I can’t sing, I can’t paint and I can’t write how I feel, so all I have left is poop to express myself. - Bobby Caputo

I’ve got to tell you something. I am a multitasker.

Are you surprised? LOL

So now I’ve REALLY got to tell you something… I brush my teeth while going to the bathroom. Gross right? I do NOT talk on the phone while going pee but I do brush my teeth. Sometimes I try to brush my teeth while I wash my face, but it never seems to work.

I always wonder how single moms or dads do it. They must be wicked multitaskers. My girlfriend has 3 kids, 4 months to almost 5, her husband is a helicopter pilot and is gone for days at a time. When I look at her I wonder “how do you do it?” I am amazed by her and she is like, yeah this is a breeze… well that’s what I see anyways LOL.

This brings me to this past weekend.

On Saturday night Ninja, his Dad and my Dad went to Hopscotch in Kelowna. It is a Scotch tasting festival. They waved goodbye at 5pm and merrily went on their way letting me know that they would text 1 hour in advance before they needed picked up. No problem, I am with the kids all day by myself J

So we had dinner, we sang, we danced and we played Simon Says, btw this is best trick to get kids to do things LOL.

Bath time. OK, so we don’t have a bath but as you know, a huge steam shower, 

this makes bathtime difficult. So we all get in and I get the kids all washed! Success! Then I squeegee and tell HBear to get out and start getting dried. I look at SBean and leave her in the shower seated and playing with a Barbie and I get out to get dry quickly too.

I don’t even want to admit to this next part, in fact both kids may never forgive me for telling this story but seriously? I HAVE to! LOL

So, I hear a gagging noise and I look into the big glass shower and SBean is gagging on something. What could she possibly find in a clean shower?

Then I see it…

Then I gag…

She pooped, and she was eating it. I saw the beans and the carrots and even yesterday's broccoli!!!

Shit. Literally.

My wet hair is swinging in my face and my towel is falling down and I am picking her up and scooping in her mouth. She must not have liked it… duh because there isn’t any in her mouth but there is a yellow stream of... shit, running down her nice clean body. I start spraying her down and cleaning up the shower while almost crying and then I hear HBear say, “oooppps sorry Mommy.”

I freeze. That's not good. What now?

I glance over my shoulder and see her standing in the middle of the room with her legs spread and she is putting cream… up her!

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Yes, I admit it I yelled… loudly. I was so frazzled, SBean was crying… loudly and HBear is like, all up in her business.

“I told you we don’t put things in our peach!” (I am not one of those moms that use the technical words for things lol)  “That is why you are itchy there! Please stop!”

“Mommy it IS itchy! Get it off!”

So now I have both girls in the shower rewashing them. OMG

By the time I got them dressed it was time to go to my mother-in-law’s. I called her and asked… “do you have coffee on?” LOL

Can you freaking believe it? WTF???? Man, that is a story for her wedding day LOL or maybe not J

Yesterday we had our annual hockey draft. It is our 4^th annual pool and we have friends and family from Winnipeg, Calgary and Penticton involved. We do it via text and it is fun! I have won the past 2 years so I guess that makes it even more fun!

HBear got to watch Charlotte's Web 2!!! Notice the fingers? Yup, we are back to that *sigh* 

I always use my lucky Jesus pencil… isn’t it hilarious?!? Ninja got it from a friend in ATC! HAHA

So my picks are:

1.	Steven Stamkos
2.	Martin St. Louis
3.	Pavel Datsyuk
4.	Joe Thornton
5.	Justin Schultz
6.	Matt Moulson
7.	Brian Campbell
8.	Mark Streit
9.	Corey Crawford
10.	Nail Yakupov
11.	Christian Ehrhoff
	My half season alternates are: Teemu Selanne
	Brent Burns

I am happy with my picks except my goalie. I meant to say Niemi and Crawford came out! Ninja would not let me change my pick!! Competitive much? LOL 

Today is purple day…

And we are having leftovers. Ninja made a roast last night with our new cow. I have to say she is a goody J We also had mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, mashed turnip and thyme carrots! 

