SortaCrunchy

Delicious Treat for Body & Soul: Julia's Child by Sarah Pinneo

I'm such a sucker for a good New York City story.

I admit it. I'm mildly obsessed with what life in NYC must be like ... maybe that's the case for many of us relegated to life in the flyover states. A glimpse into family life, mothering, and business in the Big Apple first drew me in to Sarah Pinneo's newest release: Julia's Child: A Novel , but I soon found myself quite smitten with the story as it unfolded.

I've gotten to know Sarah through her generous offer to share some words with y'all through a few guest posts here. I knew she had a book releasing this year, but once I saw what the book was about, I knew I would be right up my alley.

The back cover describes Julia's Child as "A delectable comedy for every woman who's ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker." Yep! That would be me. From the first few pages, I was under the story's spell.

Y'all know that I don't read a lot of fiction, so this was a much-needed change of pace for me. In its pages, Sarah introduces us to Julia Bailey - a mother of two in NYC whose dream of launching an organic and whole food line of baby and toddler food is finally taking off. Julia and her only other employee - a single mom named Marta - are a two-woman show working around-the-clock to bring Julia's vision to life.

After Marta bumps into a celebrity hostess of a popular morning show, Julia and her line of organic foods are featured on TV and the company takes off as Julia's home life begins to buckle under the strain.

I found myself immediately identifying with the character of Julia in so many ways. She's far from perfect - she sometimes curses in front of her children, she worries over selling out to corporations, and she struggles with how to handle food-dye nightmares like Halloween. She's an idealist, but she's an idealist who has to come to terms with the reality of the true cost of dreams coming true. Sarah really taps into the struggle of early motherhood that I know so many women will identify with in Julia's character - how much can you give to your dream and much must you save for your family?

The writing is so funny - plenty of clever turns on popular culture as well as gentle pokes at the world of crunchy living. One thing I truly appreciated is that the pacing is fast and the plot twists are unexpected. I think that's why I don't read fiction much - some of it moves a bit too slowly for me. Not the case at all with Julia's Child!

The most delicious feature of the book, however, is that through the chapters are sprinkled real food recipes like Squash-Carrot-Raisin Muffet Bread and whole wheat gingerbread playdough and Mac and Cheese with Plenty of Dairy. Also included is the recipe for Apple and Cheddar Muffets which I get to share with you today!

APPLE AND CHEDDAR MUFFET from Julia's Child

Ingredients

1 very large apple or 2 small ones
2 T. butter
2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 T. granulated sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c. whole milk
1 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease and flour 12 muffin cups.

Peel and core the apples and dice finely. If your toddler is helping, peel and slice an extra one to share. If you play your cards right, he or she will be busy eating the apple slices while you're measuring out the dry ingredients.

In a small skillet, melt the butter and saute the apple until tender and just beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, sour cream, and 1 cup of the cheese. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients; then add the apples and butter. Stir just to combine.

Spoon into prepared tin, and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until very brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffets comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes on a rack. Loosen muffets by ringing their edges with a plastic knife. Turn them gently onto a plate. Serve warm or room temperature.

YUMMY.

And as another sweet treat, I get to give one copy of Julia's Child to one of you! (Open to US residents only. Sorry, international friends!)

All you have to do is leave me a comment. How about tell me your favorite thing to eat when you were a kid?

One comment will get you an entry. Giveaway ends February 15th.

For bonus entries, like Julia's Child on Facebook (leave a separate comment that you did) or follow Sarah on Twitter (and leave a separate comment)!

Happy eating and happy reading, friends!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED! Winner is Robin. Congratulations!

What Are You Into - January 2012

Yes, I know we aren't quite to the very last day of January yet, but I've been inspired by Leigh to go ahead and share the first What I'm Into of 2012 a bit early.

(oh my gosh, you guys. Look at the picture of my girls from What Are You Into January 2011. Does Dacey not look so young?! OH MY LORD the difference one year makes. Wow.)

What I'm Into This Month - January 2012

On My Nightstand: I've started reading again. HOORAY! I don't want to give away too much because I'm working up a post to share some current reads for Quirky Bookworm, but here's a short list:

Julia's Child: A Novel by Sarah Pinneo. Releases tomorrow! Review coming soon!

Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture by Adam McHugh (yes, thoughts coming on this one, too)

Healing by Francis McNutt

T.V. Show Worth Watching: Once Upon a Time. Duh. Also, L-O-V-I-N-G Project Runway All-Stars. (except for the Miss Piggy episode. that was dumb.)

We've finally burned through our Netflix queue. I'm watching Downton Abbey on my own when I can. Kyle just won't budge on his resistance to that one, so last night we launched a rewatch of Lost. I had tears in my eyes through the whole first episode. It's truly like revisiting old, dear friends. The symmetry between the opening scene and Jack's last scene in the finale. Yep. I could cry thinking about it.

Movie I've Seen (in or out of the theater): We watched Limitless (Bradley Cooper flick) on Netflix. It was pretty good.

We really need movie recommendations though!

In My Kitchen: a very naughty, very NOT low-carb sweet popcorn recipe I'm hoping to work up a post for to share with you before your Super Bowl parties!

In My Ears: I am heavily reliant on the recommendations of friends when it comes to music. I think this is the main reason I LOVE Spotify. I like to see what other people are listening to and I love the ability to follow entire playlists.

January puts me in a chill kind of mood, and I have an entire playlist devoted to "chill" on Spotify. Specifically, these days I am loving the Kina Grannis/Boyce Avenue cover of Fast Car (via Amy Clark), Alexi Murdoch's Something Beautiful (via Doug Matlock), and, for when I'm feeling more dance-y than chill-ish, Karmin's cover of Look At Me Now (via Sara Sophia). <---- AJ loves this one, too, and calls it The Paper Song. We are SO holy.

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month: BLISSDOM !!!!!!!

(Not looking forward to? Switching to Facebook timeline. I know the involuntary switch is coming, and for the record, I have NEVER complained about Facebook's changes. I usually quite like them. I do not like the timeline. It confuses me. And the thought of choosing ONE picture for the cover (?) picture stresses me out. /old lady rant)

How about you, sweet friends? Whatcha into this first fine month of 2012?

January featured sponsor A Simply Good Life has an interesting post up about nontraditional careers. If you are in the midst of a season of unemployment, under-employment, or shifting between careers, I am sure you can relate to her thoughts!

We Aren't The Problem, We Are The Answer: Jen Hatmaker's Seven

Here's a funny story about me and Jen Hatmaker:

Some of you may know Missy and I are quite good friends. There are some areas where our opinions diverge, but yeah, when it comes down to it, we are heart sisters. (Hope I'm not overstepping here, Miss.)

After I read and taught Jen Hatmaker's study Interrupted, I emailed Missy because I knew she knew Jen. I told her about how much I loved it and how Jen seemed like just the coolest person and basically I just want to be her when I grow up (even though she is just about one year older than me). Missy wrote back, "You should friend her on Facebook - she'll friend anyone."

So I did. I looked up her profile with her pretty head shot and friend requested her and sent along a little message about how I was teaching the Interrupted study and I just had been so moved and changed by her message and I just thought she was the world's greatest and oh, hey! you went to Oklahoma Baptist University and so did my sister-in-law and we have a mutual friend in Missy and on and on. I nervously hit "Send Message." I had never friend requested a total stranger before, let alone a well-known author and speaker.

And I waited.

And I waited.

NOTHING.

And then I started to feel like a real idiot.

Weeks went by and after being a little miffed at Missy for the "she'll friend anyone" encouragement, I kind of forgot about it. Until one day, I got a notification that Jen had accepted by friend request on Facebook. I read her wall and went from huffy to sheepish in about two seconds.

As it turned out, she was on a long Facebook break when I had friend requested her. She wasn't being snobby, she wasn't being un-approachable. She was doing something pretty noble - an experiment for her next book: 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

When I sent her the Facebook friend request last year, she was in the middle of an incredible experiment to give up the TOO MUCH of our culture. I'm delighted to have gotten the change to review this release because I know (!!!) you are going to connect with her message.

