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January 31, 2005
Straight!
Today was a MAJOR day in Andrew’s life. He got his bottom set of braces taken off! Next week when we return to the orthodontist, they will give us the retainer for his bottom teeth and take the top set of braces off. It’s very exciting for all of us.
I am very impressed with how good his bottom teeth look. You never can tell when the braces are on exactly how straight the teeth are or if a stain will be there when the braces come off. I am happy to report that there was no staining. I hope that there won’t be any on the top set either.
Change of subject:
Sunday morning as I was watching The Hour of Power I thought Dr. Schuller asked three very important and thought provoking questions. Here they are:
1. What one thing do you want to do more than anything else in life?
2. What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
3. What would you be willing to die for in the one life you have to live?
I told you these were good questions and not too easy to answer! Now think about it!
Posted by tami at 5:07 PM Comments (4)
January 28, 2005
Say A Little Prayer For You
Ashley is spending the night with a friend from school. Gosh, I hate it when she is gone, but I know that she is having a great time and I know that she is safe. She called me twice, just because I asked her to. She knows that I worry and that she needs to keep me calmed. I need to get used to her spending the night away; that’s what girls do.
When Andrew first spent the night with friends, I worried about him also. That’s just my thing – worrying. Kevin tells me that instead of worrying, I need to pray. I know that he’s right and I did say a prayer for Ashley. Actually, I pray constantly. I pray morning, noon, and night and I pray about everything.
Guess what! It works! Not only does praying calm the nerves it also helps God to know what you need. I mean, He knows everything, but it doesn’t hurt to ask!
Posted by tami at 11:23 PM Comments (1)
January 27, 2005
Linked
We bought Ashley a link cable for Christmas so that she and Andrew could play their Gameboy games against each other. Unbelievably, they get along very well this way and there is peace, blessed peace!
Posted by tami at 8:35 PM Comments (1)
January 26, 2005
Bible
A friend sent me some Bible story jokes. Here are a few of the best:
**A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama Then, she asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"
A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think I'd throw up."
**LOT'S WIFE
The Sunday school teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Johnny interrupted,
"My Mummy looked back once, while she was DRIVING," he announced triumphantly, "and she turned into a telephone pole!"
**DID NOAH FISH?
A Sunday school teacher asked, "Johnny, do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?"
No," replied Johnny. "How could he, with just two worms."
Posted by tami at 9:42 AM Comments (1)
January 25, 2005
ka-tet
Hile, gunslingers!
I am in awe, amazement, and total love with this series: The Dark Tower. I finished the final book, Book VII tonight around 7:40. Stephen King outdid himself with this series. I have read and enjoyed many of his books and I can say that these are among the best; they do not disappoint the reader in the least. I can understand why it took so many years to finish the story, but I am glad that he did finish. No one else could have done it so movingly and gracefully. Thank you Stephen King for one hell of a good series! Long days and pleasant nights!
Posted by tami at 8:57 PM Comments (2)
January 24, 2005
One Of The Good Ones
Last weekend my mom had us, along with my aunt, over for Sunday dinner. After the meal, we all went to the kitchen where she turned on one of her Johnny Carson videos. While mom washed the dishes, we sat around the table listening to various interviews and laughing until our stomachs hurt. The animal segments were the best!
In the wake of the family just watching him, it was surreal to hear the news that Johnny Carson died yesterday. May God be with his wife and family.
Posted by tami at 7:30 PM Comments (2)
January 23, 2005
Beans
Last night we watched Mona Lisa Smile. I had been looking forward to watching it because I love Julia Roberts. I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy this movie at all. It was extremely slow and very predictable.
No matter how lovely Julia Roberts was throughout the movie, I would not want to sit through it again. My rating would be: don’t waste your time.
Today we never left the house. It was nasty and cold out so we stayed at home. I made a pot of brown beans and Kevin made a pan of cornbread. We watched two episodes of The Waltons and read many, many chapters out of our respective books. Which reminds me; GW: there has been much sadness in this book. I have read two incredibly sad parts. I know you understand to which ones I refer. I cannot imagine how this is going to end! I am only on page 545 though! I still have another 300 or so to go!
