Double Dip

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

ASHLEY AND JORDAN!!!

TO TWO (dos, deux, zwei, tva, got that?)

OF THE MOST AWESOME, EXTRAORDINARY,

AND WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

MAY YOUR VERY DEAREST WISHES COME TRUE!!!

And, Kimball wishes you all of the happiness in the world, too!

Please view the video below then pause a moment to take a quick poll.

POLL: Judging by the look on Kimball's face, does he think this waiter is:

a) Fresh from his latest concert at the Met where the pay scale must be pretty lame because, ahem, here he is moonlighting at Gloria's Little Italy;

b) Heck-bent on scaring babies and small children into silent and stunned submission in an effort to ingratiate himself with nearby patrons as he guns for bigger tips

c) Pretty hot stuff

Polls will remain open for the next 48 hours. Thank you, and come again.

That's My Girl! (As In, MINE!)

I happen to be closely related to one of the most amazing people I know. How she came to be so fabulously accomplished while being raised by a quasi-dippy mother is something for the heavens to explain but for which I shall ever be grateful.

ASHLEY,

CONGRATULATIONS ON

DEFENDING YOUR THESIS!!!

You were simply maaaaaaaarvelous!

To read more about my incredible off-spring (just how did that happen anyway?) and her fantastic milestone, go here.

Who Needs Chocolate When These Are Delivered?

There really is something better than chocolate? My! The very idea! Yeah, I know that even the merest hint that there could actually be something more sought after than a box of Debauve & Gallais bonbons comes within a breath of being sacrilegious in certain social circles, but honestly, these pictures are the sweetest treat I could ever wish to receive. Delish!

AF Marching Band Rocks!

The friends and family members of the band anxiously awaiting the announcement of the top 12 bands qualifying for finals--a more supportive group I have never seen

Sadly, the American Fork Marching Band didn't make the finals at the Grand National Competition. Shucks. But they gave it everything they had, and that is enough. The band wanted to do this for themselves, of course, but also for the memory of Heather Christensen, one of their band staff who was killed in the bus accident last month. After having dedicated this show to her, I think the band will now have closure and can move on. Even though the band won't be playing tonight, their incredible story will be featured during the finals at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Very cool.

Now, I just want Christian home.

I AM SO PROUD OF CHRISTIAN!!!

HE IS MY HERO!

Sentiments of sympathy for the loss of Heather from other bands

More outpouring of kindness and support

Letters and emails streamed in with messages of love

And more

From bands all across the state

Even fierce rivals

Hundreds of trophies earned by the band

Hundreds more

Now, do you have a sec? Don't hang up! I have to share a merry little story with you before you and I say goodnight:

So, Christian has always felt a bit deprived because he never got to eat at . . . ga . . . ga . . . gagWhite Castle . . . gag . . . (ooh, hairball) . . . while we lived in Illinois. Actually, he did have that, aaah, shall we say, opportunity, but I suppose he was simply too young to remember it. Either that, or his brain did that nifty thing it can do, and it wiped that truly gruesome experience out of his conscious mind. I, on the other hand, was old enough to remember it, and my brain did not do any wiping. So, since Christian was in Indianapolis for the band competition, and since he was only down the road a smidge from a gagWhite Castle, and since he prides himself on being something of a gourmand, he jumped at the chance to partake. The official pronouncement? And I quote, "White Castle has GOT to be the very bottom of the fast food chain," unquote.

My sincerest apologies to Messrs. White and Castle, but sometimes mom really does know best.

AF Marching Band Update

Out of 130 bands, American Fork is

one of 34 bands in the SEMI-FINALS!!!!

The band will perform tomorrow

at 9:45 a.m., M.S.T.

Pray.

They Are Going to Grand Nationals!

(Christian is second quad from the right)

Holy cats! The American Fork Marching Band has decided on a moment's notice to attend the BIG KAHUNA of marching band competitions at the Bands of America Grand National Competition in Indianapolis this Friday! Wha . . . ? How? . . . When did they . . . ?

