Times, they are a-changin'

I'm on this uncharacteristic slope of change right now. The biggest being that I joined a gym. Me. The girl who almost failed her one required semester of gym in high school for lack of participation. I loathe physical activity. But I'm tired of being fat. I have too much skin that rubs together and too many hangy/dangly bits. Why someone has yet to invent a way for me to sit on my ass all day and not get clogged arteries and cellulite is beyond me.

If I got a tan, this would basically be me.

But when I'm at the gym, I feel awesome.  When we first moved to Perrysburg, there was a little gym on site at our apartment complex. I walked the treadmill once. On top of hating physical activity, I also used to hate the fear of being judged. Now that I'm pushing 30, I just really don't care about that anymore. Mostly, I know there are people at the gym who look more gross than me, who smell worse than I do, and who grunt more disgustingly. So I'm good on the self-esteem front.

Then there's the Mirena. I got the thing for a couple of reasons. The biggest being that I don't want to get accidentally knocked up right now. That's a topic we've agreed to discuss in a couple of years. And the Mirena is more effective than those stupid pills because I can't forget the Mirena once in a while. And theoretically, with less fear of babies, there might be more...... uhhh....

...as they say.

And we're also discussing my need for a dental bridge. I've had a "flipper" - a partial denture with 2 false teeth - for like, 15 years. Basically, I was never going to have adult teeth come down in the 7 & 10 positions. And now my dentist is noticing some irritation under the plastic in my mouth. His big suggestion was getting the permanent implants. Which sounds AWESOME. Except for the $8000+ price tag. Yeah, that's not happening. So we're looking at a bridge, eventually, which will be closer to $2500 if we still have our current insurance at the time. But it still might be a year or 2 in the future. Unless the dental office staff successfully peer pressures me before then.

Going to the gym + expensive dental work = this

Then there's my new support system. I've become really good friends with a few of the chicks in M&M. They're amazing. I was having a poopy day today, for reasons we won't go into, and I was talking to them via Facebook chat on my Kindle at work (instead of counting pills like a good little pharm tech). A little while later, this showed up at work:

I seriously teared up. At first I thought it was from my husband because he's mainly why I was having a poopy day. Then I realized it was from a friend. And it was awesome. Like, what did I do to deserve such beautiful people in my life? Whatever it is, I'm glad it's happening.

I'm also listening to a lot more gangsta rap. So there's that.

Jack is almost 29 months old and I'm hoping my new life stuff will benefit him as much as it will me.

Mirena Diaries #2

It's now been 4 days since I got the Mirena IUD. I feel fine. Little to no spotting, no more cramping. The antibiotics I'm on have made me a little nauseated, but only because I'm not supposed to eat with them.

So my uterus is great, but now I have a super fun, head full of snot, scratchy throat, phlegmy cough, let-me-stay-in-bed-all-day cold. Waahhhh!

The OB said to wait 4 days before any sort of .... extracurricular downstairs activity. That'd be today. But I'm pretty sure I'd fall asleep before it was over. Dang.

Mirena Diaries #1

I've tried various birth control pills. The first one I ever took was OrthoTriCyclen. It turned me into a super bitch. I was so moody and weird. So then I tried OrthoTriCyclen Lo (the "Lo" meaning lower hormone levels). I didn't have a boyfriend long enough to give that one a solid chance.

Several years passed and then I got married and had Jack. After I gave birth, I was on a progestin-only pill called Micronor. Progestin-only was important because it has less effect on breast milk production. But it also has a high failure rate. And I started it while I was still bleeding from childbirth and it made it so I didn't STOP bleeding for 90 full days. And I think I only stopped bleeding because I had a meltdown and threw the pills out the window.

Then I started one called Sprintec. It has 3 weeks of active pills that are all the same hormone-releasing type of pill, so there's no weird changes or fluctuations of levels during the month. I stayed on that one for more than a year. I loved it. Except that the main reason birth control pills fail is human error. You basically have to take the things at the same time every day. Like, if you're off by more than 3 hours, it can effect the ability of the pill to prevent pregnancy.

So I decided to be done with pills. I had a Mirena implanted yesterday. The theory being that with no chance  of human error, it will have a better success rate than the pills. I'm going to blog about my experience with Mirena for my own memory's sake, so I can relay to my doctor what all has happened, and so maybe someone else trying to make a decision will stumble upon this blog.

