To be. Is to run.

...and splash.

And enjoy a 90-degree September day.

For $7.87 from the K-Mart clearance rack.




And run some more.

Running, running, running...

And remember you have a brother now and again...

Overheard: the wistful 5-year-old

Today Mickey's kindergarten class got to attend an assembly put on by some of the older kids at his school. The kids were singing and dancing and wore costumes...a very colorful production (I peeked in the gym myself). Later I asked him if he enjoyed it:

"oooohhhh, mom, you would have loved the girls. They all wore bows! They were sooooo pretty! I could have looked at them alllll daaaaay looooong..."

I don't know whether to be amused or worried...

Your kids look blah, and it's for sale!

Last weekend I took the boys to have their pictures taken; religiously I've taken them to Big Department Store Portrait Studio on or around their birthdays to preserve the moment and their newest outfit in a photo. I've taken them there so I can get decent photos at a good price, and I've been happy with the result for the most part.

Until now.

Their most recent pictures were mediocre and I'm being kind. The boys were set up in the same poses they've been rehearsing for the last several sessions...so much so I think all their portraits are starting to look alike. And to my horror, the "photographer" had them saying things like "fuzzy pickles" and "cheeeese." Just typing that makes me cringe. Neither was enough to get a genuine smile out of either boy, and Mickey even looked to be grimacing.

I thought maybe they'd look better when I sat down with the "photographer" to review them. No. She'd prettied them up with enhancements (at nine dollars per enhancement) and written words on them...I suppose in an effort to soften Alex's all-teeth facial stretch. And then she tried to convince me that a package, complete with royalty-free CD (as if I'd want copies of the mediocrity), for $129.99 was by far my best deal.

At this pitch I told her "the pictures aren't that good." Then I wanted to scream "...and I'm their mother!!"

She didn't try anymore upselling.

I still left having ordered several sheets of average photos...because average is still good if your kids' faces are there. And I'd fought to get them dressed and to the appointment and having to reschedule the whole thing somewhere else was not an attractive option.

But now I'm determined even more to figure out Behemoth DSLR and take my own photos of the boys. Or pay a premium for a photographer who sells skill and artfulness instead of...meh...

Kids' faces deserve better.

Pizza's fourth cousin twice removed

If you've ever wondered how far you can possibly get from a pizza-like food, and yet still give it a name with "pizza" in it, look no further.

...and then wonder why I was compelled to tell the Internet about it.

Love ya, BC, but please, back to the drawing board.

Four: the cake

Yes, the non-toddler had a birthday cake. Yes, I made it. Yes, I'm in Year 6 as The Mother Who Refuses to Pay for a Bakery Birthday Cake for Her Kids.

But for Alex's #4, maybe I shouldn't have been that mother.

I made the very big mistake of committing to making Alex a Lego cake. So I got reminded of it every day for a week. When am I going to learn that my boys have brains like steel traps when it comes to promises from their parents?

So I was in it whether I liked it or not. The very simple and exquisite example that enticed me so is pictured here. (Aside: does anyone know how they could have possibly gotten that well-defined edge around all the bumps when marshmallows are curved?)

My version wasn't exquisite. Or simple. It took me six hours. And I sweat (not on the cake, though, since I moved a fan into the kitchen). Seems those little blocks required freezing between layers of icing, and the little round thingies (big marshmallows halved) needed to be frosted indi-freakin-vidually.

I can't complain too much, really. I knew without a doubt it would be a challenge even with the simple design. Especially when I amped up the recipe to two cake mixes and making my own buttercream icing.

But for some reason I wanted the Lego cake to happen anyway. And happen it did.


Alex loved looking at it, although he refused to eat any of it. Thanks, honey.

In the car today I decided to throw caution to the wind and ask him what kind of cake he wanted next year.

"Transformers."

"Uh, yeah, that'll be a half-sheet ready for pick-up on September 16..."

Four

As of today my house is void of toddlers.

Excuse me a minute while I collect myself.

My littlest is Four today. I capitalize the word because I feel it's deserving...at least in my little mind. See, Four seems like the end of all things babyish. All things toddler-y. Pretty soon his softness will be replaced with lean, wiry limbs like his brother's. And it'll all happen overnight.

Just like his first four years.

I have one of his baby pictures on my wallpaper and Pete wandered by and asked me whose baby it was.

