Summer by the numbers

• 8889.2 kms (road trips)

• 9328 kms (flying)

• 42 nights away from home

• 13 first cousins (everyone on moms side, 2 on dads side)

• 3 Great Lakes: Huron, Superior, Ontario

• 9 hotel rooms: (Oceanview Rocky harbour, Hotel North St Anthony, Oceanview Rocky harbour, Sinbad’s Hotel and Suites Gander, The Capital St. John’s, Super 8 North Bay, Super 8 Thunder Bay, Motel 6 Sault Ste Marie)

• 7 Provinces: Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba

• 10 nights in a sleeping bag

• 4 aunts and uncles

• 5 door knobs replaced

• 209,304,989 trees seen (estimate)

• 2 National parks (Gros Morne, Terra Nova)

• 3 Provincial parks (Buffalo Pound, Blue Lake, Sandbanks)

• 7 flights

• 2 compensation claims under the Canadian passenger bill of rights (+ 2 appeals, one successful, and one report to the Canadian Transport Authority)

The end of the Mazda 5

 Back in 2013, I bought a used Mazda 5. It was great. It had storage space or seating, and I took full advantage of both.

When my mom brought the 3 ten-to-twelve year olds to visit, it picked them up at the airport. 

When I started building furniture, I hauled 8-foot-long boards home in it. 

It was there through Halloween parties, road trips, injuries, renovations, storms, COVID, picking up the puppy, and everything else that has happened in the last 10 years.

It was hard to find a replacement! The Mazda 5 had a lot of storage, not to mention the flexibility of the 6 seats. But it was time, so on Friday I traded it in.

It was a good car.

Happy Birthday, Miss B!

I haven't seen my niece in person in over a year, but it is her birthday today! (I do get SnapChat pictures from her,usually looking mildly annoyed, even though I send her awesome pictures like this one:

I've known her since before she realized she could straighten out her legs. 

And somehow, she grew up. (I did not agree to this.) Happy birthday, B! 

The visit, 2016

Mom, my sister, and my niece came to visit in July. Somehow, my niece is taller than me, even though I'm pretty sure I told her that wasn't allowed.

We went to the museum of history - the entire third floor is closed, so I'd wait until next year to go.

We did a cruise on the St. Lawrence.

And we went downtown.

And, of course, my niece took over my social media accounts and changed my profile picture on Instagram.

Since she also did a fantastic job of cleaning my car, I guess I'll let her get away with it.

Happy 3rd birthday, monkey

Twelve years ago, my sister went into labour with my niece. It was Saturday night. I'd flown there Friday night, got in late, and then had to get up to go to the hospital with my sister since they were inducing the baby.

Suffice it to say I was tired, so naturally, I was not thrilled about rushing back to the hospital at 8 at night. I would have much rather gotten a good night sleep, but back to the hospital we went.

I wasn't opposed to my niece being a leap year baby, but she could have been a leap year baby if she'd been born at 12:30. The next ten hours were really just a plot to keep her least-favourite auntie from sleeping.

They were in the hospital for five days, and at one point my niece was mad. I don't know why - there's not too much to complain about when you get fed, bathed, and generally cared for without having to do so much as support your own head - but she was angry. The nurse looked at my sister and said "you're going to have fun with this one".

The first night she was home, I woke up at 2 am to hear her screaming. I got up and found her crying, and my sister crying because she wouldn't calm down. After a while, we figured out that she probably had an upset stomach, but no fever or anything that indicated she needed medical attention. I have no idea how we got her to stop crying, but we must have succeeded eventually. 

By the time I came back to Ottawa, she'd figured out that she could straighten her legs. Suddenly she was harder to hold.

The next time I was there was Christmas. Her crib was in my room. (Well, my bed was in her room.) One morning, I woke up to discover her crawling around in the bed beside me. She must have cried in the middle of the night, because I apparently got up and put her between me in bed between me and the wall without waking up.

It's hard to believe that she's almost as tall as me (she's not allowed to get any taller, for the record) and that she wears a bigger size of shoe than I do.

Happy birthday, monkey.

Love, your favourite auntie.

Last night, my niece called. She hardly ever calls - she has way more important things to do, so usually if I hear from her, something has gone wrong.

That was the case yesterday. She was home alone and she thought there was someone else in the house.

