Great Programs/Sites for Creative Types

I found some neat/fun/cool sites today that I think are great!!!

Picnik - free photo editing software

Some things you can do:

* Turn you photo into a pencil sketch.

* Doodle all over your image.

* Add a frame.

* Fix blemishes, red-eye, whiten teeth.

* Regular editing stuff to. (Sharpen, resize, rotate, change color, change the format (jpeg, gif, tif, etc.)

Inkscape - Download a FREE program that will help you write in spirals, waves, etc.

Here how I did it (thanks to Scraperfect's Blog):

1. Using the "A" text tool on left, write a sentence. Using the Spiral, draw a spiral.
2. Select both (edit --> select all). Go to top menu and choose TEXT--> Put on Path.
3. To remove the spiral line, Go to top menu Object---> Fill and Stroke. Then click Stroke Paint and check NO PAINT. (I didn't click NO PAINT, so you can see the lines on mine.)
4. Save it. It saves as a .svg format. To change the file format, export and choose .png format. You can change the resolution (dpi) to 300 if you want to print it. The resolution is fine for the internet. Open it, chang the format to jpeg, and save it.

Your Fonts - turn your own handwriting into a font ($7.50) An example from their site -

Spell with Flickr - get help designing your own words. Here's a nice one:

Just type in the word/words and the site will create it for you. You can change a letter by clicking on it. I captured it off the site, so I'm not sure if you can save the whole word or each letter.

Because I'm Lazy

We survived the first week of school and everyone is still alive! :) Todd and I are exhausted, but we are determined to have a great year ahead of us both. I've been particularly worn out because my sleep schedule has been completely thrown for a loop. After starting training two weeks in a row, going on a scrapbook retreat, my mom's surgery, worrying about Mary (my gma), setting up my classroom in record time, and being thrown into a room with sixteen rats (aka students), I'm beat!

I'm kicking back this weekend and trying to catch up. So far, so good. I've slept for at least ten hours each night for two nights now. Think I'll do the same tonight!

So . . . in my pursuit to maintain this blog, I'm being lazy and cheating. Here's what I've thieved from Julie:

i am: being a bum today.
i think: i'll make this a great school year.
i know: that I am loved by many.
i want: to have a family.
i have: many blessings in my life.
i wish: the shelving unit my mom offered me would fit in my closet.
i hate: green peas.
i miss: having hope and naivete about pregnancy.
i fear: heights.
i feel: relaxed!
i hear: the ceiling fan spinning above me.
i smell: the pizza i just baked.
i crave: hugs, kisses, and snuggling.
i search: the internet via google reader, the blogosphere, and facebook.
i wonder: what our babies will look like.
i regret: quitting the saxophone.
i ache: when someone i love is hurting.
i care: deeply for my family and friends.
i always: kiss my husband each day.
i am not: a patient person.
i believe: that God has great things planned for us.
i dance: whenever i want.
i sing: random songs as they come to mind.
i cry: often because i am tender hearted.
i don't always: open up like people think i am.
i fight: if there is fighting to be done.
i write: in my blogs instead of journals.
i never: have had a pedicure.
i stole: a mailbox sticker from the store when i was little.
i listen: and have to remember not to think of my response while listening.
i need: some new pants. why did i only buy shirts before school started?
i am happy about: the fact that i am loved, that i love others, and good things will happen because they have to happen.

No tagging here, but if you want to take my lazy route and thieve this from me, let me know & I'll read it!

My Quirks

I've Been Tagged! I was wondering if someone would ever specifically tag me rather than the lame "I tag whoever hasn't done it yet." j/s

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you: Susan
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking to them
5. Leave a comment for each tagged blogger to let them know that they have been tagged

6 Quirks about me:
1. When I was young I ate only butter (and lots of it!) on my pancakes. I did it more to piss off my step-mother than because I loved it. :)
2. Raw meat makes me very nervous. I just can't touch it with my hands.
3. I ask Todd smell things from the fridge before I use them for leftovers or throw them away. (Maybe a quirk for him is that he usually does it!)
4. Everything in my world is parallel or perpendicular and in order. It works for me.
5. I basically have no septum in my nose (the "divider" in your nose)
6. I like to see how low on gas I can get before filling up, and I've only run out of gas once (20 years ago while in college).