His OWN baby.

Think four years is a long time?

I think it isn't. Not nearly long enough...

Happy Birthday, sweet. I want to pinch those cheeks forever.

So, how've you been?

Hi, blog. Yes, I know it's been a while...not much, how 'bout you? I'm not sure why I called I guess I really just wanted to talk to you. Well, I was thinking maybe later on...we could get together for a while. It's been such a long time and I really do miss your smile...

...I'm not talkin' 'bout millennium. And I don't want to change your mind. But there's a warm wind blowin' the stars are round.

And I'd really like to find time to write.

Happy Monday peoples...

Storming

Sent Pete and Mickey on their way this morning with umbrellas and jackets. Alex and I hover under the eves and wave them off. Doesn't take long for Alex to start weighing too much for me to hold, so I put him down and he scurries inside to the recliner and Super Why. And somehow he cuddles a Lego-built helicopter, too.

And I'm doing laundry, and cleaning up breakfast dishes, and doing various other mundane things.

My job, in other words...

It's Friday, the end of the work week, but that doesn't really matter much to a stay-home mom. Our job is where we live. We don't get to stop doing it for two days every week.

And I'm happy about that.

Especially when it's raining and I get to retreat back inside my house with a soft three-year-old.

Another first day...

I do have another son. He started back to Mother's Day Out this week...same school he's been visiting a couple of times a week since he was nine months old.

One of his teachers is a former teacher of Mickey's. The other...the incredibly sweet mother of one of Mickey's good friends.

I felt like kicking back with my hands clasped behind my head. Ohhhh, yeeaahhhh...

Pics from the day...sometimes I wonder if he assumes his non-expressive, staring into space look especially for me and my camera. I'm not really sure I should even post these; the boy looks like he's dreading it with every fiber of his being. I assure you...this IS his happy face.

Ten reasons Wipeout should stay on the air

Have ya'll seen this show? Wipeout has to be the most fun on TV right now. I don't spend time trying to figure out show line-ups, but I'm guessing its days are numbered since summer's almost over.

But I think they should keep it around, and here's why:


1. The only show, ever, that makes my entire family laugh...genuinely.

2. Gratuitous and witty innuendo that keeps adults happy, and little kids happily clueless.

3. Muddy water. Then clear water that cleans off all the mud. I love this. Yeah, it's a little weird.

4. Fun to watch the boys fashion their own "sweeper arms" at home.

5. Host John Anderson used to be on one of our local TV stations. Nothing to do with the show, I know.

6. It's truly the only show we all watch where I don't have to worry about the boys seeing something that makes me cringe.

7. Comes on at 7:00 p.m. Still time for getting the boys to bed on time.

8. When it's on the boys say "Big Balls" a lot...more laughs for Pete and I.

...oh, shoot, I can only think of eight reasons.

Seriously, that should be enough.

C'mon, learn something!

Alrighty, then.

Fifth day of school for Mickey. Wouldn't it be funny if I posted something every day about Mickey's kindergarten year? I could post what he said at the end of each day, what he brought home in his backpack, and what he had for lunch.

(Please tell me no one thinks I'm serious. Talk about the best way to lose all seven of you as readers.)

But really, it's that little stuff is all I've been thinking about lately. As far as what he's actually learning, maybe he's keeping that to himself for some big reveal in the future. The way far off future, I suspect.

Thing is, we new parents were instructed to let the information lie for a while...don't ask too many questions, don't pressure the kids to recount every minute of their day.

Easier said than done. But I'm learning.

For now I refrain from "what did you learn today" and gobble up the tidbits that do come forth from time to time ("we got to choose a book to take home today...").

I'm just impatient to know how he's going to do...what he'll accomplish in school and what he'll need help with. It's almost like when he was a baby and I wondered what he'd be like as a five-year-old.

Yikes...that means the time right now, right this minute, is going to pass in a flash.

Scary.

The first day

Maybe by now I can write about Mickey's first day of Kindergarten without losing it. And I got The Big Camera out of its big case and put it to work (the mourning for The Little Camera continues).

In case you're needing to get to work or school and don't have time to read the rest of this post, the synopsis is that Mickey's first day of kindergarten was harder on me than it was on him. The whole family escorted him to his room where he dutifully took his place on the fun carpet with the other kids. Then we all just stared. Us at him, the other parents at their kids, him at the other kids, the other kids at him. Everyone just seemed to be waiting for some action to begin.

