The joy of a wonderful ending and beginning

Typically, you'd spend the last few days (or earlier) of the year reflecting back on the things that you've done, achievements you've accomplished, unhappy memories you'd rather forget, the enriching lessons you've learned, a new friendship you've forged and an old friend you've re-connected with...

..and you start contemplating on your new year's resolutions in optimistic anticipation that the new year would bring about change, improvement or simply, just setting out to do the things that you've never done before.

As I lay in bed this morning, refusing to get up, I started to reflect on the past year. On the whole, I've concluded that it has been good despite the many ups and downs that life is expected to behave. I hate to start comparing but if I have to, I'm glad we've survived the year without much turmoil, major disaster (save and except for the recent landslide catastrophe) and most of all, notwithstanding the sliding economy, we are pretty much a resilient bunch.

On the personal front, I got to also reflect on how I've been truly blessed in many aspects in my life and I am very thankful for that. My family and I, we have much to look forward to in the coming year; one of which is that we are eagerly waiting for the arrival of our little bundle of joy next May.

Then I got to thinking about some things that I'd wanted to get done and finish. And I threw in a couple of goals in there as well. I wouldn't call them “resolutions” per se but the list is probably close to being one.

AND, since I'm typing this on New Year's eve, I thought “why not share them with my friends”.

So, without further ado, here are my nine for nine on my wish list :

(1) learn to bake. Serious, I don't have a sweet tooth so I've never been a fan of cakes. But, you know, I've put this on because Ash might insist that I make her a nice piece of chocolate cake one day and I'd really hate to disappoint her.

(2) complete Ash's photobook album that I've started.

(3) be less uptight – sometimes, rules are just meant to be broken

(4) save up enough dough to pay off our housing loan by the year end (not sure how much of a reality this can be but I'd certainly like to give it my best shot) so that we'd have more for our kids' (gosh, I can't imagine saying that - I will have KIDS!!).

(5) exercise. That can only happen after my confinement.

(6) no drugs during child-birth. Lets see if I can do it again this time

(7) breastfeed. Will attempt once more and hoping I'll succeed this time.

(8) take more photographs. Yeah, I'd love to do that!

(9) read more. Trade magazines for real books..

There. That's what popped into my head before being forced out of bed by the little energizer bunny.

Doesn't look like a very heavy list but just as important as the list itself, I'd have to ensure that at least half of them comes true. At least.

Alrighty then, I've gotta go prepare for an early lunch cos we are heading out to the city for the night.

Till next year, have a blessed New Year all my friends and may the year 2009 bring you lotsa happiness, wealth and not forgetting health. All the best!

Bonus shot : On the road

Taken while we were traveling on Saturday.

Thankfully, the journey wasn't very long otherwise, I shudder to think of how I'd cope. Been having some difficulty in breathing, again...

Anyway, if you're on the road to your holiday destination or coming home, do drive carefully.

I'll catch ya later!

Up close and personal

This holidays has been extremely good for Ash. She's been having a lot of fun. Whereas for me, I am utterly exhausted. Of course, it doesn't help much when you are carrying extra weight like I am. In terms of my spirit however, I'm almost always raring to go. It's very much a case of the mind is willing but the body...urm...not so.

Anyway, thanks to hubby's brilliant idea, we headed off to the jungle in Pahang in search of some wild animals - elephants to be exact.

We went to :

Alright, so...it's not exactly the jungle per se but close as the conservation centre is situated pretty remotely deep within the vast jungle area. So, don't expect a theme park set-up as there are no elephant performing tricks or elephants dressed up like a circus clown. But, you can certainly get real and I mean, real close to them.

Imagine that you are living quite primitively amongst the wild-life. That's how the place feels and looks like.

If you are coming from 1 Utama, it'll take you roughly an hour and half to get there. It's not outrageously far out and was fairly easy to find (sure beats looking for Ferrari parts).

Once you've reached, all you have to do is register the number of visitors and then, sign your life away (indemnity)...LOL..Since this sanctuary is owned by a non-profit organisation, there are no entrance fee. But you could contribute a small sum as donation. We bought t-shirts :-D.

I did mention that there are no performances by these elephants but there are a few simple activities that you can participate in. For starters, you can help feed the elephants their lunch and go on a short ride on them after that. Unfortunately for us, we didn't do any of those. Also, I think, on certain days of the week, you can even take baths with them in a nearby river.

