Around the house

The boys got a new video game - I have no idea what it is but my god is it loud - and all the neighbor boys plus My Kid plus Big Daddy are packed in Big Daddy's office playing it because that's where the big screen is.

On the plus side, the housekeepers are coming tomorrow for their first initial clean. The first two cleans are "initial cleans" which means they have to first get the house into some kind of livable condition so that they can then blow through biweekly to clean the bathrooms, dust, and mop the floors. I told Big Daddy, "I'm embarrassed for them to see how filthy this bathroom is [this bathroom here - the one YOU'RE responsible for cleaning b/c apparently you boys pee all over the place even though I'm sure I taught My Kid better than that with the Cheerios and all]." And he said, "I'm not embarrassed. That's why I hired them." Since they'll come during the week when I'm at work I won't ever have to actually face them which is a very good thing b/c I can only just imagine all the apologies that would come spilling out of my mouth. Like, for the Butter-Flavor Pam that My Kid managed to spray all over the kitchen floor. Yeah, you can just imagine the moments of entertainment that has allowed us.

I'll let you know how it looks tomorrow when I get home.

Speaking of tomorrow: Don't forget to watch my friend Gina Neely on "Paula's Party" at 9 p.m. ET on the Food Network Friday night!! Umm, seriously. Because it appears that Paula Deen's gonna deep fry chocolate pound cake.

Some things I learned about myself today

My firm is working with a New Business Development company that is helping us identify our strengths and weaknesses etc. so that we can sell more business. It sounds kind of hokey, I know, but I love this kind of stuff.

So I got my assessments back today and here is some things it said about me:

• When a particular project is important to her, she will want to take charge and be in control. [Because really, who else can I entrust it to??]
• She believes in social and economic fairness for all. [I think that's actually in my 100 Things]
• Kalisah will have a tendency to interrupt when others are speaking, because she prefers talking to listening. [I see your lips moving, but all I hear is 'blah blah blah']
• When she is required to attend lengthy meetings, she will be the one who seems bored by it all. [Just yesterday I was in a meeting and I wrote: "Note to self: figure out how to do Xword puzzles on blackberry."]
• Kalisah likes working in an unstructured environment, which provides her with the ability to have many projects active at the same time. [Dude, it's why I got into PR in the first place.]
• Strengths to the team: motivates the team towards its goals by her own need to succeed; sets an example for other team members by the amount of work performed. [If you can't work up to my standards, you're OUT.]
• She will only follow a leader she holds in high regard and displays bold leadership. [God, remember all those old posts at my old blog about my old boss before I took them all down in a moment of Dooce-induced panic?]
• Kalisah can be quite proficient at identifying the weaknesses or failures of a system's inability to perform adequately. [Just ask me...I will SO tell you what's wrong with your system.]
• She will want to do it her way without involvement from others. [Because seriously? There are people out there who prefer to do it someone else's way with lots of involvement from others?]
• Performance Enhancement: Kalisah needs to make an effort to be less judgemental of others [The assessment lady said that some of the things we learn about ourselves we won't change b/c they are just part of our structure and there's no value to changing them. I'm pretty sure this falls in that category.]
• Personal Growth Suggestions: Kalisah may have a tendency to: be thinking of her response, instead of listening intently to the other person when she is talking; attempt humor that may be sarcastic or sardonic. [Probably, I'm thinking about a sarcastic or sardonic response.]
• Communication Builders: When communicating with Kalisah do: speak more rapidly than usual; be relaxed about a certain amount of fooling around; let her be in the spotlight; be aware that she may not be listening all the time. [God, how much easier my life would be if everyone would just do that! Maybe I should have that printed on the back of my business cards.]

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS???

So, speaking of shoes.

After posting that photo of Lily Allen, I started surfing the web in search of her magical shoes. Which of course I did not find anywhere.

I did, however find these Christian Louboutins

which are unbelievably cute! And yellow! But satin. And I really have my heart set on patent. So I kept looking. And I came across theseWhich don't meet any of my criteria (cork heel, white patent leather upper). But I still thought they were cute and fun. But I digress. I digress further. There were these Steve Maddens. Which are okay - I can do without the scored heels, but they have the ankle strap. But they only come in black. Which, who wears black sandals in the summertime? Continued searching only left me thinking, "I've seen all these shoes about six times now." So then I got the bright idea that hey! Maybe Steve Madden has these in another color, they're just not carried by Nordstroms, right? So I got to his site, and I stumble upon THIS.

