The Ending of 2013 and the Start of 2014 (Halfway Point).

So it’s been since December 14. Yeah, life has got in the way. Here’s a bulletpoint list of things that have happened:

* Christmas!
* Had my second melanoma removed in December 2014 after having one in August 2013 (my fifth melanoma total); it was found by my specialist at Duke and biopsied but my local dermatologist did the surgery to get clear margins and I now have a 4 inch scar on the back of my knee (but AM thankful to the Lord it was once again caught early!)
* Went to Pigeon Forge with my girlfriends for the day in early January and had lots of fun and laughs to celebrate my friend, Drema’s 40th b-day
* Wade and I got to stay at the Biltmore Inn for the annual partners’ retreat in January
* I had an eye exam in February which showed some of the vision problems I’ve been having is because my eyes aren’t producing tears (boohoo! ;))
* I finally found a new GP in after looking thinking about it for at least two years (probably more like three) and love her! Plus, most of the physicians are Christians which is a bonus that I wasn’t counting on…..but I had been praying about finding one afterall!
* Okay, here’s a big one: I went GLUTEN FREE in late February! No, I’m not doing it as a fad diet but was told in August 2013 that I was allergic to gluten and wheat by my allergist but was NOT ready to take the plunge. I am not seeing an alternative nutritional doctor and part of me signing up to go to him was basically obeying the nutritional guidelines he gives which is NO GLUTEN. I could tell a difference in a week and a half. I lost five pounds in two weeks’ time! I may have to write a post on it sometime as it has its own story.
* I found a lump in my breast in late January (right after we started a new year with our insurance deductible). I had a biopsy in late February and was advised that while it was a benign papilloma cyst, they wanted to have it surgically removed. I waited until after Tax Season for the surgery (April 21) which went smoothly. In fact the procedure I had that morning before the surgery (needle localization) was worse than the surgery and in fact, I passed out from that. LOL
* In early March I went back to Duke to see my melanoma specialist and to have an updated copy of the mole-mapping CD made (fun fun! NOT!). My friend, Drema, came along for the overnight trip and that part was fun!
* Our annual girls’ weekend was in mid-March. SO. MUCH. FUN. I look forward to this every year. Our friend Marti even flew in to meet us in Asheville from Indianapolis. I’m already looking forward to next year’s!
* I went on a youth activity the first of April to a trampoline park. I felt like a kid again. The bus caught on fire broke down on the way and we had to wait at a Perkin’s along the way until someone from church could come pick us up and take us the rest of the way but it ended well!!
* Andrew got the dreadful and despised Herbst appliance off in April. That means he has just normal braces now. This makes his life so much easier! He did not eat much the first month or two he first had that put on and there’s no telling how much weight he lost. He’s happy now though. ;)
* Wade allowed me to have my back flowerbeds landscaped like I want by professionals. I LOVE it. I wanted all flowers or small flowering shrubs. I also gave the landscape designer a list of deer resistance flowers/plants so we don’t have problems in the future. A couple of my favorite things is a hydrangea tree and a lilac bush. I have since added more flowers to it. I want an eclectic mix of flowers in the back. My grandmother had over a 100 flower varieties and I loved her full, over-flowing flower beds. That’s my goal!
* The fourth week of April looked like this: Easter & Wade’s birthday (Sun), breast surgery (Mon), finished our school year on Friday! Whoop, whoop on ending school on April 25th! I’m not sure that will happen this year because we’re considering starting school after Labor Day.
* We got a jenny donkey and her baby jack donkey the end of April. They’re cute and that’s about it. They won’t let us have anything to do with them. Honestly, I think we’re going to find them a new home and start again next spring!
* In early May we bought five steers and had them delivered on our somewhat newly acquired 20 acres. (Yes, we now own around 37 acres. Our farm is growing! Ha.)
* In mid-May Wade started his sabbatical and we left for a two week tour of Utah! It was AMAZING! It will have its own post eventually.
* Wade and I celebrate EIGHTEEN years of Holy Matrimony. <3 p="">* Andrew got to graduate to the youth group! He LOVES it!
* On June 9-19 we went on a mission trip to England. Another AMAZING trip that deserves its own post!
* In the late winter/early spring we lost our former piano teacher (to a busy life and marriage) but finally found a new one that Elizabeth started with in June. She’s young but strict and very knowledgeable with a degree in concert piano so I think she’s going to be great for her.