Posted by tami at 7:20 PM Comments (3)
January 22, 2005
Madness
We bought Ashley a new game called Mall Madness for Christmas, but had never played it before tonight. It’s a really fun game that Andrew, my 15 year old even enjoyed. After we played one game, both Andrew and Ashley wanted to play another round. We laughed and had a great time!
Here are Andrew and Guido before we began playing. Miss L, you can see his hair ;)
Posted by tami at 8:26 PM Comments (4)
January 21, 2005
Sinful Goodness
The higher-ups cancelled school today because of the snow. Kevin told me that it wasn’t bad in our neighborhood, but consideration has to be taken for the people who live in the country. It is much smarter to call everything off rather than risk lives.
I spent the day catching up on laundry and the much-needed dusting of furniture. Tonight, Ashley made a batch of brownies. She used lots of chocolate icing. They were so good they were sinful!
Whenever we have left over icing, the kids get to share it. Here’s Ashley eating her share of the leftover chocolate.
Posted by tami at 10:42 PM Comments (4)
January 20, 2005
Restaurant
A friend sent me this joke. Enjoy!
An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen.
The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, "Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly."
The other man said, "What is the name of the restaurant?"
The first man thought and thought and finally said, "What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know... the one that's red and has thorns."
"Do you mean a rose?"
"Yes, that's the one," replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, "Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?"
Posted by tami at 7:51 AM Comments (2)
Another Blog
If you enjoy visiting Gardenwife’s Plot (I know you do!), you’ll want to know that her blog will be down for a few days while she moves to a new host. It’s going to be fabulous; just wait and see!
Posted by tami at 7:49 AM Comments (3)
January 19, 2005
Too Tight!
As Ashley got dressed this morning, she complained that she couldn’t button her pants. I went over to help her and found that her pants wouldn’t even meet together. There was enough room for two fingers between the sides of her pants. I just don’t see how that happens. Aren’t they supposed to be a little tight at first?
Since they have an adjustable waistband, I looked at that, but it was out all the way already. The bad thing is that those dress pants are around $25 each and she has outgrown all three pairs in one day! (They were all the exact same size.) Lucky for her we had a different pair with an elastic waist in the closet. And guess what! This pair has no belt loops! The rule at her school is that if there are no belt loops, no belt is required. I wonder how long it took those geniuses to come up with that one?!
I guess we will be shopping this weekend for new dress pants. It would be nice if we could count the expense on our taxes since it is dress code and it is required. Does anyone know if that would count for next year’s taxes?
Posted by tami at 8:03 AM Comments (3)
January 18, 2005
Angry
I allow Andrew to stay after school an extra 25 minutes every day. I have no idea how he uses this time, but he requested that I do this. I believe he walks his girlfriend to her bus and stays with her until it leaves, but I have never asked.
Here is the conversation we had this morning:
Me: Andrew, from now on, on Thursday afternoon’s Ashley will be staying after school until 3:45. It’s very important that I pick her up on time, so I’ll be picking you up at 3:25.
Him: Why does she have to stay after?
Me: Because she’s going to be in the school chorus and that’s when they practice. I have to pick her up on time, so I will be getting you five minutes early. It’s important that you are waiting and watching for me.
Him: So, I have to loose everything because of her?! I have to give up everything for her?!
Me (thinking in my head): You’re getting that mad over one day and five minutes? Unbelievable!
*He was mad when he got out of the car and will probably be mad for the rest of the day. It just amazes me what gets him going.
Posted by tami at 8:26 AM Comments (6)
January 17, 2005
A Free Day
School was out today, so we just hung out as you can see above. I got a lot accomplished though. The ironing is complete, Ashley’s room is clean, and I straightened out a cabinet. Can you imagine how annoying it is to go in your child’s room and see chalk, chalk pieces, and chalk dust all over the carpet in an array of colors? She had left it there for about a week and although it wasn’t bothering her, it was bothering her mother! I can only stand so much for so long.