Oh yes, honey. DESIGN YOUR OWN SHOES. No, I am not fucking kidding!! And, at the risk of repeating myself, HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS???

I picked out two myself:
1. DYO Caracal - cork heel; white patent uppers; natural sockliner
2. DYO Ligerr - cork heel; yellow patent uppers; natural sockliner

Star Watch '07

I think Lily Allen is just adorable.

And I covet her shoes.

In honor of the official beginning of the Summer Season, I give you...

My favorite summer pie recipe.

The first time I ever went to a Pampered Chef party, my good friend Susan was the "chef." And let me tell you - I've been to a few other Pampered Chef parties since then, but no one has ever compared to the professionalism or the mad sales skills of Susan. She cooked some pretty yummy stuff (using all the various PC equipment, of course) and put on one impressive show. She made the famous Pampered Chef Red White & Blue pie or whatever it's called. Come Memorial Day, I still crave it every year.

Only I make it w/out the Blue[berries]. So I guess it's just the Red & White pie.

1. Bake one deep dish pie shell according to package directions. Let cool.


2. Rinse one quart of strawberries. Cut four strawberries in half length-wise, leaving the tops on. Top the rest of the strawberries and slice.


3. Melt 4 squares white baking chocolate. Dip the eight strawberry halves in the chocolate and set on waxed paper to cool.


4. Scrape remaining chocolate over the bottom and sides of baked pie crust. Layer sliced strawberries over chocolate.


5. In a medium mixing bowl, whip one 8-oz package of cream cheese with a whisk until smooth. Add 3/4 cup cold milk and blend well.


6. Add one 3.3-oz package* of white chocolate instant pudding. Stir until mixture begins to thicken. Fill pie shell.


7. Garnish with chocolate-covered strawberries and refrigerate.

* - This is the small box of instant pudding mix. If you use the sugar-free pudding, it will be a 1-ounce box. Do not try to use three boxes of the sugar-free pudding because you think you need 3 ounces of pudding. Not that I did that or anything.

Here's a parenting dilemma for you

My Kid is at a graduation party at the house of one of his friends. Of course I make him take his cell phone with him. He takes it out of his pocket to swim or play volleyball or something and lays it on a table. You see where this is going, right? Yeah, when he comes back the $200 phone is GONE.

So the mom of the girl having the party makes him call home and tell me that someone took his phone. My first suggestion was to call it. He said it's off - I don't know if that means he had it turned off or whoever took it turned it off and now it's going straight to voicemail. Then I asked if anyone's left the party yet, and the mom said no.

So now I'm at a complete loss for what to do. I feel like the mom has a certain responsibility here. If I were hosting a party for My Kid's friends and someone came and told me their phone had gone missing, you better believe no one would be leaving that party until the phone turned up. Am I right?

So what do I do now? Do I go over to the party and personally search each and every kid? Do I stand outside while parents are picking up their children and tell them what happened and ask for their assistance? Maybe get a list of all the kids' names and call their parents? You know if you do that, they're going to think you're accusing their child and you probably won't get much help from them.

Big Daddy, on the other hand, doesn't feel at a loss at all. He's on his way over there to find the fucking phone, dammit. Don't know how he's going to accomplish that exactly. But seriously, what would you do?

UPDATE: So, Big Daddy did not, in fact, find the fucking phone dammit. When he got to the party, everyone was looking for the phone. They were literally going through the trash and everything. It never did turn up. Big Daddy didn't stay too long as he felt his presence was kind of embarrassing My Kid. I called T-Mobile and had the service on the phone suspended. Around 7:30 that night Big Daddy & I went to buy My Kid a new phone. B.D. didn't want K. to think it was his fault or that his dad was angry with him. This time we got the damn thing INSURED. Which means we can replace it for $70.

When I went to pick up My Kid from the party around 9, the parents were extremely apologetic. They felt really bad. The mom told me that about 5 phones were sitting together on the table, covered with a towel so they wouldn't get splashed while the kids were in the pool. Then they told me that this neighbor of theirs - a young guy in the service who they don't really know at all - had loaned them his stereo equipment for the party. Turns out he made a very low-key exit from the party right about the time Big Daddy showed up. The family suspects that it must have been him. One other reason - My Kid's phone wasn't even the most expensive one sitting there. There was also one girl's Sidekick. But think about it: would a grown man want a Sidekick?

