Hello 2012

We saw the new year in at the main club house with Marie, Hugh and many of our neighbors. The band was the best we've seen here so far and we spent a little time on the dance floor. I was having such a good time that I talked about joining the weekly line dancing group. Obviously that must have been the wine talking. I was hurting by the time we got home but every time we go out I dance a little more and hurt a little less. Driving home in the cart we were treated to fireworks being set off all over the park.

I was regretting the amount of wine I consumed when I got up this morning. We had another sunny and warm day which made my walk less miserable. When I got home I started packing away the Christmas decorations until my back demanded a break.

The hot tub is my remedy for my aches and pains so went down for a soak. I am still amazed that we usually have the whole place to ourselves.

We had a very nice New Years dinner at Marie and Hugh's. After we got home I enjoyed another pretty sunset. Can't seem to capture just how pretty it was with my camera.

2012 is off to a very good start!

Holiday Weekend

We had a nice and busy Memorial Day weekend. I worked in the garden Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I potted up several plants for my sister, we want her garden to look full and wonderful for the garden tour in three weeks!

Sunday we had a picnic here and my camera never made it outside. We visited, ate too much and the kids ended up in the neighbors pool. Angie took this picture of the giant ball that the girls brought. It took John and PJ a little over an hour to inflate with the small compressor that we have but the kids loved it.

 

On Monday I dug up more plants and then we headed into Phoenix for the parade. Sprout was marching with her Daisy Girl Scout group.

I really thought Twig would get bored but with so many cars, trucks and other vehicles to watch he was quite happy. He also had a friend to play with when the parade turned boring with a band ;-)

Yesterday we went to Mom's and did a little painting. Why does painting always take me sooo much longer than I think it will? I'll work on it more later in the week.

It's been hotter here than in Orlando the the last couple of days! Tomorrow it's not supposed to get out of the 60's. So today I'm relaxing and reading The Land of Painted Caves. Perhaps tomorrow I'll accomplish something.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

We actually celebrated both Birthdays and Christmas last weekend. We're having a quiet morning and plan to go to the movies this afternoon. Is this a new tradition in the making?

Holiday Picnic

We spent the morning of the 4th with Mom and were just as surprised as she was when my niece called to say she was in town and coming to visit. We left before she arrived but I hear that she had a nice visit with her grandmother. I know that Mom enjoyed seeing her!

Our family picnic was on Sunday and my niece was able to join us. It was so nice to be able to catch up! Good food, great conversation and kickball - what more could we want?

Happy 4th of July!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Sprout & Twig

Bean and Sil are both working now and since I'm still on break the kids came here on Monday. This was their first time staying with us that Bean wasn't here too.

Twig was quite willing to mug for the camera.

Sprout did not want her picture taken.

Until we made her hair pretty!

Twig was tired after lunch but refused to nap. He did lay down for a few minutes but shortly after I took this he was back to playing!

It was fun to have them here but with I was ready for a nap myself! The foot is still healing. I really hoped it would be fine by now but at least it hurts less than it did before surgery. As I do more the arthritis is bothering me less.

I had planned to post a slideshow of a 2008 review but with my computer problems I haven't been able to get to it. Hopefully I'll have it up by the weekend.

Tonight we'll have Mike and Alex here until B gets out of work. Our good friends, JD and Sam will be here to play a game and see the New Year in with us.

Back to work and off again

My return to work was tough. Friday they closed early because of snow. The snow continued over the weekend and then we closed on Monday when I was supposed to return. When I got there Tuesday morning the guys had it unlocked and started it for me but they hadn't gotten back to clear the snow, which was half way up the windshield. I waded through thigh high snow and grabbed my broom and started trying to clear it. I didn't get much cleared before one of the guys came along with a much larger broom and started helping me. He got called away to help another driver get theirs out of the drift. He came back and we finished and I seriously thought about asking him to pull mine out for me too! But I managed to pull free and I missed the bus next to me by at least 1/2 an inch. I had been nervous about returning when it had been so long since I had any bad weather driving so that was a confidence booster. I had a student spot for me as I backed into the sea of white in the woods. I don't know where the town guys moved all of the snow to but they did a great job of clearing it out for me.