This will be very, very hard, but I will try to make a long story short: The band previously decided to go to the national competition next year (as in, NOT this year) as it is extremely expensive for the families to fund their child in the band in the first place, not to mention adding an additional $900+ to pay to go to the national competition. The band director is very sensitive to the outlay that each family must bear, so he only takes the band to the national competition every few years. This year was not to be one of those years. However, (cue dramatic music here) after the band's final performance at the Bands of America Regional Competition last weekend, (AF totally swept the competition and took every single shiny prize the BOA dangled in front of them, hooha!), the BOA judges were so blown away by AF's show that they approached our band director and told him that he must take his band to the national competition. This. Coming. Week. I think our band director's mind must have blasted out of his head at that point with even the suggestion. I mean, really. These national competitions are such a big deal that years, years!!! of preparation are made before taking the band to such an event.

Imagine trying to get the parents onboard with the idea, the school district's approval, hotels, flights, semi trucks driving the equipment half way across the country . . . seriously an unbelievable undertaking. Probably harder than trying to squeeze into a pair of Spanx. The logistics alone are staggering: 221 band students and about 30 staff members and chaperones to put up in hotels, feed, transport by air and then bus . . . cuurraaazzzzzzyyyyyy. Those BOA judges are just plain daffy. Insane. No way. Nuh, uh. Oh. By the way, the band is going. SHRIEK!!! Can you believe it? They are going!!! In the space of about 36 hours, a parents meeting was held, votes were cast, money was collected from each family, donations were made for those financially limited, and the BAND IS GOING.

One moment Christian is picking out his tux for this weekend's formal preference dance (one of the casualties of all of this), the next moment he is packing up his jammies and his drumsticks racing to catch his plane. As an aside, that boy is one tall drink of water in his Agent 007 tux. Just sayin'.

There wasn't even a time slot available for the band in the competition. Like I said (humphf! were you even listening?), this competition is huge, and bands spend years anticipating it. The BOA judge said he would squeeze AF's band into the lineup on the very first day of competition before the very first slot, which isn't even officially a slot. Then a miracle happened (harp music here). Another band dropped out. Just like that. So now AF has an official time slot.

Friday. 11:00 a.m. MST. Pray.

Now you have my permission to say, "liar, liar, pants on fire." Apparently, making a long story short is way beyond my ability.

No Way Was That Marshall Matt Dillon

We loaded up the ol' family truckster with an assortment of folks and ventured down to see the latest in BYU's Harold B. Lee Library Special Collections Film Series. The movie, "The Thing From Another World," is a great black and white 1951 sci-fi flick with James Arness aka Matt Dillon of tv's "Gunsmoke" starring as The Thing. Frankly, if that really was James Arness grunting and clomping around in those size 15 boots in the movie, for all I know, that could have been my mom starring as Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke, cuz The Thing was on the screen for all of about 20 seconds and always at a blurry distance. There's no way you could know that James Arness was anywhere near that movie set. Your Uncle LaVere could have played the part of The Thing and your Aunt Gladys would never have been the wiser. I hope James Arness' relatives weren't counting on him having some terrific face-time in this particular role. In the film's defense, however, the movie was actually quite good for its day. Great acting, snappy dialogue, clever story line--well worth the admission price (uh, free). We shall return.

Hmm. Gosh. For all I know, it WAS my Uncle LaVere in those size 15s. He always was a rather stiff clomper . . . .

Sweet Little Punkin'

I'm the Luckiest Girl!

Um, St. Peter? Hello? Hello? Have I died and gone to Heaven? I can hardly believe that I have been blessed with yet more pictures of Seanie. After all of those months without one single picture. Months and months. Hoping, praying, finger crossing. Months! So I must share:

Sean's shoes have obviously lived the hard life. Lots of walking. Not very many chances for resting atop of an ornately carved mahogany desk. Rarely a day off for good behavior.

Here is Sean preaching to the stubborn but doing so with a lot of enthusiasm and sincerity. Alas, Mr. Bernard Bull has a hardened heart and has closed his ears to the truth. He may also be color blind.

A peculiar pecking order manifested itself when six elders shared a single mirror. I guess it helps to be 6'2". (The last the best of all the game, and all that jazz . . . or is it the tallest?)

Believe you me, more photos will follow. So gear up, boys and girls. I'm wearing my Mother-of-a-Missionary badge with honor!!!