July has been fun and a little slower with celebrating the Fourth with friends, having a few groups of people over, deciding to start a website with a friend, a week of day camp for Andrew as a camper and Elizabeth as a camp counsellor, starting beginner training classes at PetSmart with Jax, a week of VBS and a week of junior camp for Andrew. Even though we’ll be without a child that week, there’s a lot going on including Elizabeth having four friends spend the night and a trip to a local, private zoo!

Originally, I started this blog as a way to keep up with our happenings especially because at the time I LOVED to scrapbook and I wanted to have all our life's adventures and activities recorded for when I got to scrapbook the pictures. Alas, I used to think I would pick the hobby back up (scrapbooking) but don't seriously foresee it. I still enjoy the blogging/writing but obviously do not take the time to do it. :-P

I hope one of these days I will get back in the habit so will try to do catch-ups (for my benefit so no family or friends should feel the need to read lists like the above, ha ha!).

Until next time.....don't hold your breath.....haha!

A New Phase in Our Lives. Meet Jax.

Well, we've done it. We entered a new phase in our lives. We. are. dog. owners.

Background.
A little over a month ago I had a friend (Candace) come back home to visit from Colorado. She stopped by to see me one afternoon and was telling me about her schedule of who all she was going to visit. One friend was a girl from high school who raises Australian cattle dogs. Candace was telling me she had a recent litter of red heeler pups and was going to get to see them. Wade had told me if/when we got a dog he wanted one that would do well with cattle. He had also told the kids we would get one when we moved to our new house (no time-frame was discussed). He had specifically stated he wanted a blue heeler (aka, Australian cattle dog).

Soooo when I heard about a local girl who raised them, my mind got to thinking. I wanted a dog! We were ready for one. The kids had wanted one for years. They were now old enough to have the responsibilities of taking care of one. I told Wade about the pups in a casual manner and said we should buy one. He didn't budge. It was his normal pretend-I-didn't-hear-her-so-she'll-move-on-to-another-subject reaction. Does anyone's husband (or wife) have this response?

Fast forward a day or two when my sweet, loving husband asked, "What would you like for your birthday?" My reply? "A dog." I then got the you-got-to-be-kidding-me look. Ha ha. I replied to that look with a "Well, if it'll get us a dog then I'll ask for one for my birthday." See, as I said, my husband IS indeed sweet and loving and will get me really anything I want. He completely spoils me that way. He knows I won't ask for anything that I shouldn't or would be over-the-top too.

One day he and I were backing out of the garage and he asked, "Are you sure about this?" I said, "Yes, I think we have reached the stage in our lives where we are ready for a dog." You would think we were adopting a child or about to have our first baby or move to Africa or something. ;) In all reality, I knew having only had cats since we were married that coming and going has been relatively easy. I knew having a dog meant we actually had to board it or see if anyone was willing to care for it while we were gone. That's a lot to ask someone and the boarding can be a lot of money.

He had the kids and me research the breed, taking care of puppies, etc and in the mean time he got a little excited and actually called the girl who breeds them and set up a day/time to come see her litter of pups. She actually had two litters - red heelers and blue heelers. The red heelers would be ready December 12 and the blue heelers on January 1.

With going to look at the red heelers we had in mind that we wanted a female pup. In my experience it's seemed that female animals have been more loving and calm. I now wonder if *I* just thought that because truthfully in my experience I mainly only had females. Upon meeting with Amy who raises the pups we learned differently - at least for this breed. The females are more aggressive and the males are tamer. That sort of took us by surprise. We looked at the two males that were available with the red heeler litter though and admired the blue heelers from afar who were too little to hold just yet and whose mama wouldn't let us anyways. (Amy had got her at 2 years of age and she hadn't been taught how to treat welcomed strangers very well.)

The two male dogs available in the red heeler litter was Jax and Jango. They were both the "fatties" of the litter. You could tell they were getting their fair share of food. We definitely seemed to be drawn to Jax. He was the friendliest of the two and Amy said he was the friendliest of the whole litter. I had prayed for a dog with a good personality. I was hoping this was a sign. ;)

We came home and did more research. Needless to say, we committed, dropped off a check to hold Jax.

