My Babies are Growing

My babies are growing, as babies do. My babies are 10, 7, 3, and 2.

It's bittersweet, leaving the baby days behind. No more squishy newborns. No more excited wondering about who this new little person will be. 

No more tiny socks and little bonnets. No more sweet, warm swaddled bundles. 

I look sometimes are these big boys and wonder where my tiny babies went. 

Then, sometimes I look at them and wonder if they were ever really that small.

Where has all the time gone? 

I won't say that it went fast. Or that I missed any of it. I was here. Right here with them, the whole time. It sure didn't feel fast. I savored all the moments, and never once wished them away. 

Not even this one.

I held onto the moments, and made it through the days, one after another, no matter what they brought. 

I have tried, and often failed, to live each day with grace. To find balance between holding them tight, and letting them go. 

I am happy to be a part of their lives. To have the chance to live and love and learn with them. 

Many days have been wonderful. 

And many days have been hard. 

There have been some days that I am glad I never have to live through again. 

And a few days that I can't believe we survived.

But through it all, I have cherished the gift or a love so sweet, it breaks my heart. 

So now, let's count my blessings.

#1. Everyone in my house sleeps all night, almost every night, in their own beds. Including me. 

#2. Everyone uses the potty at least some of the time. Most people wear big people underwear. Wet undies are becoming increasingly rare.

Diapers are quickly becoming a thing of the past. 

#3. Most of my children do chores, and do them well. 

My days of taking out trash, picking up toys, and sorting laundry are on an indefinite reprieve. 

Their "help" is actually helpful.

#4. I can use the bathroom all by myself. When I take a shower, I don't have to keep on ear open in case someone cries. I can be reasonably certain the house will still be standing when I get out. 

#5. I can have real conversations with my children. Sometimes about things other than cartoons. 

And I can see the interesting, intelligent, good-hearted men they are becoming. 

#6. I can throw them out in the back yard after breakfast and say, "I'll call you in for lunch."

#7 everyone can walk on their own feet. 

At least for a little while. 

#8 They are the best of friends. Everytime I see them together, I love each one a little bit more. 

11 ways to make your time work for you

"Organized" and "organization" have become some of the most used and most highly valued words in our modern vocabulary. In spite of my free-spirited nature, I'm good with organization. I want to give this topic a little general discussion before we get into specifics of how I run my household. 

First a little back ground. 
I am a homeschooling mom of 4 boys. We do not have a hectic lifestyle. In fact, right now, 3 boys are playing in the back yard, most of their school work is finished, their chores are done. The baby is playing in the playroom. I am sitting on the couch drinking my coffee. It's 9 am.

Muddy babies.

Everyone had a nice, home-cooked breakfast and soon, I will get up, and cook a hot lunch. We will finish school, little ones will take naps, we will play a game, I will cook dinner, D will come home, we will all sit down and have a nice family dinner. Then bedtime and evening time for the older boys and then couple time and/or alone time for D and me. 

Working diligently.

This is a typical day for us. One day a week, we sell homemade goods (most appearing in this blog) at a local farmer's market. Once a week we have Park Day with our home school group. In the spring and summer, there will be sports and arts and crafts classes. I shop twice a month and rarely make trips in between. For the most part, our lives are simple and smooth. 

My house is not immaculate. If you glance through the pictures on this blog, you can see that toys are strewn about the playroom, dishes are in the sink, clutter forever lives on the desk. I try to keep a certain level of cleanliness and tidiness, but I have 4 muddy little boys outside whatever room I'm cleaning, just waiting to get in and mess it all up. 

And that's ok. 

We live here. We are a real family. Our house is small, and it's old and it is in dire need of loving care and a major overhaul. We have been here 5 years and we are slowly rebuilding it from the subflooring on up ( I would say "the ground" but it doesn't actually sit on the ground). 

My handyman, fixing the roof.

My laundry is done, my dishes are washed (well, not yet, but I will wash them before I make lunch), my bathroom is scrubbed, my house is cute, my kids are educated, and our meals are hot and made from scratch. I sleep at night. I eat regular meals. I sit with my coffee everyday (sometimes at 2 pm, but still), I have time for myself and my interests. I have hobbies. I have no childcare outside of myself, my husband, and 2-3 weekends a year at grandma's house for the older 2. 