They Know How to Make Me Smile (even if it's a lopsided smile)

Ashley, Jordan and Kimball showed up at my door the other day with a delivery of comfort, love, sunshine, sympathy, and flowers! They sure know how to raise the spirits of a gal who has been a bit down in the mouth lately.

The problem, if you really want to know, is literally with my mouth. A root canal gone awry, in fact. Drama with a capital D-R-A-M-A. Pain, pain, pain. A brief run-down:

1 gigantuan tear-your-hair-out toothache

1 dentist in NYC on vacay

1 phone call to unknown dentist to just SHOOT ME DEAD(!), please

1/2 root canal performed by unknown dentist to alleviate pain, but not completed (fear of stepping on other dentist's toes?)

1/2 root canal completed by home-again dentist but sealing in bad germy dudes

1 iwannadierighthereandnow night

1 iwishicoulddierighthereandnow day

4,5,6, or more? phone calls made to:

dentist vacaying again--this time at Powell

retired dentist/neighbor

unknown dentist

family doc

local medieval barber for a bloodletting

anyone? anyone? Bueller? anyone?

1 trip to ER out of desperation

1 dose of very aggressive antibiotics through IV drip immediately administered

1 trip to ER next day; side note: H1N1 flu very popular with locals

1 dose of very aggressive antibiotics through IV drip (ER registration identical to first day; huh? computers don't store info? who knew?)

1 Sunday night visit to was-water-skiing-but-now-home-again dentist's office for aaaaacccckkkk drainage (UNBELIEVABLE pain, I cannot even begin to . . .)

1 love song composed as an ode to the miracle of Lortab

1 visit to dentist's office for more aaaaaaaccccckkkkk drainage with a rubber drain sutured in

1 visit to hospital to receive more IV antibiotics--watched Oprah (not on my fav list, hasn't been for a looooooonng time now)

1 visit to dentist's office to determine drain needs to remain in place (office in the middle of shooting a commercial . . . quiet on the set, please . . . and I'm not making this up)

1 visit to hospital to receive #4 IV antibiotics--watched Oprah again (that Judge Judy can be so grating, don't you think?)

1 visit to dentist's office; removal of drain after dentist searches, searches (yeow!) for suture knot

1 bottle of uber-robust oral antibiotics which make food taste like . . . ick . . . or is it the IV? Whatever. It's just . . . ick.

1 jaw looking more like a squirrel with a nut in its cheek than a puffer fish in full-bloat mode

1 case of rash/hives presumably from antibiotic

2 trips back to dentist for monitoring purposes (office staff still aghast at the sight)

1 thankful me who can cope with what might be up to a month of dealing with remaining knot of infection as well as complete numbness(!) of part of my chin but is relatively pain-free in comparison to recent days/nights

1 saga to be continued with future visits to dentist, but with (hopefully) the worst having had its ugly way with me

And . . .

1 partridge in a pear tree.

So where was I? Oh, yeah. Thank you so much Ashley, Jordan and Kimball. The flowers are exactly what my weary little soul needed. You are the bestest.

Look if you dare but use caution; small children should be escorted out of the room . . .

Count yourselves lucky that this picture was taken before my cheek

reached its pinnacle glory. My bishop was privy to that sight, however,

and I swear, he nearly fainted dead away. I could tell it took every ounce

of decorum he possessed to not run screaming like a little girl out of my house.

Oh, And By the Way, Would It Be Too Much Trouble . . .

Quite honestly, I thought the days of making a last-minute mad scramble to put together a Halloween costume were a thing of the past. I'm happy to report, NOT!

9:00 p.m. Decision made by son that he really does want a costume for . . . wait for it . . . the. very. next. morning. early.

9:05 p.m. Mooch white duct tape from neighbor

9:10 p.m. More neighbor mooching--this time red yarn

9:20 p.m. Go green by recycling a recycled shirt from D.I. which was recycled from a previous Gilligan costume (got that?)