In the opening, she writes about the genesis for this experiment, how she realized that even though she and her husband Brandon had left the large church they were serving at in Austin to start Austin New Church with the simple mantra: "Love your neighbor, serve your city," she began to realize that she had never intentionally surrendered the comforts of her life.

When she considered the amounts of excess in her life, she identified some areas we have too much of in our culture: food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending, stress. Then she decided to see what would happen if she intentionally fasted from the excess:

Seven months, seven areas, reduced to seven simple choices. I'm embarking on a journey of less. It's time to purge the junk and pare down to what is necessary. Seven will be an exercise in simplicity with one goal: to create space for the Kingdom of God to break through.

What follows is an INCREDIBLE read, my friends. Really, truly incredible.

I treasure Jen's writing because she is 1) seriously hilarious and 2) unflinchingly honest. Although the topic practically begs for it, there is not one trace of self-righteousness to be found. That's the truth. She records how the experiment unfolds, confessing the times she breaks the rules and sharing how irritable her family got at various points as they were dragged along in her crazy.

My heart welled up as she wrote about things I've long been passionate about: real food, spending less (or nothing!) on clothing, creation care, consumerism, Sabbath rest ... just about anything I've ever written about, she covers here and ohsomuch more.

Near the end of the book, she shares some reflections that are so, so important that I am straining to share it with you in the entirety. It would be an egregious violation of copyright law, so I'll try to sum up ... She talks about how most of us, we cry over the orphan crisis and we feel sick over child trafficking. We cringe at how much we spend on birthday parties, knowing there are children starving everywhere. We read Shane Claiborne and feel depressed for days. We know we are living the MORE MORE MORE life our culture offers, and we feel so much tension about what to do about it.

Jen writes:

Hear this: I don't think God wants you to be at war with yourself.

He sent the Prince of Peace to soothe those tumultuous waters already. Self-deprecation is a cruel response to Jesus, who died to make us righteous. Guilt is not Jesus' medium.

....

We're so conditioned to being the problem that we've forgotten that we are actually the answer. God is not angry at you; how could he possibly be? You're his daughter, his son, you're on the team. Don't imagine he is sitting us all down for a lecture. Rather, he's staging a rally, gathering the troops. The church is rising like a phoenix right now, collecting speed and strength and power.

THIS is the life-giving, hope-bringing, love-empowering message of Seven. It is NOT a lecture. You will not walk away from it feeling like crap. You will be inspired. If nothing else, you'll be entertained.

How did the whole experiment play out? Did she go back to Facebook and eating out and watching TV?

You'll have to read the book to find out.

And I'm giving one of you the chance to get your own copy of 7 , straight from my little house on the plains to yours. All you have to do is leave a comment! In the spirit of simple, we'll keep it simple. No bonus entries, no thought-provoking questions that require a short essay in the comments. Just one comment. I'll draw a winner next Sunday.

In the meantime, here's to allowing ourselves to be OPEN to the crazy that comes when you are surrendered to the Kingdom of God!

 

Meet Jessica and Quirky Bookworm!

It's my pleasure to introduce you to another January sponsor of SortaCrunchy: Jessica of Quirky Bookworm!

Hi SortaCrunchy readers! I've been reading SortaCrunchy since 2009, and I was excited when Megan recently opened up the opportunity to sponsor her blog.

I'm a lifelong book addict -- my parents actually had to have a rule that I was only allowed to read for five hours a day. Last August I quit my job at the bookstore where I’d worked for six years to focus on being a mom; and to blog about my passionate love for books.

I launched Quirky Bookworm: The Literary Adventures of a Sorta Blonde Mom last September and I’m thrilled to have a venue to recommend books to more people, because I think my friends need a break to catch up on the books I’ve already recommended!

My literary adventures began early, and by age nine they involved the Brontës (under the covers by flashlight of course, since my mother had forbidden me to read them till I was older) and C.S. Lewis--I wanted a magical wardrobe so badly!

In high school I read a lot of Georgette Heyer (still my favorite author!) and Shakespeare. I tried to work on my fake British accent, but it remains pretty terrible.

In college, I read French and politics textbooks, although not as many as I should have. I also fell in love with Bill Bryson in a big way.

