on Saturday before Price went over our friend’s house to help them pack up to move.

They are building a house that is walking distance from our house, which is just so awesome. I can’t even being to imagine the trouble we are going to be into together.

 

The kids and I went over to our other friend’s house for a birthday party. At usual, it was great getting to hang out with all the moms, the kids had a blast making the school bus craft, and Hunter got to and with his future girlfriend, Mila.

Sunday was sorta insane but it all worked out.

Price did OTF in the morning and then I went out to brunch with my friends at The Hall on Franklin. But before that, Hunter had an allergic reaction to eggs. Fun!

So that Kentucky Champagne was very much needed.

I really value getting to hang with my awesome friends and enjoy our newly established monthly brunch outing.

After brunch, I raced home, got the kids, and then went to the Memorial Service. It was great to remember someone with a great appetite and a great appetite for life. And it didn’t hurt that the restaurant doubled the order( what?!?!) and I left with an insane amount of leftovers.

The rest of the day flew by as we got the kids ready for the week ahead.

It was a great week.

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I’m looking forward documenting our busy, fun, crazy weeks in this series. Hope you enjoy these recaps too!

 

 

 

Happy Friendsgiving 2017

I love that we found such a great group of friends since moving to Florida.

We just clicked and it works so well with kids all around the same age (5 and under). The kids all play together and we get to hang and talk fun things like crappy sleep, endless weekend to do lists, and boob jobs we dream of. Ah mom life! ha!

Well, we divided up the holidays and hosting duties throughout the year.

Molly and Aaron got Friendsgiving, so we headed over to their house on Saturday with a giant tray of Sausage & Mushroom Stuffing and some booze in hand to hang out with friends while getting stuffed on some really awesome food!

 

They created really cute Thankful cards for each of the kids and gave them crayons to color in a big picture together. It was a good activity for the kids, besides the regular running around and screaming they always do.

Hunter’s future girlfriend Mila… so sweet and squishy. I love fresh babies.

Hunter was thrilled just to hang out with everyone. Also, nom on some blocks.

I did my typical Thanksgiving thing and not eat any turkey but just stuff myself on all the sides.

I realized that my sweet potatoes need work. The ones that Dolly brought were out of this world. They were so incredibly creamy, mine are never like that. But I did rock the stuffing that I brought so at least there is that! I am good with my stuffing skills, but I need to work on things for my sweet potatoes.

 

 

The kids finally wound down and watched a movie.

Ahh, so many girls. The few boys are going to be in trouble in this group!

The ladies stayed in and talked and talked and the guys went outside to build a fire n the fire pit and hang there.

Well, I’d say that the night was a big success!

Can’t wait for our next group party… Dolly & Rocky’s Ugly Sweater Party!!

 

Good Bye Frank The Tank

A few weeks ago we lost someone very dear to us.

Frank the Tank.

 

He was our car. Our awesome the little engine that could car. Our gritty rode tough car. Our I probably took that turn too tight car. Our over packed car.

I’m not gonna lie I cried walking away from this car.

Way back in 2005, I was debating my mom and stepdad about bringing my ’97 Jeep Wrangler up to Boston, where I was attending college. I wanted to bring it up so badly but that was a hard ‘no’ in their book. They didn’t want me to have issues with it getting broken into with its soft top and it’s essential lack of trunk for any sort of transporting of things, and it was ‘old’ with a ‘bunch’ of miles on it. Plus, it was standard, which would suck in Boston traffic.

I was pissed.

My stepdad was even offering to get me a new car. I was still pissed.

I did the asshole like 20 year old thing and shit talked all the cars he suggested. Poor guy tried so hard with emails of types of cars and I had to be like “Oh that’s cool, but how about this one?” sending back some other car to every car that he sent. Again, I’m an ass.

The real kicker that he has never let me live down was that when he suggested the Scion XA, I responded with “umm, that’s not my style.” Come on, it is weird looking. It’s like a bug, and not the VW kind.

I test drove a Cruz and the Scion XA, ultimately agreeing with him that the Scion XA was the better car for me, even if it wasn’t my style.

Price named it Frank the Tank, a la, Old School, the movie staring Will Ferrell. It was a dorky purple car, but it partied hard and kicked some ass.

We took this car EVERYWHERE!!! It did EVERYTHING.

We drove it all over New England for adventures down to The Cape and up to Maine. He ventured through the snow to go to Satan’s Kingdom.  We took him to the top of Mt. Washington for a fun sunrise trip up the mountain. He was overloaded with too many bags of soil on several occasions. We did a road trip down to Charlotte. He spun out in the snow when I coasted way too fast down a hill on a ski trip once. He was on the track at Watkin’s Glen. And Price loaded him up with my dried wedding bouquet, the 2 dogs, and the last of the important, fragile things for our move down to FL.

But just a few hundred miles shy of 150,000 miles. RIP.