On my secondary route I got one "welcome back!" and one "oh, crap", otherwise it was as if I hadn't been out for six weeks. There was some rude talk that I wasn't happy with but with just the one day I decided to let it go until after vacation.

My elementary kids are the best! Several of them gave me hugs as they got on and told me how much they'd missed me. And I assured them that I'd missed them too. It was a wonderful surprise, hugs are rare and usually happen at school.

My car-pooler forgot that the motor in the car window is broken and I forgot to remind her. Hopefully it won't be snowing in the morning when I take it in to be fixed.

We went to my sister's Christmas Eve to visit, play steal bingo and visit. Mom will be staying there through the weekend. There kerosene company let them run out so it was a cold morning there. They had a service truck out there quickly but it took them three hours to get the furnace going again. brrrr! Yesterday John and I had a quiet day by ourselves and checked in with everyone by phone.

John got me a new external hard drive so I backed up a few things and then did a few other things. When I went to use my computer again I got the blue screen of death :( We'll play with it some more tomorrow but I think the motherboard is gone. It's still under warranty but I hate the idea of starting all over - again. Why can't they make a motherboard that I can't kill in less than two years?

Happy Birthday Bean!

I wrote this last year and it originally appeared at Apple's Tree.

Happy Birthday Bean!


A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS STOCKING

When I was 20 and a day I received the special gift of a baby boy. He arrived three weeks early, weighing only 6 lbs 8 oz. He thrived and grew rapidly and all was right with the world.

I found myself pregnant again, before my body had fully healed. My due date was BJ's birthday, December 17th. It turns out that all was not as right with my world as I had thought, my husband was seeing someone else. I struggled both physically and emotionally for most of this pregnancy. Around November 10th I was taken out of work and told the I'd have my baby "any day now." Things at home continued to be stressful. I was still in a fantasy world that we could work things out. BJ had more than made up for his low birth weight and was in no hurry to walk. Somehow I managed to strain the ligaments to my uterus. My back hurt constantly. I fought just to get through each day.

December 17th came and went. The doctor continued to say any day now. Sonograms were not performed back then but the baby's heart beat was strong. I finally went into labor in the early evening on the 24th. On Christmas day we went to my mother's. His family met us there because we weren't sure when we'd have to head to the hospital. Gifts were exchanged, everyone had a nice dinner (I had weak tea) and my contractions continued. We watched the Bells of St Mary's and my mother got progressively more nervous. Finally about 5:00 we left for the hospital. That Christmas day was the coldest on record; I can still remember the pain of the cold walking from the parking garage.

When we got to the hospital I got the same nurse that I'd had the year before and she was absolutely wonderful. I had a birthing room and my husband promptly fell asleep in the recliner. I told the nurse to leave him. My doctor was not on call on Christmas so I got the other doctor from the office who I had only met once before. He was nasty to me and worse to the nurses. When the baby was finally ready I was told not to push because the doctor was having cookies and eggnog. I requested the intern but the doctor did arrive in time for the birth (but not in time to perform an episiotomy.) Just after 9:30 I had a perfect but tiny baby girl. Bean weighed only 6 lbs. 1/2 oz.

Phone calls were made. I was moved to my room and my husband went home. Bean was moved to the nursery where the nurses slid her into this stocking. There were only three babies in the nursery and they all looked so cute in these stockings that had been handmade by a hospital volunteer. We stayed in the hospital three wonderful days. I missed BJ but I had been so worn out that it was wonderful to have all of the nurses and other staff dote on us. I had learned the year before that before Christmas the maternity ward is packed so that everyone could be home for Christmas.

The first sign of the trouble that lay ahead came on our third day when it was evident that I would not be able to nurse. For the next six months I wasn't sure that she would survive. She lost weight. She was allergic to the formulas we tried. A soy formula was the best available alternative at the time and she only kept down a small part of each feeding. She slept around the clock and had to be awakened for feedings. I kept her right next to my bed and checked on her several times a night. At her six week checkup she had gained very little, the newborn clothes still too big on her. She was anemic and I had to take her for regular blood work. They'd stick her tiny foot while I held her and cried. When she was four months old my husband finally moved in with his girlfriend. One burden had been removed and things got a bit easier for me. She started to stay awake more and keep a little more down, including the iron supplements. In June she finally turned the corner and started to grow and play and thrive.