We live on a very tight budget. We are fixing up our house, raising a large family, and getting out of debt on one modest income. 

How do I manage everything?

I have a system. Actually I have many, many systems. I am organized. Our house is organized. I'm not a naturally organized person. I'm a flighty artist at heart. But, I like to get things done and flying by the seat of my pants is not going to cut it. 

Lists, charts, calendars. Blah.

I am at home full time now, but, over the years, I have worked outside the home, taken my children to work with me, worked from home, for a short time, we had no home, been a full time student with a child, and sent my kid to daycare. I have walked in a lot of shoes. Maybe yours. Whoever you are, I'm sure you'd like to make more of your time.

First, let's talk about what organization is NOT.

#1. Organization is not a virtue. 

We talk about organization as if it is something to aspire to. It isn't. 
I have heard so many times, "I wish I were more organized." "I can't do ... because I'm not organized enough." "Wow, you are so organized!" 

Ya'll. I did not just wake up one day and find lists had magically appeared on my walls while I slept. I needed to learn a better way to handle my life, so I learned. You can, too. 

Being organized does NOT make you a better person. It does not mean your life is perfect or easy. It is a tool and a skill that makes things work better for you. 

That is all. 

Don't give it more power than it deserves.

#2. Organization is not about being pretty. 

It can be pretty. But it isn't always. Sometimes it looks a mess. But it's a mess with a purpose and a plan. 

All those pictures on Pinterest are lovely. But that isn't always realistic. I know. Some of those pictures are mine. I carefully fold and stack everything for those pictures and I crop out the parts I don't want you see. I lock my kids out of the room for a few minutes so that I don't have little hands in the frame, or messing up my perfect arrangement of whatever. 

Real organization is work. And work is sometimes messy. Life is messy. That's a fact. No matter how many lists and shelves and baskets you have. Nothing stays perfect for long. 

Pretty is important. But practical is essential.

NOT pretty. But very practical.

#3. Organization does not have to be expensive. 

It sure can be. But you do not need a bathtub full of money to organize your house and especially your life. 

The Pins on Pinterest that irritate me the most (well, actually the ones about being skinny irritate me the MOST, but that's a different post) are the hyper-expensive, super lavish, extra fabulous organizational posts. You know the ones. The closets that are bigger than my bedroom. The kitchens with built-in everything. The custom-crafted whatever. 

That's nice. And if I were having a house built with a sizable budget, I'd be ALL OVER those things. 

But I'm not. And probably, neither are you. 

Our budget for most projects is close to $0, and certainly under 3 digits.

My favorite posts are the ones that show you how to organize using cereal boxes, or soup cans, or free printables. Because ANYONE can do that. Anyone.  

Cereal boxes covered in children's artwork. 

#4 Organization is not a hobby.

It's a tool. It should SAVE you time and energy. If your system is TAKING more time than it is GIVING you, you are doing it wrong. 

Now, let's get started. Here are my tips. 

#1. Think it through. 

You wouldn't build a house without a blueprint. You can't run a house without a plan. 

Identify your trouble spots. 

Laundry piled to the ceiling? Dishes overflowing the sink? No family dinners because no one can find the table under all the detritus? Hitting the drive-thru 4 times a week because there's no food/no time/no plan for dinner? 

Make a list. Prioritize it. Start with one thing that makes you the craziest. Research how other people are SUCCESSFULLY handling it. (Tip for life: Don't take advice from people who failed at whatever challenge you are facing.) 

Make a REALISTIC plan. One that makes sense to you. One that fits your life. Not the one that fits the life you wish you had, or the one that fits the life you think you should have. Those plans are for someone else. They will fail you. (Notice I said THE PLANS will fail, not that YOU will fail. There's a big difference there). 

Follow the plan. Either it will work or it won't. Adjust it as needed, but DO NOT QUIT. 

#2 One step at a time. 

I can guarantee failure, 100%, if you try to tackle everything at once. I promise. It will not work. It cannot work. It's not possible. 

Address ONE problem. Make a step-by-step plan. Take it one step at time. Baby steps if you need them. Just keep chugging. 

It feels overwhelming at first, but it will snowball. Once you get the laundry under control, it will free up so much time, energy and mental anguish, dealing with the dishes will be far more do-able. By the time you get to the 45th item on your list, it will be a breeze. Don't think about #45. Deal with #1. Only #1. 