Posted by tami at 6:39 PM Comments (0)
January 16, 2005
Wet Dog
Guido had his first bath tonight. Kevin did all the work but found that it was actually easy. Guido was very cooperative and never tried to escape. Here are the photos:
He looks sad in the picture below, but I think he was just stunned.
When he’s clean, he looks like a bathroom rug that has just been washed!
*Note to dad: He smells just as great as he always has!
Posted by tami at 7:37 PM Comments (2)
January 15, 2005
House
We watched House of Sand and Fog last night. This is a drama starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. If you happen to rent it, don’t expect a fast-paced movie. This one takes its time building up. It’s about a girl who looses her house and is trying to get it back when they sell it out from under her to someone else.
Although slow, the ending is gripping. This is not a movie to be missed!
Posted by tami at 9:30 AM Comments (3)
January 14, 2005
Song of Susannah
I finished reading The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah yesterday afternoon. Yes, I blazed through it, not that there was much to blaze through exactly.
In a series of books, there must be a scale from least favorite to favorite (in my mind anyway). On this scale, this book would be my least favorite right after the first Dark Tower book. It isn’t that I didn’t enjoy it, there just didn’t seem to be much going on.
Let me put it this way: the past few books have had many events going on at the same time, many major events. This book just didn’t have any.
For those of you who have read this series: I’m just not into the Mia/ Susannah baby deal. I can’t help it. That’s just how I feel. I don’t get where all of this stuff with Mia and the vampires is going. How will this story affect the Dark Tower or the beams?
I hope to find out this information in the concluding book: Book VII The Dark Tower. This one is a monster (over 800 pages) so don’t expect word on it too soon.
Posted by tami at 7:58 AM Comments (8)
January 13, 2005
In The Closet
If you thought closets were only made for clothes and shoes; think again! Here is Ashley’s closet to prove my point.
My closet isn’t much better!
Posted by tami at 7:50 AM Comments (5)
January 12, 2005
Mr. Perfect
I want to take this post to express what a wonderful man I married. I know women all over are saying that their man is wonderful, but mine really is. Let me tell you why. He:
*Cooks (and loves it)
*Cuts my hair
*Can French braid hair
*Sews beautiful dresses
*Polishes toe nails
*Cleans anything upon request with absolutely no bitterness
*Makes the bed every day
*Never leaves clothes on the floor
*Does the dishes every night (after working all day!)
*Towel dries my hair each night
*Can shave my legs better than I can
*Takes Guido out every morning (this includes the weekends – he never gets to sleep in)
*Takes care of me when I am sick
*Always goes shopping with me
*Is a wonderful dad
These are just a few of the things that pop right out at me. On top of all that, he’s never in a bad mood, we never argue, and he doesn’t complain about anything.
He is extremely intelligent and can talk to anyone about anything. He is constantly seeking to learn more. After being married for many years, we still talk each other’s heads off.
Here is a perfect example of how great he is:
Last night my stomach was killing me. I got up out of bed and threw up into the garbage can. It had a Wal-Mart bag lining the inside, but when I picked the bag up to take it into the kitchen I saw that the liquid had seeped out of the bag all into the bottom of the actual can. At this same time, the liquid dripped onto the bathroom rug.
This morning Kevin asked me where the rug was. I told him what happened and he first told me that I should have woke him up and then said that he would take care of the mess. He said that after he took Guido out, he would clean out the can ……. And he did! I don’t know many men that would have volunteered to do that. Upon request they may, but not on their own! Yes, he is the best thing that ever happened to me and no, you may not borrow him!
Posted by tami at 8:15 AM Comments (4)
January 11, 2005
Easy Bake
Every chance Ashley gets, she pulls out her Easy Bake Oven. Here she is getting ready to bake:
And here is the finished product:
Thanks to her Aunt Patt, she has new kits to work with. She’ll need more in June for her birthday ;) Hint! Hint! By the way, these kits are expensive (around $5 per package)! I can buy a real cake mix and frosting for $2 and make a cake that will feed the family. With these Easy Bake kits, each person gets a nibble. Hey, as long as she’s having fun I’m okay with it.