We talked about how houses make noises that can sound scary when you're alone, she told me what she'd heard, and we figured out that there was nothing to worry about. She had the flu earlier this week, so I asked her how she was feeling.

She hung up.

I had to make Wanda call back to make sure there wasn't someone in the house.

Kasey

A little over six years ago, my sister got a dog (Kasey). Apparently, she talked with another sister before I arrived for Christmas to make sure she could send the dog over there if I couldn't stand her. (I was a little worried as well - I've never been a huge fan of dogs in the house, but most of my experience has been with big dogs, and Kasey was a miniature schnauzer, and I love my niece, so I figured we'd work it out.)

I think it took me about 5 seconds to fall in love with the dog - and vice versa. (I maintain that I was her favourite auntie, possibly due to the treats I brought).

She got sick in the spring, and spent the rest of the year being diagnosed with more and more conditions (Cushings, diabetes, blindness, and the list goes on). I went back to see her in August, and she was as sweet and cuddly as always, but she didn't have the energy she used to have.

(She would, however, still stand on her back legs if she thought there was a treat in it for her.)

My sister made the difficult decision to put her down 5 days before I arrived for Christmas. It was the right decision - she was in a lot of pain, and she wasn't getting better.

But man, the house is not the same without her.

Christmas

My uncle passed away in Calgary the day before I left for Christmas. It wasn't unexpected - he had been in hospice for over a month.

A day later, I flew to Regina for the most hectic Christmas ever.

I arrived Saturday morning. That day there was a birthday part of another uncle, so I got to see lots of family and bowl a couple of terrible games.  (The almost 2-year-old beat me, for the record).

Sunday was more time with family, and then we left for Calgary. We stopped in Medicine Hat (3 provinces & timezones in 3 days!) for the night and ended up arriving around 11:30 on Monday.

Monday night I got to see a couple of cousins and an aunt I rarely see, and then at the funeral on Tuesday I saw a lot more relatives. We drove back to Regina that night.

Wednesday morning I took my niece shopping for her mom's present, as is our tradition, and Wednesday night I made her go to Star Wars. (She liked it, even though she did not want to go.)

Thursday, of course, was Christmas Eve.

My cousin had us all over on Boxing Day, and then I went to see some friends of the family.

The 27th was the first relaxing day of the trip - we went to my niece's ringette game and then watched movies and played games. Naturally, I left at the crack of dawn on the 28th.

I am very much looking forward to doing nothing this weekend, starting with my annual tradition of falling asleep on the couch at 10 tonight.

All about me quilt #2

You may recall that last year, I made an all-about-me quilt for my niece. It was her favourite colours, and every square was different and related to her in some way.

When my cousin's daughter Sky was here in the summer, she said she wanted one, too, and rattled off a list of things about her.

(When I went home for a few days, her mom was telling me that all of her kids got quilts as part of the vacation school they did, Sky immediately said "You still have to make me mine.")

I finished it the first week in November, and obsessively checked the status of the parcel until it arrived last Friday.

On Saturday morning, I got this email:

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you its beautiful.  (though i have no idea that it was necessary to add the hugs and kisses) still thank you

my favourite are: the barn, the church , the socks, the long board,the skate and ball, and the mermaid

hopefully you didn’t over do you self

Miss Feline

and i love the fuzzy inside and all the details like the camping one thats one of my favourite too. 

 

 Totally worth it.

It's all over but the laundry

This year, my mom brought my niece and one of my cousin's daughters to visit, and there were no injuries.

I couldn't believe it, either.

They flew into Toronto on a Friday night. They got in around 5 and checked in to the airport hotel, and Wanda and I drove down to meet them. We got there a little before 10.

The girls were a little ridiculously excited to see us.

Saturday morning, we met up with my cousin and all six of us drove to Niagara Falls. Another cousin met us there, and we spent the day going on the Hornblower (which used to be the Maid of the Mist), eating at the Rainforest Cafe, and walking around the falls. (My niece didn't want to go on the boat because it would be boring, but I made her go anyway. She loved it.)

A monkey in a tree

The falls

We went back to Toronto Saturday night.

Sunday morning, we checked out of the hotel and drove to a subway station with parking. We left the car there and took 2 trains to get downtown to meet up with my cousin again. We walked around downtown and ended up at the CN Tower.