Price was driving it home from work when it just stopped working. Thankfully, he was able to get over to the shoulder safely since the transmission was not working and no matter how hard he tried to get it into gear and for it to go, it was not going anywhere.

I’m bummed that Frank didn’t make it to 150K miles with us, but at least he will live on with the next owner. One of the guys at the repair shop where Price had it towed to, offered us $500 for it since he could easily put in a transmission in there in his spare time to give to his mother in law. At least, she gets a car and he won’t get junked since us paying $1,300+ for a transmission on a car that already needed a bunch of work didn’t make much sense for us.

So, Price got to work and found a great car to take the place of Frank. We drove it over to drop some things off with the mechanic taking the car. It felt like we were betraying Frank to have the new car there. Poor Frank.

But I now get to look out for it in case we ever see it on the road again. I really hope I do one day, and I will probably get choked up seeing it.

Frank the Tank. RIP

 

Mother’s Day Gift Guide- 2017

Woohoo! Mother’s Day is fast approaching. Are you ready?!

Resist the urge to take mom out for brunch. Everyone does it and it’s a madhouse out there. Also, resist the idea of making breakfast in bed for her. Unless you make everything, give her the breakfast, and walk away to clean EVERYTHING up. Let her eat in peace. Personally, I think it’s a better idea to let her sleep in while you take a gremlins out of the house, and you bring back her favorite donuts/bagel/pastries and a giant coffee. Again, you leave her alone to eat in peace.

Have you caught on yet?!?!?

In addition to that, some gifts would be nice. Feel free to go while and get some fun things. Maybe you should skip that spinning stone necklace in exchange for these awesome goodies.

-Bath and Body-

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A Great Lipstick- Melted by Too Faced $21

I am loving lipsticks from Too Faced lately since they have great coverage and colors. Nudes are classic but bright colors are fun for summer. Just get her one that will make her feel wonderful.

 

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Her Favorite Perfume – $60+

It’s just wonderful how when you give your mom a big hug and you take in a deep breath, breathing in her perfume, it takes you back to memories of your childhood.

Getting her a fresh bottle of her signature scent is a winning gift. Or pick up a new scent for her that is sure to become a classic.

-Technology- 

Key, Wallet Tracker – TrackR $30

If mom misplaces her keys or wallet as much as I do, then she will probably love this gadget. It will make getting out of the house with keys in hand quickly and stress free. Instead of running around like crazy looking for her keys, she will be able to quickly locate them with the app on her phone.

Ultra Compact Portable High-Speed Charger- Anker $17

For the moms on the go, these portable phone charges are great. They help you stay connected, or at least on Instagram while at the park.

-Food and Drink- 

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Pineapple embossed wineglasses –  Luminarc $32 for 6

Pineapples are super trendy now. Yay! So you can’t go wrong with gifting these fun glasses and a bottle of wine.

Then walk far away from mom so she can enjoy a glass of wine in silence. shhhh!!

7 In 1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker– Instant Pot $99

This could be tricky. She might be offended that you are giving her a kitchen gadget, but

the risk might pay off when she tries it and falls in love with it. I am loving mine so I hope she loves hers too.

A fun mug- $15

I swear that it’s a real victory if I can manage to drink a cup of coffee without reheating it in the microwave. Why are morning so crazy?!?! At least a new  large mug will be a cute addition  to her collection. Hopefully, it will give her a good laugh when she retrieves it out of the microwave again and again.

And don’t forget to gift her favorite coffee or tea along with the mug!

Delightfully Delicious Macarons – $15- 90

Online order some macarons or stop by a local bakery to pick some up before visiting mom. I bet she will get a kick out the inventive flavors, like passion fruit, lychee, or lavender.

-Staying Active- 

Activity Tracker- Fit Bit $99- $150

I have used a FitBit for the past few years and I have loved every step of it. There are all different styles of fitness trackers so get one that you think mom will like. The low profile Alta or the Charge with the heart rate monitor? So many options, so many mix and match bands to accessorize with it.

Fitness Membership  – Orange Theory

If mom likes to push herself then have her check out an Orange Theory class. She will love to see how many calories she burned and how many splat points she earned during class. Then she can calculate how many glasses of wine she can have in exchange for the calories she burned during class. ha!

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Bye 2016! Hello 2017!

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A cocktail for him, a mocktail for me.
Enjoying date night to celebrate the end of the year, our 12th dating anniversary, and Baby H arriving in June! Cheers!!!

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Every year my husband and I review ‘The Best of’ at the end of the year.

We all know 2016 was a dumpster fire of a year, so I don’t need to dwell on the things that went badly to horrible wrong… celebrity deaths, US and international terrorist attacks, accidents and natural disasters, and Trump!

We focus on the things that brought us happiness from dinners out, vacations, funny moments, etc.

While enjoying a dinner out to celebrate our 12th dating anniversary (1/2 to be exact) we recapped the year that was 2016.

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We said good bye to Boston, home for 12+ years, where we met, where we graduated college together, where we bought a house, had Autumn, got our dogs, and made tons of memories.