Posted by tami at 3:19 PM Comments (2)
January 10, 2005
The Real World
I love the movie Beaches. You know the one with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. The one where they are best friends since childhood, break up for a little while, but then get back together in the end. Yes, that’s a great movie. Ashley, Kevin, and I watched it Saturday night.
The problem is that life isn’t always like Beaches. When friends move apart, they normally stay apart. That is, unless one of them is really pushing to reunite.
I met a girl when I was in the third grade. She lived right down the street from me. We went over to each other’s houses to play; we spent the night with each other and were great friends. She was with me throughout all of my silly crushes and she was with me during serious relationships. She shared some very important moments with me and was there when I needed her. I was the same way with her.
We grew apart when she moved away for a year. When she came back, she acted completely different and even sported a new accent. Honestly, it seemed that things were always about her: what was going on in her life, what was she going to do about this or that, when was she going to marry, etc. I just got tired of everything focusing on her.
Years have passed and she is now happily married. I have tried talking to her, but she is so guarded and closed for some reason that the whole conversation somehow seems phony. Whereas I am pretty much an open book, she wants to tell me only snippets of things and not the whole story. If I wanted to know something, I would have to pry to from her and frankly, I’m tired of it. She recently found out that she is pregnant. She lives in another town, goes to church and seems very content.
As far as I am concerned, I have tried to strengthen this relationship but it is going nowhere. I don’t understand why she continues to email me especially since it is only once every other month and everything she says is very vague. If she wanted to talk again face-to-face, I would be open to it. Unfortunately, life is not like Beaches and I’m sure that won’t ever be happening.
Posted by tami at 12:26 PM Comments (4)
January 9, 2005
Time To Palaver
After a bit of an absence at Christmas, I finally returned to reading the fifth book in The Dark Tower series: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King. From the beginning, I have wanted to absorb these books completely, so reading 15 minutes here or 30 minutes there during the break was not going to be satisfying. I would rather read when I could do so for long periods. Therefore, this week became the catch-up week and I finished the book this afternoon.
Great books are akin to great movies wherein they make you think after they are long finished. That is where my mind has been since finishing this fantastic book: on the people and events themselves. So much happened throughout the book (it was a little over 700 pages) that my mind finds it hard to remember everything. Different things come back to me a little bit at a time. I think it helped that Kevin continually asked me on a daily basis, “Where are you in the book and what is happening now?” At these questions, my mind would go over everything that it had learned that day and put it all into words for him. He read these books not too long ago, so he was excited to know what information I had learned that day.
There are only two books left and I am already dreading the end. I am sure I’ve said this before, but when you read about the same people for so long, they become real: they become friends. I want to know where their venture will lead them next and yet I know that finding out that information will lead me to the end. Right now, I cannot imagine reading about anyone else. Yes, it will be difficult letting go. If you’re not an avid reader then you probably have no idea where I am coming from and think that this is a bunch of mush. All I can say to that is: you don’t know what you’re missing!
Book 6: Song of Susannah has merely a little over 400 pages. It will go by too quickly I am sure.
Posted by tami at 7:24 PM Comments (5)
January 8, 2005
More! More! More!
We went to the Book Cellar today because it had been a while and I was going through withdraws. No, I don’t need anymore books. I am currently reading one and have two more to go in the series, but I see ones that sound interesting so I think I need them now.
Here’s what I bought:
*The Naked Face by Sidney Sheldon
*The Best Laid Plans by Sidney Sheldon
*A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
*Orlando by Virginia Woolf
I have never read Virginia Woolf, but plan to try her. Has anyone else read her and if you have, what did you think?
Posted by tami at 9:40 PM Comments (1)
January 7, 2005
Flow It, Show It, Long As God Can Grow It
I am not what you would call a high maintenance woman. I don’t buy lots of expensive make-up or jewelry and I’m not afraid of getting my hair messed up. I’ve never had a manicure or a pedicure or massage. Those just aren’t things that I do or that I feel I would be comfortable in doing. If I had grown up doing those things, it might be a different story.
Ashley and I had our hair cut back in December of 2003 (Ashley for the first time in a beauty shop) and I had mine cut again four or five months later. I didn’t get anything special done, but it still cost me around $30.
