Field Trip

Scarlet Macaw

I think that one of the best things about working from home (aside from having business meetings over Skype while wearing pajamas) is that my schedule is flexible. I still have to get certain things done each day but I don’t have to account for every single second of my day as long as I’m done when I go to bed. That meant that when Hayley’s teacher sent a letter home saying the grade one students were going to the Montreal Biodome as part of their current rain forest studies, I was able to sign on as a volunteer parent.

The Biodome is seriously one of my favorite places in all of Montreal. I’ve been there more than ten times now and I never get tired of it because there’s always something to see that I missed the time before. There are still countless animals that I have never even seen yet.

Common Trumpeter

Anecdotally, the first time I went there was about 13 years ago. I worked at Second Cup as a Barista and I hated it because the boss was a sexist pig who screamed at the girls – even in front of customers – for the same mistakes that were overlooked if it was one of the guys. I was standing in the metro station, waiting to go to work and decked out in my black uniform shirt, a black skirt, and striped tights. I had absolutely no desire to subject myself to another day of crap, and I suddenly noticed an advertisement on the wall for the Biodome. I thought, “you know, I still haven’t been there. I bet that would be more fun than being screamed at for minimum wage.” And so, when the metro came, I got on and I didn’t get off at my stop. I went all the way there, spent – literally – eight hours at the Biodome, and then came home. While walking around and looking at animals and birds I decided life was too short to put up with that and I quit.

Anyway, there was no question that I was going to go and volunteer for Hayley’s field trip. I was thrilled when two other moms that I know pretty well also volunteered. It was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed it a lot, and I think they learned quite a bit too. It will be so helpful for them as they keep studying this segment, having seen some of the rain forest with their own eyes.

Wattled Jacana

It was also a bit stressful, just because it’s a huge responsibility to be keeping a bunch of kids safe. I had five kids in my group, Hayley and four classmates. I swear, I spent so much of the day counting heads over and over and over that by the time I crawled (exhausted) into bed, I was still saying “1, 2, 3, 4, 5… 1, 2, 3, 4… where’s?! Oh. 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…” Still, I never lost anyone. Lost track of one from time to time, but always found them within ten seconds. Thank God, because no one wants to be that person who says, “uhhh, I lost your kid. My bad.” Also, for anyone who thinks that little boys are scary, they totally aren’t. I love having two girls, but there were two boys in my group that were just awesome and so cute. One insisted on holding my hand everywhere we went, and the other never stepped more than two feet from me. Awww!

Of course, there are other ecosystems, not just the rain forest, and as was to be expected, the penguins were a HUGE hit with the kids.

King Penguin

We spent about an hour or so at the Biodome, then we gathered to have lunch in the cafeteria. After that we had a majorly long walk to the Botanical Gardens so that we could go through their greenhouses. The kids were a little bored. I understand because I was too when I went in elementary school – at that age you just don’t care about plants and flowers. Now, as an adult? I would love to go back for several hours with my camera and just take a billion photos.

What they did love was the “Butterflies Go Free” exhibit. In one huge greenhouse there are hundreds of butterflies just fluttering around. Sometimes they land on people, sometimes they just hang out on plants. They have fruit platters out and there were always several butterflies getting their fill. They were just spectacular. I couldn’t get a shot of my favorite unfortunately, which was this beauty. When they flew up high, the light filtered right through their wings, making them glow a little.

Feeding time

This guy never even flinched when I closed in for a photo. So amazing.

Day 113: Caligo eurilochus (Owl Butterfly)

We were also supposed to go to the Insectarium but by the time we got out of the butterfly exhibit and made the long walk over there we only had five minutes to check it out. I did get to show Hayley cockroaches though (the enormous ones from tropical areas, ewwwww!) and I told her that’s what we’ll have crawling around if she doesn’t stop leaving her food lying around. Mean, perhaps, but effective so far!

The kids were all exhausted by the time we piled onto the bus to come back to the school. I’m sure that they all slept like the dead that night. On top of all that walking, when we got to the school we saw that George and Breanna were waiting for us. We drove over to George’s parents’ house for a bit and we ended up playing in the back yard and going for a walk in the woods. By the time we got home and ate some supper, Hayley was totally wiped out. She was asking to go to bed by 6:15 that night and the only reason I said no was because I didn’t want her to wake up at 5 am. You can tell she was tired.