The only action, though, was me snapping photos. And after an awkward amount of time I finally decided to say goodbye, only when I approached Mickey and tried to call his name, I couldn't get the word out. Deep breath, deep breath, I'm thinking...please just look over here so I don't have to say anything. Finally I squeaked out something and he turned to me, which didn't help my state much.

But amidst the tears I gave him a hug and told him I loved him, and he gave me a really confused look...and then sat back down to await the action.

And then I beat it outta there with Pete and the ever-flitting-about Alex.

At the end of the day I tried not to badger him with too many questions because I could tell he was tired. On the way home he recounted a couple of details, and then, before we even got out of the parking lot: "...Mamma, when am I going golfing with Daddy?"

I'm thinking that's a sign of a multitasking brain, right?

No one was too happy about getting up and out the door so early.

A big pancake and sausage, as promised.

How old do kids get when they stop getting dressed in the living room?

Sorta looks like a mug shot, but I wasn't being picky. It looks dark outside because it was pouring down rain. Nice...

Pete said he was not nervous about Mickey's first day. But he's the one who put liquid Comet in the dishwasher that morning...

Ahhh, the new school supplies...seemed to be beckoning little hands to begin creating things.

It's as if they're saying: I'm a little unsure so I'm keeping to myself here. And waiting for some action...

...but in the meantime Alex can tackle me and loosen things up.

So here we go...Mickey's ready, I just hope I am.

My poor littlest. Whatever.

I decided to start a new tradition with Mickey when school starts: he gets to go to the bookstore and pick out a new book. In order to protect Alex from the trauma he would surely suffer while watching Mickey get all this attention, I told him we would go to Target and he could choose a new CD. He's lovin' his music these days, especially putting in the CD and turning it on himself.

So after we took Mickey to school this morning (details on that later) off we went to Target to accomplish the task. Alex chose The Imagination Movers and talked about it the whole way home. He eagerly trekked off to his room, inserted the CD, and listened to exactly one-half a song.

Then he took the CD out and put in one of his old ones. And fifteen minutes later he's still in there listening to it.

So much for impending trauma...

Night before The First Day

I had prepared another post mourning the loss of My Little Camera...it was a doozey, too, all about how sometimes losing things is not as much about the value of the item, but the inconvenience of replacing it, and how the thug who took it (which is the only remaining possibility) will get his payback when he looks up how much the camera is worth and realizes it may not be enough to buy his Vega a tank of gas. Yeah, had that post ready to go until more important thoughts started clouding my head, like

my oldest boy starting kindergarten. Tomorrow.

I thought to myself, my goodness, if this mommy blog doesn't have some sort of salute to that momentous occasion, then I say...what blog?

So I'm determined to post something about it, even if it takes me all night long to get it written. Although I have to get up earlier tomorrow than I have in several years to make The First Day happen with as little angst as possible.

There's laying out his the new clothes...uniform-wear, I should say. And I actually asked Mickey "what do you want to wear tomorrow..." Whoops.

And positioning the new backpack by the door, which is empty this first trip but for the new lunchbox. Mickey has informed me he wants to try the cafeteria selections, though...and soon.

Then there's the pancakes and sausage I've promised him...and for some reason he has requested a bigger pancake than Alex's. Doesn't make much difference if Alex is eating two pancakes to his one, but "okay," I told him.

And getting The Big Camera ready to go. And its battery charged. And getting my name and address on the bag and a small cluster of ink bombs stashed inside that will explode if it gets more than ten feet away from me.

And, tonight, trying not to think of this as an emotional thing. Trying to remind myself that very soon we'll have this school thing down-pat: the schedule, the homework, the activities. It'll all become second nature. Pete and I, and Alex for that matter, will slide into the school environment and the magnitude of the first day will soon fade in the shadow of the next milestone.

But I wonder if I can actually accomplish that last task: I think of myself as pretty level-headed when it comes to emotions. And then my nephews go off to college...and I get emotional not for me or them but for their parents saying goodbye to them. And I think of my niece recently becoming engaged, and I tear up not when she delivers me the wonderful news, but later when I celebrate it on the phone with her mother.