6 People I am Tagging: Amanda, Cathy, Joyce, Laurie, Misty, Tracy

Guess I Really Am Tired

Case in Point #1: Todd and I were sitting in the den early this evening just chatting & talking about our day. Apparently for no reason I told Todd to shut up - and I don't even remember it. Even right after I supposedly said it, I didn't know that I had. Todd's not one to make stuff like that up, so I had to apologize for saying shut up to him. Even though I still have NO recollection of it.

Case in Point #2: Less than an hour later, I asked Todd what the date for Election Day was in November. I asked him if it was the 11th & he said no. After looking at his calendar, he told me it was the 4th. I racked my brain over & over trying to figure out why I remembered Nov. 11th. (My brain stores up information like dates, phone numbers, etc.) I told Todd that I knew SOMETHING was on the 11th - like a holiday or something. He checked his calendar for me & said, "Nope. Nothing."

I kept thinking. Finally, he said, "The first date we had?" AAAHHHH! YES!!! The date of our first date in 2003. Geez. I always remember stuff like that. The fact that TODD actually remembered it first proves that I'm tired.

I'm in bed getting ready to do some school stuff & go to sleep. I'm sure I'll never catch up.

A Boy and His Toys

I swear I love this dog more & more every day. He cracks me up!!



Thank you to the "One Spot" at Target for only costing me $1 per toy. Considering the toy is now dead, a whole dollar wasn't much of an investment!

Lesson Learned

Last night I could have easily screamed, "KILL ME NOW!!!

For the first time in my memory, I went to an office supply store. After the first day of school ended. WTF was I thinking? Had I really not had a long enough day?

When Todd and I walked in, he called out across the store to two of his students. Todd suddenly said, "Hell no!" and turned around to walk out. That's when I saw the line. The HUGE, long line of people. (Is that lady in the white shirt trying to cut? I think not!)


You can't see the ones at the end of the line because they are hidden by shelving. Believe me, they were there. I swear there had to be at least 50 people. That's when I saw the other line - you know - the short line. The man in the tie was not the last person.


Because I (1) desperately needed binders for school today, (2) wanted to purchase them for $0.25 each, and (3) could buy up to 25 binders since I'm a teacher . . . I stood in said line. For about 25 minutes. And, yes, I sent Todd to get some yogurt down the street and come back later. I'm such a nice wife.

Kill me again for just thinking about it. Lesson learned.

Classroom Project

I've been busting my butt this past week to get my classroom unpacked, setup, organized, decorated, and ready for a bunch of 9 year olds. I was easily working 10-12 hour days for a week, and everything was ready as of 9pm on Saturday. Today is the first day of school - here we go!!!!

I took an old, antique chair from our house to use at school. It was old & ugly plus the legs had been chewed on by a few different dogs. I wanted it out of our house, and I thought (hoped!) it might work in my classroom.


Before:

I went to Target and bought some jersey sheets that were used to drape the chair. I needed something that I could remove and wash if necessary. It's not gorgeous, but it was cheap and easy to do!

Two Years Ago Today

Todd and I became engaged. :) It seems like yesterday that he asked me to be his wife. I'm so blessed to have such an amazing husband to love. The full story of the proposal is on our website.

I think this picture is so funny because we had several photos taken of us after Todd proposed. Our poor, little waitress didn't speak much English and (surprisingly) couldn't work our simple digital camera. Most of the pics were blurry or had bad lighting. This pic is the last she took & by then Todd was getting irritated and wasn't smiling. I promise he smiled in all of the others!!