It was a short but interesting visit. It won't take you more than an hour to completely absorb everything. I don't think Ash will remember the fact that she came face to face with a gentle giant (the ones we were allowed to go near were, I supposed, trained not to harm humans).

Well, that's about it. Our next stop was Deerland which I'll post later. In the meantime, you go on and enjoy a couple of shots we took :-D

Looky here!!

I'm sorry, I know this doesn't give you any information whatsoever as to where we've been today.

You'll know.

Soon.

I'm just a little exhausted as I was up (voluntarily) since 6 am this morning to prepare lunch. On most days, even if I did wake at such un-godly hour, I'd usually fall back to sleep or just read or complete my post or simply do absolutely nothing at all.

Not today. I was up, brushed my teeth and even though I barely had time to breathe, I was already working up the wok. It's all hubby's fault. He's asleep now by the way..with Ash. They both went to bed at 9.

So, will I be offering any clues? One thing though – don't get your hopes up cos it's no where fancy. In fact, I was the only preggy lady there *gulps*...

Oh, back to clues – there were definitely no Mulberry trees.

Alright, more tomorrow. I am hitting the sack. Fast!

More from the outdoors

My MIL's orchids. Aren't they pretty?

I am beat

Ok, let me say it again - I AM beat!

We've been running around endlessly for the last couple of days because dear hubby is on a 2 week break from work. "Yippee us" yes! But the sheer exhaustion of doing this and that and this and that is really taking a toll on this very old and fragile pregnant lady. Though the mind is thinking 20s but the body feels like 40s with extra kilos.

And you know what else? The traffic - human traffic! I thought being the holidays, people would be on holiday - somewhere else. But unfortunately for me, everyone seems to be still hanging around. Or worst - they have come to town for a holiday! I am so going away next year.

Oh and you know what else been urking this eating-for-two lady? Smokers. They are everywhere - at the restaurant, at the mall, at the coffee shop. Where ever I go, I sniff smoke. No offence to those who does smoke but it's really annoying me! At the rate they (the smokers) seem to be going, I wonder : do they even have smokers life insurance?

Whatever it is - we're off again on a day trip tomorrow. If I am up to it, I'll post some photos after :-D

A day with family

Ash's Christmas present from her maternal grand-parents

Hey guys, how has your Christmas been?

Ours was slightly different, without the unnecessary hullabaloo; kinda how I'd personally prefer to spend the day. It's not that the joyful laughter and chatter, the christmas cheer aren't important - they are. They are every bit of what makes a festivity come alive. But, at the same time, I feel it's equally important to appreciate the peacefulness and just to take some time-out to enjoy the quiet.

We had such calmness at home (save for Ash's Barney blaring from the tv screen) early in the morning. But Christmas sort of came alive when we began our online chat with hubby's family from Australia.

They outnumbered us in so many ways – especially the amount of food they had on the table! Made mine looked bleak. I could really feel the celebration emanating from my laptop screen. Everyone took turns looking and chatting with us. Ash was particularly intrigued although this isn't the first time we have spoken to them electronically. Everyone shared stories and virtual champagne. Urm, well, actually, theirs was real while mine was virtual heheh...

Apart from that, in the afternoon, we hopped over to my aunt's place for a short Christmas visit and gave her her present. I thought I'd never make it but I am glad I did. We hung around for a bit and then, headed back home for dinner.

And once again, as I am typing this up, all's quiet with Ash sleeping and hubby dozing off on the couch right in front of me. You know, it was a pretty great way to spend the holidays - a day with family...

p.s : I would have loved to have received one of those popcorn machines as well..:-D

Great with Daddy around

Ash has been loving every minute of her life. Her Daddy is home and has been home for almost a week now. The mom (me) too have been enjoying Daddy's presence 24/7 - more so when he's busy entertaining the little girl.

As much as I dread for Daddy to go back to work, I'm sure little Ash will dread it even more. She has grown extremely attached to her Dad. He is her side-kick - always goofying around, playing, giving into her whims and fancies. As for me, I'm more of the no nonsense-strict-won't do anything unless it involves getting up to pee or switch the Astro channel. Gosh, I've been such a couch potato lately.

This has got to stop.

This has got to end.

Maybe I should re-decorate the house...the country..Heard of Murray Feiss?