The girls are somewhere around the R

We'd originally planned to go to the Ontario Science Centre - the girls have passes so would have gotten in free - but it was hot, and I was afraid that if we got back to the car, no one would want to get out of it again to go to the science center, so we went to the aquarium instead. I really like aquariums, and this one was good, despite the fact that it was crowded and there were too many people with empty strollers and wagons.

We came back to Ottawa on Sunday night, so Monday was a quiet day. We watched movies, and the girls got their hair cut. (My niece didn't want to watch Captain America because she doesn't like superhero movies, but I made her and she loved it.)

We also went to Menchies for frozen yogurt. (My niece didn't want to go because she doesn't like frozen yogurt, but I made her and she loved it.)

Not enjoying the frozen yogurt

A friend brought her kids over on Tuesday and we made stilts. We didn't' quite finished them - it was ridiculously hot - but it was still fun. After lunch, we went to Britannia Beach and the kids played in the water. We finished up Tuesday by going to see Inside Out.

We had planned to go to Calypso on Wednesday, but the cabanas were booked, so we moved it to Thursday and went shopping instead. The girls had a good time spending every penny they'd brought with them.

Shopping

Thursday was Calypso. As usual, we spent a lot of time on the lazy river, and tried a bunch of the other rides. It rained Thursday morning, so it wasn't terribly crowded. The adults got sunburned, and the kids (who have t-shirt bathing suits) were fine.

Calypso

Friday morning we went to see Age of Ultron (since the girls had watched the first Avengers movie at some point - I don't normally let them watch as many movies as they did this trip, but it was really, really hot out). We went for lunch, and then I cruelly forced them to go for a walk in the woods. We tried to feed the chickadees, but they were apparently on vacation as they were nowhere to be found.

Can't wait to go for a walk

Saturday we went to Ray's Reptiles. I've somehow never been there, although I've seen their traveling show. (My niece didn't want to go, but she seemed to have a good time, anyway.) This is also when I made a terrible mistake - I bought the girls magnetic rocks. They played with them constantly. It was very irritating. (I think this is also the day Wanda took them mini-golfing. It's hard to remember exactly.)

Waiting for the show at Ray's Reptiles

Kissing a turtle

Sunday we went downtown to the Busker festival. (My niece didn't want to go, but ...you know the drill.)  We didn't have much time there, but they enjoyed it, and they got to take the bus there, so all was well. After the festival, we went out to my cousin's aunt's cottage. It was a beautiful day for it.

At the cottage

Monday morning I took the kids to Minions (even though it was the third movie they'd seen in theaters since they got here), then it was time for lunch so that they could get to the airport. They flew home last night.

The Recipe Book & Deadlines

I'm the oldest grandchild on my mom's side. I have a cousin who's a couple months younger, and then a sister and cousin who are two years younger. When I was in university, my mom wrote down a bunch of family recipes and gave all of us a recipe book.

As time went on, the computer that had the original file crashed and the file was lost. As others grew up, the old recipe books were photocopied and shared.

Two or three years ago, I thought, "Hey, we should make this an ebook."

I started copying out the recipes one at a time. I was doing this at work on the days when I stayed late because it didn't make sense to come home after boxing.

After a few weeks, it occurred to me that scanners could easily scan the book, and I could use Acrobat (which was on my work computer) to translate the resulting PDF into text.

That was much, much faster.

There was still some proof-reading to do, but it was a good start.

I moved everything into InDesign (also on my work computer) and tried to figure out how to make each recipe its own link under a table of contents. (The answer, it turned out, was to make each one a separate file in the book.)

Then I discovered that I had too many recipes, because InDesign has a hard limit of 150 files. I'd have to make multiple books and then merge them in Calibre.

That was in December 2013. In January 2014, I changed to an earlier boxing class. I had no time after work to work on the book.

Last week I picked it up again. Now that I had a deadline - the work computer has to go back - it didn't take long to finish it. (Probably a couple of hours, and that was mostly because I found a formatting error that needed to be fixed in each of the 150+ files.) I made a title page on Wednesday and finalized the book.

It's finally done.

At least until someone finds a typo.

Happy birthday, Miss B

It's my niece's birthday. She's eleven, somehow. I got her the Harry Potter novels, knowing that she claims she doesn't like them (even though she has never read them). She was ... Less than pleased.