Some Great (& Wacky) Beauty Tips

And when I say beauty tip, I mean more of a cool trick! Check out some of these beauty tricks & tips that I found from Cosmo Magazine online.

However, they didn't include my favorite -

PrepH on those puffy eyes! :)

The Omnivore’s Hundred

I saw this Q&A on my friend Chris' blog. She got it from the Very Good Taste blog (it’s British, and she likes anything British), and it’s basically a list of 100 things that “every good omnivore should try at least once in their life”. I don't know if I'm much of an omnivore because some foods make me really nervous. Yes, nervous. Until I met Todd, I had never eaten Thai, Sushi, or Indian cuisine. That's changed!

Here's what you can do if you decide to participate:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten (mine are bolded and some of them have notes in [arentheses)

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results.

1. Venison (Funny story because when I was in elem. school, my parents wouldn't tell me what the sausage was until I ate it all - then I cried when I found out & haven't had it since even though I loved it!)

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros (Hello, I'm a Texan.)

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile (aren't the teeth a bit crunchy?)

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue (anything cheese!)

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari (similar story as #1 - love it as long as it's in the rings, not the octopus looking kind)

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart (Do ballgame dogs count? Love dogs, carts make me nervous)

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (I drink everything.)

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters (nasty though)

29. Baklava (at an awesome Morrocan place in Calgary)

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas (yum)

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (my fave is Todd's chowder he serves in a bowl)

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut (only on a brat w/ lots of spicy mustard - yum)

35. Root beer float (prefer Dr. Pepper float)

36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Yes - Why didn't anyone tell me not to inhale? ugh.)

37. Clotted cream tea (Makes me miss Lady Primrose something fierce.)

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo (the best at The Cabin off I-10 between Baton Rouge & New Orleans)

40. Oxtail (nervous!!!)

41. Curried goat (I stick w/ beef, chicken & fish. That's it.)

42. Whole insects (Oh hell no. See above.)

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (ha - not nearly that expensive!)

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala (yum!)

48. Eel (No thanks.)

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (Oh yeah! I shoved a box of them in my suitcase when Dallas didn't have K.K. & I was practically living in Baton Rouge!)

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear (only in candy form)

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (My fave that's served at Donald's.)

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini (Yeah, but I don't like olives. I prefer vodka martinis.)

58. Beer above 8% ABV (Where is my cousin Josh? Foghorn Leghorn & taking pics behind the bar before a 2-day bout of hungover vomiting. Bad, bad night! Anyway . . .)

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (Cafe du Monde & the Texas State Fair!!!)

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain (yum)

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (Is andouillette the same as andouille? If so, then yes.)

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini (caviar on something, not by itself)

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill (SERIOUSLY??)

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie (any flavor but cherry)

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini (Uh, yeah!)

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Guess not since I don't know what that is.)

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse (Come on now!!)

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam (fried Spam - nothing like growing up poor)

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish (McGeehee's in Marietta OK has the 2nd best next to what my Granny used to fry up after catching!)

95. Mole poblano (not a big fan of it)

96. Bagel and lox (bagel only, please)

97. Lobster Thermidor (this does sound divine!)

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (don't drink coffee)

100. Snake (scared of snakes)

Some of these items I've never heard of before, so I didn't cross them out. If they are something gross or scary, consider them off my list. :)

The Good Patient

Mom is officially at home! I haven't spoken with her live today, but she left me voice mail this morning that she had finally gotten the go-ahead to make her way home. My Mom still has several weeks of recovery ahead of her, but I know she's happy to be home where she can sleep uninterrupted and find comfort in her own surroundings.

Thank you for your continued love and prayers.

Mom - Sunday - Day 6

Today is 6 days post-op for my Mom, and she is doing so well!!! Today we took a stroll around the IMC unit, into the waiting room, and back around. Mom needed no assistance at all. In fact, she probably outran us all. :) She's getting herself in and out of bed, walking, sitting up in bed and in a chair, cracking jokes (her favorite joke is the "black testicle joke"), and is in pretty good spirits. Even her incision looks good!