My son, Andrew, has decided that he wants to grow his hair out. He hasn’t had it cut in a while; I guess since this summer. It’s getting long all over, especially his bangs. Each time that Kevin has gone to get a haircut I have asked Andrew if he wants his cut also. The answer is always no. Even though I tell him that he can just get it trimmed, he still says no.
Then come the mornings where I have to listen to him gripe about his hair and how terrible it looks. Well, no duh, he won’t have it trimmed so his bangs are out of control! By the time I pick him up from school, he looks like he just rolled out of bed anyway. That’s what happens when boys have long hair; especially his because it’s extremely thick and curls.
He expects me to find a style for him and take him to the beauty shop to get it styled. The problem that I have with this is that I don’t like spending $30 on my hair every six months or longer, so why in the world would I take him to the beauty shop once every month or so to spend that much? I’ve told him no way, it’s not happening. My feeling is get it trimmed for $9 with his dad or not at all. I think I am justified in feeling this way. If he wants it long, he shouldn’t gripe and I shouldn’t have to listen to it!
Posted by tami at 8:03 AM Comments (4)
January 6, 2005
Oh The Stupidity!
Yesterday Ashley brought home a form from school. This form concerned the dress code policy that I so abhor. The form states:
“Blank Blank Elementary does feel that having a dress code is in the best interest of our students, their self-esteem, and our efforts to improve school safety, and increase academic achievement. Our superintendent and school board members have pledged support to any school that wishes to implement and enforce a stricter dress code policy.” Blah, Blah, Blah on and on it goes. Then in bold lettering it says:
“Your child is out of compliance with this policy for the following:”
Under this there are seven different violations listed and a blank line beside each one so that the teacher can check off which violation the child made.
Now, what would Ashley have done that was so wrong it warranted a letter home?
*Was she wearing a shirt without a collar? (Gasp! Fire and brimstone to those who wear shirts without collars!)
*Was she wearing pants another color other than black, navy blue, or khaki? (Eternal Hell will be sentenced to those who like different colors!)
* Did she wear a sweatshirt without a collared shirt or turtleneck underneath? (Let’s damn all who want to be different. We want robots! Ever seen the Twilight Zone?)
Well now. Let me tell you her offense. She forgot to put on a belt. Yep. That’s right. Her self esteem and that of others was almost tarnished because she forgot her belt. School safety was put aside because she forgot her belt. Her academic achievement was almost ruined because she forgot her belt. Sarcasm? You betcha!
Not only do I feel sorry for the students who have to go along with these asinine rules, I also feel for the teachers who are forced to check the apparel of their students each morning and deem who is and who is not in compliance. As if these teachers don’t have enough to do in one day, they also check for clothing violations.
The point that gets me above all else is this: the dress code was supposedly created because certain children were being made fun of. The board members decided that they didn’t want these children to be called out in front of their other classmates because they were poor, so the dress code was created.
How is anything different now that there is a dress code? Now it’s not the students calling their classmates out; it’s the teachers themselves! The teacher has become the one now who calls the students to the front of the room telling them that they must go to the office because of their clothing.
Ashley was given the choice of either going to the school nurse and borrowing a belt or wearing a piece of yarn around her waist. She chose the yarn and it looked like this:
Now exactly how is this helping to educate my child? Morons! The people that make these rules are just unintelligent buggers!
Posted by tami at 7:42 AM Comments (7)
January 5, 2005
Lazy, Slow, Or Just Plain Dumb
I consider myself to be an efficient person. When bills need to be paid, clutter needs to be removed, or something needs to be done – I feel that I handle it in a timely manner. Maybe this is why it bothers me when other people aren’t the same way. I don’t expect other people to do things immediately like I do, but I do expect that after two months changes would be made. This is what I am referring to:
Two months ago I changed back over to my old email address. The contact address for this blog is the same, but my personal email has gone back to what it was many years ago. I contacted everyone in my email contacts list letting them know that this was changing and to please stop sending email to my old address as I wouldn’t be receiving it any longer.
