And people are against the death penalty, why???

I can't believe this or this.

I will never understand the thought behind the death penalty being wrong. Not when things like this happen! I just don't get it. How do you put a three week old baby in a microwave? You don't want your child, give it up for adoption. There are THOUSANDS of infertile couples in this country waiting on adoption lists this very minute! Or try to sell your five year old child on Craigslist? Dude if you need money, get a job! Got one ... get another one? You don't sell your child, assmonkey!!!

How does your mind ever get so fucked up that you can do something like that? How? I can't imagine how you someone can get to that point without stopping to think "Hey, there might be something wrong with me for thinking about doing something like this."

I've said it before and I will say it again. People should have to take IQ tests before they are allowed to procreate! If you don't have a combined IQ of a certain level, mandatory sterilization. Stupid breeds stupid. I know it's not a nice thing to say, but it does. And do we really need any more idiots like these people in the world? Do we? Really?

And you just know that bitch is going to get off on some insanity plea like that other bitch, Andrea Yates. Or actually be convicted and then eligible for parole in thirty years or some shit, like Susan Smith.

And don't start yammering to me about depression and psychosis and all of that crap. I was a psychology major. I get those things. But, I have never been able to get a firm grasp on sudden breaks with reality, and not knowing right from wrong, and temporary psychosis. If it isn't caused by a sudden, severe trauma or a drug induced psychosis or break from reality (and it better be severe and medically proven), don't try to use those excuses with me! Especially in the case of Andrea Yates. Bitch even admitted that while she was drowning her children, she KNEW that it was wrong but God was telling her to do it, so she did it. Bullshit! She knew she had issues with post-partum depression, she was told not to have anymore children ... and yet she, with her husbands knowledge, went off of her medication, had another child and then went all bat-shit crazy. But it's okay ... she was "insane" ... she thought God was talking to her. What the fuck ever!

Just so you know ... insane, insanity ... those are legal terms used in court only! The term insane is not used in the medical community, at all!

Happy Birthday Mads!!!

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Mads.
Happy birthday to you.


I would sing this in Danish, but I don't know how and don't have the time to learn.

Mads has been nominated for an award and even though I haven't seen the movie yet, as I have no time to do anything for myself, let alone search the internet for an import ... I am so thrilled for him!!! Way to go DUDE! Congratulations! The movie is titled "After the Wedding" here in the States, and "Efter brylluppet" in Europe where it was originally released. He's up for best European actor and from what I hear, the competition is pretty fierce. I wish him the best and hope he wins. And if you get a chance, go see him as the evil, rakishly handsome Le Chiffe in the new James Bond movie. Who needs Daniel Craig? Start a little cheering section in the theater for Mads.

I always seem to cheer the bad guys on in movies. Do you think that maybe that is why there is always so much drama in my real life? You think? Possibly? My drama doesn't really make it here, so if you aren't closely involved in my life. You have no idea!

I'm sorry ... I think you have the wrong kid.

Last Friday during my lunch break, I received a call on my cell phone. The number came up and when I saw the area code, I knew it was one of the schools. My first thought ... "what did she do?" I figured Kaylie had either gotten into trouble or was in the nurses office again.

I answer the phone and hear "Hi, this is so-and-so, vice principal at BMS." SO not what I expected.

VP: I just wanted to call and speak with you because Cody got into a fight this morning.

ME: I'm sorry, did you say Cody? Are you sure you have the right kid? The right parent? Cody Adkins?

VP: (Giggles) Yes, I have the right child.

ME: Is he alright?

VP: Oh he's fine. I just had to call because of the incident. Apparently, there are some children in school who think it is funny to jump out and try to scare the other children. When this happened to Cody this morning, he hit the child.

ME: Cody actually hit someone? Are you sure? Cody is the type of kid to startle, call the other kid a name and walk away.

VP: Yes, I've spoken to him about it and he's very sorry. He's been very apologetic. He told me that he's "so sorry ... because he didn't even hit the right boy."

ME: Ummm ... I hate to ask, but can you tell me who the other child was? You see, I just sent out invitations to Cody's birthday party and I really don't want a parent to call me saying "your child just punched my child and now you want me to send him to a party so he can shoot him with paintballs too."