For dessert we had “cherry cheesecake”. Yeah, so Ninja wanted to cheer me up this weekend, Mom’s birthday hit me the next day (whon whon), so he made my favorite no bake cheesecake. Mom made it for me and he wanted to try. KEY word TRY! So, he used cream cheese, condensed milk and lemon juice. I use Cool Whip, cream cheese and icing sugar. Difference? Ummmm. When I looked at it, I asked him where the graham crust was?

The store didn’t have any. OOOOOOOOK.

How long did you bake the Tenderflake, it looks a bit light?

You are supposed to bake it? OOOOOOOOOK

Yup, so yesterday we bought graham shells because apparently the store had them the next day! Ninja poured it all in there, and we ate it. LOL He tried and THAT is what counts! LOL

Today I went out to the garage and smelled something. OMG I realized I hadn’t used my 20 lbs of Roma tomatoes yet!!! What an idiot! Unfortunately I had to throw lots out but I did manage to clean, cut, bag and freeze 9 bags of 15oz  tomatoes.

While I cut SBean ate some homemade 12 bean soup… she is very independent and even if I give it to her off the spoon, she spits it out and picks it up herself J

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There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know. - Lewis Carroll

Happy birthday Mommies. Today you would have been 55 and your pension would have finally kicked in! It’s funny in a sad way that you worked your whole life to get to this point and you are not here to enjoy it.

 

Last year's birthday dinner

You saved your best chocolate until it was so old it didn’t taste good anymore.

You didn’t burn your best candles now they sit collecting dust.

You saved your best shoes for a night of dancing and because of your MS never got the chance to use them.

You saved and worked and dreamed of your golden years where you would travel and enjoy time with Dad and POOF… it is all gone.

I thought today was going to be sad, maybe I’ve just had too many of those days so today has been a surprisingly happy day.

It was a grey morning but warm. SBean and I met up with a friend and went for a nice walk through the Japanese gardens (Mom’s favorite) and down the beach. 

We grabbed a coffee and the sun came out. It was a relaxing and bright morning. I kept on looking up to the cemetery and waves of happiness swept over me. Happiness isn’t the right word though. I am not happy but today I feel some… relief? I don’t know, today was the day that brought my Mom into the world, which led to my life, my girls… it is a day to feel happiness that she was in our lives!

HBear made her a special card. For my wedding shower my sister MADE me paper. She is not crafty but she actually made me biodegradable paper with wildflower seeds in it! I brought a piece down and we made a card for Nana. I think it is a beautiful gift, hopefully the flowers will grow J

At HBear’s school today they are doing the Terry Fox Run. Dad and I donated $55 on behalf of Mom as her “present”. Mom would love that. 

Also, my Mom was big into Brownies and today is HBear’s first Sparks meeting! My Mom is a proud Nana looking down at us right now!

So many things to be thankful for.

Happy Birthday Mommies, today, I celebrate your life and the memories that you have created for me.  To remember you as you were… Strong, brave and full of energy, we celebrate your laughter and your love for life and your family. Even though you are gone you will live on in your granddaughters and in our thoughts and memories forever. I love you and miss you everyday L-o-v-e!

This evening is BUSY! I picked HBear up from school and we went to visit my Mom then we had to hurry home to make dinner…. 

At least it was all ready still from last night LOL

So we had an Asian inspired dinner tonight. I am made my take on take out! Asian chicken, fried rice and stir-fried veggies. You can find the recipes for the rice and veggies HERE! These veggies are AWESOME, some guy named Wofgang Puck seems to know what he is doing!! We should keep our eye on him I think he's going places :)

So after dinner we dropped SBean off at Grandma and Grandpa’s and headed to Open House night at HBear’s school.

Then it was off to Sparks!

I had to then go back to the school for the first PAC meeting. You know what all this means don’t you?

