February 22, 2009

B-man showing off his toy he earned from the bean jar. He was sitting next to me while I opened some presents.

February 22, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a much slower week. I am so grateful for a slower pace on occasion. Monday was President's Day. We spent the day being pretty slow and being together. We had a fun breakfast in the morning, ran some errands in the afternoon, and then had a fun dinner (as an early celebration for my birthday) at Red Robin. On the way to dinner we had a little mini FHE discussion. After dinner we had ice cream and then made it back home for bed.

Tuesday was my birthday. It was a great relaxing day. B-man had preschool, and was so happy to go. He has started anticipating the letters he is learning about each week. The letter this week was "T" and he has been walking around saying words trying to figure out what starts with the t sound. Sometimes he is right, and then occasionally we will get a "t-t-computer! Computer starts with t!" And then I remind him that it has the sound in the word but it doesn't actually start with a t. After preschool we had just enough time for lunch, before heading off to swim lessons. I was trying to emphasize to B-man that it is swim school, and not just free time in the pool. I think it worked because although he still had a few moments of wanting to do his own thing, the teacher said he was much better about listening. He just got so excited to be in a pool, that he forgot he needed to be listening to the adult! M took the day off of Spanish so that he could be home early. When he got home from work we opened a few presents and he and B-man sang me "Happy Birthday". Then that night we went to dinner at our favorite place in town. It was a great night! Before going to bed M gave me another present (by B-man). We decided to wait on cake and candles until later.

Wednesday we had David at our house. We ran a few errands, but stayed pretty close to home. That night M got home a little earlier than expected. Usually on Wednesdays we don't get to eat together but we had enough time to both eat dinner. I then left to go to basketball practice and mutual. M tried to console B-man (who didn't get to go) by taking him with him to find some new running shoes. After basketball practice we had Young Women and did a combined activity with all of the girls. After dropping off some of the girls at home I returned just in time for M to have his first ever presidency meeting. He still doesn't have a secretary, but at least now he has some counselors to rely on for help.

Thursday morning we had preschool again. B-man took his truck towel for show and tell. When I got to the house I got out walking B-man to the door. While pausing to talk with one of the other mother's B-man remembered that he had been planning on walking to the door all by himself. He got a little frantic because he wanted me in the car to do it himself. He then walked up to the door, knocked, and went into the house all by himself. Later that afternoon we had swim lessons. Despite having the beginnings of a cold, B-man did great. I have never seen him swim better. It's so fun to see him improve and get better. He is completely unafraid of the water, and loves to tell the teacher to move further back so that he can impress her with how far he can swim. After swimming B-man and I made two different batches of blueberry muffins to see which recipe we liked better. Mostly I made the muffins and B-man sampled them… That night after dinner M went to his "man club." He had a great time, but was frustrated that the other guys didn't show up until he normally would have been leaving.

Friday morning my visiting teachers came over. They stayed for about (thirty minutes) the perfect amount of time, and then had to go. David did not come over because his mother didn't want to expose him to whatever B-man has. He has a cold with a nasty cough. That day we ran a few errands but tried to keep B-man calm. I tried unsuccessfully to get him to take a nap. That night we had some friends over for pulled pork sandwiches. After dinner we played some Rook, (and lost…) before they headed home.

The next day was Saturday. We made it a pretty leisurely day. I went to basketball games a little late. I ended up playing (very safely) for about two minutes when someone got hurt. Although I am not obviously pregnant, it is too easy to forget that I need to be careful and not go diving after the basketball. But it is also too hard to not sub in when needed. After the women's game I stayed and helped coach the young women. They won their game and some of the girls are actually showing signs of improvement! When I got home M went for a run and later in the afternoon we ran a few errands. Part of the errands ended up being us getting a bigger bike for B-man and a bike for me. A family in our ward was cleaning out their garage, and we just happened to see the email and get over to their house first. We are both so excited for our new bikes. Mine is the beach cruiser I have always wanted, and looks brand new. It even has a big comfy grandma seat that I feel is essential on any bike. Now we just need a little warmer weather, and B-man can practice his no training wheels skills! That night was the Stake Enrichment night. Before the meeting I went to dinner at Panera with a few of my friends from the ward. The meeting was wonderful; it was filled with music and talks all centering on Christ. After getting home I worked on my lesson for Sunday before going to bed.