So how am I supposed to keep it together when I'm seeing my own son through a milestone? I truly don't know. I truly hope there will be at least one other parent taking it worse than me, someone else in the group who didn't wear mascara on purpose. Then maybe no one won't see me ugly-crying into a bank of lockers. 'Cause it's gonna happen...I can just about guarantee it.

But contrary to my rambling here, the day is so not about me. It's about Mickey and his First Day...one that I hope he remembers forever.

Or at least the sausage and the big pancake...

Sicker

Today the boys and I went to the restaurant where I thought I left my camera to see if the person who looked for it was incompetent. She wasn't. No luck.

So I called Mickey's school. We'd been there that day for a function where I used my lost camera to take pictures...the whole reason I had it with me. No luck.

I really can't think of anywhere else to look, unless I've completely lost my head and stashed it somewhere in this still-unorganized house. Which could mean we don't find it until we move again. And by that time I'll be able to sell it to a museum for a lot of money.

So now I guess I'm forced to either by a new camera or learn to use The Big One properly.

Hmm, wonder which one Pete will vote for...

Sick

That's the best way to describe how I'm feeling: I think I've lost my digital camera. Not my big one I just bought...no one could misplace that thing. My little point-and-shoot. I think I left it in a restaurant last Friday during lunchtime. The workers there looked once but didn't find it. I'm sick. There were a hundred or so pics on it...of the move, etc. And of the boys in our old house on the last day we were there.

I suppose it could be worse: the camera itself isn't worth a hundred dollars: it's almost five years old and it's limping along. If someone swiped it from the restaurant booth they'll be sorely disappointed in their loot. Good.

I'm almost as upset about losing the camera case it was in: a red Tamrac I've owned for probably fifteen years. It's been on every vacation, to and from the Caribbean a few times, countless kid and family events...and not a scratch or tear anywhere on it. They don't even make the model anymore.

And to finish me off...the fact that the case also contained misc. equipment that goes to my video camera. That'll be a cinch to replace.

I'm heading to the restaurant tomorrow morning to conduct my own search. And probably come home empty handed.

Sick, sick, sick...

Boxes and stuff

I'm starting to wonder if the boxes that have yet to be unpacked really need to be. After all, the last few I've unleashed were full of things I forgot I even owned. Could that be a sign I don't need them? Wait, one of them was full of old cheerleading uniforms...surely they will be of some use to me again someday.

The boys are lovin' their playroom. And as long as I hear them up there running back and forth periodically I don't worry. It's when the quiet ensues that I feel the need to check on them. Is that a universal parenting thing??

Little by little we are getting settled, but my word, it's gonna be weeks before I don't have something to put away. Although it seemed I was forever doing that at the old house so I suppose nothing much will change.

Alex asked me the other day when we were going back to the old house. I tried to explain as gently as I could that someone bought it from us and she's now living there, and we have a new house.

"Oh."

I know the questions will get more complex when they get older; for now I'm going to enjoy answering the easy ones.

So...eleven days until my oldest starts kindergarten and just a few days until two nephews and a niece start college.

And starts a new chapter on this blog...I hope.

We're in, but that's about it

(I had a post completely written about the new house, but I'm writing from the library and something happened when I hit "publish." Thanks, library...)

A moving experience

One week from today we'll be sitting at a big conference table with cricks in our hands from signing papers on our new house.

One week and one hour from today we'll be sweating in the July sun moving our entire lives under a new roof.

One week and a day from today, I'll bring the boys home from Grandma's, and instead of turning onto Gary Pl., we'll veer north a bit to their new home for the rest of their childhoods. (Really makes me wonder if Alex, just shy of four years old, will have memories of this house and how it was the only thing he knew for so long.)

It's the calm before the storm, folks, and here's how it's going to play out:

Friday: take the boys to Grandma and Grandpa's a little north of here. While we're there, we'll pick up a ginormous box truck belonging to Brother-in-Law, kiss our babies goodbye, and rumble back south to Tulsa. The boys will spend the night there. When we get home we'll begin loading onto it whatever we can fit...and lift.

Saturday: keep loading the box truck. Have two or three arguments with Pete about how I don't what my photo albums on it until the last minute since I don't want them baking in the heat. In the late afternoon Pete will go to Grandma and Grandpa's and pick up the boys. How he's getting there is still a mystery...since the box truck will be loaded up, etc.

Saturday evening: walk to church for the last time.

