Diapers: Examining Their Content

Do you examine your baby's diapers? The poopy ones? I do. I wouldn't even admit to it, but I KNOW I am not the only one who does. And I definitely wouldn't be writing about it, but I keep finding something peculiar, so here I type.

We are well into solid foods here, so it's not the typical examination for color, etc. I've gotten used to seeing the occasional pea that just didn't get digested all the way. And of course the kernels of corn that practically come through whole. Why even eat corn? I don't see that our bodies absorb any of its nutrients.

I am bothered not by those things, but by something else that has routinely made its way to the diaper. Hair. HAIR! MY HAIR no less. Now, we aren't talking gobs of hair. Get the shower drain image out of your head. Not balls of hair. Just a single strand of hair. And just occasionally. But often enough that I've noticed it and mentioned it to a few people...who also thought it was weird.

I just can't figure out when Jade is consuming my hair. We aren't at that fun hair pulling stage yet, or that might explain it. Plus, Lily pulled my hair like crazy, and I don't remember it ever ending up in the diaper.

I guess it will remain a mystery. I must say though that my hair must be strong and healthy. It comes out in good shape. All the way through the digestive tract of my 10 month old.

I will end the weirdness of this topic now. Please oblige me in the comments though. Found anything weird in the diaper zone lately?

Fake Sugar: Even the Ants Avoid It

We had a little science lesson yesterday.

Apparently, Jade had dropped her sippy cup under the table. It also apparently leaked pear juice everywhere. It didn't take long for the Texas ants to find the treat the baby had left for them. I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and couldn't believe the number of ants that had collected there. It makes me itch just thinking about it now. Lily was intrigued to trace their highway back to the front door.

Later I found a can of Coke sitting on the floor next to the sofa. Only a few feet from the pear juice/dead ant carnage still awaiting my cleanup. It was still half full, yet not a single ant in sight. It was Coke ZERO though. It is a house staple. I'm a little scared to continue consuming the aspartame that sweetens it knowing that even the ants turn their nose up at it.

Should I do a little experiment with the Diet Coke made with Splenda? I should be able to tell if Splenda is really made from sugar within a few hours!

This Mothering Thing is a Dangerous Gig

I have a puncture wound to prove it.

It was toward the end of what had been a long day. It was only 3PM, but it might as well have been midnight. I was tired, the girls were getting on each other's nerves and therefore mine, and so there was only one thing to do. Throw them in the bathtub. Baths are relaxing. And having two sweet smelling kids just makes me feel better.

Remember this sweet time when the girls bathed so nicely together? Well, it was a one time deal. Now it is separate baths, usually at separate times. I was tired though and obviously not thinking clearly. I decided I would bathe them at the same time in two different bathtubs...in two different bathrooms.

I ran Lily's bath water in our master bathroom. She likes the water deep and with lots of bubbles. I ran Jade's bath in the hall bathroom. She likes it shallow and bubbleless. I put Lily in first and then Jade. My plan was to bathe Jade quickly and get her dried, lotioned, diapered and dressed and then retrieve Lily to do the same.

Just as I had plopped Jade in the tub, I heard Lily summoning me. She had done another type of plopping. "Mommy, I poopy in the tub"! No. NO. NO YOU DIDN'T. Ugh! Retrieving said poopy, draining tub, bleaching out tub and tub toys, rinsing tub, and refilling tub were not a part of my plan.

I know it is just plain stupid, but I left Jade in the her tub and ran back and forth between the bathrooms while I completed my sanitizing efforts. I have practice at this sort of thing and was well stocked with bleach after this finger painting episode in February.

Sometime in between draining and bleaching and running back and forth, I was stopped in my tracks by an excruciating, sharp, shooting pain. It stemmed from my foot. I had just stepped on this:


If you are wondering what in the world it is, you must not be a proud owner of the Little Mommy bathtime set. It is the top to one of Lily's baby's shampoo bottles. Except I couldn't tell that at the moment it was burying itself into my foot. The tile floor didn't exactly give any. But my foot sure did. It was punctured and well, let's just say it soaked through multiple band-aids. Curious George band-aids no less. It is still sore several days later.

I guess fathering is a dangerous gig too. You can read about my husband's latest parenting injury on his blog. A Saturday morning trip to the urgent care center is probably more exciting (and painful) than my puncture wound.