From our home...

to yours.

Have a grand Christmas celebration!

The woman with green fingers

One of the many things I admire about my MIL is that she's extremely good with gardening (apart form many other things that she's able to do). Plus, she does it without any help from anyone. Well, maybe except for the individual who comes around to help trim the grass once every month or so. Apart from that, what you see here is the result of the hard-work and dedication of one person; one woman to be exact.

The above image is one of the many variety of plants and flowers she has in her garden.

The largest is the huge rambutan tree situated behind the house. And for as long as I can remember, it has been there for oh I don't know - 20 years! And it's still bearing delicious fruits during its harvesting period. Unfortunately, I am not too keen on venturing to that part of the house cos it's filled with lots firery red ants and dreaded mozzies. So, there are no photos of the gigantic tree -- for now :-D

I remembered once she even attempted to grow her own grapes. She was almost successful but not quiet. The grapes were so sour I just couldn't muster another bite. I think it's the weather; ours isn't very conducive for these type of fruits.

What we've been doing so far since she's away on vacation is trying our best not to let these wonderful greens wither away by watering them and making sure they've got their healthy dose of vitamins once every week. Other than that, I've been a busy shutter-bug, snapping away, building my own personal collection of hopefully great nature photos :-)

P.S : I need to shop for a paella pan for my aunt cos it's on her wish-list for Christmas and I am running out of time!!!

Who's that man in the funny red suit?

"Ho ho ho!!!" said he for the 20 minutes when standing in the middle of Pavilion whilst people took turns snapping their mug shots with him.

Do you reckon he needs diet pills prescription? LOL...

I think this is the 4th mall we went to and I can't conclude which has the best Christmas decor this year. But I can say however which has the worst (of the 4, that is) - One Utama. They didn't do a very good job this year. Not that I remembered what they were the previous years but certainly were outdone this round by others for sure.

So, what were we doing there at Pavilion?

Well, firstly, we had a mission to accomplish which was to collect the hot pot that we reserved. Then, we hung around some more and got ourselves monkey t-shirts...LOL...Yes, and Ash had one too. She did look so cute in it.

More photos will ensue much later but for now, I've gotta get some work done. Catch ya later dudes!

This is how I relax...usually

It's been a week since we are at my in-laws. And, I am finding my way around the house. Not that it's complicated or anything; just needed time to get the feel of things - if you know what I mean :-)

It certainly helped that I brought along my essential survival tool - my lappie. Oh yes, and my camera. What on earth would I do without them? I dread to even think that!

I am enjoying my stay here and it helps when Ash feels the same. Except that during the first few days, she wondered where her grandparents went. Poor girl..she went around asking for her "mama" and "yeh-yeh". She's fine now. I think she's got a pretty good idea that her "mama" and "yeh-yeh" have probably gone away for vacation but will be home soon - with some goodies (not a micro sd hopefully) *grins*.

Ok then, before I go rambling on with no end (and you know it's highly possible with me) have a good weekend dear friends. See you soon!

Buckets...for a good time

Looks like the weather is or seem to be improving. Quite timely I might add; especially in the mornings. We've been having lots of sunshine these past few days (Please forgive me my friends who are currently braving the cold; I didn't mean to..) and dear God, I hope it stays that way too because....

we've got plans.

Hubby's year-end project is to make Ash her first sandbox. We are thinking of having a little make-believe beach party right here at my in laws' garden. However, I'm not entirely sure what that'll be exactly...but I'm thinking : sand, water (lots), sun-tan lotion, beach ball and a whole lot of fun!

Most of the requisite tools have been purchased including the lovely buckets that you see above (incidentally, if you like them, we got them at Daiso, the Curve and apologise to those who are here looking for electronics related; this isn't an electronics blog).

Urm, wait....I don't think I have bought Ash her swimming attire yet. Yep, no...I checked, that's the major item missing. Alright, that means more shopping set to take place this weekend :-D

Bonus shot : Morning glory

Have you ever woken up where everything is perfect : the sun is shinning, birds chirping outside your bedroom window, your kid behaving even if it's 6.30 in the AM, breakfast made...

I had one such morning today.

A feeling I anticipate will get me through the day quite splendidly.

Hope you had one the same or...better!