This morning has been a busy day. M was up early and made a fun breakfast before heading off to his meetings. While he was gone I worked on my talk for Sacrament meeting. Cute B-man did such a good job playing alone while I worked. When I was almost done he asked at one point, "Mom can you play with me for one minute?" I couldn't resist such a request and took a little break. I finished the talk without much time to spare. Just enough time to get showered and ready, and eat some lunch. M did get home and help with some of those details. B-man is still pretty congested and coughing, so M took him to church for the Sacrament and to hear my talk and then they left. They made sure to sit in a back corner where they could limit B-man's exposure to other innocent people. About five minutes after getting home from church, our home teachers came over. After they left we had a simple dinner. Later I went to a fireside. The speaker was a temple recorder from our stake. We have a temple trip for the youth this week. We had a great turnout and hopefully it will help it be more meaningful to them. When I got home M went for a very quick home teaching appointment.

We love you all, we are so lucky for the family and friends we have.

R, M, and B-man

Those Pesky College Dreams

What do these two things have in common?

Not a lot unless you happen to be my strange mind.  I used to listen to my parents and older siblings talk about the college dreams/nightmares that they would have occasionally.  I never had them, even while in college.  Once I graduated things changed, and I have experienced them on multiple occasions.  I had another weird college dream last week.  Usually I have to go take a final for a class that I have somehow managed to NEVER go to during the semester.  Not once, and I am stressed about it and  wondering how I could have been so irresponsible.  I have also had a dream where I had two finals at exactly the same time, and was trying to figure out what to do about the problem.  This latest was a little different.

I was sitting in a desk writing a very lengthy essay.  I am sure it was already over three pages.  I was also aware that I knew it lacked great structure and that I should have done something like a "web" to help me stay organized.  I was stressed because I felt like I had so much more to say to answer the question.  Then my stress level increased as I realized that I had at least ten questions that I was supposed to be answering.  I was also aware that the teacher expected me to be doing short answer, not essay.  I felt my panic level rising as I realized that I was doing this all wrong, and I had already wasted so much time!  The only thing that was saving me was that the final was open book... or should I say magazine.  The texts that we were studying in the class were an issue of "Martha Stewart Living," and the Conference edition of "The Ensign."    I knew I could find the answers, it was just a matter of time, and paper which I seemed to be running out of because I was writing my answers in the margins of the magazines.

I woke up before finishing the test.  (Of course you never get closure...) I couldn't help but think "what the?"  I mean why would my mind be combining those two things?  I guess it could be that I am struggling to balance the spiritual and temporal side of things in my life?  Who knows.  Or it could be the hormones causing me to be way off balance.  Then I realized that I would kind of like to take a class where we studied those two things.  

February 15th Week in Review

Dear Family and Friends,

We've had another busy week. Monday was a great day. The morning was calm, but then in the late morning I took B-man to a friend's house and then I met M at the doctor's office so that we could have an ultrasound on our little one. They did a very thorough exam and we found out that the baby is growing and developing well, and that it is a little boy! The baby was wiggling around so much that even before the tech announced it, I was pretty sure that "jumping bean" had to be another boy. We are so excited, and B-man is thrilled. He tells everyone, "My mom has a baby in hers tummy, it's a boy…" I asked right before leaving what he thought it was, and he said boy. I then asked what he was going to do if it was a girl, and he said "If it is a girl, I will be mad." We think a boy is the perfect thing, and are so excited for B-man to have a little brother. Yeah for boys! After our long appointment we then had lunch together and then did our weekly shopping. It was fun to have M home for half the day. That night we had FHE and talked about being honest.

Tuesday I taught preschool. We discussed the letter "s" and had some fun things going on. I never know how some things will go… I just have to try it out and see which is a hit, and which is a miss. As soon as everybody left B-man and I got in the car and drove to Arlington. My brother was in town for less than a day and so we met him after his appointments for lunch and fun. I did get a little lost trying to get to our meeting point, so unfortunately we wasted some of the time driving around, but eventually I found him and we could visit. B-man was so excited to see Uncle L. He wanted to hold L's hand crossing the street and sit on his lap as much as possible. It was a great afternoon. After lunch we drove back to the Iwo Jima monument where we met to check on the car, and then we drove to the World War II Memorial. L had never seen it. We eventually found a great spot on the street and were able to quickly walk through the memorial. Sadly the fountains weren't turned on because it was winter. We then made it back to the car and dropped off L at his rental car so that he could catch his flight back to Utah. It was so fun to have him visit; the time just went too quickly. On the way home we made a stop at the mall for a few things and M got home late because of his Spanish class.