Zonked!

She was in bed a little before 8, after eating very little of her pre-bed snack, and I swear it took five minutes tops for her to pass out.

I had a great time, though let’s just say it wasn’t only the kids who were tired. My pillow was very wonderful last night. I would definitely do it again. I know this is a yearly trip in grade one so I look forward to round two when Breanna gets there!

You can check out the full set from the Biodome here. (And yes, I have all the proper names on the animal/bird/fish photos but that’s just because I’m a huge nerd and pored over the Biodome website to find which one went with which picture.)

We need a yard

Fairy bed

I’ve already known this for awhile of course, but the simple fact of the matter is that we desperately need a yard. At this point I figure it doesn’t really matter much whether that yard comes attached to a house, a townhouse, or a lower duplex, as long as it’s there and it’s ours.

We’re lucky. Our apartment complex surrounds a fairly large courtyard and we can play down there, but it’s not fenced in, so there’s always a complete inability for me to completely relax. I’ve tried taking a book downstairs with me while the kids play ball or pick up pine cones, but I just can’t read because I’m always watching to make sure they’re in sight and not headed for the busy street. Still, we are lucky because other apartments and condo buildings on our street don’t have much in the way of grass at all.

We’re also lucky because we can walk to our park in five minutes, and the park is bordered by woods. The park is small and it’s very inconvenient in the dead of summer because there are NO TREES whatsoever in the actual play area (I wish I could pack up the park near my parents and bring it over here because it’s a nice size, has a lot of great equipment, and a ton of trees spread out). The lack of shade makes it really difficult to spend much time there once the sun is blazing hot and the humidex is sky-high. Also, the woods have been shrinking bit by bit each year, but at least they’re still there and it’s fun to go walking in them – it helps to appease the fact that I would give anything to essentially live in the middle of nowhere. I envy people who live out in the country with woods galore surrounding them.

Good morning, tree

There’s also another apartment complex about a five minute walk from here that has a great courtyard full of trees and rocks and benches and grass and sometimes we like to go there, even though I feel a bit weird about playing in a courtyard that I don’t pay for with my rent.

The thing is, though, although we’re lucky to have the courtyard and we’re lucky to have a park and some woods so close by and a fun courtyard within minutes, it’s not the same as a yard. A yard would let me relax. If we had a yard I would bring my laptop outside and do my work in the shade while the kids ran around. I would sit and read a book with my feet propped up while the kids played. I would splash in a pool with them. It would be different.

Going outside requires a great deal of prep work. There’s no bathroom at the park so we have to make sure everyone has peed at least once (if not twice). We have to bring snacks, drinks, toys, etceteras and lug them with us. It’s certainly no huge ordeal, and I realize this is definitely a first world complaint when you think about third world kids playing with broken nails and bits of rubber from a blown out tire. But it still means that if someone has to pee or is thirsty after the last juice box is gone, or if it’s lunch time, we have to pack everything back up and head for home.

If we lived somewhere with a yard, we could run in and out as needed. Hungry? Go in and grab some fruit from the counter. Thirsty? There’s water in the fridge, go get some! What? You want the soccer ball instead of the beach ball and the bubbles instead of the jump rope? They’re right inside the door, go ahead! Are you jumping like that because you need to pee? Don’t be silly, go to the bathroom and come back out!

I know that it means we’d be outside so much more than we already are.

On Friday we picked Hayley up from school and we had to get a few things from the Dollar Store (I <3 the Dollar Store) and Hayley wanted to get a little set that came with two plastic golf clubs and two balls. We bought them and then decided to drop by to see George's parents since they live a few blocks away from us. When we got there, they weren't even home, but George called them on their cell and said we'd just hang out in the back yard for awhile.

Golf girls

It was great. George has a key so we were able to get the kids a snack and something to drink and we had access to a bathroom. Meanwhile, the kids played golf (they decided that while it was fun, Wii Golf is much easier!), picked up fallen branches and tossed them in the woods, and did somersaults.

Day 106:  Alley-oop!