Jax, born October 17, 2013 (3 days old here)

At 1 week old

At 2 weeks old

At 3 weeks old

At 4 weeks old

At 6 weeks old

At 7 weeks

He was available to pick up on December 12 (Thursday). He has been already a joy and a lot of work!

When I showed Wade this picture (below) and he realized he was IN our house, he had several questions to ask me. Ha ha!

At 8 weeks old

Today.

The kids have been taking him out most of the time. We are crate training him and he's doing wonderfully! He's only had two accidents and they were both our fault. The first night the kids got up on their own at 1 am to take him out. Last night they were supposed to get up at 3 am to take him out as I took him out at 11 pm. I woke up a little after 4 am and realized I hadn't heard them. I walked into Elizabeth's room and told her she needed to get up to take care of Jax. She said, "I took him out at 3. I'm so tired..." She rolled over and went back to sleep which I realized the next morning she had never really woke up. LOL I started back to bed and went back into their rooms to see their pants I had laid out for them to put on were still where I laid them. I thought, "Fine, they can clean up his mess when they wake." Elizabeth got up around 7:30 to take him out and he hadn't messed at all!

We'll see if it'll continue as smoothly. I hope so! He has thrown a wrench in the relationship between Gaby and Dory. The first two nights they were fighting with each other. It has been weird. They seem to be doing better. Today, Dory and Jax played together tugging on a toy we had bought him! They aren't touching each other yet but that's a start. Gaby, who we call "Mama", is keeping her distance still but has seemed to be tolerable of him. Maybe because she had been around the block a few times when we took her in last March.

We're also getting estimates for fencing for cattle in the spring (fingers crossed!) which means we will also be able to get a couple of donkeys. Wade is also looking at plans for a barn. I don't know if that will happen in the coming year or we'll wait until next year. I think he's trying to see what size barn we'll need to decide that himself.

So, that's what's been up in our neck of the woods. The Farmers are starting to be farmers. ;)

Wildlife Happenings.

When we bought our land the previous owner told us that his son had killed the largest wild turkey in our region here. I don't know how many turkey hunters go and register the weight of their bird - I don't know if that is something reported or what - but it was an interesting bit of information. We had seen 40+ turkeys on our property on our initial visits.

Upon moving into our house we had a flock of 26 and a smaller flock of 18. Here are some that came through the morning of Andrew's birthday (Nov 13); I told him they came to sing "Happy Birthday". ;)

Back in mid-winter there were several nights I would hear the coyotes in the backwoods that border our property. It seemed they would start their howling around eleven on those nights. One night they woke me and I was for sure they were right in our back yard. 

One of days following a howling night, we noticed our flock of 26 was missing two. :( Wade found one of them down by our pond when he was walking and happened to scare it. The next day he found it dead by the pond. We think it had been hurt by a coyote.

Not long after all this happened our turkey population disappeared. We had one or two come along finally. Then we realized we had a loner, The Lone Ranger, we called him and a set of two that came around together. Now we have a flock of three (woohoo! *snicker*) and then the two and one.

I saw ALL that to tell you this. Our two (I once called them the Dynamic Duo and maybe that name should stick) was seen this Sunday with ELEVEN baby turkeys. Yay! Wade saw them when we got home from church and told me. I was squealing with excitement as I ran to get the binoculars (which I am convinced we need at least another pair for all of our look-out spots!).

We went to Tractor Supply Sunday afternoon to buy cracked corn. We had read the baby turkeys, called poults, eat insects for the first few weeks for the protein but then eat grains and whatever. We have learned turkeys aren't too particular in their diet. We didn't know what stage the poults are in but we went ahead and put some cracked corn out for them as well as our usual whole corn for the adult turkeys and deer (which we have found we are also feeding various birds, a opossum and one big raccoon).

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them again until yesterday. Who knows how many times they did or did not come through our land and I missed it. Here's the best photo I could get. They were in the back of our "yard" and even with my zoom lens I couldn't get real close up. 

About an hour later, I saw this fella come through. He's our four-point buck. Click on the picture and you can see the velvet on his antlers. 

Some interesting facts about antlers - they grow faster than any other mammal bone, they fall off and grow back for most each year which takes a lot of nutrients for the male deer and is really detrimental to his health, and the velvet is like a skin that supplies blood to the antlers which in turn give them (i.e., the antlers) nutrients and oxygen as they grow. 