Wednesday morning I watched a friend's child while she had a quick doctor's appointment. Later in the morning David came and I watched him all day. We had a pretty quiet day, but we had some beautiful weather and enjoyed being outside in it. B-man always begs to ride his bike whenever the weather is half way decent. One good thing about having kids is that they force you to get out of the house in the winter. That evening B-man and I had dinner alone because M had Spanish again. We then went to the church for basketball practice and mutual. The kids were insane! I think it was the deadly combination of warmer weather and an approaching Valentine's Day. The girls were off the walls!

Thursday was another busy day. I had the preschool at our house again. We mostly focused on Valentine's Day and love. It was a fun day. I made individual heart cakes for the kids to decorate, we made valentine's, ate candy, etc… B-man loved it all. The rest of the day was fairly slow. M was home at his regular time, and then after dinner we split up. M took B-man to play basketball at the church, and I went to mini-Enrichment at a home for the elderly in our city. We did a sing a-long with love songs and other fun songs from Broadway musicals. It was a short but great evening. After the sing a-long I then ran a few errands, and then headed off to heart attack some young women. The Presidency had decided very last minute to heart attack all the girls, and we all took a few. I only had two homes to do. The first went fairly uneventfully, and then I was ready for the second. I parked, got out and walked to the front door. They totally knew I was there. I heard feet coming down the stairs and giggling, and a light went on inside, but mercifully they didn't open the door. I finished as quickly as possible and then scurried back to the car. I went to turn on the car and go, only problem was that the car wouldn't start. Mysteriously the battery had died. I have no idea why. And to make it worse I had no cell phone. It's past nine, and I am stranded. I didn't know the parents very well (part member, inactive) but eventually I decided that I had no other choice but to go knock. I knew they went to bed early so I got out and knocked on the door. They didn't answer! I wasn't brave enough to ring the doorbell and risk waking them up, so I bundled up and walked to a nearby grocery store. The wind was blowing horrendously and it was uphill… Seriously! There were no pay phones at the store but one of the workers took pity on me and let me use the company phone. It must have had something to do with the state of my very windswept hair. I called M, and he woke up B-man and drove to the store. We then drove together to the car to jump start it and get home. The whole time we were working on the car I could see someone peeking out the blinds in one of the bedrooms. It was pretty embarrassing. Oh well! Thanks to M rescuing me we got the car going and got home. B-man went back to sleep quickly and then I collapsed into bed. It was a tiring night! That's what I get for trying to do something nice!

Friday was another busy day. I had my friend's child again for the morning, and then David came over later. We had David all day. The one great surprise that we got was when M surprised us by coming home early from work! It was great to see him walk through the door so early. We felt like we hadn't seen each other in a long time! He used part of the time to run five miles! He is training for a half marathon and is doing great! B-man always wants to run with him though; it is a little tricky to convince him not to go "running" with M. After David left we had just enough time to start dinner, get it cooked and start eating it before we had the kids being dropped off for our babysitting co-op. We were worried that we would have a repeat of the last time we watched the kids, but for the most part things went much more smoothly. Once the kids were all picked up I ran to make an appearance at a party that all the young women were at. I ended up staying late so that I could help clean up, and then made it to bed very late! It was a fun party and I think the girls that went had a lot of fun. We just wished they had all been there to enjoy it.

Saturday was Valentine's Day! We don't really do much for Valentine's Day. It's close to my birthday and it seems like mostly a forced holiday. We just usually keep it simple and at home. M started off the day by playing a ward basketball game at 7:00 am! I was going to go and help cheer on the women's team, but decided instead that I would stay home and make a fun breakfast for everyone. We had pink heart pancakes for breakfast. (B-man's choice.) Later that morning we went to the baptism of two boys in our ward. The baptismal service was wonderful with lots of nonmembers there to support the boys. After the baptism we went to a luncheon at the home of one of the boys. It was a simple but nice lunch. We then went home and I dropped them off and I then went to the choir concert of one of the beehives in my class. The concert was amazing! I stayed for the high school concert and was happy I did. The women's chorus (which had another young woman in it) sang the most beautiful song about Ruth using her words from the bible. It was a great way to spend an hour and a half. I was then able to go home and relax for a while. Later that evening we put B-man to bed, and then after getting the babysitter we went to a Valentine's party put on by some of our friends. There were about seven couples there and we ate and played a fun version of "The Newlywed Show." They also had a forced dance session. It was a fun party, and much better than trying to get dinner at an overpriced restaurant!