Mom said she had kind of a rough night last night. She got out of bed for a while and straightened up her room (if you know her, you're probably laughing) but she just didn't feel too good. She has bouts of nausea that take her out of commission for a while.

This morning mom went for a stroll and then sat down to have breakfast (remind me to tell you about her eating). After she had about two bites of breakfast a few nurses came into Mom's room and asked her what was going on. Cluelessly, mom said, "Not much!" According to mom's monitor, she was in a-fib which is an irregular rhythm of the heart. Her heart rate was elevated, which isn't too good for cardiac patients. She was given some medication through IV & things settled down from there. The cardiologist said the a-fib happens in about 30-40% of patients after mitral valve surgery. Mom's chest drain was also removed which she said was painful. I saw the drain after it was out and OUCH. It would've hurt me too!

After her minor, little setback this morning, doctors will probably keep Mom through Tuesday. She said she would relax and do what was best (remember my "This place is boring" quote?). I think Miss Pat is learning that her body needs to chill out and rest. If you ONLY knew how hard that is for her to do . . .

Food - you didn't remind me but I remembered - Mom isn't eating very much. That's not too good considering everyone is a tiny stick figure (but me). Mom said nothing tastes right. Food smells good, but once she eats it, it's gross to her. We were told this before her surgery, but hopefully that will go away in time. Mom is already tiny and can't really afford to lose weight.

Neat story: Two people from the housekeeping department of the hospital came by Friday and brought Mom some small gifts. How touching. My mother really reaches out to everyone. The fact that cleaning people think enough of my mom to care that much touches me knowing that she does the same for them. My Mom is amazing in so many ways.

Outside of the hospital, we ALLLLLLL go back to school tomorrow. We teachers, that is (me, Todd, my brother, etc. etc. etc). Ugh. I'm already tired! :)

A big thanks to Jinger & crew who sent mom some gorgeous flowers & plants. She LOVES them. Thanks for being a good daughter! Thanks to everyone for all the well-wishes, calls, emails, & prayers. It means the world to my family. Truly, it does.

It's Official

I've driven myself into the ground again. And I'm not happy about it. I tend to do this . . . push, push, push . . . until I break. I haven't been taking care of myself and not sleeping much (gasp - I actually said it!), and now I'm not feeling well. So much so that I couldn't go see my mom yesterday. I feel guilty for that, but I know she's fine. I tend to feel as if I am invincible and that nobody can survive without me. Well, so much for that. I have to get well - and now.

I miss my mom. I want to go see her today. I go back to school on Monday. Haven't even unpacked or set up my classroom. Cowboys game on Tuesday. I want to spend some time with Todd. Back to School Bash on Thursday. Lesson plans to write. House to clean. Clothes to return. Clothes to buy. Errands to run. School supplies to buy. I have a ton to do. I don't have time to be sick. Yuck.

/whine

Scrapbook Retreat

I finally have a chance to post pics from our scrapbook retreat last weekend. We went to a wonderful B&B in McKinney of all places! The Memory Lane Inn was SO CUTE, had plenty of space for the twelve of us, a great crop house, delicious food, and was a peaceful getaway that was still close to home.

Since my camera is somewhere (meaning I don't know where), I took all of these photos with my phone. The website has better photos if you want to see those.

I was able to complete around 25 pages that weekend & still had time to drink wine, chat, watch TV, sleep (a little) & just relax. We're already planning our next retreat!

Photos:

Must be Back to School Time

School dreams are starting! Wouldn't you think one would need to sleep in order to have dreams?!

3 dreams I remember:
1. The Pope coming to visit some teachers, and we had to be naked. I'm the one who figured out he wasn't really the Pope. (duh!)
2. Slamming a misbehaving boy to the floor and holding him down by the neck.
3. Todd & I going to college together and looking for an apartment.
4. Teaching a class of about 80 with my friend Monica & we weren't doing a very good job of it (see #2!).