I went in at 1:00pm yesterday, November 20, 2012 to have the thing put in. After all the prerequisite paperwork and counseling, we got down to business. With a speculum displaying my internal organs, the doctor first swabbed my cervix with betadine to sterilize the area. Then he shot some numbing spray up there there stung like ice. Then he says, "okay, you'll feel a little pinch". OHMYGODOWWWWWHATTHEHELL! I don't know if he gave me an actual shot of some kind of numbing medication, or if that was my cervix dilating, but it hurt like hell.

"Now you'll feel some cramping". Before he even got the sentence out, I wanted to curl up and die. This was like, "high school level, I need to stay home and try not to puke", period cramping. It was awful. The nurse that was helping the doc saw my discomfort and tried talking to me about Thanksgiving. I was like, "yeah yeah, I'm making green bean casserole OOOOWWWW WAAHHHH!" I appreciated the effort, but it was not working.

So then he got the device up into my uterus, which I couldn't feel. Then it took him a few minutes to get the strings in the right place and to have everything sitting where it was supposed to, meanwhile I feel like I'm about to poop from all the cramping.

It took a total of about 10-15 minutes before he was doing something to stop the cramping. He got my cervix to clamp back up and the cramping started to dissipate. So I got all cleaned up and put my clothes back on and he sent me on my way with a prescription for some "just in case" antibiotics.

I had some mild cramping for the rest of the day, but I popped a bunch of ibuprofen, so it wasn't terrible. This morning, I woke up with cramping again, but it feels like first-day-of-a-period cramping. So, while not totally comfortable, it's manageable. I'll take some more ibuprofen throughout today, and it should be fine.

I went to the appointment yesterday 4 days into my period (because IUDs are more easily inserted during menses apparently). And I'm still spotting but it's not bad. Hopefully that will subside in a few days and I'll feel normal again.

Basically, after braving the grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving (because I'm an idiot), I plan to come home and lay on the couch with a heating pad and Netflix.

Mo'Bama 2012!

It's November 7, 2012. I woke up at 2am after tossing and turning for what seemed like an eternity, and checked my phone to find out that Barack Obama will be our President for another 4 years. I have been absolutely worried to my core for the last several months about this election. It was so close.

The other guy stood behind basically abolishing women's reproductive rights. And a constitutional ban on gay marriage. And cutting Medicaid for the underprivileged and Medicare for the elderly. And raising taxes on the middle class instead of the elite. Unfortunately, these issues are more or less what kept the nation's attention for the last year (as opposed to say, foreign policy and the national deficit), but they're also what has kept my attention.

There was a Romney Rally here in my town a few weeks ago and some 10,000 people showed up for it. I was not one of them. Republicans were in my ear about how "this is such a monumental moment for our town", and "even if you don't support him, this is history in the making", and "what a thing for our kids to get to see!" Here's the thing... I have less than zero respect for Mitt Romney. This is a man who flip-flopped on the issues regularly and routinely, probably with the sole intention of only saying the opposite of Mr Obama.  He never laid out a plan for his potential Presidency, even when asked directly, he would avoid the question. He was riding the wave of 49% of the country being anti-Obama, not pro-Romney.

I wish I was a more intelligent person and could adequately and more eloquently relay my relief. And I wish I could do it somewhere like Facebook with the intention of having a civilized conversation with fellow left-leaners. But there's so much Republican butthurt flowing right now, I'd lose more familial relationships than I already have this election season.

I'm so grateful to be a part of this amazing country. We have so many freedoms not felt elsewhere in the world. Yesterday, I took advantage of my freedom as a free-thinking woman and cast my vote for a man who will work for 4 more years to ensure that my family is taken care of and that my rights as a woman are not set back 60 years. Thank you, Mr. Obama and congratulations.

Mothers & More!

As of this past Tuesday, September 4, 2012, I am one of two new co-leaders for Mothers & More Defiance Chapter 259.

Click for our FB page!

Our mission statement reads:

"Reconnect with yourself. Connect with other Mothers. Connect with the world around you! We focus on you - as a mother AND a woman in all the different stages of your life."