So, Cody got into his first fight. Apparently, these kids have been picking on him. They are a little bully-ish. Cody decided he wasn't dealing with it any longer, popped the kid with a couple of left jabs and then caught his jaw with a right hook. I'm thinking Cody may be a handful sooner, rather than later.

Cody doesn't get into trouble, or fights, or skirmishes. The behavior was quite shocking, but I can't help but feel kind of proud of him for finally taking up for himself. I wish he would have chosen a different way to handle the situation, but he finally handled it instead of pretending it wasn't happening and locking it up inside. Because he doesn't get into trouble and doesn't have a past history in school for bad behavior, he received one day of in-school suspension. Since the "beatdown" took place first thing in the morning, slugger served his sentence on the day it happened.

Pink Cons!

Reminding me of when I was 16, and they were all the rage. I think they were the first thing pink that I actually wore by choice. I loved my pink cons. My brother and sister-in-law bought these for Sage for Christmas last year. When she was a week old. I jokingly said that I would pull them out in a couple of years, not realizing how fast my monkey would grow!!! I thought of them on Friday after seeing a picture and pulled them out over the weekend. My heart sank a little. Her furry ugg-like boots are a size 5 and the cons are a size 4. I didn't think they would fit. But they do! Not for long, but she did get to wear them. I almost want to go buy a pair just like hers (just like my old ones) so that I can take a picture of our feet together in our matching shoes.



She has a bit of trouble standing up in them and couldn't quite get her feet under her. The reason she hadn't had them on before is that I have steadfastly refused to put shoes on her until she is walking. Her boots ... soft soled bottoms and only for going out in the cold weather. Shortly after this picture was taken, she fell. Tripped over her own feet because she wasn't used to them. Hit her head on the bottom of the glider and bit her lip. I felt so bad. She had a bruised bump on her forehead. A bloody lip. I cursed myself for putting them on her and probably won't again. And see that craziness going on, on the back of her head? Her hair looks much shorter than it actually is. It comes down to her shoulders when wet. The curls are starting to make their appearance. It is adorable. I never imagined I would have a child with curls due to how horridly straight my hair has always been. But I do. And I love it!





Sage and Cody don't do much together. He'll be twelve in a couple of weeks and, well, she can't play Playstation, so he doesn't really have much use for her. But occasionally, he puts down the gaming controller and decides to hang out with the rest of us and will play with her. And if he doesn't, she will beat him in the head with whatever she can find until he does. I tried several times to get some cute shots last night but the lighting was pretty dim and I had to put my cameras flash on high. It doesn't recharge as fast as I would like, and I missed the best ones because it wasn't ready. Here, she is leaning in for a hug. She kept laying her head on his, or just next to his on the pillow. It was too adorable. I didn't want to get any closer and disturb them, ruining the entire moment.

Speaking of Cody's birthday ... we are taking about 10 kids to play paintball. I think I've lost my mind. Especially since I have challenged he and PJ and told them that I can't wait to get them. I have no doubt that I will, but Cody wants a kids against parents battle. His mother is coming and he keeps telling everyone that his parents are going to battle them. His parents being his mother and I, since Dink will be out of town. I'm thinking that somehow, somewhere along the line, there is going to be a parent or parents who think that Cody has lesbian mothers! The only other adult that may play, is his aunt. I dont know if she will or not. I'm thinking the 10-2 ratio is just a little overkill.

The weekend

I've been pretty busy for the last week or so and this past weekend was no exception. My Aunt Linda and Uncle Charlie were up from southern Virginia and they had not had the pleasure of meeting Sage yet. We went to my parents briefly on Friday evening and then had a large family dinner on Saturday. Sage wore a dress that her PopPop had bought for her several months ago, which involved the tights that I had to wrestle her into. She was so adorable though. Very much worth the effort on my part, however, I don't know that Sage would agree! There are no words to describe the adorableness of it all. Is that actually a word? Adorableness? I think I may have made it up. Ish. Who cares! It is what it is. She is the most adorable little creature I have ever met. And I am NOT biased!




