It all started so innocently...

I've watched my friend Pam knit for almost a year. I stamp and scrap and she knits, stamps and scraps. This had never been problem for our friendship. But then I started noticing all the cool stuff she was knitting. Purses! That alone was enough to suck me right in. This was not my Grandma's knitting. So one day out of the blue, I decided I'd had enough of being left out of the club. Pam took me to one of my now favorite places on the planet. Sip 'n Knit. A local yarn shop. I went to a general help session and learned the knit stitch and casting on from quite possibly the best knitting teacher ever. Barbara. She's so patient and believes that everything is doable. Me a new knitter, try socks? Sure, she says. And you know what? I believe it. As far as knitting is concerned, I believe everything she says.

So I begin by garter stitching some squares and call them dishclothes. Sorry no pictures. I made about 20 of them and gave every single one away for Easter.

So I quickly got bored with those and moved on to these:



The top is Katelyn's Easter purse (green), the pink one is Lilli's and the itty bitty pink striped one is Kendall's. It just fits a paci.

And so it starts. The knit stitch, the purl stitch, casting on, binding off. It's a journey and I'm off. 

MIA....

I've been MIA from blogging. A lot going on and nothing going on at the same time.

On a sad note, my friend Donna passed away. There's a whole lot of good stuff I could say about Donna. Truth is, I'm missing her. In the past couple of years I didn't get to see her nearly enough. That bums me out. I will miss her laugh, smile and her stories. I'm thankful I had the chance to tell her I loved her before she died. I'm sure she knows how we all feel. My text in this post is purple in her memory.

So creatively I've expanded my repitoire a bit. Hooked up with some Creative Memories folks through Stampin' Up! and have been to some crops. I got all 3 kids' baby books done! It felt so good! Like a giant weight has been lifted. I can feel like a better mom, knowing they have baby books! Crazy, huh? I was seriously impressed with how the company has changed. No more boring Mrs. Grossman's stickers! So if you need to or are curious, I can hook you up. Going to another overnite crop at the end of April. Call me. You'll get a lot done. Really!

Next thing... I went with my friend Pam tonight to a knitting store and learned to knit. I loved it. I'm not gonna say what I'm making cuz it's for Easter. But I'm really diggin' it. Big shout out to Pammie for letting me hone in on her peeps! Just what I need, another addiction....

BTW, if you're ever in dire need of a slurpee... send Pam into 7-11. Here's what she'll come out with....


Well, darn it! I can't upload the pic for some reason, but it's a 64 oz Double Gulp size slurpee! The poor clerk didn't quite know what to do with her. He told her that they usually didn't do that. Pam just told him she doesn't usually buy the darn things! He let her go ahead and only charged her $1.39. Heheehehehehe. I had a great laugh over that one. I haven't even had half of it, but I bet I'll be up all night in the bathroom! hm..... Maybe that will be a good place to knit!!!

Gotta go take some Motrin for my sore knitting muscles. More later...

Something I Bet You Didn't Know About Me...

Okay. I'm gonna make a world wide web public confession. I am a PBR (no not Pabst Blue Ribbon-Professional Bull Riding) fan. Make that Fan (with a capital F). I am not a redneck. I don't listen to country music. I have all my teeth and don't smoke or chew. (have I broken down all the stereotypes yet? I used to think of all those stereotypes too!) I would like to own a pair of cowgirl boots and a hat. A girl's gotta accessorize you know.

So last night, my wonderful husband, and our youngest daughter and I drove to Daytona Beach for the Enterprise Invitational. This is the Minor Leagues in the PBR. The Built Ford Tough Series is the Major Leagues. I'm guessing that this is probably way more info than you wanted. Too bad! It's my Blog!!! 8)



Here are my pictures (or at least the best ones). The joy of riding and getting off safely and the agony of defeat. The poor cowboy sitting down hurt his knee and most definately had a hitch in his get-a-long! And last but not least me and my forever corrupted daughter who now knows how to cheer for the cowboys and stand up to look and make sure no one is hurt!

Some more info. Although the crowd was small, it was diverse. From the way older than me to the very young. All types of people. And they started with prayer. Nice to see all those cowboys on one knee with their hats off and heads bowed. Guess you feel pretty strongly about talking to God when you're about to get on a 1500-2000 lb bucking bull.