But she started to read them.

The visit

My mom and my niece B came to visit about ten days ago, and this time they brought my cousin's two girls, Star and Sky.

They had barely arrived when Star managed to get a nail though her shoe into her foot. I got to call her parents and say "they arrived. Also, for no particular reason, has Star had a tetanus shot?"

Day two we went to a paint-your-own-pottery place,  then my cousin arrived from Toronto. We spent the rest of the day close to home. I believe this was the day B skinned her knee.

Day three we went downtown (some of us on the bus) and saw the changing of the guard, toured the Parliament Buildings, and went to the market. No injuries.

Monday was Calypso, even though it was cold. (No lines!) Star scaped the bottom of her toe just before we left. Oh, and Wanda hurt her feet and spent the next few days hobbling around.

Tuesday morning, Sky woke me up around two because her ear was hurting. I gave her a painkiller and sent her to bed. It was better In the morning, which was good, because it was activity day. We made marshmallow catapults, bouncy balls, doll blankets, and rain. We stuck skewers in ziplock bags of water, stood on eggs, and blew up balloons with nerds and soft drinks. Also, B's mother joined us for supper, as she was unexpectedly in Ottawa for work. I think this might be the day Star stubbed her toe on the grass.

Wednesday, we went shopping, then out for supper one last time before B's mother went home.

Thursday, we went out to Star and Sky's great aunt's cottage. A lot of their relatives from that side of the family came out, so they were able to meet them, and they got to go in the kayak and inflatable boat in between rain showers. Just for fun, Sky stubbed her toe badly enough that it had to be taped up. I don't know that it was broken, but I don't know it wasn't. (Her great aunt is a nurse, so she did the taping.)

Friday, we went ringette shopping, stopped at Black's rapids for a few minutes to walk over the locks, and Wanda got stung by a wasp. After that fun, we went to the museum of science and technology. I got all the girls passes to the Saskatchewan science center for Christmas, which meant they could get in for free here. They made water rockets, ran on the hamster wheel, stumbled thorough the crazy kitchen, and walked through the trains. We then stopped at Hog's Back park, where they climbed an awesome climbing tree and no one got hurt.

And then Friday night, my niece and Star went to the park and B banged her foot on a metal bar. She hopped home, and I put ice on it. After fifteen minutes, I took the ice off and told her to stand up. There was an audible pop and she screamed.

And then she said "Auntie Colette, my foot is going numb".

It turns out the line between "suck it up" and "we are going to the hospital now" is just past "my foot is going numb and I can't wiggle my toes". I googled the address of the children's hospital and piggy-backed her to the car as Sky said "I'm dizzy."

As we checked in, the person registering us out me as a contact on B's file, since B's mom was back home. I said "good, I'm her favourite auntie", and B said - as always - "nope, you're not even on the list". The woman registering us gave me a bit of a look, and we had to explain that this is normal.

Less than two hours later, the doctor explained that it was a sprain and should be better within a day. Frankly, I didn't believe him. (I was ok with the sprain part, but who has ever heard of a sprain healing in two days?)

Saturday morning, Sky again complained about being dizzy, so we were off to the medi-clinic to deal with her ear infection. B came with us, hopping all the way, and sometime while we were getting Sky's prescription filled, B's foot got better - not 100%, but enough that she could walk. Yay! (Also, apologies, CHEO doctor.)

We had a little time in the afternoon, so we headed to Brittania beach. Since there was a Muslim festival going on, we had to park a ways away and take the shuttle. Luckily, the shuttle was a double-decker bus, so that was fun.

Sunday we took the train to Montreal, where we walked through Old Montreal and went to that science center. B's foot was hurting, so we didn't get to see as much as we might have otherwise, but they enjoyed it.

Monday, we played glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, and then decided to go back to the beach. Sadly, that's when the thunder storm hit, so Wanda took the girls to a movie instead. (No one got hit by lightning.)

This morning, everyone packed, then we took the bus downtown to meet Wanda for lunch, because she went back to work today. After lunch, we had a bit of rest time before it was time to go. We were halfway to the airport when we realized B forgot her ipad. I dropped them off, and mom got them checked In and in the line for security while I raced home. I made it back and gave the ipad to mom, who made it through the line for security with minutes to spare.