Today has been another busy day. I spent the morning with B-man. I worked on finishing my lesson and getting ready for church. M was getting introduced to his new church schedule. He was at the church from 8:30 am until 4:15 pm. I sure missed his extra set of hands while trying to get B-man ready! He is excited to have his counselors called and to really start getting into what needs to bed done. After church we then rushed home and started working on dinner. We had some friends over for dinner. We had a great time, and it made the evening fly by.

It's been a full week. I'm tired just writing about it! We love you all, and hope that you have had a great week.

Here are some pictures of our new little boy. He was wiggling so much that they are a little blurry. I can't wait to kiss those cheeks and feet! M thinks he has my family's chin...

Ultrasound Pictures

This picture is when the baby was ten weeks along.  He was already moving around visibly.  

The others are from twenty weeks.  It's amazing what happens in those ten weeks.  He now has everything he needs, it's just in miniature form.  I forget what a miracle this process is!  It's amazing me all over again.  We could even see the lips and nose in the ultrasound! Another interesting thing from the ultrasound is that they could measure how much he weighed.  At the time he was measuring 15 oz. which is bigger than I expected.  He was measuring big, but they don't switch the due dates, plus there's really no question about mine...  I have no idea how accurate it is, but it was all very interesting. 

We're having a baby, it's a . . . . .

We're so excited to find out that we are having a boy....

B-man is so excited

(He told us that he would be mad if it was a girl)

This is kind of how I feel

25 Random Things

Me in the hot springs at Tabacon in Costa Rica.

I usually ignore "tags," but since M is out of town, I need something to keep me busy. So here are twenty-five random things about me...

1. I get to have an ultrasound in less than a week. I can't wait to see the baby and make sure everything is okay. The gender will be nice, but not as nice as seeing him/her.

2. I was once on "The Family Feud."

3. I kissed the host Louie, and he smelled like cigarettes. (It was on the cheek and a dare...)

4. Sometimes I fantasize about being a guest on the Jay Leno show and what I would say.

5. Someday I would LOVE to walk the red carpet at some big event. I told Matthias that and he thought I meant watch other stars walk down the carpet. I mean me, I want to be in a fantastic dress and have professionals do my hair and make-up.

6. I don't ever want to be famous. Which is a contradiction to my last two items. I couldn't handle having people record my every movement.

7. I love having a clean house, but I have to work at it. It doesn't come naturally to me and it is amazing how quickly I become immune to that "random pile" of stuff in the corner.

8. People are always surprised when I tell them how many men I have kissed. (It's a very low number...)

9. I tend to be a worrier. Especially when M is gone. Last night I was trying to figure out how long it would take people to realize something was wrong if I died while he was gone.

10. I am the fourth of ten children. I realize what a saint my mom is more everyday.

11. I took cotillion classes in high school in an effort to be more graceful.

12. I was 5' 10" in eighth grade.

13. When I was about seven I did a lot of bragging about the fact that I was the only child in the family who had never had stitches. Then I got stitches twice in about a month.

14. I really hate sitting while other people are working.

15. I have a fear of squishing snails or other bugs with my fingers while weeding. It happened to me a lot growing up. (Snails can be great at hiding, trust me.)

16. I would love to live abroad for a few years, but I can not imagine wanting to live in another country for the rest of my life.

17. My pinkie toes cross over my fourth toes all the time. Although I have taught myself how to put them down.

18. I get a sick amount of satisfaction from a clean shower.

19. I love to cook and try out new recipes.

20. I love to eat out, but I am extremely picky about where I eat. I can't stand paying for something that I think I could have made myself at home.

21. I love to save money.

22. Sometimes I cry when I hear the National Anthem.

23. I usually have one thing happen a day that reminds me that I will never win a "Mother of the Year" award.

24. Even though I grew up minutes from the ocean I never learned to surf. I'm not sad about it either.

25. For the last five or so years I have been almost perfect about writing a weekly update about our life.

A Penny Saved...