This is exactly what I have needed in my life for the last 2 years. I was diagnosed with Postpartum Depression sometime around when Jack was 6 or 9 months old. Which means I went that long without help for what was going on in my brain. And that is a HUGE problem. I was going through what I think a lot of new moms do, where I was having these thoughts and emotions and I thought it was just part of the process. Or like maybe it meant I wasn't a good mom because I didn't know how to BE a mother. It was terrible. But I finally reached a point where I sought medical attention for it. I got to cry to a stranger who prescribed me some drugs and some ways of dealing with things. I'm absolutely better now.

A lot of that has to do with Jack being older and my being a more "experienced" mom. But a lot of it has to do with Mothers & More. Ever since I moved from Maryland right after high school, I had sort of prided myself on my loner status. I didn't need friends to get by. And for a long time, that was really true. When Dan came along, he was just enough of a friend. I didn't need anything else.

Then Jack was born. And sure, I had an awesome partner helping with the parenting stuff. But he could not relate to what was happening to my body and my mind. He didn't understand my middle-of-the-night emotional breakdowns because I couldn't get Jack to stop crying. I needed mom friends my own age. Then one day in November 2011, a girl named Lisa came into my pharmacy and convinced me to go to an M&M meeting. I did, and it was so much fun. It was a couple of hours away from my child and into a room full of women who had been where I was.

M&M has been a huge savior for me in the last 10 months. It's about getting out of the house and being myself.... and not just my mom-self. I'm figuring out that there's a difference.

================================================================

Alright, enough bearing my soul and all that...

Technically, I don't officially take over until October, but it's already crazy.

We're organizing an event called Touch-A-Truck that's going to happen the 30th of this month.  Basically, it's a fundraiser for the chapter where for a fee you can bring your kids out to the Defiance County Airport to see a bunch of different vehicles. The kids can... wait for it... Touch A Truck. Eh, see what I did there?

We have airplanes, a helicopter, school buses, fire trucks, limos... all kinds of vehicles.

I was kind of inadvertently tossed into the planning committee for the event, and then the Board election came around, so now I'm feeling double pressure.

I haven't slept very well in the last few days and my TMJD was acting up today from harder-than-usual teeth grinding in my sleep last night, which equated to an all-day headache. Who knew I was such an anxious/stressed person? I definitely didn't used to be. Stupid adulthood. Time to step back and relax a little. The world does not hinge on Touch A Truck! Every time I wake up in the middle of the night until the 30th, that will be my mantra. Ha!

Hopefully the event is a huge success and we learn from our mistakes and this can become an annual event. It has great potential, so hopefully we can pull it out!

I feel like I'm supposed to....

So, about that "sticking to commitments" thing I said the last time I posted... FOUR MONTHS AGO! Oops. But here's a long one to bore you into never coming here again.

I had this idea for a blog post, and the fact that I haven't posted since March plays into it pretty well.

I'm 27 now. That means I'm almost 30. Which means I'm just about past my prime. And what I mean by that is that there are a lot of things I feel like I am supposed to be doing or have done by now.

BABIES!

 Everywhere I turn, people are having second babies. Girls in my Mom group, my sister, my sister-in-law, other moms at Jack's daycare. When I was growing up, I never gave much thought to marriage and babies, other than "I'm totally gonna have like, a thousand of Johnny Depp's babies! OMG!" I wasn't one of those girls who had her wedding planned out, and all of her future childrens' names picked by the time I turned 15. It just wasn't something I was terribly worried about.

 Then I met Dan. Once we started talking marriage, he started talking babies. He's always had this goal of being an awesome dad, and wanted to get that ball rolling quickly. When we got married, he was 26, so he was feeling the "pushing 30" pressure. I was only 24, so I wasn't so much. But we were married in September and I got that positive pregnancy test in November. Okay, I guess we're really doing this.

 The first year of Jack's existence SUCKED. I always say no one told me how genuinely hard it is to be a parent. Dealing with a baby is seriously the most difficult thing I've ever had to do. If anyone reading this is pregnant and wants to know what you're in for, or if you just like scary stories that will likely give you nightmares, let me know. I'll tell you all the gory details no one was kind enough to tell me ahead of time.