I hope none of those come true!!! We'll find out soon . . .

Thursday's Update

I'm going to make this brief because I am exhausted tonight. I was only at the hospital for about seven hours today, but time is catching up with me!

My mom was moved late this evening to the Intermediate Care Unit (IMC), which is a step-down unit from the ICU. She walked today with a walker & that wore her out. So, between the walking, moving to a new room, sitting up in a chair for several hours, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, eating, & chatting with a few visitors (mainly hospital staff!) - she was a busy girl and absolutely worn out. I helped her with dinner, got the nurses to get her back in bed, set up her new room, tucked her in, kissed her goodnight & left around 7:15. She was out before I left the room. :)

We are hearing some more comments such as:
"This place is boring"
"There's nothing to do here"
"These people (nurses just like her!) won't leave me alone"
"I hate RT" (respiratory therapy)
"I need my makeup bag"
"I'm ready to get home"
"I don't want pain meds in case I have company" (yeah, we had a talk about that)

Once I told Mom that she can't even get herself out of bed or cut her own meat, she thought about staying. When she had a big episode of nausea & dizziness right before moving to the new unit, she looked at me and said, "I guess it's a good thing that I'm still here and not home." Ya think???!!! Stubborn woman.

It's looking like Mom may be headed home by Monday. That will be within the predicted seven days of hospital stay that the surgeon told her before she was admitted. That will be when it becomes difficult to keep her down.

Thanks for the prayers. She's doing well and still has a long road ahead of her. Several of you have told me to take care of myself and I am. I'm just tired because I'm fat and old!

Wednesday Afternoon/Evening

Today Mom is beginning to turn the corner. She sat up in a chair for almost 7 total hours today! Mom is absolutely wiped out, but she is starting to feel better. Tomorrow the plan is to move her into the Immediate Care Unit & she will be up and walking as well.

After the 12noon - 2pm visiting shift, I went into the waiting room so Mom would get some sleep. (She thinks she needs to entertain if anyone is in there.) I tried to take a quick nap and was slowly entering a bit of a twilight phase when my cell phone rang. It was Mom's work number, so I figured it was her colleagues calling to check on her. When I answered, I heard this raspy, whispery voice. "Hi. You need to call your brother and tell him . . . blahblahblahblah." Yep, mom borrowed the nurse's phone to call me and give orders! I asked her if I needed to come in there & she told me to come by later. When I told her I was in the waiting room, she said, "Oh! Come in here and sit with me." I also knew that Mom was starting to feel better today when she cracked a couple of jokes, wanted some mascara, said she was hungry, and complained that "this place is boring". She'll be up & running the hospital again in no time.

There were a couple of entertaining times today when my mom was having some dreams/hallucinations around 1:00 after a dose of morphine. One of her chest tubes was removed, so they gave her pain meds to get through it smoothly. She had dreams of a patient trying to swallow, thought she had a picture in her (empty) hand, and thought the sytrofoam cups on her table were "buckets". There will be some great stories that we can use for torturing her later. :)

The next couple of days will be especially difficult on my mom since she will be exerted physically. It will be hard for us to keep her relaxed and preventing her from overdoing it. Thanks for all the continued thoughts, prayers, calls, emails, pages, texts, and comments. They really mean the world to my mother, our family, and me.

It's Wednesday, right?

Day #3 - less than 48 hours post-op. I'm on the 10am - 10pm shift here at the hospital, so I haven't seen Mom yet since visiting hours aren't again until noon. Her nurse is wonderful and nice, but quite the Nazi about the rules. I did go back to tell Nurse Nazi that I'm here, but I was scared to ask if I could just look at my mom! Enough about me and N.N. - now to the patient.