We were there for over an hour, just playing out back and hanging out outside, and the fact that we could go in when we needed to was a stark comparison to the park or the courtyard (which is four floors below our apartment, a bit of a pain). When his parents got home, we went in for about ten minutes, then went home, but it was the chance to play in an enclosed yard that made the difference to the kids. I didn’t have to keep an eye on them as much (other than to make sure they weren’t hurting each other or digging in the garden), and I could relax and take pictures more easily. I thought about how much fun it would be to have Pearl out on her long leash that attaches to clothes lines (she can’t run free unless it’s REALLY fenced in 100% because Beagles just have too much of a habit of bolting).

FORE!

So it’s official. We need a yard. I don’t care as much about the building sitting on the yard, just as long as that yard is closed in so the kids can play to their hearts’ content. It would make the upcoming summer a whole different ball game.

Anyone got a house they’d like to rent out?

Fast forward to the future (or, is it May 8th yet?)

Day 94: To boldly go where no one has gone before

Today George and I took Hayley and Breanna to the theater to see Monsters Vs. Aliens. I really enjoyed it. The story was cute and engaging, and although I worried it might be a bit scary at a few pivotal moments for Breanna, she appeared to be completely unfazed.

It was Breanna’s first time in a theater and she did pretty well. She did walk back and forth among our little row but no one else was sitting there so she didn’t seem to bother anyone, and she didn’t get bored or loud at any point. It was a fun outing for the family.

But I’ll be honest. All this movie excursion did was make me long for May 8th more than I already was. I had seen the previews on YouTube, but today was the first time I saw this trailer on a big screen and I just about peed my pants.

I have GOT to go and see that in theaters so I can experience it with a big-ass screen and the crazy sound and just freak out completely.

Did you know I was a Trek fan? No? I’m honestly more of a Next Generation fan. I always thought Picard was the best captain and I was a little head over heels for Commander Riker (“number one” indeed), but Trek is Trek is Trek and this movie looks AMAZING.

(Note the fact that I had to stop and take a photo of the awesome Enterprise hanging over the movie theater lobby on the way out. Cough.)

I think George and I will be having a little date on May 8th.

Sunny day, dark night

Day 86: Withered

Saturday ended up being a rather nice day. It was warm enough that I went out with the kids and the dog, and we immediately came back upstairs to dump our coats because we were going to end up too hot with them on. Pearl was pulling on her leash again and I just don’t have time to deal with that when I also need to keep an eye on my kids, so we left her behind with George when we dropped our coats off, and the three of us went back outside, enjoying the great, fresh spring air for almost an hour and a half.

Somehow, they managed to find one of the last – and also the dirtiest – piles of snow left behind and they played on it for a few minutes. Breanna is pretty disappointed that it’s all disappearing. Me? I’ll live.

Moths to a flame

After walking a little further, they decided that a lack of snow wasn’t a big deal after they used their imagination and creativity to turn a fallen piece of a tree into a see-saw.

See-Saw!

We definitely had a good time outside, and it was good for getting all that excess energy out.

12/52 Trio

Things got darker at 8:30 that night. In order to participate in Earth Hour 2009, we turned off all the lights, the computers, and the television and lit candles instead.

Glow

We had done it last year, but I added a chocolate fondue this time, and let me tell you – THAT went over very well. It took awhile for the chocolate to melt with just a tea light burning below it, but after about 20 minutes we had a nice pot half-full of melted goodness. I had sliced up some bananas, and we also had some fresh fruit salad that included strawberries, grapes, and melon slices so we speared all of those up and dipped them in. It was the first time the kids had ever had fondue, and they loved it.

Chocolate fondue

Dipping

I know that some people are ambivalent about Earth Hour and how much good it does, but I don’t think that the one hour of darkness is meant to fix anything. I don’t believe any of the participants thought they were making an actual tangible difference. However, what I feel is that Earth Hour is about educating and drawing attention. It gets people talking about climate change and helping the planet by reducing energy use. One hour won’t change anything, but what if people sat around in the dark for an hour and then realized that it’s not so bad? What if those people then decided to light candles every night or at least used one lone lamp instead of three or four? THAT is what makes the difference.

It’s also good for the kids. Hayley is terrible about leaving a stream of lights blazing in her path. She’ll turn on her bedroom light and then walk back out with it still on, only to go into the bathroom and do the exact same thing. George is forever turning the hall light off and telling her it doesn’t need to be on during the day. Earth Hour was a good way to reinforce the concept of saving energy and not using what we don’t actually need.