And you thought she couldn't get any cuter! Her smile makes me melt into a gooey pile of mush that is putty in her hands. The only thing more intoxicating is her laugh. It is one of the laughs of reckless abandon that comes from deep down. One of those laughs that you often only find in children before they learn to erect invisible walls to hide behind, protecting themselves from the rest of the world. I would do anything to prevent her having to do that in the future. Her laugh is so genuine ... so full of life. I can't wait until our evening routine (if she doesn't fall asleep downstairs first), where we lay on the bed and she seeks being tickled. She starts laughing before I even touch her because she knows it's coming.





She did have her picture taken with her Great Aunt Linda on Saturday. It surprised me that she chose to go to her so quickly when she usually seems more drawn to men. The people she usually chooses to go to are her father, her oldest brother, her grandfathers and her uncles, if I am trying to give her to someone so that I can take care of any tasks. Women? Her babysitter and my mother. That's usually it. Surprising me even more, was the fact that she would NOT go to her Great Uncle Charlie.



Her third cousin LJ was there as well, pictured here with my mother. He was born on her due date, two days prior to her. At one point I was on the floor with both of them, reached out and touched his face. She saw me. She is a very jealous little thing when it comes to her mommy. She promplty came to me, climbed up and put her little head on my shoulder, hugging me as tight as she could while she watched his every move! She does the same thing if her father gets near me. This jealousy is the way I now get kisses from her. If her father kisses me, she HAS to. He kissed my cheek over the weekend while we were on the floor and told her "my mommy." She wasn't having it. She crawled over to us, climbed up into my lap, grabbed my face and proceeded to kiss me over and over. She blatantly refused to kiss her daddy when he asked, but when he kissed my cheek again, she was all about kissing on the mama! Yay!


As we played on Sunday evening, I did not yet know that she was coming down with a cold. Little Mr. LJ had a very runny nose and while I did what I could to keep her from playing with the same toys ... they were HER toys and well, I had to leave for about an hour and have no idea what she stuck in her mouth during my absence. All I know is that as of yesterday morning, she was a GEYSER O' SNOT. Sunday night she had trouble sleeping, tossing and turning as she tried unsuccessfully to breathe through her nose. It broke my heart to not be able to make it all better. She kept snorting like a snuffulofagus in her sleep and would wake up crying. It was horrible.



This was the quiet before the storm. She slept for about half and hour before waking up with a stuffed nose. I gave her tylenol in case the stuffiness was teething related and started the vaporizer with some Vicks in it. It didn't really help much. Notice that shirt says "more like mommy everyday?" Let me tell you what isn't like mommy in that picture. Sleeping. Mommy hasn't slept in several days now because Sage can't breathe. Yesterday, after speaking with the nurse at her pediatricians' office, I went out and bought a cool mist humidifier instead. She said I didn't need the Vicks. She said it has been medically proven that it does nothing to help. She LIED like a rug. I ran the humidifier for almost two hours prior to Sage's bed time. She could NOT sleep. I plugged in my Vicks Vapor plug and within the hour she was breathing better. She didn't wake up as much last night as she had on Sunday night, but it still wasn't smooth sailing. The next time I see a snotty child, I'm grabbing my monkey and running far, far away.


Princess on Ice update: Kaylie really enjoyed her outing with her grandmother, Aunt Debi and cousins. This is the outfit I bought her for the occasion. I got the works ... blouse, skirt, tights and new shoes. I also bought her a new coat. A really cute pink parka that she loves. She loved this outfit. Does is look like it? Ummm ... NO! Kaylie is the most unphotogenic, photogenic child I have ever come across. She's an enigma. A photographers nightmare. When she is just being herself, and isn't focused on the fact that there is a camera about to snap her picture, the shots I get of her are beautiful. If she is aware, she tries to smile and it ends up looking like a grimace of pain. I don't like that and refuse to photograph it. It can be cute in very few instances and trying to take a picture of her, in her new clothes, because I wanted a nice picture is not one of those instances. Needless to say, this is the grumpy look I got immediately before the waterworks began because I told her to STOP. WITH. THE. FAKE. SMILE. ALREADY! She stomped from this picture, to the couch, where she cried and pouted until her grandmother picked her up. All because I WANTED to take her picture. All because I was going out of my way to make it her day, and all about her, and dote on her because I rarely have the chance to do so. Other than her coming home with cotton candy, a Tinkerbell doll, and two princess crowns ... I don't know much about her adventure because she was still pouting about the picture taking fiasco, promptly took her bath and went to bed.