I'd better be on the list now.

95

Today would have been my Gitrandma's 95th birthday. She died almost 20 years ago, on Christmas Eve.

(When I was a kid, my cousins and I used to sing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". We didn't sing it that year.)

This improperly-scanned picture was taken in September of 1994. Grandma was sick, but she was just beginning to notice symptoms. 

The picture was taken the day we celebrated my grandparents' 55th anniversary.

Earlier that year, I spent a week out at the farm with them. I helped them paint the kitchen and shampoo the carpets, and while I was there Grandma and I went through some of her old pictures.

There was one of her mother, who had moved to New York State in the 30s and ended up driving a bus. There were pictures of their old horses - Grandpa knew exactly what horses they were. There were her wedding pictures, and she told me that she and Grandpa got married in the afternoon even though they couldn't eat before hand (because at the time, you couldn't eat at all before receiving communion). They couldn't get married in the morning, because if they did they'd have to feed their guests two meals, and they couldn't afford to do that. She had several pictures - a few where they looked nice, and one where the wind was blowing her veil and dress around.

We were planning to get them a clock with family picture on it for their anniversary, so I stealthily pocketed some of the pictures. I wasn't stealthy enough, because every time I stole the nice wedding picture, she found it and took it back.

The clock has the windy picture on it.

It might have been that visit when I asked her whether she was born in the morning or the afternoon (because of the whole April Fool's thing). She didn't know - in her day, she said, kids didn't ask those questions.

Happy birthday, Grandma. No fooling.

Christmas wrap up

I started my trip to Saskatchewan in a panic. I left Friday, December 20, which those of you in Ottawa might remember as the day of the snowstorm. Wanda called a couple of hours in advance to order a cab, but DJ's didn't start looking for an available driver until the cab was supposed to be here.

Since they weren't likely to get a cab here in time, we unexpectedly had to drive to the airport. We parked at the Park'n'Fly lot and made our flight without much time to spare.

***

I made a quilt for my sister for Christmas. I started it in July, and finished it in December.  Here it is:

***

The dog is still awesome, and I'm still her favourite auntie.

***

I got to see a lot of family on this trip, most of them multiple times. It was great to see everyone.

***

I went to three of my niece's ringette games. She got her first goal in one of the games, and her team won another one. I attributed it to her favourite auntie being at the game. (B: "Auntie Wanda?")

***

The trip back was in eventful, but man the 6:20 am flights kill me. The Park'n'Fly bus was just leaving the terminal when we got out of the airport, and he stopped to wait for us when he saw us coming. The car wasn't too bad, but there was a fair amount of snow behind it, so our driver came back to shovel out the back and, when we were stuck in the spot, another driver came over to help get us out. I highly recommend them.

***

First day of the year, and I figured out how to renew an ebook from the library. Yay for new things!

***

Yesterday, I went downstairs at mom's to find my cousin's three-year-old son zipped into the dog kennel. I asked if someone put him in there, and he answered (in the saddest voice you can imagine

), "no, it was me".

***

Airlines have a 50 pound limit for luggage, and I know if I can easily lift my suitcase, it's under 50 pounds, but the instructor at the gym has been working on an evil plan to make me stronger. My suitcase squeaked through at 49 pounds.

***

Some family friends moved into a senior's home from the house they lived in for almost sixty years. I helped them go through stuff for a couple of hours, and they gave me a few things, including some pans and an awesome pickle dish that survived the trip home.

***

Winnipeg airport has stores and restaurants in the secure area. This is new, and a big improvement from a few years ago, when the only store was closed and the water vending machines broken when I was there.

***

Before Christmas, I love having the tree and lights up, but as soon as I get home, they just look like work to me.

Not that I put them away today, but it won't be long.

***

And now I'm home, and I'm exhausted, and there is no food in the house, and I go back to work in the morning.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.

Birthday B

Nine years ago, there was a little girl who had no interest in being born.  She was having a good time where she was.

(Her mom, on the other hand, was more than ready for her to get her act together.)

Her favourite auntie just wanted to take a shower. I was exhausted - I'd had a busy week, topped off with a flight across the country - and we'd been too rushed that morning for me to wash my hair.

I'd barely gotten my hair wet when she decided to stop messing around.  It was a quick shower.