Yesterday's stuff:
- significant pain finally hit today & I reminded her that she knows the day after surgery is worse than the day of
- had the arterial line (like a big IV in her neck)removed
- she was moved in bed which caused much pain
- drank some apple juice, but still preferred ice (one of her fave words right now is "ice")
- told me (via very light whispers) that she "didn't know it was going to be this bad"
- asked about everyone and asked if WE are all okay (I told her not to worry about us & take care of herself, but that's not in her nature.)

- Michael (my baby brother) was here a lot yesterday & made Mom grin. She told us she was "proud of us". Again, never about her just about everyone else.

Today's stuff:
Rick (my mom's husband) took the early visit this morning & when he walked in, Mom's bed was empty. It scared him until he saw Mom sitting up in a chair. She was still in pain but a little more alert and her voice was slightly above a whisper. Rick said she sat up for about three hours and was then exhausted & went to sleep after pain meds.

Mom complained yesterday & this morning that it hurt to breathe & doctors determined her lungs have been very slightly compromised (for lack of a better term by me) She's on IV antibiotics, working on lung-strengthening exercises & coughing some (ouch).

I'll go in to check on her at noon & post again later. Until then, another picture. Here's Mom a few years ago while working in the ER - just two floors below us right now.

Update on My Mom

Rather than send out random emails here & there, I decided to use this-here blog to post how my mom is doing. That way anyone who wants to check in can do so at their convenience & hopefully it will be more convenient/easy for me. Where to start??? It's already been a long day & a half. I appreciate all of the phone calls, emails, pages, texts and posts to check in. Unfortunately, I'm not doing too well at managing it all, so here's an update!

First of all, my Mom's surgery went very well. Rather than replace the mitral valve, the surgeon was able to repair it. That's a HUGE praise because it will hopefully eliminate the need for future replacement surgery or being on medication for the rest of her life. The surgery took less than 2 hours - about half the time that was anticipated.

The respiratory therapist extubated mom's breathing tube & NG (nasal gastric) tube late last night. After that, the nurses were able to give her more medication and remove the hand restraints. (The restraints are used to prevent patients from removing tubes, lines, etc.) She has an arterial line in her neck, multiple IVs in both arms, drains, etc. She's down to just the IVs, so until then, she looked like she was lying in the middle of a cockpit.

Last night when she first began to wake up, I went to check on her. The nurse said she was semi-alert & to talk to her. As soon as I said "Hi Mom," her eyes shot open. I told her she was okay & I saw her moving her hands (still restrained). I pulled the sheet off her hand and she was signing "I Love You" with her right hand. I smiled. :)

Today she is in a lot of pain. She's not able to talk, but she can lightly whisper and mouth words. She told me earlier that "This is a lot worse than I thought it would be." Yep, she's hurting. Mom asked if I was okay and then asked about her mom (Mary), Rick, Michael & everyone else in the world. Can't she just be the patient for once??? Worrying about and caring for others is what she does - and she does it well.

Luckily Mom is at her hospital (meaning where she works for those that don't know she's a nurse), so she and the nurses and know one another personally. Everyone is taking great care of her.

As my eyelids continue to fall and my head to nod (at 2:45pm mind you!), I'll close with an updated request and an entertaining photo. Please pray that mom's pain continues to be managed well and that she can remain fairly comfortable. Pray that her recovery process is successful as well.

PS - Please excuse any errors in this post. I'm too tired to care if anything is wrong.

Mom and me, circa 1970:

Monday

Please pray for my mom. Her surgery is tomorrow (Monday). I know she will do well, but I am still scared and anxious for everything to go smoothly over the next couple of weeks.

It's Been Fun

But my summer is pretty much OVER. I start a week of Math curriculum training tomorrow and from there . . . they have me for another nine months! BACK TO SCHOOL!

No more sleeping in. No more staying up late. Back to long days, working hard, heat-stroke recess duty, noisy cafeteria duty. I'm actually looking forward to this year, but I'll miss my summer!