Saturday night: enjoy our last night together in this house. Pete will look at me funny when I start reminiscing...especially when I talk about when, on our wedding day, we walked over in all our wedding finery to have our photo taken in front of it. And when I talk about how he pounded a sign the size of a billboard in our front yard announcing Mickey's birth. He'll shush me when I tell him we'll remember the driveway where Mickey learned to ride his bike, and where Alex wore out his Little Tikes basketball goal. Then the whole family will fall into the remaining bed in the house...exhausted, and excited at our new chapter about to begin.

Sunday morning: try to get up before the movers get here at 8:30 a.m. Gather up the boys and shuttle them to their other Grandma's, where they'll be until Tuesday. Race back to Tulsa and clean, clean, clean. Sunday night Pete and I will head to a hotel for the night, since we have to have everything completely outta here and I'm not sleeping on the floor.

Monday morning: close on the houses in the a.m. Movers will meet us and our box truck at the new home...and the real fun begins.

That's the plan; I'm pretty sure there will be changes (ya think?). I will probably not be online for several days, either. To take advantage of having the thing disconnected, I'm taking the computer to the shop next week to have it tuned up and de-virused, etc.

So if I'm MIA for a while...um...you'll think everything's completely normal.

What's your best time?

I'm 43 years old and I've finally realized I need to listen to myself: I am productive, eager, enthusiastic, and patient...

...in the morning.

I tend to get up before anyone in the house by an hour or more. I shower, put on makeup, do my hair, and get dressed before anyone's even awake. I go downstairs, make coffee, have breakfast while reading a cookbook, put in a load of laundry, empty the dishwasher, lay out the boys' clothes, fix their lunches if it's a school day, check my email and the news, and start planning the week's meals (okay, lying about that last one but doesn't it sound good?).

I do more before 9:00 as a stay home mom than I used to in a whole day at my day job. At least there toward the end of my cubicle career anyway...

I maintain that ferocious ambition at home for several hours.

And about 4:00, the wheels on the production bus fall off. By five, I'm skidding. 6:00, wow, pity the phone solicitor that draws up my number. I'm short with the boys, trying to fix dinner without letting the TV babysit them, and wondering if Pete's "I'm on my way home..." means he's in the truck with the motor running or he's "finishing up" an email. Big difference between those two scenarios.

So I've learned that if I'm going to try to accomplish something that will be especially taxing, like shopping for a week's worth of groceries with both boys, it needs to happen in the a.m. when I'm at my best. If you ever see me at Walmart after 4:00, might be in your best interest to pretend you didn't...

It sounds crazy, but I'm just now realizing this to the point of changing the way I do things during the day. Things that are easy, like letting the boys play on the computer or watch a video, need to happen during that witching hour at 4:00 or so. In fact, I believe they, too, begin to get bored with the day...probably a lot of kids do. So I used to blame that stress-filled time on them until I realized, hey! I have a not-so-great time of day, too. Who knew?

So what's your best time of day? Morning? Midnight? When do you have the most energy and what do you do to get yourself through the times of day when you're dragging? (And I already know about coffee.)

Overheard: Frightening

Scary words from Mickey to start the day:

"...hey Alex, let's play Wipeout!"

(And happy 500th post to me!)

Mishmash

-- I've started packing...hooray! How do you say goodbye to baby clothes? The boys have some I just can't part with, and I know I'm going to end up shuffling them around a hundred times before I find space for them. But I just can't put them in the giveaway box now...or ever, if you want to know the truth.

-- Mickey has a couple of new phrases that make me grin when I hear them. "...Grandma's house is so decorational..." and "...Mom, it's soakin' hot out here!" I think they work!

-- I used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for the first time the other day in a chicken taco recipe. (Go ahead, say "adobo" a bunch of times...fun!) Then I noticed "chilpotle" on the label and I wondered if any other glaring errors had been made in the production of this can. Of course this blog is not perfect, but I try to avoid paying people to make mistakes.


-- Ya'll...Pete's in the middle of a horrendous travel week. Think about him and pray his travels are safe and he can get some decent rest soon. And his friend's wife is in the hospital suffering with a pulmonary embolism, which, given his history with that demon, has him visiting her in the hospital as much as he can. Her husband was out of state when she went in the hospital...can you imagine. Anyway, he's having a very draining week and I hope he'll be able to have a relaxing weekend...