So there it is. I laid it out. Love me anyways and maybe next time you should join me!

(btw, PBR can be seen every Sat and Sun night at 8pm on the OLN (outdoor living network). It really is a sport and there's lots to learn about bull riding)

Where Have I Been?

That's a really good question. Truth be told, busy in the day to day grind of life. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

I have decided to step up my Stampin' Up! business. This too is a good thing. Unfortunately, blogging has suffered slightly. I'm feeling busy with classes and projects. Hanging with good people, enjoying it and making some money. Ah....

The kids are all doing well. Growing up. Being independent. This is a weird thing. I'm still adjusting to the changes. I think they'd like me to hurry up and get with the program!

Here are a few favorite things at the moment:

1. My crockpot. Did you know you could cook a meal in a crockpot every single night of the week! Fabulous! The less time in the kitchen for me, the better.

2. Scrap 2 It. My favorite local scrapbook store. Great things to look at, great people.

3. Soduku Puzzles. I'm addicted. Try it... you'll like it....

4. My new haircut. The stylist cut it with a razor and I love it. Nothing like a good razor cut.

5. Donna Downey's year long scrapbooking class at bigpicturescrapbooking.com. Worth every penny and heaps of fun projects. Hard to keep up with the weekly assignments, but I do my best.

That's about it for now. Hope your favorites list is long.

Girls Nite Out

Well, this year we got smart. The hens that is. Okay, I'll explain. First of all a group of 5 of us girls get together on Wednesdays for a Bible Study. One of the husbands jokingly referred to us as "the hens" and it stuck. We do a lot of clucking when we get together!

So about the smart part. We decided this year instead of buying each other a Christmas gift, we would spend that money on a girls nite out. It took a while to coordinate everyone's schedule, but we finally had our night out. We went to a Greek restaurant and I swear our waiter was the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. He even said, "No Greek salad for you!". Then we went next door to Starbucks. It was such fun and such a success we decided to have girls nite out for each one of our birthdays.

I'll leave you with a few pictures!

No, Tia is not being holy in this one. Seriously, she is not praying!

A Croppin' Good Time

Got to go to a crop at my lss. Oh it was a great nite out! I spent most of my time making all sorts of books. If you know me at all, or have been in my house, you know that I love books. I have found I especially like making and/or altering them. Here are a few examples:



This is the Planner from Simple Scrapbooks. It is fabulous. A great value at $12.50. I am taking Donna Downey's year long class at Bigpicturescrapbooking.com. This was our first assignment: to alter our planner. Fun. And useful.



This is an address book for my mom. She has a poor pathetic one that I have teased her about for a long time. This came from Sarabinders. They are great and easy to do. Some acrylic paint and paper and bam! You've got something cute.



This is a notebook I got at Target and altered. It is 8.5 x 11 and I will use it for my handouts from Bigpicturescrapbooking.com classes.



This is a small notebook for me. Another Sarabinder. For whatever jotting down I want to do. Church notes, prayer journal, grocery lists, crafty ideas... you know, the stuff of every day life. This is Stampin' Up! paper and I really like it.



And last, but so not least. This is going to be a circle journal to share with my Sister sister (she's a nun) in Oklahoma. I had to sew and bind and everything. It really wasn't hard at all. I used Making Memories foam stamps and white MM acrylic paint for the flowers on the front and back covers. This one is gonna be hard to part with! At least it will come back to me on a regular basis.

Not bad for a night's work. I felt creative and productive. Something I rarely get to feel at the same time!

Oh yea, I also completed 15 baby shower invites for a friend.

Yup, feelin' pretty good.

z becky brown design

Got a chance to make panels for a Z Becky Brown for a lss with a Valentine's Day theme. Used the new Basic Grey Notch Tool for the "corset thingy" on the sides. I liked the tool. It did take a little getting used to though.




Also made a couple of Valentine's Day cards with the leftover "scraps". It was great fun to use different supplies.

Goodbye 2005...

It's been a good, solid year all in all. Maybe not the best, most terrific year ever, but far, far from the worst year. The new year is full of wonder for me. I anticipate what is to come.

Resolutions? Yea, I've got a few. Mostly I want to be me only better. I'll be sharing the specifics later.

As the year winds to a close I'll share a last picture with you.