She continued to amaze me as she grew into a womanhood. She always fought for what she believed in. She never gave up on anything. Today she is married, has her own business and two children of her own.

Someday I may pass this stocking on to her but for now it is mine. It once held the most precious Christmas gift I ever received.

Merry Christmas From My Family To Yours

Early Christmas Gift

The kids were here today and all six grandkids finally cooperated. I've wanted a picture of all of them together since Twig was born and I finally have one! Actually I took several but I liked this one the best. It is now the new header picture here. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree!

 

Alex, Nikki, Sprout, Mike, Twig, Liz

It was a great day but I'm exhausted. I go back to work in the morning, then to Mom's, back to work and then I'm babysitting Sprout and Twig for the evening so I expect to be triple exhausted tomorrow!

Cookie Exchange

Saturday was a beautiful day and I headed north to Country Girl's for a cookie exchange.

There are plenty of geese that are wintering over near the creek.

 There were only a few of us that showed up. I don't know what kept others away but it was their loss. We had a great time and CC had the house beautifully decorated. Here's what I ended up with. Mine were the Knuckleballs, top left. (Recipe below)

CC made these yummy peanut butter cup cookies. We keep them on a seperate plate because Liz can't have them.

The sunset was beautiful on the way home. I stopped north of Mexico to take this picture. It doesn't capture the beauty of the evening very well.

Chocolate – Raspberry Knuckleballs

1 ½ cups butter flavor shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teasp. vanilla extract
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ teasp. salt
3 cups flour
8 oz raspberry jam
3 oz white baking chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease cookie sheets. Beat butter,sugar, egg, vanilla. Mix in cocoa, salt and flour. Roll level tablespoons of dough into balls. Place 2” apart on cookie sheet. Make a deep indentation in center of each with knuckle.

Bake 12 to 15 mins. Cool 3 mins, then remove to wire rack;cool completely. Fill centers with jam. Melt white chips in a double boiler. Make a tiny snip in corner of a plastic bag. Spoon white chocolate into bag and drizzle over cookies.
4 ½ dozen cookies

Christmas Meme

Country Girl sent me this via email yesterday at about the same time that Lori posted it at Smoky Mountain Family Historian. No specific tags with one, feel free to play along.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I love to use gift bags because they can be used over and over. The kids like to have a gift to unwrap so I use paper for theirs when I can.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. John is allergic to real ones. In this house I'd never be able to fit a real one!

3. When do you put up the tree? Black Friday. John brought it in so technically it was up right on time this year but I didn't start decorating until yesterday.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually New Year's Day but some years it's up a little longer. I try to have it down before John's birthday on the 6th.

5. Do you like eggnog? I can take it or leave it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A Polaroid Camera but I honestly can't remember if it was a birthday or Christmas gift.

7. Hardest person to buy for? JOHN!!!! There never seems to be anything he wants or needs at Christmas time and then he has a birthday a couple of weeks later. Suggestions welcome.

8. Easiest person to buy for? One of the grandkids but it changes every year. Sprout and Twig are still young enough that they are easy.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a gift from Mom when I was just starting out on my own.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither. I know I'm terrible but I haven't sent any cards the last few years. Initially I stopped to save money but I really don't have an excuse this year.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't recall a bad one.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life. Every time a bell rings, an angel get it's wings.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? December 26th.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Gee, I answer honestly, lie or probably safest, just skip this one!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cheesecake, preferably with pineapple topping.

16. Lights on the tree? John is my "blue light special" so the lights on the tree are all blue. If you want the story you can find it here.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Elmo and Patsy.

18. Travel or stay home for Christmas? When we've lived away from family we've traveled. These days we generally have a quiet day at home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yup! Can you?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? When I had a big tree I had an angel. On one tree I had a huge bow. I guess my topper these days might be considered a star. It's a tall pointy thing. lol

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both! We get together with other family members on Christmas Eve and then open presents from each other Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? SNOW! I'm dreaming of a green Christmas with palm trees.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? All of the ornaments on my tree have a special meaning or story behind them. It's an eclectic mix.