Confession: I have wanted an antler or two for decoration in my house since we moved here. I think I can get one from my brother-in-law, the hunter, but I haven't yet. I even looked online to see about buying them and was then bombarded with "deer spray" ads when I went to other websites. LOL

One thing for certain is that I'm learning a lot about animals I've grown up seeing and knew were indigenous to this area my whole life. That's a good thing though! I love to learn.

Our evening was spent burning a brush pile, putting out corn for the animals and just being together as a family. (Elizabeth is away at camp and will be home tonight.) Gabby, our stray cat who joined us about three months ago, came along on the walk. Dory, her three month old kitten, didn't want to come too far after her run-in with the electric fence around my garden the other night. ;)

I carried Gabby some of the way as she was so busy investigating the new territory that she would get behind and then start meowing because she was looking for us. :) Andrew and I decided to take her back to the house instead of doubling back to check on the fire like we had planned. When we started that way Andrew was walking a few paces ahead of me. Gabby would run past him then stop and wait for me to catch up with her then she'd run head of Andrew again and then wait again for me. It was so cute and funny.

Gabby and Dory have learned their routine of being outside during the day and being put up at night. When we're heading in for the evening (usually around 8:30-9 with the long daylight hours), I'll tell the cats, "Come on, girls!" and they'll follow me around to the end of the house to go in the garage door to the basement.

Here's a picture of them before we went on our walk. I posted it on Instagram and called them "house ornaments". That's about all they contribute to our family so far. Naaaah, I enjoy my furry friends.

Here are some interesting mushrooms we saw on our walk last night. I took these pictures with my phone and it was starting to get a little dark so two of them aren't very clear.

Happy Friday!

Finding Your Happy Place. Deer-Style.

Enjoy this series of photos I took yesterday. I had thoughts of putting some dialog with these photos but refrained. You can add your own dialogue if that's the way you roll. I roll that way and do it with the wildlife around here all the time. LOL Take the title and see what you can do with it. ;)

These deer are finding their "happy place" because of the abundance of corn we supply. Oh, and those feed blocks too.

This also shows how we usually see them get from one field to the next. Under instead of over. Although I did see three jump over this morning. One was a buck and I'm not sure about the other two.

Our field is their HAPPY PLACE! ;)

My Week in Instagram. Plus More.

So I had thought about removing my Instagram app when they announced their new privacy policies which included THEIR "right" to use everyone's images and sell them. When I read the policy closer it seemed it was only for those who had their images on public view. Mine are not so I thought I would keep it afterall. And now it seems they are reneging on the whole thing. I think they got a lot of flack as they should and I'm glad the people made their voice heard.

I don't use the app a whole lot but do like to occasionally. I found myself using it more this past week at the thought of deleting it before the end of the year. ;) What's so great about it? It's just an app to take photos, edit them with their built-in filters and then share them with friends (or not if you don't want!).

Sunday we went to an art show for Elizabeth. Here is one of her pieces on display. She also had a horse picture (made using Sharpies on slick foam board) and some clay sculptures. This was her first semester taking art lessons (she has taken them in the past, years ago) and of the three things she had on display at the art show, this was the only thing she was really proud of. The funny thing is that it was her quickest - sketched in only one class!

This past week was rainy and eventually snowy. On Friday, the first day of winter, and what many will remember as the last-day-on-the-Mayan-calendar (and what some crazies thought signified the end of the world), we had snow. I didn't take a photo of that but did get this one of earlier in the week when the entire day had been overcast and gray. As the sun was setting, it decided to finally peek out and say, "hello".

The next four are a series of photos I took from Saturday.

Corn. Corn? Yes, corn.

Why corn? Because as Wade said, "some people spend their money for entertainment going to the movies. We spend ours on corn." Yes, it brings us lots of entertainment. On Saturday we saw seven deer walking through our fields. Two young ones had walked around the backside toward the front of our house. Wade, Andrew and I were watching them out the front as they approached our driveway. They were scared. Concrete was a new thing; they had never crossed it. One slowly stepped on it and took a few tentative steps only to quickly run the last few. The other pretty much did the same thing. It was so cute and funny. How can you get any more entertaining than that?? LOL

We have a special place that borders our land. I think I've mentioned it before?