Anyway, what's done is done. We've reported it stolen w/ T-Mobile and their policy is if someone brings that phone in to activate it, they call the police. Love it! Kid's got a new phone that's insured and he's been given strict instruction not to let it out of his sight AND not to turn the ringer off unless he's in church.

The trouble with my generation is we all think we're fucking geniuses.*

Last night after work I camped out on the sofa with a pillow and a blanket and watched a rented movie since my damn DVR won't let me watch any of my favorite shows I've recorded. I watched "Music & Lyrics," which, for a crappy romantic comedy really wasn't bad.

I rather like Hugh Grant as an actor. His personality or life's choices notwithstanding, I find his facial expressions and British accent to be charming and I just like watching him in a movie. (Warning: Stream of Consciousness to follow) So then I thought about going to rent Bridget Jones or oh! Oh! About a Boy. And then I remembered how I've been wanting to rent High Fidelty because I hadn't seen it in years and I'd just recently heard the clip on NPR the other evening where Jack Black tells the dad customer that he won't sell him "I Just Called to Say I Love You" because "it's sentimental tacky crap. Do we look like the kind of store that sells I Just Called to Say I Love You? Go to the mall." So then I thought A Nick Hornby double feature! Because, if you're new here, Nick is one of my FAVORITE writers.

For the most part, I think Nick's books have translated well into the movies. People always say the movie's never as good b/c you have to leave out so much of the book, but I've not really found that to be true with Nick's books. No major parts of the story cut. Since I'm so in love with Nick Hornby's writing, what strikes me as pointedly missing from his movies are some of my favorite lines from the book, which I just don't understand b/c they would typically translate so well into dialogue. For instance, in the book, when Laura asks Rob how he's doing and he says he's fine and she says that she's glad to know that he's happy and he says, "I didn't say I was happy with my life. I said I was fine, as in no colds, no recent traffic accidents, no suspended prison sentences, but never mind." Don't you think that would have worked well spoken to the camera, as so much of Rob's lines are?

(As a side note, don't you also find it quite ethnocentric that Hollywood changes the location of all Nick's books from London to America? They left About A Boy there b/c they made the very wise choice of casting Hugh Grant as Will, and then Toni Collette as Fiona and it all just works beautifully. On the other hand, John Cusak makes a fine Rob Gordon and I think it was also very well played, but I guess he doesn't do accents or whatever because they had to move it to Chicago. And then in Fever Pitch, not only did they change continents but they changed the sport entirely from Hornby's beloved football [soccer] to baseball. Fucking please. I can't even bring myself to watch that one.)

If you've not seen High Fidelty before, you must rent it for the simple fact that that scene where Jack Black comes in and blasts "Walking on Sunshine" is the first and only scene of his in any movie then or since in which he makes me laugh out loud. And even though John Cusak sports some pretty bad hair in the movie, he really is spot-on as Rob Gordon.

Top Five John Cusak Movies of All Time
(in chronological order)
1. Class
2. Say Anything
3. Bullets Over Broadway
4. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
5. High Fidelty

*from Nick Horby's A Long Way Down

Class of 2007 (sort of)

Tonight was My Kid's eighth grade graduation. I realize that not every school has an 8th grade graduation, but My Kid's school is K-8 and I guess the administration gets kind of attached to the kids after 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 21 weeks a year, for 9 years. So they have a graduation ceremony. And it was quite nice actually. I only cried once.

But that song. It gets me every time. I can't believe I'm officially the mother of a High School Freshman. With a girlfriend.

Isn't she cute? They've been "going out" since, like December, I think. I like her very much. Unlike his sixth grade girlfriend, who did not graduate tonight, as she was found with cigarettes at school yesterday and expelled. No, I did not care for that girl one little bit. My Kid has a nice group of friends now though.

They're all heading off to the same high school together, too. So that's good. I felt sorry for that one girl on the end, though.

Since she obviously didn't have time to go home and change out of her ice skating dress before the graduation started.