24. Favorite Christmas memory? The year we were short on presents so we stayed up after the kids went to bed and blew up several bags of balloons so that they filled the living room around the tree. The kids were so excited when they got up and saw them.

25. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Turkey and all the trimmings.

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? An external hard drive.

27. Who is most likely to respond to this? Other bloggers looking for a quick and easy post.

Bootless

It was great to see my brother and his family at Thanksgiving. Dallas caught me on video as I came in on crutches and hopefully that section of video has been erased! That was the last day that I used the crutches.

The day before Thanksgiving I ended up with a toothache. It was some better by the time we left for County Girls and I was able to visit and eat but between that and my foot I certainly wasn't at my best. B and the boys didn't end up being able to make it because they're heater broke down and B spent the day trying to fix it. After we got home he came over and borrow our electric heaters. The boys went to their other grandmother's for the day.

Bean and her family came. Twig was playing with some of Ron's toy tractors. I don't know how he knew it was almost time for them to leave but all of a sudden he started dropping the tractors down the front of his shirt. It was hilarious! He was none too happy when he realized that the tractors would not being going home with him.

John and I both had dentist appointments on Tuesday. I have an abscess so a root canal is in my near future. I get to take antibiotics until then. It really hasn't hurt too much since then.

Wednesday we had great weather so we were able to go to Mom's for the morning. While John did her shopping I got a much need haircut! The weather had really been keeping me from getting out so it was great to be out two days in a row.

Friday I went back to the doctor. My foot is not healing as fast as should; there is still more bruising than there should be. But I am done with the walking boot and back into sneakers!!! I went shopping with Bean that evening and had to wear the boot because I'd be standing so long but I drove the car for the first time in a month and that was very liberating.

Today the boys were here and they (mostly Alex) helped to decorate the tree. John brought it in the day after Thanksgiving but I just didn't feel like decorating it. Country Girl brought Mom's ornaments over and we divided them up and I will add some of them to the tree later.

I've been doing lot's of online shopping but that's about all. Now that I'm mobile again I hope to haul myself out of this funk that I've been in the last few weeks.

Two Weeks Gone Already!

Vacation is flying by and I haven't started on a single project that I need to get done yet.

We had a great 4th of July. The kids wanted to play kick ball as soon as they got here. I took a bunch of pictures but after that I was having such a great time I forgot to take any others. It was such a great day that Liz even played well with Sprout!

Monday we had to drop John's car off because it was leaking brake fluid. Turns out it was also leaking transmission fluid. Oh, well, repairs at this point are still less than car payments. Mom was doing well and in the mood to reminisce a bit. I didn't get anything done at her house either!

After I dropped John off, to pick up his car, on Wednesday, I signed the kids up for a history program at the local museum and I'm looking forward to that next month.

Alex got cut on his eye ball by a pool float earlier in the week. By the time we saw him on Thursday he was doing fine but he did show us a scary picture of himself wearing an eye patch.

When the weather has been nice I've been working in the garden. When it's been raining or too hot to work I've been transcribing letters. I've finally gotten ahead on them. About 35 done and 1,000 to go ;-o

Happy 4th of July!

I've been enjoying my vacation. Puttering in the garden and reading - actual books, not just stuff on the computer!

Yesterday I spent the day cooking and cleaning in anticipation of our annual 4th of July Barbecue. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone in one place and at the same time!

I hope you all have a wonderful day as well!

Christmas Presents!

What's so funny? Scroll down to the videos in the post below. They thought the snowball fight was hilarious! Forget presents, they could have watched that all afternoon.

Sprout was not in the mood to have her picture taken with her cousins but I guess 5 out 6 isn't bad. Nikki, Alex, Twig, Mike & Liz.

OK, maybe they did want presents after all.

My Mom got them each a book with matching stuffed animal and they were thrilled.

Mike and Alex giving Nana her gift. A neat, scented stuffed bear that Angie had made.