Yeah, I had to put on jeans AND makeup!!! Seriously 

Asian Chicken
Adapted from For the Love of Cooking

2/3 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Oyster sauce
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoons Hoisin sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

4 cloves of garlic, pressed

3 green onions, sliced (divided)

3 chicken breasts

Combine the first 13 ingredients in a bowl. Reserve ½ cup and put the rest in a large zip lock bag, then add the chicken breasts. Marinate in the refrigerator for the day, turning the bag occasionally.

Grill the chicken breasts until no longer pink. Remove from grill and let rest for 5 minutes.

Warm reserved marinade. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and add the remaining green onions. 

This post can be seen HERE!

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Always look on the bright side of life. - Eric Idle: Monty Python’s Life of Brian

Bummer: Ninja has a big job in Princeton so they have to leave early... which means I have to get up earlier.

Score: Because I have this extra half an hour I begin to make my rice so that I will have it all ready for the fried rice that we are having for dinner.

Bummer: SBean decided that my 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup would be fun to play with and ripped it off the top shelf of my lower cupboard. Now at 7:45am I am vacuuming up shards of glass that cannot be seen by the naked eye but I fear will end up in SBean's mouth and Dr House will find that they are at a later date cutting through her large intestine and she is internally bleeding a slow and painful death. 

My 8 cup broke in June while everyone was here and now I lost this one too... shit

Score: I now have a super clean kitchen floor.

Bummer: It is green day and I picked out my favorite green sweater I got for HBear last Xmas but finally fits. She decides she does not want to wear THAT!!! So we play for it. We play musical tree freeze. We put on music and when it stops you have to hold a tree pose (yoga). I figure I got this in the bag... I don't and she picks out green cargo pants and a slightly less army green shirt with a pink butterfly. These 2 items in NO way match. But she won so I grin and bear it.

Score: The pants are a bit to big around her waist and she agrees to a pair of jeans!

She is learning to make scary pumpkin faces lol

Bummer: SBean has knocked HBear's night water off the table in their room and her newly put on outfit is now soaked. It is now 8:02 and I am mopping up the girl's bedroom and redressing the Bean!

Score: The girls'd bedroom floor is now clean and shiny.

Bummer: We live across from a Dr. Office (on a residential street) and I try to pull out of the driveway but the 3 cars directly across the street and the 2 cars on either side of the driveway pretty much make it impossible to pull out and it takes me 4 tries to do it. There are cars lined up on either side waiting for me and shaking their heads like I am a dumb female driver... of course it is probably men who parked all around my driveway making it difficult for me!

Score: Because believe it or not I am 5 minutes ahead of the game, we get to run to the library and drop off the Dora video that HBear insisted in taking out but never actually watched.

Bummer: It is chilly out so SBean is VERY fussy on the ride due to this new thing called... a sweater. She hates being restricted in any way.

Score: I get the primo spot right in front of the school!!! I mean this spot is so good, even the Yummy Mommies that sit at the picnic table drinking their Starbucks and flipping their hair, gave me the “Niiiiice” nod.

Score: I get to take SBean for a beautiful walk to the RCMP building to hand in my criminal record check. They do this at the school for any parent that wants to volunteer. Kind of a pain in the ass but I do feel a lot better about the volunteers at the school now J

Bummer: The lady at the desk is the same lady I told off a few years ago… long story but let’s just say I was in the TOTAL wrong but she IS a nosy busybody LOL

Bummer: A black cat crossed in front of us.

Score: SBean loves the cooler weather and looks stupid cute in her fall hat.

It was a beautiful autumn day

Bummer: Walking DOWN to the RCMP building means walking UP to get back home.

Score: I got to see THIS!!!!

As we were walking by I saw his car, upon closer look I noticed...

the Jesus Take the Wheel dashboard and then the skull old lock HILARIOUS!!!!!

Bummer: I have to pee

Score: Not enough to stop me from stopping at the Wine store and picking up a box of my favorite… Hester Creek Cab Merlot J

Bummer: It's noon. Too early to have a glass LOL

Score: I only have 1 load of laundry to do today!