That's Lilli and her very best bud Jamie at Libby Lu's for Lilli's all girl birthday. Sweet.

Happy New Year! May it be your best ever.

My Wonderful Christmas Eve Kids

I think that when you are a parent, every once in a while you should get a pass to brag. I'm taking mine right now.

They are growing up so fast. And they are really cool people. I enjoy them more and more every day. They looked so great tonight. I couldn't resist these shots at church as imperfect as they are.

The pink hair? For those of you who are Nick Jr. illiterate, that is in imitation of Stephanie on Lazytown. I love that Lilli has a sense of style and is not afraid to show it.

These 3 and my fabulous hubby... The best gifts I've ever gotten.

A boy and his pocket knife

Yup. If you have a son, I bet you know exactly where this story is going. We had Christmas at my mom's on Friday. We got home and the kids wanted to watch a dvd that Parker got. They did and it ended late. Not being one to miss a chance to stay up late, Parker went to his room to check out another present he had received that night. A really big bin of Legos. Now in this crazy world, for some reason the toy manufacturers see to it that each and every toy is packed to stay intact in case of a nuclear holocost. The dang thing was strapped shut. So doing what he'd seen his dad do at least a million times, Parker pulled out the pocket knife he received for his baptism. Instead of cutting away from himself, he cut toward himself. Cut through his brand new jeans and sliced his thigh. This happened about midnight.

Out of his room he comes, "Dad, I cut myself". I was in the bathroom before I realized I had even put my feet on the floor. I hemmed and hawed -- it was a good gap and would have a hard time healing on an active 11 yo boy. On the other hand, a scar wouldn't matter there and I could butterfly the heck out of the thing. Pete and I debated until 2 a.m. Off to the ER we went. After a wait until 5:30 am, we were seen, stitches were placed and we got home about 7 am. Not only could Parker brag that he had survived stitches, but he'd stayed up the whole night.

3 kids, 12 years and this is the first time anyone has had stitches. I feel very blessed.

Parker says, "This is a Christmas Eve I won't ever forget!" Yeah, me neither kiddo.

So am I a dealer?

It usually happens this time of year. I get called a "crack dealer" by a husband in desperate need of gift ideas. Confused yet? Okay, I'll explain.

I love my friend Kimberly. For a lot of reasons. A lot of the reasons are because she is so different from me. Ask her if she's into scrapbooking, card making, paper crafts in general. She'd probably give you a resounding "bahumbug!" . Not me, no way. Yuk. In fact, last year my Bible study group was making some gift bags and tags for a community service project. Kimberly barely agreed to participate. Crafting is just not her "thing". Can you believe I'm still her friend? Anyway, come to find out she likes coloring the little stamped images in. Who settles into the community service project looking like she could do it all day? Yup. Kimberly. But still she shows no sign of "addiction". Fast forward to this November. "I need some Christmas cards", she says to me. Well that's right up my alley, so I hook her up. Fun way to spend an afternoon, I think. It was fun. What's more... Kimberly thought it was fun. I saw a little glint of something in her eyes. Hmmm... what's that? Nah, can't be.

A few weeks ago, I get a stampin' windfall. Big time. Lots of fun stuff. Begging to be shared. So I do what any bonafide crack dealer, er, I mean stamper would do. I pass some to Kimberly. Basics. Stamps that beg to be colored (not my thing at all, I have the patience of a gnat when it comes to coloring in images). A paper cutter, a black ink pad. Stuff I'm ashamed to say that I have waaaay too much of. There it is! That spark! A stamper is born!!!!

So her husband calls me. "You're like a crack dealer. You give enough stuff for free to get my wife hooked. Now, what can I buy her? She was up late last night cutting out those stamps. I already had to clean and adjust the scissors." A grin spreads across my face. This is not the first time I've heard this one. Alas, I'm not a very good dealer though because I give him some suggestions, none of which requires money in my hands.

The funniest part? Not much later Kimberly calls me. "You know what? You're kind of like a crack dealer...." I bite my tongue trying not to laugh out loud! Yeah, I've heard that before I say...

Making Stuff...

I've been busy this Christmas. You should see my scrappin' place. Actually, I'm glad you can't. It looked better last year when the hurricane hit it! I've made glass ribbon ornaments, Making Memories frame ornaments, name frames, and cards. Still need to get the mess cleaned up! Here are some pictures of the frames and my Christmas card for the year.