The Bovine Graveyard. Mooooo.

And the reason for its namesake. Moooo.....booooo......

We are easily amused, people. That is just one of the many, many bones in the "graveyard". You can see a lot and especially now with all the brush dead and flat. There's a skull I especially want but we are always wearing our nicer jackets and the barbed-wire fence is too tight to climb or go through. I'll get it before spring. I have plans for that skull. Bwahahahaha. (Can you tell I'm in rare form this afternoon?)

Our pond with its first ice (since we've owned it). I took this photo for Andrew because he was wondering if it had ice on it. ;)

More about our week....

One of the perks of homeschooling for Andrew is getting to make breakfast almost every morning. His latest favorite thing to make (it's been things like omelets, fried hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy) is "Breakfast Potato Bites to Go". It's basically a simple hashbrown casserole recipe that you put in mini or our case, regular-sized, muffin cups. It was a recipe I had pinned on Pinterest and decided to try the prior week. It went over well as he started out this past Monday morning making his own.

I had taken a shot of him sprinkling cheese from another angle but noticed his fingernails. I decided this was the angle that was best for the general public. ;)

That evening (Monday) we had our annual Christmas dinner and get-together with Steve and Jeanette. Elizabeth had petitioned to eat at Longhorn so we did. Jeanette told us this was our 12th year getting together for Christmas. I can't believe it. We adopted each other a few years prior, I believe. The kids call them Uncle Steve and Aunt Jeanette. We always have fun together. After dinner we went to their house for the kids to open presents. Elizabeth brought her guitar to play a song for them.

At co-op on Tuesday Andrew got to make a gingerbread house using graham crackers. The 5th and 6th grade classes had fun making them. Some kids whined about having ideas of how to use all the goodies we had available for decorating but eventually their creative juices got flowing (and some I gave a little help!). Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of Andrew's. I'm sad I didn't. He did a great job and enjoyed eating the "fruits of his labor". Both kids had their Christmas parties at co-op that day too. 

Elizabeth received her grade for her oral communication group speech that she hated. She was put with two boys that she didn't think would try very hard. She had told me she made herself the leader when they began brainstorming in class. Her teacher gave her 12 out of 10 points and wrote something to the effect of "I had put you with that group because I knew you would emerge the leader". Proud parent moment. :) :) :)

I made the white chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz crackers on Thursday. (I didn't use this recipe but it's how I made mine.) Those babies didn't live a long life at our house. I have some packaged to take to neighbors tomorrow. I have seriously considered taking one out of each package thinking surely they won't miss them because they didn't know how many were in there to begin with, right? Yes, I have found a very strong weakness. (How do you like that oxymoron? LOL) Both my grandmothers would make these at Christmas. I had helped my nannie (my mom's mom) make these at her house a few times.

One of Andrew's request for Christmas treats this year was making peppermint bark. We made it very simply by melting semi-sweet chocolate chips, pouring the melted chocolate on a pan covered with parchment paper. After we had chilled it thoroughly in the fridge we melted white chocolate chips, mixed in maybe four candy canes that had been crushed and poured that over the hardened semi-sweet chocolate. We sprinkled a few more pieces of crushed candy canes over top and I tapped the bigger pieces down so they wouldn't fall off. It's good but I have the problem of the two chocolates separating. Any tips from my readers? I don't know what we did wrong. It was my first year making it.

Wednesday was my mom's birthday. She turned 66. Happy birthday, Mom!! I think she and my dad had a day full of eating out and shopping. Sounds like the perfect day to me. ;)

And here are our turkey on Friday. (I did get one picture of our scant amount of snow.)

We hadn't seen them in about a week. When we don't see "our" wildlife in a few days we get a little anxious. (I think I already established that we are crazy.) So I had snapped this photo and sent it to Wade. It's simple things like this that makes my man happy. He's easy. I love him.

So I had mentioned we bought the corn. We had went to Tractor Supply solely for corn. However, I also left the store with these.

Yeehaw! I have been entering contests on Country Outfitters (on Facebook) and on The Pioneer Woman all month and have been wanting some boots for quite a while now. I used to own about four pair. I don't know what happened to them. I think I hit a phase in life where I thought I would never wear them again. That makes me sad. Two pair I had bought in Mexico. :( I wish I still had them. Anyways, I now own a pair. Tractor Supply had their boots 15% off and the price these particular boots were listed for without the additional savings was already cheaper than what I found them online when I did a quick search. I *heart* them. I can't wait to wear them but for now am happy just looking at them.