Well, that was two months ago and either people are slow or they’re just dumb. For some reason Adelphia is still allowing us to log into their site and check our old email. Kevin has only done this twice since we changed, but the same old people are STILL sending me email there. After the first time we noticed this, I sent another email to the culprits stating that my address had changed. Now I just don’t care. If it was email that was important they would make sure that I received it.
Posted by tami at 8:00 AM Comments (7)
January 4, 2005
Something Different
This past Sunday we attended a different church. It was the church that we attended for three years before moving on to the one we are at now.
Waking up late and knowing that our pastor would not be preaching were the two reasons we went to this church. I have to admit that it was nice to be back there. The pastor preached a great sermon and I loved singing the songs. This church isn’t afraid to sing the old hymns and the new ones. Our church seems to be under the impression that if they sing the old hymns no one will come back or then no one will want to sing the new ones any longer. Personally, I love both. It’s nice though to sing the old songs – the ones where you know all the words and the melody.
I’m not trying to undermine our new church, but I did enjoy something different! I especially enjoyed the invitation at the end of the service. We were allowed to keep our eyes open, we didn’t have to raise our hands, and the song was different. Yes, I enjoyed myself and I know that Kevin did too.
Will we want to switch back to this church at some time? I have no answer to that. I have no idea what will happen in the future. Every now and then it’s nice to do something different, something unexpected. The grass can be green on both sides.
Posted by tami at 3:20 PM Comments (2)
January 3, 2005
Meet Da Family
We registered Guido with the CKC (Continental Kennel Club). When you do something of this kind you receive a certified pedigree in the mail. Since I love to hear what people have named their animals, I was thrilled to see the names of Guido’s “family”. I thought you would be interested too so here goes:
Dad’s name (sire)
*Jorden Regan
Mom’s name (dam)
*Prissy Missy
Grandparents
*Jordy Seth Fairchild
*Charizna Nicole
*McLean’s Buckwheat
*Roxy Pug
Great Grandparents
*Gunther Seth Pennington
*Butter Cup Nae
*Jackie Chan
*Mandee Nicole Fairchild
*Count Oreo De Wrinkles
*Milli Rockwoman Wrinkles
*Pugie
*Katie
Great Great Grandparents
*Abbotcreek’s Litl Buckaroo
*Abbotcreek’s Tinkerbell Girl
*Randolph J Fleezinheimer
*Willis’ Elizabeth Jane
*Hooch Ebony Clyde Pennington
*Suzie Spring Pennington
Posted by tami at 10:14 PM Comments (4)
January 2, 2005
Vintage Clothing
While cleaning out their attic yesterday, my parents found a trunk with some of our old clothes inside. Mom found some of her baby clothes, slips that she wore as a teenager, and a bikini that she wore when I was little.
She also found clothes that had belonged to me and my sister. One of these articles of clothing was a costume that I wore during a recital called “By The Sea” at the Opera House. Many, many years ago, I attended Barbara Ann’s School of Dance. Here’s a picture of Ashley in that same costume today. She will not be happy when she finds that I have posted this for the world to see even though she looks adorable.
She also found some of Andrew’s baby clothes. Kevin and I decided to bring one outfit home and try to squeeze Guido’s sausage-like body into it. This was not an easy task! Here he is:
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He looks like the Godfather! I can hear him saying, “Hey yo! You’s ruining my image! When you sleep tonight, I’ll spit in your hair!”
I need help for these voices in my head!
Posted by tami at 5:01 PM Comments (3)
January 1, 2005
Plans Changed
Surprise, Surprise! We ended up going out after all last night! I called my parents to see what they were up to and they were going to see a movie. They wanted to know if we would like to join them. I had toyed with that idea myself earlier, so I said yes. My mom, Ashley, Kevin, and myself went to see Meet the Fockers. We laughed the entire time! It was hilarious! Trust me, this movie was just as good as its predecessor Meet the Parents.
My dad and Andrew saw Blade: Trinity. This is the third of these vampire movies. They both said that it was worth seeing once, but that was it. I saw the first movie in the series and thought that it was decent. I think I’m skeptical of any vampire that doesn’t act the way Anne Rice’s vampire’s act. I like her rendition and that’s that.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Posted by tami at 10:35 AM Comments (0)