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The One At The Dentist

The girls have been asking to go back to the dentist since about a week after our last visit. For some reason they thought it was very exciting. The last time we went was actually the first time we ever took the kids and I forgot to bring the camera along. Lame Mommy moment. This time I remembered and got some pretty good pictures.

Alyssa got her x-rays over quick and did super good. Kylie really struggled with having the thing in her mouth, it kept making her gag! We got one side and gave her a break while I sat with Wyatt and held him for his. We only did his front teeth. Then we got Kylie’s other side done and everyone (including Mommy) got a sticker.

I didn’t get any of Wyatt getting his teeth cleaned because he was laying on me to get it done, but here he is after it was over!

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In addition to the cleaning, the girls have to have their teeth scraped a bit. They get a dark line near their gums thanks to an iron deposit. It doesn’t harm their teeth, but it looks nicer not having it there.

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Kylie- look at how little she is in the chair!

After 3 sets of x-rays, cleanings, and check-ups by the doctor it was time to pick a prize and head home. The girls each picked a “wishing star wand” and Wyatt (shockingly!) chose a ball. They all got new toothbrushes as well. Kylie picked purple, Alyssa pink, and Wyatt green.

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three kiddos walking out

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back in the car with a new toothbrush and a prize each!

I am proud to say we have 54 teeth and no cavities! Everything looks great and I was very proud of their behavior. Total win.

Published in: on September 10, 2013 at 1:24 pm  Leave a Comment
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Put Them To Work

Today was house cleaning day around here. We have family and friends starting to arrive tomorrow, and into next weekend also so it was time to tidy up the place a bit. I actually don’t care much about impressing our visitors, it is just an easy way for me to remember the last time it was that I cleaned if I do it right before someone visits. It’s a good thing we have guests every month or so or my house would just be filthy.  A good friend, and fellow twin mom, and I were talking yesterday and she mentioned that someone had said to her: “At least your house is always clean because you stay home with your kids. ” In what world does that person think she lives in. Hasn’t everyone seen this before?

It is a little counterproductive having kids around while you clean because they can make messes WAY faster than I can clean them up… especially left with less supervision. That’s why I make my kids work too! Isn’t that one of the reasons everyone had like ten kids 150 years ago? They needed help managing the farm, running the house, etc. I say, why should now be any different?

They sweep:

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They mop:

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And they do windows:

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My kids actually love to help and always ask the participate. At 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 they obviously can’t really do these chores all by themselves, but I can’t say no to letting them help. I would be crazy to do anything to turn them off of their desire to help clean!  Hopefully they will take the same pride when I ask them to do chores for years to come!

And check out this special moment I caught after we were all done.

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I love them.

Published in: on August 15, 2013 at 2:22 pm  Leave a Comment
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Firestation Open House

Today we went down to Fire Station 33 for the county’s open house event. It was so awesome and we had a lot of fun. We got to climb on the trucks, shoot the hose, go in an ambulance and medical helicopter, and lots more. Plus they served lunch and had tons of free coloring books, crayons, and toys for the kids. Did I mention it was totally free?!

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This was Wyatt’s first time getting to do something like this. I think it is safe to say he enjoyed the experience!

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She told me afterwards “Mommy, I wasn’t shy with that guy! I let him help me.” She was really proud and excited.

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Apparently this event happens every other month at different Fire Stations. We will be going back for sure. The only thing that they didn’t love was that there were some characters like McGruff the Crime Dog, and a guy inside a big inflatable fireman suit walking around. Alyssa started screaming as soon as she saw that. Also, Russell had to work so he missed out, but otherwise we had a blast.

In Honor of Ozzie

Many of us are lucky and aside from colds and stomach bugs and an occasional case of the chicken pox our kids are mostly healthy. We complain to our friends about how our kids are waking up too early, not eating well enough, or about how freaking long it takes to load and unload everyone into car seats for a simple errand.  Most of our kid’s owies can be healed with just a kiss.

The biggest problem most kids have is having to clean up their toys or being upset about having to leave the park before they are ready.

Not Ozzie.

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Oscar, or Oz, is a two year old little Superman who is having to fight against cancer. “Cancer” and “two year old” are words that should just never be in the same sentence if you ask me.

His family learned about his cancer shortly before Thanksgiving and have since had to endure an operation, chemo and radiation. And they aren’t done yet.

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He’s only two. Did I mention that?

His story is one that I’ve been thinking about often. It is a reminder that even though most of us have healthy kids, there is someone out there having a conversation with a doctor about what their baby’s chance of surviving is.

Ozzie’s is 85%.

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Ozzie has a Dad and a Mom and a Big Sister who all love him very much, and are behind him all the way. And look at this kid! Does he look like he is going to take cancer lying down? I’m betting cancer is going to be scared of him before this is over. He is even flirting with his nurses 🙂

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This isn’t meant to be a make-you-feel-guilty-if-your-kids-are-healthy-kind of post, but it is a real world out there and this little man isn’t the only kid having to deal with some real tough stuff. I decided to make another quilt for Quilts for Kids in honor of Ozzie.