We gave each child a toy, some craft stuff, a book and clothes. They seemed most pleased by the craft items. One little thing that I picked up as an afterthought for Liz was just what she always wanted.

As always, we had too much food. The kids had a blast and John and I are ready for a long winters nap!

Dear Santa - P.S.

Dear Santa,

I hope you got my letter of November 22. I've been thinking about you a lot lately. My little ones are getting quite excited to think that you'll be visiting them very soon! In fact they are so excited that they are having trouble being good. I want to remind you that they are, for the most part, very good little boys and girls at heart. I haven't written a naughty report on a single one this year! I know I should have written a report on Jamie for punching his sister in the eye today, but he really felt badly after I was done yelling at talking to him. And he did hold her hand all the way to the nurse's office. So maybe you can cut him some slack? Just a little bit of coal to make a point maybe? Oh, and Nan apologized today for calling Paul a dumb ass yesterday. But really, it was all a misunderstanding on my part. You see she put an e on the end so she really called him a dumb asse which should be OK even though they sound just the same! Doug didn't actually bite Pete, he didn't leave teeth marks or anything and besides Pete deserved it so he's sure you'll understand! OK, maybe just a bit of coal for Doug too.

Now I know that they have probably already sent you their own personal little notes but I'm betting that not one of them remembered to ask you for personalized name tags for their clothes. Santa they really need them! The lost and found box is filling up everyday. If they only had their names in their coats, hats, scarves, sneakers, mittens and snowpants I could get them back to them right away. I still have the pair of tiny designer boots that I found last week. I looked them up online and they were expensive! But I've asked every day and nobody knows who they belong to, not even the little girls in the seat where they were found. If you know who they belong to maybe you could return them for me on your regular rounds!

Santa my real reason for writing you again is because I have so many older kids and co-workers that no longer believe in you so I know that they haven't written to you. Now there are a few that I have written naughty reports for. I'm sad to say this Santa but maybe if you stopped by and left a lump of coal (or ten) it would reaffirm their belief and let them know that their poor choices are noticed by someone other than me.

The rest of them are great kids and so I would like to make some requests on their behalf.

For the girl in the white parka that rides the bus two past mine I would like to request a warm pair of boots. Her flip flop collection is amazing! She has a different pair for each outfit and I think maybe some extra pairs but the bare feet in the flip flops just doesn't cut it in 6" of snow. I know that even if you bring her boots she won't wear them if there are flip flops in her closet so maybe you could toss the flip flops in your sack and pass them onto someone in the tropics.

I'd like to make the same request for the three girls on my bus that insist on wearing soccer sandals. I know they show a little more common sense by wearing socks but I'm tired of listening to them whine when they have to get off and the snow is up to the bottom of the door.

Now my boys all wear reasonable footwear. Except for David. He is 16 and thinks that slippers are just the perfect fashion statement. Could you bring him new ones with a good rubber tread on the bottom maybe? Several of the boys feel that if their feet are warm the rest of them will be warm so they don't need to be bothered with coats or even hoodies. Then they get mad annoyed with me when I won't turn the heat up to the sauna setting. Now I know how important it is to appear to be cool, so I would like you to bring my boys warm coats and if you can make them invisible their belief will be restored! (If you can get the invisible coats be sure to leave me a pair of special glasses so I'll know they have them on. I've been getting a bit horse yelling asking, "WHERE'S YOUR COAT!!!!!" at every other stop.)

Now that the bad weather is here and we have the aforementioned fashion issues to deal with I have several stops where the kids just can't be out waiting for me in the morning. The people in the cars that have to wait for them to get out to the bus, well they're not waiting! This creates a dangerous situation so these kids need you to leave them the alert system the beeps when the bus is 2 minutes from their house. I know I saw the system in one of the trade magazines that I read but I can't find a link to it right now. If they elves can't handle this request maybe they could make a cube that sounds a siren at a preset time and cannot be turned off until the child walks out the door. Since I arrive at the same time everyday I can give the the correct time for each house.