9:30 p.m. Make pom pom with red yarn after calling a different neighbor for pom pom tutorial

9:40 p.m. Apply strips of white duct tape to red shirt

9:45 p.m. Rip off duct tape and begin again

9:55 p.m. Attach pom pom to hat/apply duct tape to hat/ rip off duct tape from hat/leave hat duct tape-free

10:05 p.m. A cane! A cane! My kingdom for a cane! Flounder around looking for any semblance of a cane!

10:15 p.m. Spy cardboard tubing of wrapping paper roll happily sitting in garbage

10:16 p.m. Light bulb switches on over my head

10:17 p.m. Flounder around looking for a stand-in for a cane's crook

10:18 -

10:25 p.m. Hmmm. Sigh. What?what?what? Hmmmmm. Brain drainage

10:26 p.m. Roll brown grocery bag into a cylinder, bend, jam end into cardboard tubing

10:30 p.m. More duct tape usage as entire cane is basically embalmed

10:40 p.m. Venture into arctic-like temperatures and commence spray painting (full disclosure: I stayed toasty warm while the menfolk were out in the arctic tundra)

11:00 p.m. We present . . .

WHERE'S CHRISTIAN WALDO? Could he be any more adorable?

Before going to bed, Christian was instructed to NOT put his socks in the laundry basket. The landfill is now their home sweet home.

If You Can't Guess, I'm Not Going to Tell You

Okey dokey. We're going to play:

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Did you figure it out?

So, do you want to hear the sad part? Dave didn't even notice his faux pas until we had returned home from spending hours (hours, I tell you!) at Christian's band competition. And sadder still? I would never have noticed had Dave not dropped down dead at my feet out of sheer mortification.

(Just FYI, AF swept all of the awards, natch.)

The Line Forms to the Left

Cookie Posses No. 4 and No. 5 showed up the other day only hours apart. (Or is it No. 6 and No. 7? Uh, I don't know, I've lost track of which posses are which, all I know is that each posse has different kids in it and there are a boatload of them.) Whatever. All you need to know is that a slew of kids came over this week for some bonding time with my double oven.

Posse No. 4(?) consisted of three little girls from my neighborhood who showed up just to say howdy, but I could tell they were wanting to settle in for a long, long afternoon tete-a-tete. I was planning on making THE EASIEST(!!!) COOKIES IN THE GALAXY (recipe to follow) later that day, so when the girls came by to visit, I decided to invite them to help with the cookies because: 1) I'm a multi-tasker at heart, and 2) my day was a busy one. People to see, places to go, things to do . . . . Chat n' bake. Kill two birds with one stone, yada, yada. This particular posse hadn't ever made cookies with me before, so they were thrilled to the tips of their little ponytails for a chance to get to know my Jenn-Air. Again the multi-tasker in me came out, and I thought that we might as well do some good with these cookies, the smell of which will put you in the mood for autumn, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all at the same time.

We thought of a family in our neighborhood who could use a little sweetness, and I put those girls to work making homemade cards to go along with the cookies. I pulled out everything scrapbooky that I could dredge up, which was a rather pitiful selection since I'm not a scrapper. Do you scrap? I don't scrap. But we still managed to cover my kitchen table from end to end with stickers, papers, glue, markers, hedge trimmers, a weed whacker, and I even think I saw a chainsaw under all of that mishmash. Thank the high heavens that I had the presence of mind to leave the glitter hidden in the cupboard. You glitter once and the glitter will continue to haunt you and yours for the next five months.

So the cards turned out adorable, the cookies delectable, and we all had a great afternoon as the girls shared the gossip about their big brothers' exploits. (Note to parents: Be aware that little girls have big mouths.) I just drank it all in.

I like that multi-tasking thing.

THE EASIEST(!!!) COOKIES IN THE GALAXY

aka

Pumpkin Cookies

1 box of spice cake mix

1 15 oz. can of pureed pumpkin

1 cup mini chocolate chips or raisins (or a mix)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, mix the dry cake mix with the pumpkin puree. Add the chocolate chips and/or raisins. Drop mounded tablespoons (or larger) of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of cookie. (I use a spring-loaded mini ice cream scoop which holds about two tablespoons of dough, then I bake the cookies for about 15 minutes.) The cookies will not spread.

All done. Ho hum.