Stay safe. I don't think OSHA is looking out for the SAHM crowd.

Women of Faith and Chippendales?

Remember when I was headed to the Women of Faith conference last week and I got on that puddle jumper? I was one of the last people on the plane, probably because I was just so excited about those propellers! Anyway, when I got to my seat, the lady sitting next to me struck up a conversation. Something about sorry if she stunk...had been traveling over 30 hours...just getting in from Japan...etc. Thankfully she didn't stink because on that jumbo plane it might have actually bothered me.

Back to our conversation. She then asked me what I'd be doing in Spokane. When I told her I'd be attending the Women of Faith conference, her demeanor, tone and language totally changed. Something about me being a Christian obviously bothered her. She started out with, "NO Sh*t! A Christian conference in Spokane? What is it, some sort of mega church"? The cuss words kept flowing and I now had another reason to be glad it was a short flight! I explained to her that it wasn't a mega church, just a group of women speakers who travel the country doing these conferences. She seemed so surprised that this would be going on in Spokane, and since I hadn't ever been there, I didn't really know what to think. Next she was asking me where it would be taking place. I guessed that it would be at a convention center, and thinking that Spokane was smaller than it really is, I didn't imagine there would be any other place that it could be held. She told me that yes there was a convention center and although completely baffled by the whole idea she thankfully fell asleep.

Upon arriving to Spokane I immediately realized it was a much bigger city than I had previously thought. I started telling my friend who lives there about the conversation I had on the plane. Come to find out that our conference wasn't being held at the convention center, but at the Spokane Arena. No big deal. Until later I found out that there was a different women's conference of another sort going on in Spokane that same weekend...and it WAS at the convention center. The one at the convention center was rumored to have the Chippendale dancers performing. I can't even imagine what the lady on the plane was thinking about her little Christian seat mate now! I mean what are the odds of two women's conferences of such different types going on in Spokane the same weekend! I doubt should could have missed the other women's event since it was advertised on billboards all over town. However, I didn't see even one sign for Women of Faith!

So, we did not see the Chippendale dancers at our conference. Promise. But we did get to see Anita Renfroe do her Mommy version of William Tell Overture LIVE...and it was the best.

We also enjoyed a lot of Nicole C. Mullen. She was great!

Nope, I'm not leaving you with any Chippendale videos!

The Bank Statement Never Lies

I was in the Northwest last week. My in-laws were in charge for 2 of the 4 days I was gone. Seems like when they headed back East, my kiddo's diets headed South.

I know they ate good while my in-laws were here because I shopped for and planned those meals. My friend, Christina, spotted them all at Snuffer's one night, but when the cheese fries call, I can understand having to answer.

So the hubby and kids were on their own for 5 meals. I was envisioning healthy cereals, grilled meats and roasted veggies. Okay, not really. I thought they might have done a bit better than what the bank statement revealed though.

Breakfast: Kin's Donut $7.32

Lunch: Jack in the Box $6.35

Dinner: Domino's Pizza $13.52

Breakfast: Grandy's $5.80

Lunch: Dickey's BBQ $12.52

So apparently they ate out all weekend. And at such fine establishments. No wonder the kitchen was so clean. I should have known when the dishwasher had been run with only bottles and sippy cups in it!

That's okay...at least I wasn't around for any of the belly aches they must have had. Actually at those prices, maybe he was only feeding himself that crap? Did he forget to feed the kids?!?

I Feel Like a New Woman

I'm back from Spokane where I enjoyed the Women of Faith conference and the company of 3 of my oldest (in terms of how long we've known each other, not their age!) friends.

And this is how I'm feeling. My...

...mood relaxed.

...spirit rejuvenated.

...patience restored.

...joy renewed.

...faith increased.

...attitude improved.

...energy recharged.

...countenance lighter.

...heart full.

...eyes cried out.

...gut laughed out.

...lungs prayed out.

...walk challenged.

...friendships strengthened.

I came home to three special people...

...my beloved awaiting.

...my preschooler beaming.

...my baby probably wondering who I was!!

Jerry had the girls freshly scrubbed and in matching dresses. The diaper bag packed and a nice restaurant chosen. And eventually I walked into a very tidy house. What an awesome homecoming.

I felt...

...missed.

...appreciated.