Today I finally went to the post office to mail some pants I had ordered online. They didn't fit right and so I needed to return them. Sadly, it could not be returned to a store. My options were to send it in their envelope and have them deduct $5.99 from the price of the item I was returning, or use my own supplies and mail it myself. I contemplated taking the easy route, but decided that even if I saved two dollars, it would be worth it. At the post office I carefully examined their postage supplies. I found the cheapest option that would still hold the pants. Then I made it to the counter finally. Here's the breakdown...

$1.00 for the envelope
5.35 for parcel post delivery

Total cost... $6.35!!!

Here I was trying to save a buck or two and ended up spending more! I was shocked. Who knew it was so expensive to mail one pair of pants? It's not like they were even heavy. I should have thrown in a magazine and called it "media mail". I guess I learned my lesson. The easy way is the better way...

February 1!

February 1, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Here's a quick update of our week. Monday B-man and I did our shopping for the week. That night for FHE we had a lesson on Adam and Eve.

Tuesday was a snow day. It had started snowing the morning and kept going all day. B-man wanted to be outside in it as soon as possible, and he loved playing in it. I think I shoveled the walks about four times that day, but it just kept snowing. I had a very busy morning. I planned it all originally so that B-man would be at preschool, but because of the snow all the schools were cancelled. So first we were off to go visiting teaching. After a good visit I then ran over to my doctor's appointment. I had to take B-man, but I didn't think it would be a big deal. After the doctor listened to the baby's heartbeat, B-man turned to me and said "See! I told you you had a baby in yours tummy!" And he had been making a lot of comments and questions in the last few weeks. We then rushed over to the next visiting teaching appointment. We had been there about twenty minutes when B-man announced to the women that I was going to have a baby. I guess the secret is out… We then went home for some much needed lunch. When M got home he and B-man put on all their snow gear and they went sledding at a hill by our house. I was the photographer. B-man had a great time. I left a little early and started some hot chocolate for them. By the time they got home the hot chocolate was ready. We drank it with dinner and enjoyed our nice cozy home. That night I went to a board meeting for the Young Women. It was a quick, but productive meeting.

Wednesday morning we woke up to a layer of ice covering all the snow. M made it into work safely, and I had David for the day. Because of all the ice we really didn't go anywhere. B-man played outside in the snow/ice for a while, but other than that it was a slow day. School was cancelled that day and so we had no mutual activities. It was kind of nice to have a little break.

Thursday morning B-man had preschool again. While he was gone I ran a bunch of errands. That night M went and played basketball with some guys from the ward at the church. B-man went with him to get a little running time. I stayed home to monitor the dinner that was taking entirely too long to cook. I actually ended up eating dinner by myself. I can't remember the last time that happened… After M got home I then went to book club. We discussed The Last Jihad which I thought was interesting. It was a small group, but it was so nice to get out and see some ladies.

Friday morning I took B-man to preschool. We were making up Tuesday's missed class, and then I rushed back home to be ready by the time David got dropped off. The day was fairly quiet and normal. That afternoon I had an appointment to get my hair cut. The stylist was actually the sister-in-law to my brother who happened to also know a friend from my ward. She flew her out here and arranged a day full of appointments. My hair isn't drastically different, just more modern and updated. Lots of long layers. I haven't had time to do it completely myself, so it will be fun to see how it works next week. That night we had the kids for the babysitting co-op. There are two two-year olds, and two three months old, and B-man. It was slightly a nightmare. One of the babies would NOT stop crying. And I've had a colicky child, so it's not like we aren't used to crying. None of our tricks worked, and he wouldn't take a bottle. He probably cried for two hours. The parents did come back, and then M and I just sat on the couch and ate a fudgcicle. We don't want two sets of twins any time soon… B-man did have fun watching a movie. He finally earned his first reward through the bean jar. He rented a movie and we thought we would have a party. Turned out to be mostly chaos going on around the movie, but I think he still thought it was fun.