It may take you all day to accomplish a single goal. But it will be done, eventually. 

When my first baby was born, I started dinner first thing in the morning. I knew it might take all day to make dinner, so I started early. The most important thing I needed was a hot, home cooked meal on the table. That was often the only thing I did all day (besides nourishing and caring for my baby), but that one thing always got done. 

#3 Don't quit. 

Quitters never win and winners never quit. Don't be a giver upper. One foot in front of the other. 

If it becomes apparent that something isn't working, make adjustments. But don't give up. 

My systems are in a constant state of flux. My kids are growing, my life is changing. We add things and we outgrow things. But the bones of the operation remain. I might move the chairs around the table, but I don't serve dinner on the floor. 

#4 Do not wait until you "have time".

You will never have time. There will always be something more important, more interesting, more relaxing, more enjoyable than folding laundry. Fold the laundry anyway. Do it now. Or better yet, make a schedule, and fold the laundry during laundry-folding-time. 

#5 Do not wait until life is easier. 

Life is never easy. Work is work, and life is full of work. In fact, the more crazy and hectic your life is, the more desperately you need a plan.  
Take a deep breath and jump in. We make more work for ourselves by trying to avoid it. 
When you have to dig through the laundry to find your kid a pair of pants (like I did this morning), don't just move the clothes from one pile to another. Fold as you go. Then, put it away. Now. Not later. Now. Protect your work. You might just fold 3 items, but those 3 items are done. Put them away so they don't end up back on the floor in the pile to be folded again. And again. And again. 

#6 Less is more. 

The more stuff you have, the more stuff can pile up. Get rid of the stuff. "Have nothing in your homes that you do not believe to be beautiful or know to be useful," William Morris. 

KNOW to be useful. Not think might be useful someday. 

Just because it's beautiful, doesn't mean you have to own it forever. You do not have bring everything that you see and like into your home.  

If you aren't using it on a regular basis, if you don't love it, ditch it. You won't miss it and your life will be lighter. Someone else will use it and love it. 

I loved this statue, so I took a picture of it. I get to enjoy the image and I never have to dust it.

#7 De-crazy your life. 

We complain all the time about our hectic schedules. It's the modern-day dilemma. How can we be everywhere all the time? 
Who makes our schedules?

We do. We do it to ourselves. 

Why are we so overscheduled? Why are we so busy that we can't feed ourselves and our families healthy meals and make sure everyone is getting enough sleep?
Busy=valuable. If we are busy, we must be important, worthwhile human beings.

Stop doing this to yourself. Yes, you have to work. Yes, some things are unavoidable. Some obligations are worthwhile, or necessary. 
But I'm SURE that there are some obligations that you could drop. Trim it down. Give that time back to yourself and your family. 

Find more time for this, and lose some time in the car.

#8 No one has more time than you do. 

"You must have a lot of time on your hands." I hear this all the time. Stop saying it. It's insulting. The unspoken message is "I have more important things to do than you. That's why you can accomplish all the things that I'm not."

This whole line of thinking is BS. Everyone has 24 hours every day. I don't sit on my ass all day playing and having a great time. I work very hard to get my life in order. I'm sure you are working very hard as well. We just aren't working at the same things in the same ways. Let's stop judging each other and deal with our own affairs. 
If you find yourself saying, "I don't have time for that," ask yourself why? Why don't you have time for that? 
Is it because you don't want to do it? Great. Don't do it. Problem solved. 
Is it because you are spending your time elsewhere? Is that where you want to spend your time? Great. Problem solved again. You're doing great here ;)
Is it something you really WOULD like to be doing, but you just can't squeeze one more blasted item into your bulging to-do list without snapping? Uh oh. Sounds like you have a problem. You might want to look at the rest of this list and make a change or 2. 

#9 Streamline your process.

When you make your plan (Step #1), cut it down to the basics. Don't color code your closet unless you really think that is going to help you choose an outfit in the morning. It may look nice, but it isn't worth the extra work if it isn't going to pay off.
Plan your time. Map out your route, combine errands, rearrange your work space so that you have ready access to the things you need most often. Save yourself precious seconds. Those seconds add up to your life. How many hours of your life have been spent moving laundry from one pile to another? Take those hours back. 