-- ...after I go see the Harry Potter movie on Friday night with my moms! Woo-hoo!!

-- In my frenzied weekend, I missed a traveling Titanic artifacts visit which my good friend frantically called me to tell me about. And I missed it. I'm a little sick about that one...

The new house!

I'm starting to wonder if I'll have everything packed in time for the move two weeks from today, but then I realize I don't have much choice in the matter. I'm feeling a little like back in college when I procrastinated for weeks before a final then crammed all my studying into the 18 hours before test time (for whatever reason I know a few college freshmen who read my blog; ya'll don't do that, mmmkay?)

As promised, however, here are some pics of our soon-to-be home sweet home. I'm calling them "before" shots, since we have a list a mile long of improvements we want to make:

Raining when I took this shot, so I wasn't getting out of the car to get the whole house.

Does anyone know the technical term for this thing? Looks like something that will require climbing on rooftops someday.

I love the bay windows. There are three sets in the house!

'Cause you needed to see the stone close-up.

Must. Be. Climbed.

Handwashing sink in utility room. Weeee!

Unfinished kitchen cabinets that will soon be "ginger." Better known as medium brownish-y.

"Hey, let's put granite in, but that means we have no budget for a backsplash. Maybe The Hometeam won't notice..."

The third bay window in the dining room just off the kitchen. This one looks out onto the...ready for this...BACKYARD! (Which I have no pics of...sorry.)

Formal dining room. But we're not calling it that because we're not formal (suggestions for other names welcome).

Den. With a weird closet thing that we'll have to define sometime.

Sort of a shot of the yard. It has a fence and trees. I'm livin' the dream, I tell ya.

...and the house has a front door.

With a window like this in the office, I'm sure to write some inspired blog posts for once. Right now I'd settle for just writing.

Stairs...which I don't really like having, except I love these since they lead to...

...a gameroom!

More gameroom.

My favorite bathroom feature: they all have these bureau-type vanities.

Guest room upstairs, too. Crooked ceiling fan included.

Boys' room downstairs next to ours. They'll be rooming together until further notice. Or the fighting starts leaving scars.

"Oooo, and let's not replace any ceiling fans. We can call them vintage!"

The bad news: all the closets are small like this. The good news: there's four of them.

New appliances. Yay!

Storage in garage. I'm very excited about this since we won't have as large a utility room in the new house.

I'm also excited about having a screen door in the garage. Oh the little things...

Spot for our second fridge. I still have mine from my single life. Seriously, save a couple hundred and buy one for your garage. Priceless for summer time drinks and frozen treats, stocking bottled water, trays of party food.

Ceiling fan in the garage. I'm sure there's a sweet spot somewhere those three blades will cool...

Mickey's very intrigued by the mail drop set-up. When he saw this picture he asked "...what happens to the mail when the garage door goes up?" Hmm...

Not looking forward to fitting all my pots and pans in here.

The utility room sink again. I'm in love with it.

I may even leave one remaining piece of "vintage" in the house.

Checkin' in

So just for fun I checked out how many posts I put up here during the last few months. Seems I've been doing things other than writing. Oh, well. I'm so glad ya'll don't hold that against me.

On the house situation: as I mentioned before, we close on both the sale of our house and the new house on July 27. I've finally accumulated a few boxes and have actually packed one as of tonight. Packing is quite overwhelming to think about. So I'm preferring not to think about it. But I'm saying "no" to extra activities a lot, which will be a good thing when I decide to attack the packing head-on.

Tomorrow we visit the new house since I get to choose a stain color for the new kitchen cabinets. I'm more than incapable of making such a decision by myself, so I called a friend to meet me there to help me decide. She doesn't know it yet, but I'm also handing her a tape measure and a pencil to write down window measurements. None of the windows have any coverings on them, which will drive Pete to insanity within one day.

I'm hoping to snap a bunch of pics, too. Just maybe I can take some time to put some up here.

The inspection on the new house is scheduled for Thursday. We hope nothing major will be discovered, or that it is and we don't have to pay to have it fixed!

There's the whole incredible update; ya'll have a fabulous week.

Happy Fourth of July!!

It's a little soggy outside today, so I'm hoping our Fourth festivities will still happen. But just in case, there's this as a worthy substitute.

Ya'll be safe!