 But now that he's 2 years old, and talking, and he's able to convey to me what he wants and needs, it's awesome. This morning he ran over to me, said "GICKLE MON-TA!" (translation: "tickle monster"), and tickled my foot. He is so silly and so smart, and I can't believe I get the privilege of molding this amazing little person. 

 So I feel like I'm supposed to want another baby. But I don't know if I do. I've never really second-guessed myself on much of anything, but this one haunts my dreams. I'm scared that once Jack turns 5 and goes to kindergarten full time and isn't wearing diapers anymore, and can fully dress himself, that I'll regret not having another little person to take care of.

 But damn, babies are hard. And I really just want to focus everything I have on this one little person and make sure he turns out okay. I just don't know.

COLLEGE!

 When I graduated high school, I hadn't applied to any colleges. I never sought help laying out my future from my guidance counselors. I figured my super sweet job at Blockbuster Video would be good enough, and I knew my parents would never kick me out, so... "I'll think about college tomorrow".

 Yeah, that turned out well. I did one semester at a community college in Indiana after we moved from Maryland. Then I did about a year's worth at another community college in Ohio after we moved from Indiana. I hated every last second of it. I didn't know anyone here, I still lived at home, the classes were wicked boring (a lot of introductory computer classes, which I was well beyond at that point), and this time, I didn't know I was supposed to seek help from a counselor, so I chose a stupid major.

 I dropped out because I had lost focus and I'd already gone through 13 years of school, why would I need another 2 or 4 or even 6? Yuck.

 Through several strokes of luck, I now have a good job, without the college education. The pay could be better, but I'm making more than minimum wage, and as long as my awesome programmer of a husband sticks around, our bills are getting paid.

 I've been a pharmacy technician for 3 years. It's fun, and interesting, and I learn more about various medications every day. And now that I've been doing this for a while, I find myself saying, "damn, I could have been a pharmacist". Then I would make 6 figures a year and aside from piles of student loans, we would live very comfortably.

 But it's my understanding that the market for pharmacists is over saturated right now. It WASN'T, oh, 2 years ago when I would have been graduating from Pharmacy School, had I gone directly out of high school. Nine years ago, I had never even considered working in a pharmacy, so going to pharm school was never even a thought. Plus, I was bad at chemistry, so maybe it wouldn't have been a good fit.

 So now I'm considering going back to school (because I feel like I was always supposed to) when Jack starts kindergarten. Something in the medical field. Maybe medical coding & billing, or more pharm tech classes to get hospital certified. Just something else to put on my resume.

 Which brings me back to babies. If I have another baby before then, that will push back my theoretical educational goals. ::sigh::

BLOGGING!

 Also, I feel like I'm supposed to blog more. I'm part of the Millennial Generation. I'm supposed to be an avid blogger. I mean, I have a tablet and a smart phone and a desktop computer. What's stopping me? Oh yeah, my "fun and interesting" job and my super awesome 2-year old.

 This is my life.

Must stick to commitments!

It's been almost 3 weeks since my last post. I will not succumb to the laziness that is my nature and stop writing here.  Must. Stay. Focused. Let's begin.

We've been keeping track of Jack's vocabulary.  We made a list of the words he knows.  Typically, when a kid is 2 years old, pediatricians like to make sure they know some stuff, to make sure that the kid's not dim and that we're not in need of an investigation by CPS.  Generally, I think they're supposed to know 50 words by 2 years old. I've got 45 on the list.  And that was just like, 15 minutes of trying to remember all the things he knows.  I'm sure we're beyond 50, but I'm not worried about it anymore.

And he's really starting to figure stuff out.  He can answer yes or no questions with pretty solid accuracy.  He can help us decipher his wants and needs.  He can point to his "pee-pee".  Yep, he's basically a genius.

Also, we're finally in the market for a house. Like, a not-for-rent, we're-going-into-debt-for-30-years, HOME.  It's pretty great.  We've looked at a handful so far, and there's one in particular that we're in love with.  It's not too big, but not so small that we'll be on top of each other like we are currently.  Hopefully we'll be putting an offer in on it in the next couple of weeks.  I'm stoked.

GIS for "stoked".  Hyperbole & a Half gets me.

Jack is 20 months, 2 weeks old, and will soon be in his own room. FREEEDOOOMMM! 

I'm not old, I'm 27!

So, today is my birthday. Fun.