#10 Be kind to yourself. 
Change isn't going to happen all at once. You won't be able to revamp your entire life in one day. Or 30 days. Or a year, maybe. Take it day by day, moment by moment. Be patient with yourself.
If you are going through a difficult time-illness, pregnancy, new baby, job change, a move- you are going to have to let some things go. Focus on the important things and don't waste your precious energy on things that aren't essential right now. 
Take time for yourself. Make sure that you are eating well and regularly. Carve out time for exercise, relaxation, quiet time to reflect on what is going well and what needs improvement. Time spent on yourself is NOT wasted. It is highly valuable. Use it. 
Be realistic about your own capabilities. Some people are high-energy multitaskers. Some people move at a slower pace. Know who you are and work WITH yourself, not against yourself. A large degree of honesty and humility is necessary here. 

#11 Enlist help. 
The world does not actually rest on your shoulders alone. Everyone in a home MUST contribute in some way. Children can be trained to do chores. Spouses can give a hand wherever possible. Even if it's just respecting your space so you can take a bubble bath. Your children and your spouse love you. They will be willing to help take care of you if you ask. I promise. Don't be afraid to ask for help. 
If you have a friend, mother, mother-in-law, neighbor or other kind soul who is willing to help you in any way, take them up on it. Let them give you the gift of service. Give them the gift of usefulness and time with your children. Everyone will benefit. 

I hope that everyone who reads this takes something helpful away from it. 
Future posts will detail the routines, schedules and systems that I mentioned. Please come back and read those posts later.  

Everyone makes mistakes

In the interest of honesty, I thought I would do something a little different.

I have read a few different articles accusing bloggers like myself of presenting an unrealistic, unattainable image of perfection, there-by causing other, less perfect women to feel inferior. At the very least, blogs like mine have been labelled as brag fests.

The brag fest label absolutely applies to my blog. I think I do some fun stuff, usually inspired by someone else's brag. I like to share the fun stuff, record it for myself and my children in the future and maybe inspire some other women to do something fun with her own little blessings.

I confess that I carefully stage some of my pictures to hide the clutter and the hideous disaster that is my stalled-out kitchen remodel. I only post my successes. Because why would I post things that didn't work? So  someone else can replicate my failure? Eh. No thanks.

But this time I will.  Here ya go.

I wish I could say these were tasty in spite of the ugliness, but they weren't. I also wish that I could say that the second batch was better than the first, but it was worse. They actually look much better in the picture than in real life. They look a lot better than they tasted, too. My kids, bless their hearts, ate the overcooked, 8 inch wide, greasy embarrassments without a single complaint. 

Next time you find yourself browsing Pinterest and feeling like a crappy mom for not hand sewing personalized quilts for your children, or designing custom crafted wardrobes for yourself and your family, or having an amazingly decorated house, or packing cute bunny shaped sandwiches in your kids' lunches or whatever you perceive your failings to be, let go of that feeling. We are all imperfect. Success is the result of practice and love, not magic. Ease up on yourself and go something fun that you love to do. Appreciate the results for the experience they provide. If you aren't having fun, you are missing the point. 

To my toddler, on the subject of cleanliness.

My jeans are not a hand towel. I really did not want to wear your salmon rice casserole for the rest of the evening. It is quite fragrant. Not in a good way.

 You have a hand towel. It's next to your plate. Please use it.

On a related note, my sleeves are not hankies. I have hankies, should you need one. Please ask. I will be happy to go get one for you.

Yes, my sleeves are much handier. But if I feel you rub your slimey little face on my arms again, I may well loose my dinner. And being that I, too, ate the fragrant salmon casserole, that would be a very unpleasant experience, indeed.

Thank you for your consideration.

Love, Mom

Toothbrush surprises and other tiny delights

I keep a stash of toothbrushes in various colors, styles and sizes in a pretty tin in the bathroom. Along with toothbrushes, there are assorted soaps, spare bottles of shampoo, extra tubes of toothpaste, and other minor necessities of health and hygeine. I like to have everything handy in case something wears out or runs low. It's my job to keep everyone looking sparkly and smelling fresh and I take it seriously.

When my children's toothbrushes are looking a bit worn, I toss the old one and replace it with a new one. I try to find fun colors and special features, like tongue scrubbers and gum massagers. I never tell the children when I replace their toothbrushes. I like to leave them, quietly, like the toothbrush fairy, in each place, waiting patiently to be discovered. My children are always thrilled by this little treasure. The lucky child will exclaim over the purpleness of the purple handle and the brushiness of the bristles and magnificent suction of the suction cup that makes it stand upright on the side of the sink.