In case you missed it

Here's a list of all the people that performed on the 2-hour-and-10-minute American Idol final tonight:

• Kelly Clarkson
• Rueben Studdard
• Carrie Underwood
• Taylor Hicks
• (Where's the girl who broke her shoe when she won?)
• (Oh, that's right. On Broadway.)
• (Guess Oprah wouldn't give her the night off.)
• Gwen Stefani
• (although not from the Kodak Theater)
• Smokey Robinson
• Doug E. Fresh
• (who probably hasn't had a public appearance since 1988)
• Gladys Knight
• CeCe and BeBe Winans
• Tony Bennet
• The African Children's Choir
• (I guess you had to watch the "Gives Back" episode to know who this is.)
• (Although they were terribly cute!)
• Joe Perry
• Green Day
• Bette Midler

If you missed it, the only thing you need to know is that you should go to limewire RIGHT NOW and download Green Day's version of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero." The rest of it? Meh.

Would you be concerned?

Let's say there's a new restaurant going up just a couple miles from your house. An Italian restaurant. Would you be concerned?


What if I told you that the building has no windows. NONE. And inside, the kitchen is the size of a closet. And there's two big, raised stages. Now would you be concerned?

What if I told you that the owner, a Mr. Steve Cooper, is pretty well-known in town. Not for owning restaurants (he owns none), but for owning strip clubs (he owns five). Now would you be concerned?

What if I told you that said "restaurant" is going up right across the street from a huge, multi-field baseball park that's full of children and families pretty much all year round. Would you be concerned about the level of clientele hanging out in this neighborhood?

Look, I'm a liberal. You all know that. I could care less if you want to own a strip club, work in a strip club, or go to a strip club. Just don't put one in my backyard and bring down my property values. And keep your drugs and prostitutes and drunken brawls away from my kid.

Would you be concerned?

The gift that was all about me

My Mother's Day gift arrived today.

Big Daddy bought me six months worth of a CLEANING SERVICE!! YES!! HOUSEKEEPERS!!! It was late, but I defy any of you to name a better Mother's Day gift.

How to know when you might need to look into AA*

Monday - you deliver a scathing although completely unintelligible rant on the job

Tuesday - it's broadcast on the local TV news.

Later Tuesday - you're taken to the hospital where you spend the night and are released, for not the first time.

Thursday - a hotel concierge has to call 911 because you got so drunk in the bar you fell of the bar stool and landed on your head.

Friday - the local TV news plays the 911 call.

* Yes, State Senator Ophelia Ford, I'm talking to YOU

That time of year

I wish ya'll could step out of my office and smell what I smell.

I don't care what anyone says

American Idol is totally rigged.

Everyone knows Melinda is going to have a HUGE career ahead of her. She'll have a record contract tomorrow. And like Chris Daughtry, she'll be better off for it, because she won't be tied to the American Idol contract.

I'm not just saying this because she's from Nashville either. She wasn't necessarily my choice to win. I just really, really wanted to see a Jordin/Melinda final because it just doesn't get any better than that.

Who then, was your pick to win? you might ask.

Well, here's my thoughts on this year's American Idol:

Jordin has a gorgeous voice. I like her because she has such a unique voice. She doesn't sound like every other screaming diva that's been on this show since that Kelly girl set the precedent that first season. Also, she's so beautiful and enjoyable to watch. She's got the whole package, baybee.

But Melinda, she's got a more mature voice. More professional, more polished. She, quite honestly, has a perfect voice. She's the best there is at this game.

So I would have been happy either way. You can't lose. They're both amazing. Easily the best singers this show has every seen.

Frankendog

My poor Smokey had to have surgery today. Poor little guy, they practically had to cut him from eyebrow to ear to remove a cyst from the top of his head.

On the bright side, he did have the coolest ride of all the pets at the vet.

It's apparent you're a parent

Things I say that prove I'm a mother:

"Pick up your shoes."

"Bring me your laundry."

"Have you brushed your teeth?"

"Get your shoes out of the walkway, please."

"The trash men come EVERY Tuesday. Do you need an engraved invitation to bring up the trashcan?"

[Surveying his room]: "Pick up all this crap."

"Seriously. MOVE THE SHOES."

"Call me when you get there."

"Call me if you leave there."

"You're under 18. I must know where you are at ALL TIMES. It's the law."