You know ...

I've told you how much the Monkey hates socks? Right? I know I have. I tell everyone. She even spent a good ten minutes on Saturday trying to get her tights off before she realized it wasn't happening and gave up. I had to wrestle them onto her when I put them on.

Saturday evening as her father is putting his socks on, she is on the floor at his feet. He puts the first one on and she watches him. He picks the second one up to put it on ... she sticks her damn foot out at him. She wore his sock until he took it away from her!

I have just one word ...

WHY???

Getting to Know You

Because I'm tired and can think of nothing to write, I thought I would participate in this little thingie going around.

Everything in bold are things I have done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa.
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper (only a few hundred times)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends – Still do.
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised (raising) children (child)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life
151. Finished a marathon

I've never really thought I've done much, but this actually makes me feel like have! Maybe I'll post my "Things I Want to do Before I Die" list one day. Some of them are even on this list.

Feel free to share yours as well either in the comments section or in your own post. If you decided to do it in your own post please leave your url so that I can check it out. Inquiring minds want to know!

Love Thursday

Love is looking into his eyes and seeing the trust that he has in you.



And knowing that he trusts you enough to do what is right by him. Loving him enough to let him go when you have too many things going on in your life to do right by him. Loving him enough to give Lisa the chance to love him just as much.



Love is making sure that you have the time and energy to focus your attention on what and who matters most in your life and needs you more than anyone else.



To learn more about love Thursday, please visit Chookooloonks blog.

Girl Scouts?

Well, Brownies, to be more specific. A mother from Kaylie's church stopped by a few weeks ago and told me that she was starting a local Brownie troop and she would love to have Kaylie in it. What was I going to say? No? I have been wanting to get Kaylie involved in something that was girlie and just about her for some time now. Specifically, I have wanted to enroll her in dance school since last summer and have never had the chance to do so. But Brownies? She seemed gung-ho, so why not!

For those who know me ... I'm not the Girl Scout type. I'm not about conforming and having gatherings with people once a week and making nice and all that. Not to mention the whole overtly Christian overtones to the group. To each her own, but it's not for me. Besides, if you want church, go to church ... don't have it force fed in extra-curricular type activities for children as well. I. JUST. DON'T. LIKE. IT. I do know that for one brief time in my young life I was a Poppy, which is the 4H equivalent of a Brownie. The lady that lived behind us ran the group and I think I went to one meeting. I don't remember a thing about it but I do know that I never really liked the woman because she always thought she was better than everyone else, and that may very well have gotten my Poppyhood taken from me.

Kaylie is the "do what all the other girls are doing" type of girl with a twist. She will do what they are doing and join in to be like the others, but then she wants to boss them around and be all mother-hen like. It should be an interesting experience for her since her "den mother" and I have had a talk and she is to put her little butt in it's place when she gets out of line, which hopefully won't be too often. Last night was her second meeting and she came home with something hidden behind her back. She got to "paint" what looked to me like a winged cat, but I couldn't really tell with her bazillion-mile-a-minute recount of the activities for the night and the brandishing in the air of the cat(?), and talk of a coloring book, that I had to tell her FOUR times, that it was not going to school with her! And there was something in there about her wearing her Brownie vest to school on Thursdays, but I didn't catch the entire thing and need to clarify that. Vest to school? Not to sound like Sage, but ... WHAT? Why wear the vest to school?

Kaylie is also going to a "Disney Princess" ice show thingy tomorrow with her grandmother. I bought a new outfit for her to wear today and Dink just didn't get it. He is home with her today because she wasn't feeling well, so I called:

Me: Ask Kaylie if her black dress shoes still fit.

Dink: No, she has white.

Me: So I need to get shoes too!

Dink: For what?

Me: For her princess outing tomorrow with your mother, to go with the new outfit I am getting ready to get her.

Dink: But they don't have to dress up.