Adding Brinkley to our family. Right before moving. Insanity but glad we didn’t think twice about getting our little derpy love muffin.

A great date night before leaving Boston at the Tip Tap Room where we had the best pork belly steamed buns. Dreamy.

The crazy awesomeness that was moving from Boston to the Tampa area. I flew with Autumn and our rabbit, Bunny, in mid Feb and Price drove down with the stinky dogs in mid March.

We sold our house. Above asking. A lot above asking.

Discovering how easy it is to get Taylor Ham at the grocery store here in Florida. It’s the little things in life.

Making wonderful friends down here. They have helped make this transition to the complete unknown a lot easier.

Celebrating our 1 year anniversary with a long weekend in Disney. It was a combined honeymoon and anniversary thing for us and it was so much fun. Except for a few queasy hours at Epcot. ha!

We started construction on our dream house.

Taking Autumn to Disney was an awesome day. She loved everything about it from meeting Ariel, riding dumbo, and suckering Price into a $$$ customized parasol with Cinderella’s castle on it. It was a long hot day but so worth every second of it.

We blew through the fall and right into winter with the warm weather, which I love.

Watching Autumn grow this past year has awesome too. She has such a fun personality and cracks us up, when not driving us crazy asking ‘why?’ 500x a day. Non stop talking and singing is only broken up when she is doing art projects. She is so fun!

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Now we have a lot to look forward to in 2017!

We can’t wait to move into our house and then welcome our second child there.

I can’t wait for all the big things and the small awesome things that make day to day so much fun.

 

 

 

31.

It’s my birthday today. I’m ready for 31.

There is going to be a lot of change this upcoming year and I am ready for it.

I’ve been feeling crummy lately with this feeling of being stuck. Stuck in Boston. Stuck in stuff at work. Stuck with this blog. Stuck in a whole lot of things.

But the big move to Florida is now fast approaching so my mood for just about everything is changing. I know I shouldn’t put so much weight on the move, but I am. It is giving me a fresh start to just about everything.

I am so excited about it. Sure, there are things that stress me out, like how our house is not yet sold, I am moving with Autumn about 6 weeks ahead of Price, and how I don’t yet have daycare for Autumn confirmed, but I am trying not to stress and just be happy that the thing I’ve been looking forward to for the past 10 or so months is finally here.

I’m taking the move as a chance to make some big changes.

Physical changes- I just got my haircut (like 4+ inches off!) and bought some new make up. Maybe that will help me feel like an adult? Maybe it will make me look more mature and people will treat me with more respect? Maybe, just maybe, that shit shouldn’t matter?

Emotional changes- I don’t know what I see for myself emotionally. I actually feel good now. I used to go to therapy, but then it got too stressful to juggle going, and what’s the point in being stressed about going to therapy? I don’t think I need to go again, but I miss having someone to bitch to without having them really go ‘well, you know you’re husband is great…” and I having to say back “Yes, I know he is great, that’s why I married the guy, but if I have to tell him one more time to XYZ I might just murder him in his sleep.” without being really judged since I’m paying them to nod along to my current crisis about some minor shit.

Work changes- I love the company I’ve worked for for the past 9 years for, but if we’re being honest, I’ve felt stagnate for the past few years. Basically, since I had Autumn. I know there are seasons/phases in our lives and I am in the ‘mom to a bossy toddler’ phase, but I’m tired of that being my label. I am looking forward to starting over in a new, much smaller office where I can make my mark again.

Blog Changes- I understand why so many bloggers are feeling the blogger burn out lately. Traffic is not what it used to be. Bloggers are tried of getting PR pitches for no money. People are not engaging as much. Bueller? Bueller? There are a lot of changes that I want to make for the blog so I hopefully you’ll have some patience with me while I work on those changes related to layout, branding, and finding my voice again.

Friend Changes- I hope to actually make some friends this year. I have always felt on the outside of so many circles. Outside of the singles circle. Outside of the New England sports teams lover circle. Outside of such and such circle. I am friendly with people at work, but I don’t have their #’s, I don’t go out to bars with them, I don’t exactly fit in. I’ve even felt outside of the mommy’s circle. It’s what happens when you can’t make it to any mommy’s groups since you’re working, you don’t go to church, and you don’t really bump into any other parents at daycare pick up. Shoot, I’ve tried to strike up conversations with moms at play centers and even Target. So hopefully this will be the year to change that. Maybe Price and I will end up with a Cul-De-Sac Crew one day.

Etc, Etc, Etc Changes- Be more honest without being mean. Stop being so loud. Stop yelling at the dog so much (but WTF is up with ripping up boxes of tissues). Eat more tacos. Stop apologizing so much. Start scrapbooking again. Stop ‘effing swearing so much. Reduce the urge to punch Sheryl Sandberg in the face ever time I hear someone say ‘lean in’. Buy more Sperry’s. Read more books.

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I think that 31 will be a great year. And if I fail miserably, at least I tried.