In recent years I’ve become a mystery connoisseur: Henning Mankell, Donna Leon, Ian Rankin, and Jacqueline Winspear number among my favorites.

It’s fun to look back on how my reading tastes have changed over the years. That’s one of the many great things about reading – there are always fantastic authors and new genres to try.

My husband Noel and I welcomed our daughter Eleanor in April 2010, and so these days I also read a lot of Dr. Seuss and Sandra Boynton. I love how much Eleanor loves to read books – it makes me so happy to be passing on the pleasure of reading!

I hope that you will stop by Quirky Bookworm to check out more of what I’m reading, find out some of my quirky reading habits, share some of your favorite reads, and maybe even win a book or two. My goal is to read 150 books in 2012, so I’ll have plenty of great books to tell you about all year long!

Milk Production and Scheduled Feedings

image source: ODHD

We've been talking about feeding choices over at In The Backyard in our Spirit-Led Parenting series. You cannot talk about infant feeding without touching on whether or not to schedule when baby eats. I've take both approaches: Dacey was breastfed on a schedule and Aliza Joy was fed on demand.

Today's discussion is not so much weighing the merits of scheduling or not, but rather looks at how scheduled feedings can impact the breastfeeding mother. We look at the science and examine why some women who breastfeed on a schedule from birth may lose their milk supply after the four month mark.

Please join us over at Laura's place for this discussion. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and experience!

 

7 Quick Takes: treading water edition

I am over my head in manuscript writing right now, to the point that it's hard for me to function effectively in any other area of my life. Thankfully, there's always 7 Quick Takes to allow me some space to tell you what I'm thinking about when I'm not just treading water:

1. Y'all. The Spendid Season Gift Guide is shaping up nicely. I am really excited to introduce you to the businesses represented in it. I think they are ALL a great fit for this audience!

One thing I don't have represented in the guide are shops that cater to kids and kids' items. Do you have an Etsy shop or some other kind of small business that sells children's clothing, accessories, toys, or treats? Email me so we can talk about getting you placed in my gift guide!

2. Over at Synchoblog, the topic for November is something that appeals to me on so many levels: Calling Us Out of Numbness.

Richard Rohr says “the role of the prophets is to call us out of numbness.”

...

This month’s Synchroblog is centered on where are you being challenged by some kind of prophetic voice.

What is it stirring up in you?

What is God challenging you to consider?

How does it intersect with your faith & practical experience?

I know so many of you share a heart like mine that wants to be shaken awake from numbness and call to the attention of others these things that cause us to have a fire in the belly. I hope you'll consider being part of the November Synchroblog!

3. Some great book releases happened this month.

This week, Brandon Hatmaker released Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture which looks AMAZING. Also this month, Civitas Press released Not Alone: Stories Of Living With Depression, a compilation under the careful and thoughtful leadership of Alise Wright. I'm looking forward to reading both!

4. For years, I've heard about the wonders of Canada's maternity one year maternity leave allowance, and I've always thought that must be such an incredible provision to have made for new parents. Over at World Moms Blog this week, Salma wrote about The Dark Side of Maternity Benefit and told how sometimes that one year of leave can be marred by workplace politics and pressure to return before the year has passed. Interesting read for this USA mama!

5. It is so amazing how much I find myself on the same page as Jennifer, SortaCrunchy's featured sponsor this month. This week, she wrote about how she likes to be in control, but often faces the reality that she is not the general manager of the universe:

It’s tempting to throw an adult temper tantrum and say, “Well, I’m not in control; there’s nothing I can do!” But, the belief that I don’t have a choice is also an illusion.

She’d love to hear how you have faith in the unplanned seasons of life over at Every Breath I Take.

6. One of the things that I am already thinking about not having control over is the response to Spirit-Led Parenting. I know it won't release until next spring, but Laura and I have already had many conversations about anticipating the response from people who don't agree with our philosophy.

Because of this, I really appreciated this post from Jon Acuff this week: Love Your Dream Too Much To Hate Somebody Else's. He talks about the question he asks people who attack him and his book, and goes on to encourage all of us that

The greatest way to never fall in love with your own dream is to hate somebody else’s dream.