Me: I know they don't have to, but it's a princess thing and they are down front. She's going to ride in the carriage on the ice because she's in the VIP section. She'll WANT to be dressed up.

Dink: Why? They don't have to dress up.

Me: It's a girlie thing, you don't understand, GAH, I'm buying her new clothes! You just stick with the boy things. Hmmm ... K?

He's clueless about little girl things. Clueless, I tell you. Are all men like that when it comes to little girls? Or just mine?

Love Thursday ...

Every Thursday, many bloggers post a picture to their blog and into a group on Flickr called "Love Thursday." There are some adorable pictures and I had to add this one in.

What?

What? What's that? What? Sage has learned the word what. And occasionally, she says whastha ... which is "what's that" in a manner in which you expect to turn around and see a pimping, slick skat cartoon cat uttering it. I should start calling her skat baby. She will hear her Daddy downstairs and call out "WHAT?" I will tell her something and she will answer me with "WHAT?" It's quite cute and there are times when it seems like she really is making an inquiry and not just repeating the same new thing over and over again.

She is also hissing now. She actually hissed herself to sleep the other night, still making the noise once she had fallen alseep. The kids have each come up with a reason that she would be hissing, all of which are kind of hilarious when you watch them try to take credit for teaching her a new sound. I honestly don't know who she picked it up from, or if she just started it on her own. I thought the argument over it last night was going to come to blows between PJ and Kaylie, so I quickly asserted that I'm the mama and that she copied me. So there. STOP. THE. ARGUING! I honestly think they sit around in their respective rooms at times and just think up shit to try to argue about. Like arguing over a pencil. A standard, generic, yellow pencil that looked just like the other bazillion pencils in the box on the bakers rack ... except this one was sharpened ... and they argue over it. A fifteen year-old and a seven year-old. GAH!

And I think I'm obsessed. Something else to do with photos. I'm liking the Tabblo site. I was at it again. Now I need to take lots more pictures and upload old ones for the 100th time, just so I can make more of these.

Kisses and Hugs

Love all around

... See my Tabblo>

Something new ...

OHMIGOD ... Found a simple place to make collage type things online so that I don't have to poke around in PhotoShop all of the time!!! Check it out.

See my Tabblo>

Mama's Been Holding Out!!!

This is the reaction I got telling Sage about Halloween and explaining that I was going to dress her up in a costume. It's like she was taking it all in and showing her amazement at the thought of it all. I told her all about candy and explained that she could have it one day, but right now ... just too little and I didn't want her getting sick from it. She was laughing and carrying on like she understood everything I was saying, and thinking mommy quite the fool for contemplating keeping something that sounds so good from her awakening tastebuds.



I got my adorable little witchlet this t-shirt at Toys R' Us over the weekend. She was more interested in getting off the socks of death and paid no attention to the shirt. The child hates to have socks on her feet. They lasted for about 60 seconds. I wanted black tights but can't find them anywhere. Hell, I can't even find red tights in her size. Everywhere I went had white, cream and pink! I need red tights for her Christmas outfits, so I guess I need to find them online and order them. So far she has three outfits for Christmas, only one of which has matching tights because they came with the outfit. I need to find a Thanksgiving outfit for her though. I don't know what it is about having a baby that makes you want to dress them for every little holiday that comes along. Thanksgiving? Why? Who dresses up for Turkey Day?






Below are a few pictures I took last night. Sage didn't like wearing her costume much because she wanted to wander and kept crawling into it and getting stuck. She was adorable though.


Sage with her hobo Daddy.
By the way, that's a Tootsie Pop in her hand. Given to her by her Grandpa and then later unwrapped and given back by her Daddy. So much for the talk about no candy until she's older. She was sticky from head to toe after playing with that thing for over an hour last night!







All of the kids with their Dad. From left to right: Tyler as the Grim Reaper; Cody as a "Paintball Dude" (basically lazy and HATES to dress up for Halloween); PJ as the psycho killer clown chaperone; Kaylie as an angel and Sage as the cutest pumpkin in the patch!







My very own pumpkin? What do I do with it?
Chew on the stem! That's what she did with it.
















Yesterday morning ... getting my lovins' in for the day before heading off to work!