P.S : Of course, it would be nice too if there was a digital signage flashing in my notebook screaming "Best Mom of The Year"...*wink*

Reflections of Christmas

Officially...I am broke but I feel like a million bucks!

I'm finally at my in-laws due for our house-sitting duty till they return next year. Although, we'd prefer joining them but well, we'll just have to wait another year or two.

I've done all I set out to do before my MIL took off i.e bought gifts (loads) for the family and made Christmas cards to go with the gifts. I just hope they'll enjoy their pressies.

Speaking of Christmas, it's truly one of my favourite time of the year. One thing's for sure, the weather, though un-predictable as it has been (and will continue to be), I'm still pretty fond of it. I had half the mindset to get a Christmas tree for our house this year but decided against it. I don't think little Ash is ready to leave the tree alone just yet. And I am not about to pick up every little ornaments after her or risk an angel losing it's wing. Nah, my faint heart just isn't ready for it, not for the next couple of years at least. I'll be contented to just have her ooggle over the lovely decorated ones at the malls instead. Yeah, I'm quite the evil one..*grin*

One of my fondest Christmas memories was actually meeting Santa. By golly, it's true to the core! I did meet a real life Santa and he didn't come down a chimney either. Whoever's been telling you that that's how Santa arrives at your home, is lying! LOL...

It all happened when I was about 6. We had just moved into our new home and since it lacked a fair bit of décor, my mom decided to put up a Christmas tree during Christmas. I did say however that I don't celebrate Christmas and well, so does my parents; the tree was purely for decorative purposes. It even had “presents” under the tree (cleverly disguised by having empty shoe and tissue boxes wrapped in colourful wrappers). As a child, how devastatingly disappointing I was when I took one of the “presents”, shook it and realized it was empty. I checked each and every one of them..just to make sure but they were all empty.

But, I bet God knew how crushed I was. I mean, there I was, a child innocently thinking that they were in fact real gifts but having to find out that they weren't the hardest way possible. He must've heard my silent cries in bed that night because the next day, my grand-uncle and his family came for a short visit all the way from Kedah. The adults we chatting about in the living-room while I spent time playing with my aunt who is in actual fact only a year younger. It's a case of the generation system gone wrong but what do I care, I had company!

After chatting, my grand-uncle went out with his son for a couple of hours and when they returned that night, they brought back several presents! I distinctively remember hearing my uncle and grand-uncle saying to my mom “Aiyoh, why so terrible wan. Put bluff presents under the tree” while replacing the fakes for the real ones. However, I can't remember what my mom's response was but that didn't matter to me as much as those the real presents! I simply couldn't wait till Christmas which incidentally, was the following day.

I remember waking up particularly early that morning. My grand-uncle and his family were getting ready to go to church with another relative of ours while we stayed home. The whole time, my mind was simply fixed on those presents; imagined what they could possibly be (but I knew it wasn't Apidexin to say the least), imagined devouring them like a hungry beast.

And when they finally made their way back, I dashed over to my grand-uncle and said excitedly “Faster already. I want to open the presents”. I'm pretty certain he must've sensed my eagerness because as soon as he said I could, I dived in, ripped open everything, spared nothing and you should've seen the look I had - the widest possible smile ever spread across my face.

So, what did “Santa” get me? A doll, a toy telephone and something for school.

It was enough to make any child go wild. I know I did. I don't think I can ever forget that day, how “Santa” came to my rescue so unexpectedly and how happy he made me feel; the kind that is beyond description.

My grand-uncle passed away 3 years ago, around Christmas...

Monday rambling...

Another image taken at Bkt Tinggi...don't they look lovely? :-D

I had a brief but wonderful chat with Mott yesterday evening. She ever so kindly reminded me of something which I know I haven't been talking often about – my preggy update. And I thought you are all sick of preggy stories..LOL...

The truth is and like I explained to her, my preggy situation is kind of boring and frankly, I 'd rather not have it any other way. One thing which I am glad for is that my morning sickness (rather for me, it was 'evening sickness') has disappeared and I am definitely eating better. Sleep is still something I am a little deprived of as I tend to wake up at least once in the middle of the night to pay my lavatory friend a visit. Other than that, I am feeling better compared to the 1st 3 months or so. In addition, the cervical polyp I developed during my pregnancy with Ash did make it's way back this time but on a much smaller scale; so small that I don't bleed as often as I did previously. Another good pregnancy thing..for me.