Bummer: I should have waited for SBean to finish her lunch (2 plums, ½ a banana, a full container of blueberry yogurt, a cracker, and a handful of shredded cheese… is this normal?)

You can't even see half the MESS lol

Bummer: The clean washer light is on.

Score: After months of looking for something natural to use in this exact case, Dad finally found something at Nature’s Fair. It is called Aspen Clean. I hope it works J

Score: The doorbell rings! Maybe it is a parcel I forgot I ordered!

Bummer: It is my friendly neighborhood JW hoping to recruit me.

Score: I have dinner all prepped and ready to go and it is only 2:30

Bummer: It’s 2:30 I have to go pick up HBear.

Score: My Great Aunt called and we gossiped and had a great conversation.

Bummer: I talked too long and most definitely did NOT get a good parking spot!

Score: I was able to change HBear’s gymnastics class from 5:30 to 3:30 so we can eat dinner at a better time J

Bummer: I don’t have the option of leaving SBean at home with Ninja at this new time L

Score: A girl from last year’s ballet class is in HBear’s new time slot. She is happy and I am happy to see her Grandma and next week catch up with her Mommy!

Bummer: SBean has trouble watching her sister have all the fun for 1 hour!

Bummer: Ninja called they won't be home until 7pm or later!!!!

Bummer: I have to put away all my stir-fry veggies, my rice, and all my fried rice ingredients. 

Yes even my all ready fried eggs are even in there!!!

Bummer : I then pack up the kids and drive to McDonalds!!!

GROSS

Score: Won a small fries on my Monopoly medium drink.

Bummer: They still aren't home and it is 8:00

Score: Both kids are bathed, brushed, read to and in bed and I get to watch Survivor and the Voice, how about that Holly Henry?  

Score: Ninja is home and we have a nice soak in the hot tub and talk about our day.

Score: It is definitely late enough for that glass of wine now :)

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“I wrote a song about dental floss but did anyone's teeth get cleaner?” - Frank Zappa

Want to hear something very romantic?

Every night before bed Ninja and I lay on our respective sides of the bed and we... floss. Super Sexy eh?

I have always been a 2 times a day brusher but have always hated flossing! However I have taken it up and you know what? It is freaking awesome! My teeth have never felt better! 

I started this nightly regiment for a few reasons:

- Ninja is a fanatic, he told me I would love it... he is always... usually... sometimes right J

- HBear is at that age where dental hygiene routines are important and I believe if I tell her to do it, I should be doing it too.

- They make these handy dandy things called dental picks. They are so easy to use! No more of that nasty floss that breaks, makes your gums bleed, and is awkward to wrap around your fingers.

- We own small business ergo... no dental plan! This is the first time in my life I am not covered. That is scary and I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep our future dental bills down.

Speaking of teeth... SBean had 4 teeth break through this past week/weekend!!! Poor baby, the pain must be insane! I hate ANY kind of mouth pain, I feel so bad for her :( I don't blame her, but teething has made my beautiful little girl a red splotchy, drooling, snotty little... Gremlin. That's right it's like I fed her after midnight and now all hell has broken loose! PLUS, she has no control over these new teeth and my poor nipples are cut up, blistered and burning. Every time her cute little snotty face buries itself in my chest I want to cry but I just pull my shirt down and grind my teeth. That's another thing, she grinds her little fangs! It sounds terrible! I see an expensive night guard in her future *sigh*

Yesterday was swim day. Both girls have swim classes every Sunday morning. HBear is first and she has been great! You can tell she has been swimming a ton this summer! 

SBean is hilarious. She is so vocal. The other little babies look at her splashing and screaming and they just don't know what to make of her LOL. 

After classes we went with Grandma and Grandpa to Keremeos to market shop. They have a few GREAT fruit and veggie markets that I love going to. 

Yesterday I got:

• a bag of parsnips
• a bag of carrots
• 2 butternut squashes
• an acorn squash
• a bag of celery
• 12 cobs of corn
• 20 lbs of Roma tomatoes
• a mini pumpkin
• a bag of turnips
• a cool yellow cantaloupe

For $28!!!!!!!