"See the dirty dishes in the sink? That means the ones in the dishwasher are clean. Please put them away."

"You have zits on your nose. Are you washing your face?"

"You need a haircut."

"Have a good day. Learn lots. Make good choices."

"I love you."

(I stole this post idea from Carmen, who is six times the mom I am.)

I love having a camera phone again!

Today we made a trip to the mall. It's My Kid's girlfriend's birthday so we took him to get a gift for her. He got her a really pretty sterling silver filigree heart necklace. I think she'll like it.

Do you think this girl in the food court was dressed like Minnie Mouse on purpose?



This week I was on a photo shoot of some DVF wrap dresses and man, those women looked so great in those dresses. So I thought I'd look for one today.

Somehow, I can't get over the feeling that I'm wearing my bathrobe out in public.

Lastly, we have this fine flyer posted in a women's bathroom stall at Macy's, apparently written by someone for whom English is not her first language:

"Pamper your MOM and yourself on special MOTHER'S DAY
Complimentary mini SPA TREATMENT only at ORIGINS
Enjoy and feel good experience with Origin's Full Services of Body, Mind, and Skin care
RELAXING, ENERGIZING (ONLY YOUR TIME)"

I have no idea what any of that means.

When you realize that your problems don't amount to shit

Today I met a mom of a 5- and a 2-year-old, who delivered her third child on a Monday morning, found out her 5-year-old had cancer on Tuesday, and was in a strange city starting treatment on Wednesday.

And we think we have stress in our lives.

Lest we forget that this addiction stuff is a matter of life and death

Back in my early 20s, I had my first long-term relationship with a guy named Casey Jones. (For reals.) I was young and my judgement might not have been the best. Casey worked in construction and on pay day he would always buy his weed and beer before he paid the bills. I spent about a year and a half with him, stoned most of that time, I think. Also, we moved around a lot.

Casey worked most of that time for a guy a couple years older than us named Ronnie. Ronnie was a drug addict. I mean, we didn't think so at the time, but now that I'm older and wiser I realize that someone who shoots up cocaine (even if it's only on the weekends) can generally be categorized as an addict. Also, he had this weird Parkinson's shaking thing going on. I'm pretty sure it was from all the drugs. But Ronnie was a nice guy I guess (other than the IV-drug use, I mean.) (And the hoochie girls he dated.) He was a southern boy who loved his Tiger basketball. After Casey & I broke up I never really saw much of Ronnie anymore. Different circles and all that.

I did occasionally see one of Casey's friends that lives in town. I guess about 10 years ago Ronnie married this pillhead girl and they had a son. That was about the last I'd heard of him. Last night this friend of Casey's called me to tell me that Ronnie died on Saturday. Died at home, is all he knew.

Supposedly he'd gotten his life together recently, although I'm skeptical that someone can just quit doing drugs like that without some sort of drying out process or rehab. He left the pillhead and fought her for custody of his son, which he won about 3 months ago. I don't know the cause of death, but maybe you can only abuse your body for so long before it just gives out on you.

It's not like I feel any sort of loss. I knew this guy for a short period of time a long time ago. And given his history I wasn't really even surprised to hear that he'd passed. But I was reminded that people die from this disease of addiction. Sometimes people I know. And while, this time, it wasn't anyone I was close to, it could be next time. Next time, it could be me.

Reminder

One Day At A Time

Note to Self:

You do not have to ride around for very long with the top down in 85-degree heat with your purse slung in the passenger seat for your lip liner to get all melty and smoosh into your lip when you try to use it. Make a note.

My reality TV crack

I say that I don't watch reality TV, but I have to admit that my Sunday evening routine does include 60 Minutes followed by The Amazing Race. Even though the teams I like - old people, coal miners and gay Hispanic men - never win.

In tonight's finale, the final 3 comprises The Barbies, Charla & Mirna (a.k.a. The Team w/ The Little Person) and That Couple Who Met On Their First Race But Were On Different Teams That Time. Not really who I would have predicted early on.

The Barbies probably deserve to win. They come in first A LOT, which means that they're technically pretty good at playing the game. Plus, you gotta give them some credit for staying positive in all situations. Almost all the teams break down and lose it and scream at each other at times, but not the Barbies. I guess all that beauty pageant training is paying off.