Apart from that, Ash has been good..so far. She's been leaving me alone and bugging her dad instead – a pretty darn good sign if you ask any pregnant mothers...LOL. But yeah, she's grown very attached to her dad lately and it's also because of hubby's initiative to spend more time with her so I can rest. Also, my in-laws have been helping me out for most days during the afternoons for me to recuperate. So, all's been ok in terms of how I am coping etc...

I guess I haven't been really thinking about this pregnancy that much compared to my first. For instance, I don't even keep track of how far I am; a rough estimate of “yeah...I think I am about there” is all I am able to tell people when they ask. And I don't check the weekly progress on my pregnancy book against my own that much either. Is it a bad thing? I honestly don't know.

As for whether I am worried about labour – well, dear friends, my first was an induced, 18 hour, no epidural (only other form of pain relievers that I swear won't help whatsoever) natural birth. So, I kind of like to think that I can pretty much handle it...again...well, except if they decide to cut me up and that, I am not prepared for.

The one thing I've learnt (possibly the hard way) is to take things one step at a time. No point fretting over matters that may or may not happen or that I can't control. Questions like how will I cope with 2 kids? Will I need a maid or should I send Ash to her grandma every single day once the babe is born? Or what about food? Do I cook, eat out, cater? yadda yadda yadda...the list is endless...and really, I haven't actually thought of all these until this post.

I don't have all the answers and yeah, I don't know what will happen when the time comes. I will have to simply keep the faith and do what comes naturally. I'll either swim or sink but whatever it is (or may be) I will have to survive...no two ways about that!.

p.s : Ever bought anything on sale that you don't need? Well...I just did! O_O

Friday flick

Whilst cleaning or rather, attempting to clean out the gazillion files that are in my desktop yesterday, I realised that I hadn't posted many images (since most of them are sitting there un-touched, un-processed and un-resized) of our day trip to Bukit Tinggi a couple of months back.

So, I thought, I might just start with this one :



There wasn't much to explore. Then again, we didn't venture very far out either; wasn't a good idea with aging parents and a new toddler in tow. But, there were plenty to shoot; plenty. I must've taken over 200 images! For someone like me, I can assure you, its a darn feat.

I won't start that an-image-a-day-till-I-finish-my-collection trend here, that'll be completely insane and you'd probably be bored to pieces. I'll post some here and there, when the mood warrants for a photo or 2.

Last but not least, if I don't catch you around these couple of days, you have a great weekend. I'll be back here again sooner than you think considering that there won't be any Vegas vacations for me *smile*

Bonus shot : Scrappin' fun

The sun is out and boy, that's a relief!

If you're having loads of stuff in your hands today, do me a favor will ya? Make yourself a cup of coffee (or another), sit back and just savor the moment; cherish it will all your might.

And funnily enough, the stuffs may not be that big a deal after all.

Bills, bills and more bills...

You know, the one thing great about being a kid is that you don't have to think about (amongst others) financial commitments. I just spent half a day yesterday sorting through the pile of papers sitting on my study desk. Making sure we didn't miss anything out when we made some payments. And guess what? There are more bills to be paid as I found out last night. Hubby waved his auto insurance premium at me, indicating that more cash is to be spent. Sigh...see what I mean, don't you just wish you were a kid again? I do...sometimes...no, make that ALL.THE.TIME!!! LOL..

Miss Raggedy-Ann

Perhaps...not exactly but...close.

I got Ash her very first rag doll. I never had one myself as a child and I always felt that every girl or little girl should have one..at least. So, not wanting Ash to miss out on any of her childhood must-haves, I went and got her one from Marks & Spencer last Saturday while at The Gardens.

Raggedy came in 2 sizes; the smaller of the 2, snuggled fittingly into Ash's arms while the larger one was a life-sized doll! So large that it even towers above Ash by half it's head. I thought it looked a little too scary to have.

Ash was taken in by the smaller of the 2 initially; holding on to it as I brought it down from the rack. I wasn't sure then if I wanted to get it; I sort of left it as that and just went about observing Ash. She continued holding on to it until something else distracted her and she flung it down on the floor before running towards...err, whatever that she was after. Several minutes later, hubby brought her to where I was and reminded me that we had to leave since it was getting late. And so, I reacted in such an impromptu manner (not the first time) – I turned to hubby, smiled and said “I'm getting it”. He was like “OK...you sure it's for Ash or do you want it for yourself?”. I responded with a girly giggle “it's for me...”