Many hours later, there she was.

As often happens, she grew.

And grew.

And grew.

 

She learned how to read, and ride a bike, and send text messages telling me I'm not her favourite auntie (even though I'm pretty sure I am*).

She made friends, and is quite the social butterfly.

Ah!

She likes science (but not math ... at least not all of the time) and doesn't like being tricked into doing Brownie badges.

She likes Brownies, though.

B in a box

And boxes.  Hmm, there's an idea for a birthday gift ... where can I get a box?

Happy birthday, B!



* And now we'll see if she knows how to comment on a blog

The Most Sensational, Inspirational, Celebrational ...

Last Tuesday (the day we caught the mouse), my mom and my niece arrived for a visit. We had a really good, surprisingly Muppet-filled week.

Tuesday night, I brought my niece to my boxing class so she could see what it was like. She fell asleep in the car.

Both ways.

Wednesday, we took it easy, although we did make a trip to IKEA. My niece B bought a mouse stuffed animal, then promptly left it on the table. I put it in a mouse trap.

Thursday was Calypso. My mom hurt her knee a month ago, so we rented a chalet so she'd have somewhere to rest out of the sun.  It was a really good day, and I got less sunburnt than last year.


Friday we again took it easy ... until Friday night, when my niece and I went to see The Muppets at Westboro beach.  It didn't start until after 9, so that was a very late night.

Naturally, that meant that we went to the Bonnechere Caves on Saturday.

In the caves

 The caves were interesting - they did a talk about fossils and how the cave was discovered, and then we got to visit the caves.  At other caves I've been to, they ask that you not touch anything, but here they encouraged us to touch the walls. 

B and her favourite auntie (Wanda)

 On Sunday, Wanda and B went for pedicures, then we all went downtwon and walked around the market.

Aren't these cool glasses?

Monday was another easy day - we went to Bayshore for an hour or two, then went to Britannia Beach until we got kicked out of the water due to thunder.

We then stopped at the grocery store, and the power went out.

Yes, we had a storm on Monday. 

While they were here, I tricked my niece into doing three Brownie badges. She doesn't mind doing the things you need to do to earn a badge, but she doesn't want to work on a badge because it's summer.

("What? This was for a badge? I can't believe I fell for that.")

I also made her cook several meals and help replace the towel bars in the downstairs bathroom. This earned me the title of her laziest auntie, because I make her do everything. (Wanda is her favourite.)

Somewhere in there, we also watched all but one episode of the Muppet Show, season 1.

It was a good visit.

Even if I'm not her favourite auntie.

The best birthday present ever

Today is my 40th birthday.

I didn't really have any plans. People kept asking me what I wanted to do, and I mostly shrugged. I wanted to get my raised gardens built, and that was taking my focus.

The before picture

The bricks were delivered Saturday morning. I totally would have taken pictures of the forklift delivering them, but I had left my camera in the house.  After that, I had a hair appointment, then I was meeting a friend for lunch, then we were going to move a piece of furniture she was giving me.

I wouldn't be able to really get started with the bricks until Sunday, but I was reluctantly willing to wait.

After we finally got the furniture loaded (it fit in my friend's Yaris better than in my Protege), my friend ran inside to get an ice cream cake because she had somewhere else to go that night, and we went to my place.

(I thought nothing of it, because I am very gullible.)

We got to my place, I went inside, and ... there was my mom, 2 of my sisters from Regina, my cousin from Woodstock, his wife, and their daughter and granddaughter from Ottawa.

I was a little surprised.

And then I went outside to finish moving the furniture. 

Sunday, we started on the raised garden beds, and my family started wishing they had told me they were coming. (If I'd known, I wouldn't have planned to do the gardens, but since that's what I was doing, I guilted them into helping.)

There was digging.

My sister, who is much better at leveling than I am.

 And leveling.

Bed #2. Not yet totally exhausted.

And digging.

My sister, wishing she had made other vacation plans.

And leveling.
It took 4 of us 7 hours and two trips to the hardware store, but we got it done.

And then I realized they look like wishing wells.

This would be when I realized they look like wishing wells.

There's still more to do - I need more dirt, I have leftover bricks to return and I'll probably put stepping stones between them - but it made a huge difference to have three more people helping.