Then Cookie Posse No. 5(?) decided to make the wonderfully magical Magic Bars. And magical they are! No muss, no fuss, just pour, sprinkle, pour, scatter, sprinkle, scatter, and your job is done, thank you very much. You've become a magical cookie faerie.

I think these kids loved it when I kept calling them all the magical cookie faeries. Especially that well-built kid in the blue shirt. Really. I could tell. He loved it. I could just sense it. Everything would go silent every time I said it. It was kind of like, oh, I don't know, kind of like electric volts shooting out of the blue-shirt kid's eyes. So I kept saying "magical cookie faeries" over and over. Neato.

MAGIC BARS

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (I cheat and use double that)

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour melted butter into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the crumbs. Scatter with chocolate chips, sprinkle with coconut, scatter nuts (in that order). Press mixture down firmly with the palm of your hand. Bake 25 minutes. Cool. Chill in refrigerator for two hours. (You may want to score them before the refrigeration to make cutting easier.)

What did I tell ya? Magical.

Gee, I think Christian caught a glimpse of our resident ghost, Bucky, just as I snapped that first picture of Posse No. 5 (see above). He was speechless for the rest of the afternoon. All he could do was point and mutter a bit. He never really could explain that vacant look in his eyes . . .

Fridays With Kimball!

A picture perfect fall day in our front yard.

Later on, we retired to the quietude of the basement.

Kimball tried to decide which of these very sophisticated tres chic pieces he prefers . . .

On the one hand, Kimball feels like a king while lounging in this oversized designer recliner . . .

. . . but on the other hand, he is enamored with this space effecient canary yellow compact.

Hmm. Red or yellow? Roomy or cozy? Decisions, decisions! I know! It's just too much for a baby to take! In the end, Kimball did exactly what his grandmama would do . . .

He decided to take both. Logical solution if you ask me.

How Many Skeletons Do You Have Lurking in Your Family Closet?

As you may know, funky/kooky/wacked-out videos have a way of sweeping their way through the blog-o-universe and popping up all over Facebook in just a matter of days. The video below is no different so you've probably see it before. BUT, WHOA NELLY! I really, really, really fell in love with this particular version when I saw it. I just had to share it with you because the cast is so outstanding. Frankenstein's Monster is especially beguiling, no?

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Our Hearts Are Full

Neither spoken nor written words can even begin to accurately convey the feelings of pure gratitude mixed with sorrow that we are experiencing right now after the tragic bus accident involving the American Fork High School Marching Band. We will be eternally grateful for the safety of our sweet Christian as he rode on the bus which was immediately behind the bus which crashed. The idea of "what could have happened . . . " is almost too horrific to contemplate just yet--if ever. And the sorrow we feel is a sorrow for those who are left without their friend, daughter, sister, teacher, Heather Christensen.

But I do believe in miracles.

And I do believe in guardian angels.

I do believe in a God who watches over all.

I will be thanking my Heavenly Father every single day for the life of my son.

*Below is an amateur video of the Pocatello performance--the very performance the band completed only an hour or so before the accident. In the foreground, you can see Heather Christensen on the right wearing a dark jacket watching her woodwinds do exactly what she taught them to do. (As an aside, Sean worked with Ms. Christensen as he played the bass clarinet in the marching band and in the wind symphony during his high school years.) Watch the whole show if you have a few minutes. Although the video isn't the greatest, the performance is quite moving, especially at the very end where our country's fallen solders are honored. Christian is one of the five quad drummers and is the second drummer from the left.

You can read more about the accident here.

Slap a Gold Star on My Forehead!

I think I deserve some sort of a prize. Really I do. Did you not notice that I used enormous amounts of decorum and restraint as I refused to write or even refer to that yucky "p" word in my previous post? I didn't even attempt it in a caption under the picture of circus-tent-shirt adorned Sean which could have said something along the lines of, "Whoa up! That boy has gone and got hisself some SEER-EE-USS parasites company goin' on, ya'll. Just looky at that tiny boy." Yes, I know you are grateful. You can thank me later for not ruining your breakfast with the vivid mental picture of a creepy parasite.

Yow! Who tore off my gold star? What.What did I say?

Under the Big Top

(Click to get a really good look at this handsome, handsome boy)

Yay! Yesterday we FINALLY received a picture from Sean! Somebody cue the "Hallelujah Chorus!"