True to my words or in this case, hubby's : ever since we brought Raggedy home, she has been lying and tossed everywhere else in the house but next or with Ash. She even became my un-likely photography subject when I ran out of things to shoot.

Ah...and so...there lies the fate of our little girl's only rag doll. Will she ever be loved by this rather fickle 20-something month old or is she just merely an object; existing only at her beck and call or to never be acknowledged...ever?

Come back..in a couple of months (or years, depending on how quick Ash warms up to it) to find out; I just hope I remember to update. O_O..

PL & M : The Newly-weds

I don't have permission to publicy publish their images so you'll just have to contend with the one above.

Last weekend, (in fact, it started Friday evening) we attended one of my closest cousin, PL's wedding.

The evening session on Friday was held at my aunt's house. It's the more conservative version of a “Bachelorette party” in view of the fact that there were plenty of senior and junior citizens in attendance. I'm not sure if she had a 'real' one earlier on : God I hope she did! LOL..

It was nice, chatting with my extended families and some of whom I've not seen in years. A great time to catch up if I do say so myself. PL showed us her wedding photos which were compiled in 3 albums! I don't re-call having that many variety in my day. Then again, my day was way way baaaaccckkk then!

The next day, that's when the actual ceremony began. First, they had the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. I am quite sad to say that I missed that. It's some old folks' abstinence for the preggers. Fortunately, I'm kinda superstitious and acceptable to things like these so I stayed home. Actually, we all stayed home and waited till it was time to head out for the church ceremony later in the morning held at St. Paul's Anglican church in PJ.

We missed quite a number of things that morning. One was the Chinese Tea Ceremony as I mentioned and we also missed the bridal procession at church. In fact, we or rather, I missed quite a fair bit of the church ceremony as Ash fell asleep on the way to church and since we didn't intend on waking her, we let her nap in the car with me accompanying her. I only went out every now and then to catch bits and pieces of the event when hubby came out. Oh, he was the de facto photographer that morning. Most images on camera were in fact taken by him.

I must admit, it was indeed a beautiful church wedding. The only qualm I had was when both PL and M were exchanging vows, I felt that the priest was standing a wee bit too close to the couple. I had this sense of eagerness to say this to him “hey man! You've already got the best seat in the house for sure so could you like, move back a little..you know, give them some room...”. Of course, I did no such thing but somehow, that kept playing in my mind even as I left the place after lunch. Oh, we were treated to a scrumptious buffet lunch after the event by the church; that was lovely!

Although, I could tell that the entire affair was extremely exhausting for the young couple. To add to last week's occasion, they are in Ipoh going through another celebration session as I type this. M's family is from Ipoh. And I bet the parents are equally exhausted but overwhelmed with joy at the same time too.

So am I.

PL has always been like a kid sister to me. Especially during the years before my sisters arrived. Three of us (PL's older sister included) were taken care of by our grandmother. Now, to personally witness her growing up, the obstacles she faced, the challenges before her...it's a feeling I can't even comprehend myself or even find the right words for it. I feel an immense joy for her and during the wedding dinner on Sunday, while watching the video of the tea ceremony played for the benefit of those who didn't attend, I started to tear. Not cry buckets but tears started to well. I just felt so so happy for her. And I pray that she together with her new hubby, will have the kind of happiness that they truly deserve.


PL&M, If you are reading this :

“Congratulations once again. May God bless the both of you as you embark on your journey as husband and wife”.

Showhouses

For some reason, I love visiting showhouses. They are often tastefully decorated; except for maybe one or two where I suspect the designer was 'sleeping' or had no idea what he was doing. Other than that, most were wonderfully spruce up. It gives you that I-want-to-jump-into-bed-and-under-the-covers-kind-of-feeling.

I usually visit them to get some decor ideas for my home. I know, why don't I just get a magazine. Let me tell you, it's nothing like actually feeling them. The wood, the table cloth, the chair, the curtains - heavenly! I have been dying to get the exact same bar stools I witnessed at one of the showhouses I went to a couple of weeks back. I sure hope Santa is reading this or hubby -- depending on who ends up getting them for me first *smile*.