Trevor has asked you for a new skate board and a half pipe and he is certain he is getting them. I believe that he forgot to ask you for all the protective elbow and knee pads and the helmet that he should have. I know he didn't get them last year because he wasn't wearing them when he scared the sh daylights out of me the first time I saw him riding his skate board down the church steps railing! I bet that the other kids have asked you for other things that they need a helmet or pads for too.

I know many of the older kids are asking for all of the latest electronic stuff. Could I request that for each gadget you bring them you also put a nice old fashioned book under the tree? The Harry Potter books are always popular. I hear that the older kids really like the books written by my neighbor. I haven't had a chance to read any of her books yet so maybe you could leave me one too.

The mechanics have really been super! I think know that Ron is just kidding around when he runs away when he sees me coming. Why just last week he fixed my door and put in the part that finally came in. Oh, and he adjusted my wiper twice too and didn't even grumble (too much). Two weeks ago Jack replaced my alternator while I sipped coffee in the break room instead of pre-tripping another bus in the cold. I felt really bad about the cuts to his arm because he was rushing. Then, later that same day, he replaced my belt and cut up the other arm! So Santa I'd really like you to bring the guys some new tools and suits of armor because I really don't want them hurt on my behalf.

Now as you know, Shirley has been having some memory problems and I've been having to pick up the kids that she forgets. I really don't mind picking them up but by the time I get there they are half frozen. So maybe you could bring Shirley a Remembrall.

Betty is vertically challenged and can't quite reach the toe step to climb up on the tire to clear her windshield wipers so if you could bring her (and me too!) some extras she (we) could make like a little ladder up the side of the bus and wouldn't even need to open the hood to stand on the tire!

I can't remember a year where all of the drivers have gotten along so well. So chocolate for everybody! You can never go wrong with chocolate.

I hope the bad weather is finished with this weekend so that Rudolph doesn't have to strain his nose on the big night. We'll definitely have plenty of snow for you to land your sleigh on!

Love,
Apple

Thanksgiving Indian

Thanksgiving was a bit sad for me this year. PJ and Jae have separated and we didn't see either of them or the girls. Jae spent time with her family and PJ, who is actually my step-son, spent the day with his mother. I will be seeing the girls more than ever now though. They will still be coming to our house one evening a week to play with their cousins and every morning Jae drops them off at the garage, rather than at a sitter's and they ride with me to school.

We did have a nice day though. We went out shopping early but not early enough as the things we wanted were already gone. Then we headed down to Mom's and got her shopping done for the week. It was hilarious to see the grocery store filled with men looking a little bit lost, hunting for those few, last minute items for dinner. We watched the Macy's parade and Mom and I got to talking about how the guys always have a great day eating and watching TV, the kids play and we get stuck cooking and doing dishes for two days.

We had dinner at Bean's. She has really turned into a wonderful cook. The only thing I made was banana bread. I felt felt like a bit of a slacker. Angie brought sweet potatoes, green been casserole, ham and rolls. But I figured I always do the dishes. Can't remember a family party where I didn't do the dishes unless my Tennessee nieces were present. I was shocked when after dinner my son-in-law did all of the dishes! It really was wonderful to just enjoy the day as a real bonafide slacker. My ex didn't even get on my nerves. (OK, maybe a little bit.)

Alex and Mike got haircuts and Alex is loving his mohawk and was our Thanksgiving Indian. I took lots of pictures but the rest have people in them that are blog shy.

Our trip home was uneventful this year. Mom and John didn't remember about last year's incident until I reminded them. The Ni-Mo building in Syracuse is already lit for Christmas and I got this not so great picture through the car window. The colors change to green and also a pink and purple combo.

Yesterday was our annual entombment day, the day where we cover all of our windows with plastic. We used a heavier plastic this year and we really can't see much out of the windows at all but with the cost of heating it really does help. So I decided to cheer myself up by playing Christmas music and putting up the tree. The new tree I bought last year was a snap as it doesn't come apart and I left the lights on it.

Mike and Alex came over to help. At first I only let them put on the non-breakables but they insisted that they'd be careful so they ended up doing the whole tree.

Their Masterpiece

I may do a bit or rearranging but it is cute how Alex bunched things together so that he'd remember which parts of the tree he did so maybe not. :)