Girl Time

What a treat. Me, my mom and my sister all got to go out last Saturday. It was so much fun! First we got manicures and pedicures. Do I need to say more? Scrumptious! Then we went out to lunch. The kind of place you wouldn't want to take the kids. Again... wonderful!

Here we are with our beautiful hands and happy at the restaurant.

It was a great Christmas treat. Thanks Mom!

Exercise

Let me start this by saying I detest exercise. Any and all forms. Always have. Even when I was young... er younger than I am now. But now I've settled in to middle age and all that accompanies it. I am learning to not take my reasonably good health for granted. So as a family we have all joined the local YMCA.

They have a super facility. A pool, the latest greatest equipment, all computerized and personalized. Tons of cool, fun activities for the kiddos. BUT, did I mention that I hate exercise? Oh yea, I thought I did.

I got myself all set up with the personal trainer who told me what to do to start out. The goal is to not kick my own butt. Slowly build up to the grown-up machines with time. So I had a little test run on Tuesday while they were showing me the ropes. Since for now 3 times a week is sufficient, I went back today. The thought of going loomed over my head all day and taunted me. I was filled with dread. But I have kids who were chomping at the bit to get back to the Y. It's new and all exciting to them. Not so much for me. But, I suck it up and go. Filled to the top with dread. But I got there, got the kids settled and started in. You know what? I kind of liked it. I doubled my time on the stationary bike. Actually did 2 miles. Not so impressive, but you gotta consider where I started! I'm feeling just a little tight this evening. My muscles are protesting just a little. They've become very used to the easy life.

Here's the question. Will I still dread heading off to the Y 3 days a week? I'm guessing so. Maybe just for a few weeks or so. The best part? Katelyn is working out with me. That pushes me in a good way. I'm really proud of her. She's doing great!

So if you see me or talk to me or email me.... ask me if I've been to the Y lately!!

Christmas in Florida

This is the palm tree in our front yard. It looks festive with the lights on it. I look forward to that lighted palm every year. That and the swag on my door. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house.

The annual Christmas store at CCC was a whopping success. A great time was had by all. It is amazing to see how things come together just right every year.

It was a productive weekend for us. Pete and I had a nice dinner together Friday night. Then we hit the shops and actually finnished our Christmas shopping. I could tell you all about it, but certain almost teens in this family happen to read my blog. This is the first year that we've been done this early. Saturday we worked at the Christmas store and then Pete helped GG pick out a new tv. Today there was church and Pete has attacked the lights with gusto. Can't have Michael across the street make him look bad!

It's a new week and time to hit the ground running once again. Here's to a great one. 

Hmmm....

Went to the Dr. today. My sinuses and my jaw have been bothering me. Diagnosis? Clenching my teeth and a sinus infection. Ugh! Gotta hate that. My weight shocked me as well. I've always had a problem in that area, but dang! it's out of control at this point. Doctor's advice? No more than 30g of fat/day and as few carbs as possible. Also add exercise preferably in the form of a stationary bike. Why? Less chance of injury. You get hurt, you quit. Yea, that sounds familiar. Everything in life is not fun, huh? Sounds like something my parents should be saying to me. Time to slap myself and get with the program.

Now on to better subjects. I just got some new pens in the mail. Haven't been able to find them locally so got them from the 'net. Sakura gel pens. One of them is a clear "stardust" pen. Basically, it just glitters when you write. Very cool!!! My friend Linda has one and I admittedly have been coveting it. So I got 4 of my own. I probably owe Linda at least one for how much I've used hers! Then I got a Sakura Glaze Pen. This is alot like Crystal Effects that Stampin' Up! sells, you just put it on with a pen. Makes whatever you write "feelable". That's not a word I bet. Anyway, they are cool pens! Can't wait to play with them.

I'm off to pop some pills and hit the sack!

My Latest Scrapbooking Project

This is an 8x8 album that I made for my friend Gretchen who just had a beautiful baby girl.

It's done with a very simple formula that makes it so fast to put together.