That education can come at any time, of course. And it should be a lesson that is brought up regularly. But having a specific time when you know everyone in the world is able to participate makes it special. Besides, Earth DAY doesn’t do anything more to help the planet either, but I still like to do something for the occasion then too.

The kids went to bed quickly and easily and then George and I did power up the television and the Wii to play a few games together, but we kept the dark theme going. We turned on the tiny night light in the hall in case one of the kids woke up, but we kept the candles lit in the living room and only turned the kitchen light on when we needed to get something to drink or eat.

Small steps.

I’m glad Saturday was a good day because Sunday was damp and rainy so we didn’t go out at all. It was still raining this morning but it’s stopped for now. I’m trying not to let the rain get me down since I know it will help get rid of the last of the snow (sorry, Breanna), and it will get the grass to be green again instead of that post-winter yellow straw stuff we have now. As long as we don’t get too much rain in one fell swoop, it should be okay!

Counting down to Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour 2008

That photo is from last March, when Hayley, Breanna, and I celebrated Earth Hour together for the first time. George wasn’t here – I think he may have been playing that night. The girls and I sat in the living room with a few candles and we read books by the candlelight. I also told Hayley about how people once had to sit by candlelight all the time because electricity didn’t even exist back then.

This year the four of us will be turning all our lights off from 8:30 until 9:30, along with televisions, Wii consoles, and computers and lighting candles. To add something new to it, we’re going to do a fruit and chocolate fondue as well. When we went to the wedding, the gift that they gave all the guests was a mini fondue set, which I thought was a great unique idea. We’re going to melt up some chocolate and spear some grapes, banana slices, strawberries, and melon chunks and enjoy a little picnic by the glow of candles.

I know that Earth Hour doesn’t change the world but it does help raise awareness and helps remind people – I hope – that just because we have lights in every room doesn’t mean we have to actually USE them all at all times.

Will you be joining us in the dark this year?

Here and then gone

After hearing about the death of actress Natasha Richardson after falling during a skiing lesson, I found myself saddened and shocked. I think the most stunning factor was that she didn’t take a horrible fall down a double-black diamond run, nor did she collide with a tree – she took what seemed to be a very simple tumble down the bunny hill. She was laughing and joking about it when she got back up and appeared to be fine. Then within the hour she was being rushed to the hospital with excruciating head pain, and before we knew it she was being announced as being brain dead. Tonight I read that they had taken her off life support and she had passed away.

Normally, celebrity deaths make me sad but then the day goes on. This one is haunting and I think it’s because it was just so abrupt. A long time ago, I had one of those deep philosophical discussions in college (in other words, a group of us had been doing tequila shots and decided to talk about heavy matters while inebriated) as to whether you’d rather have a lengthy illness and know you’re going to die or whether you’d rather die quickly.

I had always said quickly. I said I’d rather just die immediately in an accident or slip away in my sleep. I didn’t want to have to sit around and ponder my own mortality.

But that’s changed as I’ve gotten older. I’m only 34, I don’t feel like I’ve got one foot in the grave just yet, but I’m old enough that all kinds of things do indeed make me ponder that mortality. Having kids did that. Having more and more people in my life pass away did that. Experiencing the signs of aging – putting your back out for no good reason, having random aches and pains – have done that too.

Now I think I would really like to change my answer. While I don’t exactly hope for a long, painful illness that leaves me suffering for months, I would much rather know. I’d rather hear a doctor tell me I have X amount of weeks or months to live than just go on my merry little way only to be hit by a truck and killed instantly. In that time given to me by doctors I could get things in order, I could do the things that you always put off (and some would argue that you should do those things anyway, but that’s just the way life often is – you procrastinate because there are bills to pay or floors to mop), and most importantly I could find the time to say good-bye to the people that I love.

Natasha Richardson had a husband and two young sons, as well as a mother and siblings. Of course they all knew that she loved them, but given the choice, I’m sure that she would have preferred to be able to say it one more time, to actually say the words, “I love you” to them before leaving and with the incredible speed of her brain injury, there was no time for that. They apparently kept her on life support so that family could come and say goodbye to her but I’m willing to bet that she would have wished for time to say goodbye too.

I don’t even know where I’m going with this, just that it was sitting there in my head, nagging at me. This is the sort of thing where you want to go see everyone that you care about and tell them that – just in case.