...loved.

...needed.

...OVERWHELMED with thanksgiving to be called wife by him and mommy by them.

It has been so long since I have felt all of these emotions at once. I'm even feeling excited about tackling things like laundry and dishes. Jerry will probably be looking to send me away again soon! I'm keeping my calendar open for girl weekend getaways.

I also came home completely EXHAUSTED! You can't have a 3 night slumber party with your best friends and come home RESTED! Regardless of that...Bonnie, Michelle, and Rachelle...what do you say, repeat in 2010? Anyone else had a fun girl's weekend lately?

Puddle Jumper

So here I am in Seattle, awaiting the next leg of my trip to Spokane. Did I mention it is in the 4o's here and is supposed to snow in Spokane 2 of the 4 days we are there? Shock to my system. Brrr...

So I am looking out the window at my plane and I see propellers. Propellers. I don't do propellers. Dear Lord, please help me! Do you know the last time I did do propellers? Why would I even remember such a thing? Well it was summer of 2001...and it resulted in a serious panic attack. Hyperventilating and the whole nine yards. It was scary. And I was determined I would drive all the way home from Chicago and never get on one again! I have no idea where this panic attack came from. It was pre 9/11, so it didn't have anything to do with that. I have flown at least once a year since the time I was in my mommy's tummy. I started flying alone at the age of 12. I'm no stranger to travelling...even internationally. So I am not sure why that day I just knew that plane was going down! It was a pretty bumpy flight. The flight attendant tried to comfort me by telling me to imagine the plane was like a roller coaster. Okay?!? How stupid is that? I think I said something like, ya...it is sort of missing the key component of a roller coaster...like...THE TRACK...that is firmly fixed to the ground!! Not helpful!

Anyway, I made it through and have flown numerous times since...even internationally...with the aide of a little pill...a tiny amazing pill...just .25 mg...XANAX! Wow, that stuff is amazing. You take it and within minutes you just don't care about anything. Plane going down? That's no big deal. BUT, this is the first time since that awful panic attack that I have braved the puddle jumper. I have been convicted of my dependency on the little white pill, even though I only take it for flight anxiety. I mean my trust is in such a higher power than a .25 mg pill. The Lord is lord even over the planes in the skies. It was during a mission trip to Peru that I was most convicted. I was talking in rough Spanish with one of the local Quechuans that we were ministering to. Somehow my issues with flying came up. As a new believer he couldn't believe that I had that fear as a fellow believer. He pointed to my heart and told me that as long as I had Jesus there, I shouldn't be afraid. Don't you just love going on a mission trip to serve and end up being super encouraged by the people you are there serving?!?

What he said is true. So why the Xanax? Well, I'll explain it like this. With Jesus in my heart, I am not scared of dying. I am ready to experience heaven in the splendor of my Savior. It's not my life ending that scares me. My fear is the crash itself people!! Anybody with me?

Okay. I am so glad I typed this enlightening post right before I get to walk down the stairs, onto the tarmac, and up onto this puddle jumper. Yep, there isn't exactly a sky walk to this beauty of a jumbo plane!!! I just hope the pilot isn't wearing a scarf and goggles.

Washington, Here We Come!

Washington state that is. Spokane to be exact. Who is "we"? Just 3 of my favorite friends ever! We've been talking about this for I'm thinking 10 years now. A girls trip. Finally the talk is over, the tickets purchased, and hotel is booked! It would have been easier a few years back. I have to add to that list: babysitters arranged!

Rachelle, Michelle and I are flying to meet up with Bonnie who now lives in Spokane. We'll be attending the Women of Faith Conference there this weekend and enjoying some long overdue girl time! I've known these girls...shudder...EIGHTEEN years! Uncontrollable shudder! So you can imagine all the things we've experienced together over all those years, from junior high until now!



I am so thankful for these friends, how they spur me on in the Lord, how they make me laugh, make me cry, how they've prayed for me, how they know me way too well...and still keep me around! It is sad how far spread out we are all over the country. We are bound in our faith in the Lord though, and I think it is because of that common bond that we can always pick up just like we saw each other yesterday. We've seen each other many times since spreading out, but if I'm not mistaken it has been almost 9 years since all four of us were together under the same roof at one time...my wedding in 1999. Much less in a hotel room for 3 consecutive nights...free of jobs, hubbies, kiddos, and any other form of responsibility! I can't wait to hug their necks and hear the laughter!