It's called Snappy Scrappin'. I got this done in an afternoon at my friend Linda's house. You pick your colors and stamp a couple of sheets all over with any stamp you'd like. I chose flowers for this one so it would be "girlie". Then you follow a template for the layouts. Super quick and easy! This book has a couple of pages up front for first pictures with family. Then there is a 2 page spread for each month of her first year. The last page is a single for a picture of her on her first birthday. I recommend that the mom puts a sticky note on each month to jot down significant events in that month. (ie; first tooth 5/21) and then you tuck your pictures for the month into the page protector for the month taken. When you have time, you just go back and adhere the pictures and journalling.

Katelyn's a great holder, huh?

Bring on the Tree

Big day today at our house! Time to put up the Christmas tree.

This is Katelyn and Lilli putting up the Nativity.

Parker and Lilli are adding ornaments.

What does Buddy do? Hide with a rawhide bone!

Yup. It's the disco boy of the house, bustin' out his moves to Christmas music.

Here is Katelyn taking over the tradition of putting the angel on the top of the tree. She is happy to finally be tall enough! I'm thinking by this time next year, she'll be taller than me.

I had to spend some time at Sam's and the mall today. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Grouchy shoppers and all! Got a little shopping done. Mostly got some exercise.

Pete and the kids worked at the church to help set up for the Christmas store and a set change to the "Toy Store Christmas".

Please join us in praying for the 75 teens and their parents who will come through the church doors next Saturday morning. They will be fed a pancake breakfast and pick out a small, medium and large gift for their teen. It is a gift to be a part of this ministry. God always provides exactly the right thing! Amazing!

Thanksgiving

This was the invitation that I stamped and sent to everyone. This was the tablesetting out on the porch for the "adult table".



We started a new tradition this year. Everyone (including adults) signed our tablecloth. It was great fun! We will add to it each Thanksgiving. The kids got a big kick out of writing on the tablecloth. It took a little convincing at first, but then they got into it!







This is Kendall after she got a shot at the tablecloth! Yep, that's a Sharpie Marker (read permanent!). I thought Joy would kill me for sure! Here's the fun at the kid's table! I'm thankful that the kids have cousins close by to hang with on holidays. That is a special blessing!
















So you can see that a great time was had by all! I think for the first time ever I did not have a meltdown just before everyone arrived. It was alot of work, but absolutely worth it!

When it started to get dark, Pete started a fire in the pit. The kids always have a great time playing in the dark and making s'mores. Our friends the DePaolo's stopped by for the fire and then we all retired to the "theatre" for a showing of Napoleon Dynamite.

I'd say that it was a great holiday. We as a family have so much to be thankful for. The blessings are too numerous to list or count. Truly Lord, we are grateful.

Migraines

Pain. Intense pain. Big black hole of pain. Makes you miss things. Like a whole day. Yuk.

Can't Sleep...

I hate it when I can't sleep. I'm going to be tired tomorrow. Duh. There's a bunch of junk rattling around in my head. And the dog's insides are making some strange noises.

Things that rattle around in your head at night are strange things. There's the big stuff. I have learned to deal with that a little better. Seriously. You think about them for a little bit, realize you can't do a darn thing about them. Totally out of my control. So I pray about it and forget it until another point in time. (hopefully not at bedtime) When it rattles around in my head again, I repeat the routine. Think about it some, pray about it, forget about it. Kind of like lather, rinse, repeat.

Now the small things... for me they're the killers. Things like Katelyn wants to make spinach artichoke dip for Thanksgiving and I need to find her a recipe. How far behind am I with grading school work? What am I going to do at my next workshop? What pictures am I going to scrap next? Blah, blah, blah.... All stuff within my control. But unfinished business. When I finish this business there will be more! And so it rattles around like screws in a jar. Yup, i've got a screw or 2 (or more) loose. Sigh...

I will do my best in the morning to cross some items off my to-do list. Maybe that will help. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to Stamp Day at Linda's. It seems like 10 years since I've hung out with Linda! I'm looking forward to getting out the Christmas decorations. All great stuff. Just wish it would all quit rattling. I'm hoping I've blogged it out!

Goodnight, Sleep tight (hopefully).

The List... (revisited)

Time for another list. I'm loving a few new things!

1. Crocs shoes. Have you seen these? I have. Back in my old work in the medical field days. They are about as pretty as Birkenstocks only in prettier colors. I think they feel even better than my Birkis too. Best of all, they are a lot cheaper than Birkis. $30. Gotta get me some. Soon.