The greatest way to never chase your dream is to spend your time hating somebody else’s dream.

The greatest way to never move forward on your dream is to donate your creativity to hating somebody else’s dream.

Good, good stuff in that post. I've bookmarked it for (lots of) future reference.

7. Finally, one last book-centric thing. One chapter I am working on right now deals with the importance of building connection with our babies and what that looks like lived out. Within that chapter, I'll be dealing briefly with PPD and how that can affect bonding and connection with your baby.

We've asked before, but I want to ask one more time: If you are a Christian mama who has dealt with PPD on any level, would you be willing to share a bit of that? This part is hard for Laura and me because that is not a battle that either of us had to take up, and so we are relying heavily on the stories of others to bring that section to life.

Some things we would be interested in knowing are

• How did your faith affect your struggle with PPD?
• Did you feel you could be open and honest with your faith community about PPD, or did you feel there was a pressure (spoken or implied) that this was not something you could talk about with others?
• What resources helped you in the midst of PPD the most?

Obviously these answers are very personal. If you would rather not share this in the comments, please email me at megan at sortacrunchy dot net.

So, that's it for these very quick takes. HALLOWEEN-Y weekend! Aliza Joy's most favorite time of the year. Candy extravaganza!!!

snapshots

These two. Aren't they lovely? Six and a half years old now. They played so wonderfully together, you would think they had been friends since birth.

Maya was born exactly on her due date, a day circled on my own calendar as it was supposed to be Dacey's birthday, too. Over a week later, Dacey arrived and together (but separately) they forged trails in their mothers' lives that would one day bring birth to a book.

We are coming down from a glorious weekend with Laura and her family. Would you believe that untold emails, phone calls, and Skype visits later, Laura and I only just shared the same space for the first time? It seems weird to say that because I feel like I've known Laura my whole life. It was as natural to hang out with her as it would be to hang out with a dear friend from college.

Our kids played so incredibly well together and our husbands hit it off, too. We tried to give them an authentic Oklahoma experience and the weather even cooperated with a good ol' Oklahoma thunderstorm. As they pulled out of the driveway yesterday evening, AJ said softly and sadly, "I love them." We all do. You can see a few more snapshots over at Laura's blog today.

So that was our weekend.

In the meantime, my Delicious bookmarks don't seem to want to be delivered to you anymore, so I'm going back to old-fashioned link lists for a while.

*** Over at Red and Honey, Beth is doing 31 Days of Real Housewife Confessions. Now you know that I rarely talk about my marriage here at SortaCrunchy, so it was a pretty big deal for me to share my number one marital confession with her readers. What could it be? Hmmmmmm. Read all about it at Beth's place!

*** Last weekend at Not Just Cute, I was introduced to the Kid History videos. The girls and I watched them all throughout the week and we just cannot stop laughing about them. My favorite is Episode 6 - the one about healthy food ("Here's your perfectly normal pancakes, kids!"), but they are all so stinkin' hilarious. They definitely just keep getting funnier the more you watch them. Lines from the videos have quickly become private jokes with the girls, so if you run into us and we randomly say "Ninja vanish!" or "Girls are mermaids. Sometimes boys are mermaids, too" -- well. This explains it.

*** This post on assigning positive intent from Sarah at Emerging Mummy. Such good stuff. I believe so fully in assigning positive intent, but it's something I have to work at - even more-so, sometimes, in interactions with other adults rather than just in parenting.

*** Finally, SortaCrunchy featured sponsor Jennifer loves being a mom. But, sometimes she struggles to
know herself separate from that role. Check out Hello My Name Is…Mommy at Every Breath I
Take to see how she's finding her identity.

October. This month has been so good to me. How are you filling the last days of this month?

 

 

Spirit-Led Parenting: Honoring Your Stories

Something I'm learning over and over these days is that generally, people feel a little shaky in the presence of freedom. I'm finding this is completely true in the realm of parenting as we explore how to encourage parents to walk in the freedom of Christ and lean on the Spirit for direction on this path.

We tend to like our systems, our "this is the way you do it," our "it worked for me, surely it will work for you." Your stories in my ears ... they are all serving to shape and mold the message of this book. Thank you for helping me to remember that relationships are far more important than the systems we want to put in place.