Rachelle and Michelle are also bloggy friends and they each posted a while back about our upcoming trip...here and here...fun stuff!

Now for your viewing pleasure...ahem...viewing laughter...a little bit of back then! I can assure you we won't be building any pyramids.

Praise God for my awesome hubby and in-laws who are taking over the home front for the next few days. I will miss them dearly, but take comfort that they are in such good hands!

NOTE to Jade: DO NOT start crawling before mommy gets back!

NOTE to Lily: You ARE more than welcome to poop on the potty while I'm gone. I will feel the excitement all the way on the West coast!

Two Cowgirls + Texas Themed Arboretum

= one camera happy mama!

And, believe it or not, I don't have all day to wait on blogger photo, so the rest go to the slideshow! I would just do slideshows all the time, but I try to print out my blog each month for my grandmothers, and slideshows just don't work for that! Does anyone know a trick to upload multiple photos at once to blogger?

Lily lucks out and Jerry still takes the day off...

So, yesterday we arose with the chickens, got ready and got the girls ready, and left the house by 7 AM. That is a feat! Where were we headed so bright and early on a weekday morning? Lily had her pediatric GI following up appt at 7:45 across town. When I booked the appt, they had first offered me the 7:20 slot, to which I replied...PM? So I opted for 7:45 figuring that 25 minutes could mean life or death at that time of day.

We were on the road when my cell phone rang with an unknown number. I was excited to see who else was up with the roosters, so I answered. It was the nurse from the GI office informing us that our appt had been cancelled. There had been bad storms the night before and they had no power. She was calling from her personal cell phone! They had roof damage too, so we weren't able to reschedule until May when repairs would hopefully be completed. So, Lily was off the hook. Yet, another month of poopy pull-ups will go down in Gibson history.

Jerry had taken the day off work in honor of said cancelled appointment, so now what do we do? We drove around the neighborhood a bit while Jerry decided if he was going in to work or not. There was a lot of storm damage. We couldn't believe how many huge trees had split in two on our very own street. We walked down to the local creek bridge to show the girls the rushing water. Something about all the cars passing us while standing on the bridge was enjoyable. They were mostly on their way to work, and Jerry didn't have to be, so he decided to still take the day off.

We decided to take the girl's to the children's museum downtown. Jade and I enjoyed the zero to two room, while Jerry chaperoned Lily among the farm, water, and backyard scenes. She had a ton of fun playing dress up and then parading in front of the wacky fun-house type mirrors.

Afterwards we enjoyed the beautiful weather on the fair grounds. Jerry and Lily even took a ride on the paddle boat swans. Lily eventually got bored...guess Jerry wasn't peddling quite up to her standard of speed! It was when Jade and I were accompanied by a homeless man that we decided to hike out of there. I chatted with him for a while, but when he asked for money I got uncomfortable. I'm sure I would have been a better witness if I hadn't have had my 9 month old on my lap. It's not like Jerry could have been of much help way out in the lagoon!

We avoided rush hour traffic by hanging out at our favorite Thai restaurant in the whole wide world! Chan Thai...too bad they don't have a website or I could give them more kudos. Love that place!

I might consider waking with the crowing kind more regularly if I knew the day would always turn out this great!

***question*** why isn't "poopy" or "poopie" in spell check? am i the lone person that writes on the subject?

What's a girl to do?

I think Lily will be in shock this weekend when she realizes there isn't a birthday party for her to go to. No dressing up to play with friends at the royal ball, Going Bonkers, the backyard bounce house, or even the park. I'm just excited that she was able to make it to all 4 parties over the past two weekends. Not one conflicted...isn't that amazing? Not the case last year.

I am proud of Lily though. With having so many parties so close together, she finally realized that not every party is for her. She started saying things like: Emma is the birthday girl today...my party will be later...I'm not going to blow the candles out on her cake...I'm going to tell her happy birthday. It was really sweet.

Here are some pix of the birthday quadfest. You'll see that even Jerry and Jade came to a couple of them!

Anyways, I'm sure we won't see an invitation for months now. I knew June was a popular time for weddings, so I guess it makes sense that it is a popular time for conception as well!