I definitely change my mind on how I want to go. I want the time and I want to be able to squeeze as much into that time – whatever it may be – as I possibly can.

(Also, I realize that this is two posts in a row about death. I promise I’ll be more cheerful next post.)

Remembering

This afternoon we got some bad news as we found out that a friend had passed away at the end of last week. His sister called because she was going through his phone to see who had called lately, not really knowing who she should contact, and George had just called last week.

Long time readers (really long time) probably remember that before I had kids I practically lived in local bars because George played guitar and sang in a band called “The T-Birds”. They did 50’s, 60’s and 70’s rock and roll with a bit of blues as well. Technically, the band was actually called “Billy Ray and the T-Birds”. Bill, the lead singer, is the one who passed away.

I can’t remember the last time I saw Bill in person, it’s been years, but I spoke to him on the phone a couple of months back. He was saying that he wanted to have the old group over to jam in his basement and that I was welcome to come along as I so often did. Unfortunately, it never happened and I never got to hear that one last night of live music with Bill at the helm.

Bill had a huge following of friends and fans on YouTube. He would play a music track on his computer and then record himself singing and people loved it. Tonight I was looking for some pictures and found this one, back in March of 2002 when they played at the legion, with Bill singing. That’s how I’ll always remember him, with a mic in front of him.

Billy Ray and the T-Birds

However, I couldn’t remember any of the gig dates, so I decided to type the band name into Google to see if any of the links led back to my own site and hopefully some photos. Instead, the first link I clicked was this one, which led me to a video he had done only two months ago. It struck me particularly because it was one of the songs that they always did in the band, and in the video he says some really nice things about George’s guitar talents – the track he uses is actually one that they did at practice one night.

I know that as I get older, it happens more and more often that you hear this kind of bad news about people that you knew, but it doesn’t make it any less of a shock or any less sad. Six months ago, he lost his wife, and I truly believe that he’s with her again. I hope that he’s at peace now, he deserves it.

Could it really almost be here?

This time last year we still had quite a lot of snow, and had even gotten a rather heavy snow storm, the kind that makes you want to just give up on your will to live.

Or maybe that’s just me being dramatic. But really, we got so much snow last year that it was ridiculous and I figured either I may as well move up north and enjoy the tundra because what difference would it make, or I’d better move south. Like Ecuador or something.

This year has been a really good winter in comparison. We had that crazy cold snap where it all but hurt to breathe outside and my hair turned white because it was just that cold, but we didn’t get as much heavy and constant snow. And now, here we are on the Ides of March (beware!) and dare I admit this out loud (so to speak)? It almost looks like SPRING is just around the corner.

Granted, yes, spring really IS just around the corner. On the calendar. But please, I live in Montreal. We don’t necessarily follow the calendar when it comes to our seasons. However, today George and I played the “Divide and Conquer” game where he took Hayley with him, and I took Breanna with me. For Breanna, that meant accompanying me on a nice long walk with Pearl.

Breanna was confused. “Where’s the snow?!” she asked as she plopped her snow-suit-free self down in a tiny remaining pile of snow of questionable cleanliness.

Where's the snow?!

Hey, sorry kid. You’re asking the wrong person for sympathy. Begone, snow! Shoo!

She got over her mourning pretty quickly. As we got closer to home, she noticed some puddle and started picking up random tiny rocks and bits of gravel to throw in the puddles, one of her favorite pastimes. Then she spotted a fairly large puddle. Her eyes got a bit big, and she slowly tiptoed towards it, worried that I might stop her.

You know… So often I have to tell my kids not to splash in the puddles – usually it’s Hayley because she’s on her way to school. Today Breanna had nowhere to go but back home.

So I let her splash to her heart’s content for five minutes.

Day 73: Splish splash

Let me tell you, it’s good for your soul.

What is good for the soul, too, is feeling like maybe, just maybe this winter stuff is done. Tuesday’s forecast is for 11C and that’s just crazy talk for the middle of March. It will be so nice to not have to bitch about the winter anymore.

(Please stay tuned for plenty of bitching about the ridiculous Montreal high humidity!)