I bought myself a Kindle Fire, which is pretty cool so far.  However, $280 (for the device and some accessories) seems a bit steep for a gizmo that does everything my phone does, minus make calls or take pictures. Thus, I'm having a bit of buyer's remorse, but that happens every time I spend money on anything that isn't food.

And full disclosure, $250 of that was in the form of Amazon gift cards from my parents between Christmas and my birthday. So really, I'm sad over only spending $30 of my own money on a pretty sweet new electronic thingy.

I also got to take Jack to see his ENT today.  SEVENTY minutes roundtrip, TWENTY minutes in the waiting room, TWO minutes for the doc to say, "looks good, call me if he has any troubles." Cool. Thanks. I made the appointment to follow up on some grody ear blood from 3 weeks ago (yeah, 3 weeks was the soonest they could get me in for blood coming out of a hole it's not supposed to come out of).  Doc said it was probably just the tube in that ear dislodging. Gross. Now we get to keep our fingers crossed that the kid can go ear infection-less for a while so he won't have to have tubes put in again.

Then Jack and I stopped at an epic playground for a little while.

And that was the highlight of my day.

Parenting Things That Make You Go, "Aaaghhh!"

In no particular order:

- Very sudden illnesses - fevers, vomiting, any sort of liquid coming out of a tiny body that usually stays inside the body.

He makes this sad face when he's feverish. I can't take it.

- Stepping on small toys in the dark

I'm not as hardcore as Chuck Norris.

- The ever-lingering smell of poop

Only it's not Grandpa's poop. It's the toddler's.

- "NO NO NO NO, MAMA!"

This is what he looks like when asked if he needs a new diaper.

- Giant car seats in small cars.

The bane of my traveling existence.

- Unsavory individuals wanting to come into physical contact with my child.

That's all I can think of tonight, but I know there's more. What can you add to the conversation?



Jack is 19 months, 3 weeks old, and a sudden fever brought this topic on this evening.

Ohh, the pharm (plugging another blog).

There's this other blog I follow, The Angry Pharmacist. If you can't figure it out by the title, this dude is a (retail) pharmacist. And an angry one. If you don't work in a pharmacy, you probably won't get a lot of what he's talking about, because it has much to do with insurance problems and specific medications, and other job-specific crap we deal with every day.

M'yes. You wouldn't understand. Peasant.

But just about everyone has worked retail of some kind or another. TAP's last entry had me rolling because I've been there, both in the pharmacy and in other retail jobs.

Click here to read about people barfing in a store.

Eff cancer.

I've realized lately that I'm a grown-up now. How do I know this? I've begun feeling genuine, crying-for-another-person empathy. When I was a kid and something sad was happening, it was "oh, I'm sorry. That sucks. How sad!" Then I'd go about my life. But now I get engrossed in other peoples' cruddy situations.

I have a coworker (M) who is more than twice my age and she's awesome. She's so sassy and smart. And she and I talk crap about customers behind their backs. She's how I imagine myself to be when I'm near retirement age. Or she's how I HOPE to be when I'm near retirement age. She's awesome. But her so sweet, kind, caring, cool guy husband was diagnosed with cancer. It started with a trip to the doctor for a sore throat which turned into a diagnosis of squamous-cell carcinoma of the throat, which has now turned into metastatic cancer that's spread to his liver. I'm so amazingly sad for them. He's not a spring chicken, as they say, so the chemotherapy is going to be rough. Another dear friend (P) of my coworker came in today and was told the news, and she immediately sprung into action of "everything will be okay, what can I do to help? I'll bring him in for treatment, I'll help you make a bed for him in the lower floor of your house so he doesn't have to climb stairs. We'll all help you both get through this." I lost it. She was verbalizing everything I was thinking. Yes, I'm older than I used to be, but I still have trouble saying the right thing when faced with a situation like this. And I didn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing, or the insensitive thing, or the stupid thing. So I cried and told M that P had said everything I wanted to. Eff cancer.

Cancer has taken my three grandfathers, and it almost took one of my two grandmothers several years ago. Cancer is ridiculous. If cancer was a person, it would be a coward. A coward that takes the very young and the elderly alike. It beats down professional athletes and babies. Mothers and fathers. The rich and the poor. It is indiscriminate.