9 Months!

Happy 9 Months, Jade! We thought you'd be crawling by now, but we've yet to see you get that belly of yours off the floor! You have mastered doing 360s on your tummy though. So nothing new to report. In honor of this occasion though, I had your daddy teach me how to upload video! So here are three old clips...all shot around 7 months I think. I'm sure they are too long and too boring for more than a handful of people to tolerate, but I love them, so here they are. Warning: You are about to hear Kerry speak her in her high-pitch baby talk voice. Multiple times. Embarrassing, I know. But, like I said, I'm sure only a handful of people will watch them anyway. Those handful of people have heard this "voice" in person. THAT is embarrassing.

This first one makes me giggle because I totally scared Jade and didn't mean to. It also amazes me that it took her 7 or 8 months to notice the crib toy that has been there since day 1. Precious.


Jade must be part boy. Or she realizes that I was sure she was a boy until the sono proved me wrong. She is all about balls. Loves them. The "ball in dish" activity came from this book. It is very dated as you can see by the cover, but it has some good weekly activities you can do with your children from birth to five years. Anyway, don't you love how her body tremors with excitement?

More fascination with balls. We were shocked at how fast she'd grab this inflatable globe when we rolled it to her.


I can't believe I faked her out once to see her flinch. Jerry pointed out how mean that was.

There was a part on the middle video that I left out where I had put the ball under the glass plate, just to see what she would do. She tried to reach through the plate to get it a couple of times. Jerry thought I was tantalizing her! I'd like to think I was challenging her.

Mean mommy. Bad mommy. Mommy still laughing.

I've been tagged...AGAIN!

Thanks, Christina, for the tag...this one is at least less painful! Kind of fun too. Plus I just learned that these tag things are called memes. I had to google that one. Learn something new everyday.

The rules of the meme are:

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
Find page 123.
Read the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

For me, A Mother's Heart and Shepherding a Child's Heart are never far from me. I wish I had these books memorized! A Mother's Heart was the closest though, so here you go:

My boys let me kiss them if I pretend I'm the Kissing Monster. I chase them around the house, wrestle them to the floor, and plant one on them. They even chase me to kiss me if I pretend disdain because their faces are dirty. -Jean Fleming

I can't imagine having to chase down my girls to kiss them! Maybe that is just a boy thing?

Okay now its your turn: Dale, Debbie, Kim, Kristin and Tricia.

Or if you'd like to do the meme, consider yourself tagged! Link back to me, so I can find out what book you keep by your side.

Never Wake a Sleeping Baby...UNLESS...

...at 3 AM the Texas Springtime hail is threatening to come through your roof, or windows...or worse yet...BOTH! As was the case last night, or shall I say correctly, this morning. Lily tends to freak out during storms by lying quietly in bed whimpering and shaking. Which is odd considering her nature is to be pretty loud, you'd think she'd scream out for help. I freak out by panicking, so I jumped up to rescue Lily who had already be awakened by the loud popping and cracking sound of the hail hitting the windows and roof. Jerry was going to get Jade, and as I came back down the hallway with Lily clinging to me, he was just quietly standing over a slumbering baby. At this point I could hear the tornado sirens sounding, so I urged him to break the "never wake a sleeping baby" rule, and we whisked everyone down the stairs.

So I huddle with the girls in the only windowless room downstairs...our tiny half bath...while he does the manly thing and goes to check out the weather radar. Lily is shaking in fear due to the sheer noise of the storm and so we start to pray.

Lord, thank you for being with us right now. Please keep our family and home safe. And Lord when you think the flowers, trees, and animals have gotten enough to drink, please allow this rain and hail to stop. And when the angels have had their fill of bowling, please tell them to get their balls back to the racks so the loud thundering noises will quiet. We love you, Lord. Amen.

Silly sounding I know, but Lily and I both needed the humor. Just then Jerry returns to let us know the brunt of the storm is sitting right over our town. He tells us the radar color over our area is black. Black? BLACK! Okay, I'm no meteorologist, but black? I'm used to seeing greens and yellows...even pinks and reds during a heavy rain. Never black though. That is how fast and heavy the hail was coming down. It was insane. The good news though was that there weren't any of those little circles showing rotation over us! I cringe when I see those. But the sirens were still blazing so I thought we should stay put. Jerry wanders off again and I can hear him go outside and return. Is he crazy? He returns with a chunk of hail to show Lily. Its size wasn't that impressive, considering the racket it had caused, only that of a large grape. Lily grabs it and in her best 3 AM stupor says: Ice! We can't eat it though. We have to cook it first. Then we can eat it. I vaguely remember mentioning something like that to her about raw chicken once, but never about hail or ice...she's a funny girl, that Lily.