Saturday morning B-man and I went to my ward basketball game. I played very little time, but it felt good to be out there. We even won! I then went to a lecture at the local hospital about babies. Although it was mostly geared towards first time parents, it was still informative. The best part was being able to tour where we will have our baby. It seems like an amazing set-up. I thought American Fork Hospital was great, but this seems even better! There are some hospitals out here where mothers have to share a room! I felt very reassured that our hospital has all private rooms and a lot of other nice features. After getting home we had a very low key day. That evening M went to the Priesthood leadership meeting for Stake Conference. He came home and then we all went to the adult session. We had two visiting authorities, Elder Oaks, and Elder Murray. I searched all over but couldn't find a babysitter. Since neither of us wanted to miss the meeting, we decided to bring B-man. It was risky, but we thought it would work. When we got there we picked an inconspicuous spot and then set him up with a movie to watch on my I-pod. It worked like a charm. He was quiet the whole meeting. The meeting was fantastic. I think it is so interesting to see apostles in such a relaxed setting. Their personality comes through so strongly.

Today has been a crazy day. We first went to Stake Conference. With less sleep, and no I-pod it was more of a struggle to keep B-man under wraps. We both breathed a sigh of relief when it was over. Someday I will be able to sit and take notes about what things I notice, but today I was busy entertaining the boy. I had revamped my church bag in preparation. But most of what I put in there was a bust. Then you put in something and find out that it is a hit. I think a little more sleep for him would have helped immensely. After getting home we had a pancake lunch. M then packed his bags and left for the week. He has work stuff that is taking him out of town. While he was gone I attacked the oven racks. The weather was so nice and warm that I had to do it. The cleaning operation was mostly a failure, until I gave in and ran the self cleaning cycle with the racks in it. While all this was going on B-man was playing outside. I realized at one point that he had taken some fertilizer and spread it by the handful over the snow in the backyard. I think he thought it was ice melt. That little incident combined with the oven fiasco brought on a mini emotional breakdown. But I pulled it all together eventually. All I can say is that I am grateful that the weather was warm because our doors and windows were open all afternoon.

We love you all!

(pictures will be coming...)

High Low

In college I would have dinner a lot with a group of friends every Sunday night. We would always play a game while eating called "High Low." You had to play and you always had to have one of each. Although sometimes it was a little difficult to make it interesting... So since I am alone today, and have no one to share my "high low" with, I am going to share it with all of you... Pretend I am talking, it helps.

My high of the week...
was making into "Jane's" Facebook status with a declaration of love. Seriously a fun thing to see on the newsfeed.

My low of the week ...
happened today. M left town for the week for work, and I decided to take advantage of the warmer weather by trying to clean the oven racks while turning the oven on really low, and opening all the doors and windows with fans turned on to keep out the smoke. My plan went seriously awry in many ways. Here they are...

1. It failed miserably, an hour of work for very little benefit.

2. The foil I lined the bottom of the oven to prevent any more plastic buildup somehow bonded to the bottom of the oven, permanently it seems. (picture will follow soon)

3. While I was thus weighing my options, and lamenting the fact that I had just ruined the oven I realized that B-man was outside, downstairs (our kitchen is on the middle floor). I thought that would be a good thing except that he took the fertilizer for the rhododendrons and was spreading it all over the grass/snow. I had used about a cup, but when I got to him there was only 1/3 of the bag left. I put him inside, then tried to shovel off as much as I could. If you don't know, fertilizer in large concentrated quantities is not good for plants. It literally burns them. So I am pretty sure that come spring we will have several circles in our grass that are dead. Plus the spots where I put what I could clean up will probably be toxic for several years. I am pretty sure I have in the last week, put a hole in the ozone over our house, and now contributed to the polluted run off in the Potomac river. I will forever be working to erase my carbon footprint...

After cleaning it all up I came back inside. By the time B-man had gone up to his room and had cried himself to sleep. (He was really tired...) I called M, left a message, and then commenced to sit at my table and cry. Yes, I sat and cried. These were some of the many thoughts running through my head; "my oven is ruined, what if all these fumes hurt the baby, B-man just played with fertilizer and then didn't wash his hands", etc... It wasn't the best way to start off a week with no husband. Hopefully the worst is already over and my worries will be all for naught.

So there you have it, my high low. It was a doozy this week.

P.S. After my mini break down I decided to just put the racks back in the oven and turn it on self clean. I just inspected the oven and the racks look great! But there is still a bunch of tin foil. At least it's shiny...