I find immense joy in their immense joy over such a mundane object. How could I not smile a bit when a child is so exhilerated by his good fortune at receiving a 25 cent plastic stick with nylon attached? When he simply must remove the plaque from his teeth this instant. He has the overwhelming need to become acquainted with his new possession, to indulge in the experience of this new thing. An ordinary rote action is magically tranformed into something new and special.

A task so small that I might perform it with almost no conscious thought has become a treasured memory. One that I will hold dear long after my children are grown, and one that I suspect my children might reflect on after I'm gone. "Remember how Mom would surprise us with toothbrushes? And we'd be so excited and she'd have us tell her all about them?"

Like the scent of pansy flower baby wash and the feel of my baby's breath against my neck are indelibly printed in my memory, I can easily picture myself walking down the aisle at the pharmacy when I'm old and gray and shedding a small tear of remembered joy when my eye rests on a dolphin shaped toddler toothbrush.

Every small task that we perform for those we love is an opportunity to express that love. By embracing my mundane chores, I can embrace my children.

Mothering is not a sacrifice.

We hear it so often, it has become an unquestioned truth. Mothering is a sacrifice. Mothers are selfless. The decision to have children is a selfless one.

I disagree.

A selfless act is one we do to benefit someone else, often at a cost, great or small, to our own self-interest. I did not choose to have children for their sake. I did it for my own.

I wanted my children. I asked and prayed for them. Not because I wanted to give them the gift of my mothering, but because I wanted the gift of becoming a mother.

I am not sacrificing my time, energy, money, and sleep to my children. I am giving it freely. Because I love them. Because I am grateful to be entrusted with such treasures. Because I choose to. Because I want to.

I want to spend my time with them. I want to teach them and learn with them. I want to feed them yummy food and clothe them in adorable clothes. I want to make a home for them, filled with love and laughter and toys and sticky messes.

I don't love the sticky messes, but I love watching my children light up with joy while they smush playdoh, smear jelly in their hair, cut and paste, paint pictures, dig in mud and eat cupcakes.

It pains me to think of my children, or the time I spend caring for them, as sacrifices. I never want them to feel like a burden to me.

Yes, I get overwhelmed. They out number me 4 to 1. I lose my temper and yell. I'm not always the fun, patient mom. I get tired and cranky.

But I hope that my children always know that they are worth every sleepless night and early morning. Every yawn and sigh.  Every ruined shirt and extra chore. Every stretch mark, wrinkle and gray hair.

I would rather have my children than a spotless house, stylish furnishings, a lovely wardrobe, a promising career, a sporty car, a new iphone, a full night's sleep, a nice neighborhood and an extra bedroom.

Compared with the joy and purpose they give me, those things can hardly be called a sacrifice.

My life

This pretty much sums it all up.

I like old women.

I specificly like old women with sharp wits, tongues and memories.

We younger women guard our words. We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, or give anyone a poor impression of ourselves, our husbands, our children. We often choose to say nothing at all, for the sake of peace and polite society.

At some point, women stop caring so much about what other people think. They decide that if they have something to say, they'd darn well better say it.

That's when they get interesting. I love to hear the voices of experience.

 I look forward to someday being old enough to be free with my words, too. When my work is done, my children are raised and my life has spoken for itself, I won't care either what anyone thinks of me. I'll say what I want and let my listeners decide if I'm just a crazy old bat or wise woman with words worth hearing.

I am thankful to have so many wise women in my life with words worth hearing. Thank you, ladies, for being brave enough to share them with me.

I'm not worried about missing out

When I was a young woman, and especially when I became a young mother, I worried about missing out. I worried that my child would miss something, that there were experiences we would not have, sights we would not see. Did we spend enough time at the beach? Did he get enough opportuinties to swim? Should we visit the library, zoo, museum, festival one more time? Should we spend one more hour here before going home for lunch and nap? And what about all those classes he isn't taking? Art, music, dance, graphic design, molecular biology? Don't want him to miss those!