Over at In the Backyard, we are continuing the feeding series, and today I'm sharing some of your stories about baby bottles appeared in your diaper bag when you thought there would only ever be nursing covers. Come over and listen alongside me?

* * * * *

And because it is Monday, after all, maybe you are looking for ways to relax and stay focused as the week begins? Jennifer from Every Breath I Take wants to know: "When was the last time you relaxed deeply?" I've been practicing the advice she gives in this post on why it's important and how to do it. It's making a huge difference in my days! So thankful for her sponsorship this month!

Spirit-Led Parenting: Early Breastfeeding Challenges

"Try to make it six weeks."

Long before Laura and I connected at the heart over our shared experiences in parenting new babies, we were both trying to follow this advice for getting started with breastfeeding. Laura's earliest weeks were much more challenging than mine, and today is sharing honestly about nipple shields, tearful nursing sessions, perseverance, and faith as part of the Spirit-Led Parenting series on her blog.

Did breastfeeding come easily for you, or did you face obstacles as well? What got you through the hard times, and what would be your best advice for a mama who is deep in the trenches of a rough breastfeeding journey? Join us there for discussion.

Also, have you liked Spirit-Led Parenting on Facebook? We're inviting you to be part of the behind-the-scenes group bringing our message to life!

photo by Rapheal Goetter

the fumbling servant

It starts the night before. I don't always do routine and structure very well, but I've long ago perfected and come to rely on my nightly routine. Dishes done and put away, girls tucked in, wiping down counters and sweeping up floor, and then the coffee pot.

Sacred ritual: empty the cold, sticky grounds, wash out the filter and carafe, count out the scoops. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Push the buttons, grind off, timer.

4:45 AM.

The machine tiptoes around, careful not to wake anyone, serving us with gentle hospitality.

5:00 AM.

In perfect synchronization, phones charged on nightstands chirp to life. We sit up, trade footsteps to the bathroom, open our eyes just enough to pour mugs of coffee. He makes his way to the dark living room for prayer and study; I retreat to my office.

Before I can think complete thoughts, I open up Ms. L'Engle's primer on life as artist and swallow down the truth in the pages, careless of how hot it is, no thought to burning my tongue.

If the work comes to the artist and says, "Here am I, serve me," then the job of the artist, great or small, is to serve. The amount of the artist's talent is not what it is about.

. . .

When the artist is truly the servant of the work, the work is better than the artist.

. . .

When the work takes over, then the artist is enable to get out of the way, not to interfere. When the work takes over, then the artist listens.

I listen. I listen so hard. I try to sit and be still and be back in the place where I needed the message of this book, and no one was speaking this into my life. But it's so hard, and resistance is so strong. Elora knows what I'm talking about. She wrote so aptly, "resistance will do anything to keep us from the redemptive power of story."

Resistance sits smugly next to me, shaking her read and rolling her eyes. Smirking.

But before he can listen, paradoxically, he must work. Getting out of the way and listening is not something that comes easily, either in art or in prayer.

Before I can listen to God in prayer, I must fumble through the prayers of words, of willful demands, the prayers of childish "Gimmes," of "Help mes," of "I want ..." Until I tell God what I want, I have no of knowing whether or not I truly want it.

And so I work and I pray and I fumble.

It feels much more like fumbling than writing. I carry it with me every second of the day, the burden of this work. And I'm terrified and I dread working and it's hard and I want to quit and I want to run. I certainly didn't want to tell you any of this; Resistance is in a long-term relationship with Pride and together they warn me against this kind of transparency.

Laura and I are working on the two biggest chapters right now: feeding and sleep. Each of us are working through our own redemptive stories, each of us have so much to say. And it's so big and I'm terrified that it's all coming out wrong.

But I sit down to serve like clockwork and coffee every morning. I want with such earnestness and honesty to serve the work in the best, best way.

I know it's October and it's weekend and it's apple picking and football and leaf tracing and hot cider, but if you have just a moment, will you pray? Pray that we would serve this work well. I cannot possibly ever thank you enough.