2. Chinese Jasmine tea. Wow. Thanks to George (who recently came back from a trip to China). It comes in tiny little balls that you put in hot water and it unfolds and looks like pretty, smallish, green leaves. Not small like coffee grounds. Very easy to drink around or spoon out. The smell is to die for! With a little honey the taste is great too. So much fun!

3. Sisters. I really like mine. When I was a teenager and she was a little bugger, not so much. But now, she's really cool. A great person. I'd do anything for her.

4. Friends who feel like sisters. Like my friend Kimberly. She challenged me to do something spiritual. It was HARD, real HARD. But girlfriend, I did it. I think I was grinding my teeth the whole time, but I did it. Do you think God minded me grinding my teeth? Maybe I'll do better tomorrow, but 30 days is a long time...

5. My PDA. Palm One Tungstun T5 if you want the specifics. My life is pretty much on it. Cute pics of my kids. My favorite songs, and all the other boring details.

6. Which brings me to Soduku!!! Was downloading free software for my PDA and came across this. It's a Japanese number puzzle. Now normally I don't like number puzzles. But these are fun! No adding! Just 1-9. Beware, they are extremely addicting. You can find Soduku puzzle books in bookstores and even Target. Apparently its a trendy thing right now.

7. Still loving my new(ish) digital camera. I just got Picasa2 (another internet freebie) and it is great for managing all my pictures. Real easy.

Okay, that's it for now!

Finally.....

I have been in a funk lately. It's awfully darn hard to get anything done when you're in a funk. But my husband was helpful and made me go for a walk the other day. Don't tell him, but it helped. And I liked it. (I'm really trusting you here...) We all went. Around the big block. Even Buddy the dog. Then we went to Super Target. It was good.

So finally I got a couple of things done. Like upacked my stuff from my Saturday night workshop. It's a lot more fun getting things out than putting them away! Don't tell my kids that. (man, I'm sharing lots of secrets today!)

I updated my poor neglected PDA. I got on a paper planner kick for awhile. And of course I remembered why I hate my paper planner... it's too darn big! Back to the PDA for me. I added some files (free stuff - yay) and put some pictures and music on it. Sweet!

Last but not least, I finally made and sent out my Thanksgiving Dinner invitations. Merely a formality, but I'm proud of them. First time I've ever made real dinner invitations. I have more high and lofty ideas for Thanksgiving. Let's see if I actually get them done.

Here's a picture of the invite:

How Can it be November??

Wasn't it summer last week? Now we're breathing down Thanksgiving's neck! And of course you know what that means...... Yup........ Christmas, New Years, the whole slippery slope!

Okay, now that that little panic attack is out of the way. On with my mindless ramblings...

I'm glad Martha Stewart is not coming to my house for Thanksgiving. Forget that she spent a Thanksgiving in jail (at least I think so, didn't she?). My house has to be better than jail! In my heart, I'm a Martha Wannabe. In real life, I'm not a total loser. I'd like things to look nice, be welcoming, and fun. In real life, I get hurried and anxious. My main focus this year is to enjoy myself and for everyone else to do the same. I'm trying to make a plan to achieve that goal. What I don't want is for me and everyone else in my family to blow their top because we are trying too hard to get stupid stuff done in way too little time. In my mind I picture table decorations, placecards, favors, my new heirloom crystal on the table, flowers and candles. Will I get that done? Not likely. And to boot, I'll feel frustrated by that. Nevermind the fact that I'm homeschooling 3 great kids and enjoying the challenges of my 1 year old neice during the work week. What I need to learn most is that I should enjoy what I do get done. Fun, peaceful, and happy memories are much sweeter than floors that can be licked (and not just by the dog) or the perfect placecards. Great times with family and friends is what is important. When the day is done, what will be remembered? The favors, the food, the table setting? Not likely (unless something disasterous happens, and then it is hysterically funny family history!).

So that my friends is November's prayer. To do what I can and be at peace about it. To focus on what really matters. To be thankful, truly thankfull for all the blessings God has given. And His blessings are many.

One last picture....

I tried to get this one in last night, but for some reason, it wouldn't work! Today's a new day, so here it is. This is Katelyn and her friend Zhaleh in their "Whack a Youth" trunk. Fun!