Now that I've been a mom for a few years, and have a few more kids, I have realized something. Each child is going to have a different experience. No one is going to see or do or learn or experience everything. My first child took a lot of classes, went to a lot of attractions. He was the first, the only. My second child has spent most of his time at home. I've been busy having babies and schooling his brother. My third is watching his brothers play sports everyday, listening to their lessons. And the fourth? Who knows what life holds for him. He will see his brother leave home before he reaches his teens.

When I just had one kid, I could only see the right now. I had no perspective. Time had not yet passed. But now, watching each kid thrive in a different circumstance from the last, I see things more clearly. None of my children has everything. None of them get to experience everything the world has to offer. Each has his own story. One is no better or worse than another. Just different and unique.

The pressure is off. I no longer risk a tantrum to get in just a little more fun. I don't stretch the budget for one more class. We can all relax and enjoy the life that we have right now, knowing that tomorrow, next month, next year, will be different. And that's OK.

The thing about buying a fixer

Here's the thing I didn't think of when we bought this house. It seems obvious now, but at the time, it just never crossed my mind.

We looked at the house, all of it's flaws. We said, "Yes, we can fix this. Yes, we can live with that. It will take a while, but we can do it."

What I didn't think of is that while we work, ever so slowly, on one project after another...the house continues to deteriorate. The list gets longer and longer and longer.

I took out the yucky shower doors and hung a curtain. Yay. Huge improvement. Now the wooden molding at the base of the tub is rotten.

Ew. It's actually not as disgusting as I feared. I've been putting this off for a while. Like...a year. I finally worked up the courage to yank that stuff off of there. It was on there GOOD. Somebody likes their silicone caulk. At least I think it was caulk. It was like caulk, but gooier. Much gooier.

I'll scrub it up tonight and replace it with this.

                                   

We took down the old broken trellis. Uh-oh. The bottom 2-3 feet of the shed is rotten. Gonna have to replace that.

But isn't my little pond cute? I planted lettuce, cabbage and herbs, but they didn't come up. I may very well be the world's worst gardener. I keep trying. I'll pick up some new seeds and try again. Perseverence. That's what I'm all about.

A hurricane rolled though. The roof leaked. The laundry room wall crumbled. It's fixed and repainted now. That was 2 weekends, right there.

My husband, D, replaced the old ceiling tile. How nice. The roof leaked again (guess that patch didn't hold) and the new ceiling tile fell in. Now we're (and by we, I mean D, because I'm too short, even with the ladder and, well, it's icky up there) taking out the ceiling tile and refinishing the wood ceiling.

The roof has now been patched properly.

Isn't that wall paper hideous? That was on the original list. You can see, most of it is down now. That last chunk is lingering still.

Don't get me started on the flat-black-painted-tile on the lower walls. Clearly, this kitchen was not intended for actual food preparation.

D put an AC unit in the spare room. Now the wall beneath it is started to mildew. Sigh. That room needed new paint anyway.

I so underestimated this whole house-fixing-up adventure. I have never dreamed of fixing up a house.

I love old houses. I love the character. Every door in our house is a different size. They have working skeleton key locks. The light fixtures are brass with etched glass. I love that.

But I never wanted to be the one to do the work. I wanted to buy a newly renovated old house.

I have hobbies. I like to paint and make curtains. But ripping out rotting wood? Not a part of my plan. No. Not really.

But you know what I learned about houses? They aren't cheap. Unless you do the work yourself. And so, here we are.

The whole business makes me tired.

Hi friends and fans!

I realize that at least for this post, I am writing to myself. But I will pretend that lots of people are hanging on my every word. Because it's more fun that way.

The purpose of this blog is to give me a place to show off. My sewing projects. My knitting projects. My children. My cooking and baking. My deep thoughts. The things that make me happy. And frustrated. But mostly happy.

I homeschool my children. We have a lot of fun. A little yelling, but a lot of fun. At the moment, I have 3 boys. Ben is 7 and a half. Jeff is 4. Jay is 15 months.

We live in a little cottage on the edge of a small Creole town on the Caujn Prairie. We are working on the house. Very slowly. I'll post pictures of the progress we make. You know. When we have some. Right now, we're  just making a bigger mess. But I have hope for a lovely kitchen and a sparkly bathroom someday.

In this cottage, I have a cottage industry (fitting, eh?).  I make baby carriers. I'll post more about that later. Lots more.

Ok, so that's me. Now let's get started.