Rain, pain, and something awesome

Day 69: Slippery when wet

It was pouring rain this morning, which is not necessarily the best way to get me to leap out of bed with joy at meeting the a.m. you know? Rainy weather is what usually makes me want to lie in bed with the covers pulled up high, a cup of coffee on the night table, and a good book (or my laptop) in my hands. Unfortunately, it was Wednesday, not Sunday, so there was no lounging to be had.

When we got outside, Hayley at least made me smile. The water was rushing down the streets and gushing loudly into the sewers. She heard the gurgling sound, stopped to listen for a second, umbrella clutched in her hands, and then she grinned and said, “Mommy! The sewers are singing a song with the water!”

I guess rain can’t be all bad if it’s musical, right?

*******
She was less cheery when she came home from school. At lunch recess she was running around and someone bumped into her, knocking her to the ground, and she sprained her ankle. We wrapped it up in a bandage to help her out, but she spent the rest of the afternoon and evening either crawling or sitting on a cushion and scooting herself around the floors. I pointed out that she can’t crawl all over the school tomorrow and eventually managed to get her to walk around by showing her how to put minimal weight on that foot, but good lord.

The DRAMA.

I don’t mean to sound like an uncaring mother, and I know a sprain hurts. But I guarantee, a greater drama queen has never existed. To listen to her moan about it you would think that she had actually shattered every bone in her body.

I think I’ll be sending a note into the school asking them not to make her go out for recess or lunch recess if she doesn’t feel up to it.

*******
Something awesome happened back in early February, but I was asked to keep it on the down low until everything was formalized. That was HARD because I was excited. However, everything is up and running now so I am free to spread the word.

Catherine of Her Bad Mother contacted me to let me know that the Silicon Valley Moms blog had expanded and was now adding a Canada Moms Blog to its impressive roster. That’s interesting enough, but they wanted me to be one of the writers for it.

I can’t tell you how flattered and honored I was to be asked. Seriously. When I saw the final list of contributing bloggers, there were so many names that I recognized because I read them all the time; the names I didn’t know were immediately added to my Google Reader list and let me tell you, I am in some EXCELLENT company over there.

We’ve been posting for a little while now but I wanted to wait until I had something to add as well. Today I finally got my first post up – please feel free to pop on over to read “All Aboard for Junk Food” and while you’re at it, throw a comment in if you could. Then when you’re done be sure to check out the other incredible bloggers with whom I am sharing the space.

Pretty damn cool!

56 hours of my life in photos

On Friday morning, Hayley’s last official day of March break, my alarm went off with a vengeance at 6:30 am. By 10 am I was sitting with George, Hayley, and Breanna on a train heading to Toronto.

Are we there yet?

The girls were remarkably good considering it’s five and a half hours sitting in seats. Breanna started to fuss about an hour out of Toronto but it was because she was tired; she finally fell asleep and got a half hour in which made a big difference for her. Overall they really enjoyed the train and we kept them busy with lots of coloring books, notepads, books, impromptu games (I taught Hayley to play Boxes, she did great!), and snacks.

We had gone to Toronto for George’s sister Elsa’s wedding, so we went to her condo first, where we were staying for the weekend, had a bite to eat since we were STARVING, and then we went to a hotel to visit with some family from out of town. It was tiring but fun to see everyone. We were all wiped out, but still hungry, so we stopped at a Kentucky Fried Chicken to pick up some food, ate a piece each, then we all crashed by 10 pm.

I don’t sleep well away from home the first couple of days so I was awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, and then we were all jolted awake by a blaring siren coming from the ceiling. George called his sister to ask what the hell it was and she said if there was any problem we’d hear a voice telling us what to do from the speakers in the ceiling, and that’s exactly what happened – like the voice of God or something. It was weird. A security guard from the lobby announced there was a fire in one of the parking levels and to stay tuned for further instruction. We immediately got everyone dressed and waited by the door; fire trucks came and then within five minutes they announced it was a false alarm. Alas, it was 7:15 am and we were all groggy but far too awake to go back to sleep then.

How to chill out

Luckily, the building has a big pool and spa room so after breakfast I took the girls downstairs and we alternated between swimming in the smaller pool and relaxing in the spa for an hour. It was really nice and I would have stayed longer if we hadn’t had things to do. We had to hurry to get ready because Hayley and Breanna were flower girls in the wedding, so we had to get them over to the wedding site to get them dressed and to have photos done.

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