Still, I do not want them to win, because first and foremost, I don't think they play fair. All's fair in love and war and world travel for a million dollars, but they've pulled some shitty moves to get ahead. Like yielding The Couple Team when they didn't have to, for one. And thinking they can get special treatment by flashing their bright white caps. Which, a lot of times they do, but it's pretty fucking hilarious when they don't (like when they had to clean those military planes and that Air Force dude was having none of it). Plus, they're snotty. I propose that no one who is snotty should be allowed to win a million dollars ever for anything.

Then there's Charla & Mirna. Who I should totally be pulling for, since my preference is generally for the underdog and how much more disadvantaged can you be in a RACE than to be a little person?? But these two have a severe mark against them, too - the tall one has a super-annoying habit of talking to everyone in some crazy fake accent. Which is totally offensive considering that they're in foreign countries, right?

So that leaves The Couple. While I've not been partial to them (except when they kept getting yeilded, I did kind of feel sorry for them then) they don't have any black marks against them, so they're going to be my pick to win. Even though Girl-Couple does always seem to have her cleavage thrust into the camera. Still, I'm not going to fault a contestant for having big girls and maybe she just needs to wear that pink sports bra thingie as a shirt on every leg of the race because racing is hot, hard, athletic work.

Anyway, the teams are on their way to San Fran now, so in 20 minutes we'll know. Go Dating Couple Team People!

When things don't go your way and shooting tequilla is no longer an option

I was so tired when I came home from work and I really just wanted to curl up on the sofa and watch two weeks worth of television that I haven't seen yet, including The Office episode where Michael tries to conduct crisis communications and last night's Grey's that was really more the premiere of Addison's spin-off show. But Big Daddy said he was going to take his parents to eat and did I want to go and I figured I might as well eat first.

Dinner was just one giant reminder of why it used to take me 3 or 4 or 5 glasses of wine to get through a dinner with my in-laws. My MIL is 84 years old and I love her dearly but OMG the woman is ANNOYING. Somehow we got on the topic of places to visit in Europe and when she told me about how she would NEVER go back to FRANCE b/c those people are SO RUDE b/c they HATE AMERICANS and they would never even give you the TIME OF DAY in a restaurant, and all the while she is talking way too loud with her mouth full and spitting food on me, it was hard not to laugh out loud at the irony of her words.

So I come home, change into my comfy jammies, grab my pillow and head for the couch and my new best friend, the DVR and guess what? It's. Not. Working. Not like this is the first time I've had trouble with the damn thing. More like the hundred-and-first. So Big Daddy "re-boots" the hard drive - which takes like at least 5 minutes but it eventually comes back online so I figure we're good. I start watching The Office and about half-way through, the picture freezes and won't move and then the HARD DRIVE SPONTANEOUSLY RE-BOOTS AGAIN. So I wait it out, turn the box back on (again), open up the DVR (again), chose The Office episode AGAIN and fast-forward to get back to the where it stopped playing, which OF COURSE IT FREEZES UP AND SPONTANEOUSLY RE-BOOTS ITSELF AGAIN. So fuck it.

It appears that instead of curling up on the sofa with all my favorite shows, I am sitting in my office complaining to the internets about how I can't be curled up on the sofa watching all my favorite shows. And watching the last 20 minutes of a 2-hour Grey's Anatomy special that I guess I'm never going to see and my goodness but Addison is certainly going to have a lot of old TV stars in her new show, like that judge with the perfectly curly hair and the guy from Wings and the hot single-dad lawyer whose show never really took off who is also BTW much shorter than he looks.

What really irks me is that I know if it were Big Daddy's or My Kid's TV that was fucked up, it would totally be fixed by now. Boo-hoo poor me.

/obnoxious bitching session

PS - I totally do not feel sorry for Paris. She totally deserves to go to jail. How stupid do you have to be to continually drink and drive (even after your license has been suspended) when YOUR DADDY HAS ALL THE MONEY IN THE WHOLE WORLD AND YOU CAN TOTALLY AFFORD A DRIVER?? Stupid, stupid girl.

Save the Date!!

WEEDS returns Sunday August 13 on Showtime (10 p.m. ET). Word is Matthew Modine is joining the cast this season. TV Guide says he'll be romancing both Nancy and Celia in between bong hits.