A week ago Elizabeth and Andrew built a tent in the school room. I let them keep it all week long since I knew Christmas break was upon us. (They did have school this past week.) The slept in it every night this past week except two! It's their first tent at the new house.

I had asked them the other night if they liked our new house better than our old house. Elizabeth immediately responded with "yes" and Andrew said, "not yet". It was exactly how I thought they would feel. Elizabeth is more about what more she has now and Andrew is more about what he is missing. He said he hasn't made enough memories here yet to like it more. Really, I sort of feel the same way although I'd never go back. To me it's not just the house being beautiful and new, it's the land. The privacy. The views. I love it.

Christmas at our house coming soon. :)

Picking the Guitar. Turkey Math.

It's another Monday. Last week was a great week of school and life, in general, so here's to hoping we have two in a row. ;)

Our excitement from last week included....

Finding two mistletoe plants. Here's one of them.

I would love for Wade to get some down for me (that requires shooting it down here in the South) but that's not high on my list for him so maybe it'll wait until last year. Did you know mistletoe is a parasitic plant? It can overtake and kill a tree or shrub. Why was this exciting? I don't know. I think it was because I was able to identify a plant and because of the Christmas season. Hey, it's the little things. ;) One should always keep it that way.

Monday's sunset.

For co-op last Tuesday the kids got to make salt dough ornaments. It started out bad that day for three reasons. 1) I woke up with a sty. 2) I woke up to rain. 3) I woke up and forgot I was supposed to bring the salt for the salt dough ornaments. Thankfully, the church kitchen had some salt and JUST ENOUGH for us to use!

I had to get on to one of the classes that day. It was hard. I like being "the fun teacher" but I also like for students to listen while I'm instructing. I figured I had turned them all against me, however, one sweet sixth-grade girl ran up and hugged me while leaving class and said, "You're the best teacher here!" Awwwww. My day was made.

Elizabeth had her very first guitar lesson after co-op that day. She was so excited to share that she could already play a song! Her teacher (also their piano teacher) is teaching her to pick a song before she teaches her some chords. I think it's a great way because Elizabeth is encouraged about learning to play a new instrument now!

It was a great surprise for Wade when he came home that evening. Look at her smile (through this terribly blurry photo). You probably can't tell it but she's proud and Wade is smiling. I can see it in his stance. Sweet photo despite the blur.

She looks natural with a guitar. Dontcha' think?

By the way, I bought that sa-weet guitar from Musician's Friend during the Cyber Monday sales for $35. It's a Rogue starter guitar and a great low-cost investment for beginning guitarist (if you don't know if they'll stick with it). Her teacher recommended it. I had kept forgetting and putting off ordering one and I'm so glad I did since when I first looked at ordering it, it was $50.

Wednesday night I was laying in bed on Pinterest while Wade slept and heard the coyotes start their howling. This has happened maybe two other times since we've lived here (the coyotes not Pinterest). We saw a coyote back in the spring when we had come to the land to work too. They were so loud that night that I thought about getting out of bed to see if they were in our back field. They sounded that close.

The next morning I saw that our two flocks of turkeys had merged to one. Before we had one flock of 7 and one flock of 29; we now had one flock of 34. Do the math. Two were missing. Yes, I thought maybe they had been eaten.

Wade and I went walking on Thursday evening through the field and came upon a lone turkey. It was hanging out down by the pond. That weekend he found it dead by the pond. :( We wonder if it had been attacked and was hurt.

The kids and I went on a field trip on Thursday to see Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Goose. We have been listening to a lot of Sherlock Holmes audio books. Andrew and I liked the play more than Elizabeth. Andrew and I thought the characters were portrayed well. They did a good job. We go this Thursday as a family to see A Christmas Story. I hope we enjoy it!

On Saturday our neighbors had us and some other neighbors over for a little get-together. I love our neighbors. I tell ya that the Lord really blessed us there (among many other things!). They are so hospitable and kind and well, neighborly. And not too neighborly if ya know what I mean. We moved out here for privacy. ;)