Incredible! I always think that if people bought fresh veggies and froze them for later use or made soups or plain ol' ate them, they would be healthier, fitter and richer!!!

Today I roasted the corn and bagged it for soups and casseroles over the winter. We have our cow coming this week so Ninja cleaned out one of the deep freezes to make room and I realized that I have 3 ham bones, 3 HUGE turkey carcasses and 2 bags of beef bones! So I am now prepping for some serious soup and pot pie making in the next few weeks.

HBear had yellow day today. She took in the cool yellow cantaloupe we found yesterday, she wanted to share with the whole class. 

When I picked her up from school it was a serious SHITshow! I saw her coming out the door, "Moooommmmyyyyyyy" I saw it in slow-mo... she was like the roadrunner, her legs were just going too fast and her huge backpack was just too heavy. She like, baseball dove on her belly right through a huge patch of dirt and came to a skidding halt in front of me.

I was so scared... I just stood there.

The all of a sudden everything happened. A nurse came running up and asked to take SBean out of my arms. I handed her over and picked HBear up. She was SCREAMING. All of a sudden her friend came running out of the door yelling "are you alright?" and she too fell!

WTF?

So HBear was perfectly fine, just horribly embarrassed and dirty but ok J I dusted her off took back SBean and assured all the moms staring at us that all was ok.

Of course then I had to tell the poor little monkey that it was time to go for her immunization!

We jetted to Starbucks first though because after that debacle I thought a latte was in order. I got a Salted Caramel Mocha... it wasn't very good. 

So when we pulled up to the Health Building for her shot it was pouring. I got the stroller out, SBean buckled in and HBear was like "uh-uh I'm NOT going in there".

I said, "Get your cute butt out here or you're... in trouble!" NICE, Seriously? I need a better threat. I did work though, it won't for long I don't think lol

I was quite impressed with Kindergarten shots. They had coloring books with Sir Ringe lol and she got a special coin when she got the needle. Then we went to the waiting room and she handed in her coin for a chance at the fishing pond. She used the special rod and hooked a ring! Next she got a toothbrush and got her face painted! You know what I got after my shots??? A teaspoon of Tylenol and a cottonball that I had to press hard on. Maybe stuff like this contributes to the “soft” mentality the older generations say of the kids coming up… just saying J

Tonight we are having... Soup lol I still have some older stuff in the freezer and it is freaking nasty out so I figure we should use up the older stuff before I start adding new stuff back there. The other night we had a really good pasta. It was easy and seriously yummy comfort food  so I wanted to share it with you all!

Polish Sausage and Veggie Pasta

Adapted from Kevin & Amanda

1 lb smoked Polish sausage
1/2 onion, diced 
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 cups chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can tomatoes with chiles
1 (250 ml) carton of heavy cream
16 oz shell pasta
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup Tex-Mex cheese, shredded
1/3 cup spinach, sliced

*I had a few mushrooms leftover and a huge bag of peppers from the market so I did a variety of peppers and added the mushrooms too.*

Add some oil to a skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage, peppers, mushrooms (or whatever you have leftover) and onions and cook until lightly browned. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds.

Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, season with salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in spinach.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese. Broil until cheese is all bubbly.

This post can be seen HERE!

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Ever since Eve started it all by offering Adam the apple, woman's punishment has been to supply a man with food then suffer the consequences when it disagrees with him. - Helen Rowland

Yesterday was another hard day. I don’t always want to be talking about my Mom but it is kinda hard not to.

I miss her.

I wish I could just call twice a week to see how Dad is… not that he would be honest, and be done with it. Life would move on. I would think about it, but for the most part out of sight out of mind. Then I wouldn’t have had to watch the cancer get her. I wouldn’t have to look around daily and be reminded of all the things we did together.