I know I vowed not to post about the weather again after posting twice about snow in March. But considering we had hail earlier this week too, I deemed it worthy. Monday afternoon the hail had hit us as well. Tornado sirens and the whole works. Jerry knows how I freak in storms (why I live in Tornado alley I'll never know), so he was so sweet to send me a text during the storm...are you okay? get to bathroom with girls and cushions from couch. I later learned that he sent that to me while huddled in his school's bathroom with 30+ middle schoolers. In our new house it'd be pretty difficult for me to cover us with a mattress since all our bedrooms are up. Couch cushions...smart! I was the crazy one that day though...not ducking and covering, but instead trying to minimize the dings on our SUV. When Jerry arrived home, he pulled up to see half of our Xterra in the garage. Our garage has housed a few projects lately, so after pushing all I could out of the way, I could only get half of it in. Doesn't matter anyway, it took a full beating last night. Thankfully the heat of a Texas summer usually pops them out.

Why such a fear of tornadoes? I can thank my dad for that. When a I was in high school, an F4 tornado hit a neighboring city. My well-meaning dad took me for a drive through the wreckage so I could see the devastation. 3 dead and over 250 houses either leveled or severely damaged. It was sobering. To this day, I have a picture in my mind of one house that was still standing though badly damaged. They had spray painted their house number on the front, for insurance purposes I guess, and then added the words "gone with the wind". I don't know that I would have had the sense of humor to do that.

Ever since then, I think I could easily be talked into buying some sort of tornado shelter. Just come knock on my door, tornado shelter salesman, I am your sucker! Can we get the model with the crib for my sleeping baby?

The Painful Honesty of a 3 Year Old

So, as I was fixing Lily's hair for preschool this morning, we sat on the edge of her bed and she says, "whoa, that is really getting filled up".

Noticing that her laundry hamper is actually crippling due to its overfilled state, I tell her, "Yep, it looks like mommy is behind on the laundry."

This is the part I loved, "Maybe you can do that while I am at Rainbow Club, Mommy"!

Yes, Lily I could and should, or I can just take a picture of it and blog instead.

In my defense, we had one of those weekends where we were only home for a second to get the present for the next birthday party or change clothes for the next event. It was insane. Also, some of what is crippling her poor hamper is bedding which takes up a lot of space. I actually enjoy the change of seasons too, when you can get away without doing the laundry for an extra week while getting out the next phase of clothes. Or in Jade's case the next size! That child is now filling out size 18 months.

It brings to mind other sweet things that my three year old has pointed out to me recently.

Like "Mommy, you have coffee breath." Thank goodness she is the only person routinely in my face each morning post-coffee but pre-toothbrush.

Or "Mommy, your legs are pokey." Okay, spring is here and the razor will be used daily again.

Although her words can be painfully honest, she has only embarrassed me publicly once.

Flashback to last summer. I was big with Jade and we frequented Boston Market. I don't know why I craved that place so much, but we were there at least twice a week. Oh the days when we could dine at a restaurant that didn't have a playground attached. Anyway, we were enjoying our chicken and veggies when a man sat down at the table right next to us. He happened to be bald. I only hope he was deaf as well.

I'm certain it wasn't the first time she had ever laid eyes on a bald person, but for some reason she became very interested and vocal about him. And if you know my Lily, you know that she has one volume and it happens to be loud. Somehow she got the words "head" and "hair" confused. Statements like this followed and she repeated them MULTIPLE times! I still remember the way she talked then.

Mommy, does he have a head?

It don't look like he have a head.

Where is he's head?

I don't see he's head.

Realizing that her pointing, questions and observations were not going to end any time soon, I choked down my food to prepare for a fast exit. She continued with:

Mommy, why are we leaving?

But where are we going?

I'm still hungry.

But I'm not done eating.

My blood pressure is on the rise just posting about it. Life with a talking child is never dull. Painful at times, but never dull.