In last week's letter, Sean writes:

"Well since you asked... yes I would like to ask you to send me something vía the mail service. Can you send me 5 or 6 white shirts with the collar size 15 or 15.5? My shirts now fit me like a circus tent (gotta love his way with words) and so it would be nice to wear shirts that fit. Short sleeves and extra tall would be fine if it's not too much trouble to ask. And if you want to try to send pants, that would be nice too because I am now more or less a size 36/32 and my old pants... well they were a lot bigger. I bought some new pants here but I don't trust the Honduran stitching to last for more than three or four months. I know I ask a lot and if you can't send this stuff don't worry about it. I am just happy to read your letters, hear about the big events in your lives, and learn from your examples of righteousness. I love you all so much, and I send you all a great big abrazo . . . ."
And a great big "abrazo" back to you, Seanie!

Okay.  So, you know how you cherish even more those things that don't come in abundance or that don't come to you very often?  I have literally poured over this photo of Sean, checking out the roadside, the signage, the grass, Sean's watch, his water bottle, that unfamiliar tie, the way Sean's collar is gaping with so much extra room that a small pony could gallop right down into the front of his shirt without even leaving any hoof prints . . .

Even though it is only one photo, it is a tender mercy, nonetheless.  And I am grateful.

Fridays With Kimball!

Either Kimball is totally enamored with this toy basketball and couldn't stand to be parted from it even while he slept, or he is trying to tell me in his own unique way that napping in my little port-a-crib is like sleeping on a brick wall which, unfortunately, has the same denseness as that fruitcake which was *regifted* (it had to be) to us by our neighbors last Christmas. By the by, Dave is being TOTALLY overly dramatic about that chipped tooth, if you ask me.

Kimball and his basketball head cushion instantly reminded me of my big sister who, whenever she got a new pair of shoes, would go to bed with them on her feet. Or sometimes she would put them right next to her head on the pillow so the new shoes could be instantly viewed the next morning. Thank goodness she finally outgrew that. (I think the stiletto-poke-in-the-eye incident last May was what finally cured her.)

Let the Competitions Begin!

Show season has begun for the incredibly awesome American Fork Marching Band, and they are up to their old tricks of completely sweeping the competitions once again. (Sometimes I feel kind of bad for the other schools who march their little hearts out only to be walking back to their buses with their clarinets dragging on the ground behind them after another loss to AF. Truly I do.) Christian's band totally dominated their first competition of the year by not only winning first place overall, but by taking all caption awards which include: "Outstanding Music," "Outstanding Visual," "Outstanding Color Guard," and "Outstanding Percussion." But it certainly comes at a price. So there. While a lot of Christian's friends are busy doing important stuff like playing "The Beatles: Rock Band" and such, he is stomping away with 40 pounds of drums strapped to his chest for hours and hours and hours and hours in rehearsal every single week with a determination to do his best and make his mama proud. And I am. Way. Good on ya, Christian!

Check out the band as they appear in my s-h-a-k-y video attempt to give you just a taste of their show paying tribute to the WWII vets. The show, called "The Greatest Generation," incorporates part of the ballad from "Band of Brothers" during the third movement (and no, that's definitely not the part you'll see and hear in the video below), and you can see that the color guard girls are dressed as Rosie the Riveter. Every band member wears a dog tag around his/her neck bearing the name of a relative or someone they hold dear who served in the armed forces during WWII. Christian's name tag reads, "Joseph Ricks," the brother of my mom. Uncle Joe was killed while serving his country in the war at the tender age of 20.

The video below coincidentally shows the same portion of the show that we see in the video above and was shot while the band played their music again in the parking lot without marching, as is their tradition after a competition. This gives you a better look at Christian in action but not much better due to the late afternoon sun shooting pointy arrows directly in my retinas causing them to be totally toasted. I just aimed my little digital camera in his general direction and let 'er rip. Air bags, anyone? So sorry about that. BUT NEVER FEAR! You've gotta know that I will be putting up another video of one of the next competitions (if not all . . . ), don't you?! Uh, yeah. Nobody ever said that you have to watch, you know.