I have been told by some family (not in a mean way mind you) that it isn't their fault I have to deal with this. I CHOOSE to live here. Yes I did. I chose to live near my family. I chose to share my life with my parents. I chose to allow my kids to grow up knowing what family dinners are all about. And it isn't just the 4 of us! I hope I am teaching my girls to look beyond just our immediate family and now that I have my girls I hope they choose to stay here so I can watch their children grow and see them become wives and mothers. Nothing would make me happier. Just as I know I made my Mom's heart full by letting her be apart of my adult life.

Of course, if I didn’t live with her I wouldn’t miss talking to her every day. Asking her questions hourly. Getting her advice on parenting… every second. At the time I hated it. I hated the harsh things she said. I hated to be questioned about why I was doing things this way or that way. Now though, I have nobody to ask. When SBean broke out into a rash I would have ran into my Mom’s room freaking out. Now I had to calm down and figure it out on my own. I honestly don’t think I would be the Mommy I am today without her guidance.

My Mom made me feel like a bad Mom sometimes with her blunt questioning and harsh words but most times she was right. I wish I realized that before it was too late. I miss talking to her about the girls. Getting her opinion and showing her outfits. Getting HBear ready for school pictures left me a blubbering idiot. Mom would have loved getting her all dressed and ready. She was my best friend and now… I live with 2 men who are wonderful but don’t go that extra mile. They don’t help with planning, shopping, cleaning, girl talk, outfit selection. I am constantly cleaning up after 2 guys and 2 kids. I am so outnumbered. Dinner conversation revolves around sports and work. I don’t even get good TV gossip anymore L Actually, I don’t even get to gossip anymore.

  

I’m not trying to be oh-woe-is-me believe me. Things are just so different… and quiet.

 

Mom & I last year at this time

Mom was LOUD. I hated it. Now the house is deathly silent. HBear is at school, SBean actually naps and sleeps all night and the guys are always in the office. It is so quiet. It is different. I can hear my heart breaking and rebreaking every time I think of all the times I won't have with her.

Yesterday Ninja brought up the winter clothes from the crawl space. Deep breathe.

 

SBean watching Daddy bring up stuff from the crawl space

Watching Daddy come in and out LOL

I hate going through Mom’s stuff. I still haven’t gone out to the suite. I can’t go into her closet. I haven’t touched her desk. I haven’t taken down her scarves or chemo hats.

I pulled out all of Dad’s stuff and put Mom’s stuff back down. I am such a chicken shit.

Today HBear had Jazz/Musical Theater. Grandma took her. I think that it is awesome that we live so close to both grandparents. My girls are so fortunate to have the love of family surrounding them. She gets so excited to show Grandma what she can do! 

When they got home I had baked an apple cake to have with our afternoon coffee. It was awesome!

Afternoon Apple Cake

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup homemade applesauce
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 apples, cored and cut into cubes (3 cups total)
1/4 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Spray a Bundt pan with Pam

In your standing mixer, beat butter, vegetable oil, and sugar for 2 minutes. Add applesauce then beat to combine. Add eggs one at a time, beating until combined. Add vanilla then beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Remove 2 Tablespoons of flour mixture then toss with cubed apples.

Add remaining dry ingredients to wet ingredients by the spoonful, mixing until just combined before adding the next spoonful, then fold in apples.

Pour batter into Bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. 

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then run a knife along the inner rim and invert cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Sift icing sugar onto cooled cake.

Tonight Dad took HBear on a date! They are going to see Despicable Me 2 in 3D. She is very excited… for popcorn, Twizzlers and rootbeer LOL. When they get home she is having a sleepover in his “little house” (The suite) J After they left I noticed she had Maury (her Teddy Bear), her books and her PJ’s packed in her suitcase at the backdoor LOL. I know they are going to have a great time! Dance with Grandma, cake with Grandpa, and a movie night with Papa… Even though I feel enormous sadness, I am bursting with happiness and love for the family we DO have here.

She picked her Movie outfit, she is loving picking out her clothes lately!

Silly picture!!!!

We going... to the MOVIES!

Good night and thanks for listening J

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