I don't know. Cancer sucks. And it scares the crap out of me.

Thanksgiving in February!

So back right before Christmas, I smashed a deer with my car.  Oops.

There are deer parts under the snow. You're welcome.

We have a local auto body shop that offers a free frozen turkey if you bring your deer-smashed car to them for repairs. Sweet...... and weird. Whatever, so they fix my car, and give me a turkey.

Cut to 2 months later, this 12-lb monstrosity is still taking up valuable freezer space, and I'm not growing my proverbial set of testicles as far as gaining the courage to cook the thing goes.  So I manned up last weekend.  I found the following recipe on All Recipes.

Homestyle Turkey, the Michigander Way 

(why it's "the Michigander Way", I don't know. Maybe you have to know how to build a car to fully enjoy this meal?)

1 (12 pound) whole turkey
6 tablespoons butter, divided
4 cups warm water
3 tablespoons chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
2 tablespoons seasoning salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse and wash turkey. Discard the giblets, or add to pan if they are anyone's favorites.
2. Place turkey in a Dutch oven or roasting pan. Separate the skin over the breast to make little pockets. Put 3 tablespoons of the butter on both sides between the skin and breast meat. This makes for very juicy breast meat.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the water with the bouillon. Sprinkle in the parsley and minced onion. Pour over the top of the turkey. Sprinkle seasoning salt over the turkey.
4. Cover with foil, and bake in the preheated oven 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C). For the last 45 minutes or so, remove the foil so the turkey will brown nicely.

It was fan-freakin-tastic.  I didn't take a picture of it because I'm an idiot.  But it was so delicious.  You know how when you go to your grandma's house for Thanksgiving, and the turkey is always dry and bland and you have to cover it in gravy?  Yeah, not this one.  It's still moist today, after being sliced up and refrigerated. Outstanding.  And I feel like an idiot for being so nervous about cooking a turkey this whole time.

Much has changed

When we last left off, our intrepid adventurer was but a novice, young mother to a baby a mere 3 months old.  Today, she is a seasoned veteran-mother of a toddler of a ripe old 19 months.

Sir Jack is now a professional Goldfish cracker eating, "NO!" shouting, bathtub splashing, nap resisting, Elmo loving, amazingly bright little dude.  Here's the handsome young lad now:

We had many sleepless nights while adjusting to parenthood, which by the way, has not been the 100% puppies and rainbows that people claim it is.  However, as Jack's becoming more vocal and independent, it's definitely getting more fun and less stressful.

Quick recap time!  He had near-constant ear infections until we had tubes put in at 9 months. Which was also right around the time that we took on one Dr Richard Ferber as our personal mentor.  So when he's not sick, we finally have a toddler who sleeps in his own bed for upwards of 12 hours a night.  That's been a major factor in the "life is looking up" department.  

He's in the Toddler room at daycare now.  Jack and I both definitely cried when I dropped him off the first day in a room full of "big kids".  But he's flourishing with his peers.  And he has some older (I'm talking 3-year-old mini cougars) female admirers who apparently chase him around for kisses, and he loves it.  Player.

As far as mom and dad go, things are good.  I'm currently working 2 part-time jobs, one of which I thoroughly enjoy, and the other, not so much.  D is rocking at his job.  He recently got an amazing raise, which is helping us to get out from under some debt, and we've started talking more seriously about getting out of our tiny apartment and into a house, which excited me to no end.

Basically, we're just living every day.  Parts of me wish it was more exciting than that, but most of me really likes the day-in, day-out routine.  Since I'm not crazy busy all the time, I'm getting to watch my son turn into this awesome little person.  Every time he looks at me and says "mama" or gives me a kiss, I feel terrible about how awful I thought the first few months were. And I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

Jack is 19 months, 4 days old, and life is pretty nice today.

That awkward moment when you try to start blogging again...

So, blog... I know it's been over a year, but do you think we could go back to where we left off? I mean, I was in a weird place emotionally, and I just wasn't ready for that kind of a commitment. But baby, I've grown. I feel like I'm more capable of nurturing you and helping you grow as a blog. Can you ever forgive me?

Alright, so I'm back. I have big plans of writing some kind of a condensed "what have I been doing for the past year" post in the next few days, so keep an eye out.

Weeee!