I didn’t get to pick the fabric (I would have picked Superman for him, and let’s face it- what kid couldn’t use that kind of encouragement!) and it won’t actually go to him, but some little boy out there is going to feel some comfort because of him.  If you have the time, consider making a quilt. The family is staying at Brent’s Place during Ozzie’s treatments and have great things to say about it, so you could also consider donating to them if you feel so led. If you are the praying type please lift up this family. (Dan, Robin, Gracie and Oscar.) I am sure it is a difficult time for all of them and any prayers, support, or well wishes would be greatly appreciated. I’ll post again to let you know once Ozzie has kicked cancer’s butt.

Published in: on January 16, 2013 at 7:42 pm  Comments (1)
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Happy Halloween!

The girls sorta remember last year. They knew they’d get to wear their costumes and would get candy from our neighbors. But for my Little Man, this was his first ever Halloween. He won’t be getting any candy, doesn’t know or care about a costume, and isn’t entirely sure what to do with his pumpkin, but gosh he is cute!

I hope everyone had a happy safe and happy night tonight. Here is our family represented in pumpkins. (The girls thought my Rusty one was a fox, but oh well!)

Kylie, Anina, Wyatt, Russell, Alyssa

The trio about to set out.

Happy Halloween! Now it’s time the “inspect” the kids candy. 🙂

Published in: on October 31, 2012 at 8:44 pm  Leave a Comment
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Anjuum Khanna- Why Artificial Intelligence Matters

Anjuum khanna

Anjuum Khanna-today I will talk about most commonly used technology disruptor about which we heard a lot. But I always mention in my blogs that we hear about what technology has done to our world, in the same we should also look forward to unfold future for more opportunities.

So, in Anjuum Khanna’s simple words let’s define AI. As the name speaks it is known as artificial intelligence or machine intelligence. So Artificial intelligence (AI) is a special feature of machines, in comparison to the natural intelligence displayed by humans and other animals. In computer science, AI research is defined as the study of “intelligent agents”: any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of successfully achieving its goals. So when a machine is involved in a function like “problem-solving” or “learning” it is also known as artificial intelligence.

As intelligence is a step above the common task so a task which is common is not intelligence. As per me, this word is a word which is full of disputes. So intelligence requires frequent innovation. Let us understand this with a small example.  As optical character recognition is frequently excluded from “artificial intelligence”, has become a routine technology. At one point in time, this was the part of Artificial Intelligence. Right now these technologies are defined as artificial intelligence understanding human speech, competing at the highest level in strategic game systems (such as chess), autonomous cars, intelligent routing in the content delivery network and military simulations.

After this explanation let’s go to history, where we will see how and when AI was defined. Back in the 1950s, the fathers of the field Minsky and McCarthy described artificial intelligence as any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same activity, we would say the human had to apply intelligence to accomplish the task. This is a very simple definition which in Anjuum Khanna’s words communicate that any task which is done with intelligence by the human being is performed by machine can be called as artificial intelligence. So after many disputes in history, we have settled on few criteria like planning, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, knowledge representation, perception, motion, and manipulation and, to a lesser extent, social intelligence and creativity which undoubtedly belong to AI.

Type of AI

As per me (Anjuum Khanna), segregation is required to see the development stages of any product or technology. We can easily define AI into two categories:-

  • Narrow AI is what we see all around us in computers today. Intelligent systems that have been taught or learned how to carry out specific tasks without being explicitly programmed how to do so.

Let me explain through few examples this type of machine intelligence is evident in the speech and language recognition of the Siri virtual assistant on the Apple iPhone, in the vision-recognition systems on self-driving cars, in the recommendation engines that suggest products you might like based on what you bought in the past. Unlike humans, these systems can only learn or be taught how to do specific tasks, which is why they are called narrow AI.

  • Artificial general intelligence is a futuristic intelligence and is the type of adaptable intellect found in humans, a flexible form of intelligence capable of learning how to carry out vastly different tasks, anything from haircutting to building spreadsheets, or to reason about a wide variety of topics based on its accumulated experience. This is the sort of AI more commonly seen in movies, but this technology doesn’t exist today.

As per the survey conducted by AI developers in between 2040 & 2050 this technology will start developing and by 2075 will achieve 90% of development. However few groups are still confused about its development as till the time we don’t have the hold on the functionality of the human brain we can’t even start with general intelligence.

For the better understanding of Artificial intelligence as per me (Anjuum Khanna) we should understand few basic technologies of this concept.

Machine Learning: –

In Anjuum Khanna’s definition, machine learning is a computer system which can feed large amounts of data, which is then used by the machine to learn how to carry out a specific task, such as understanding speech or captioning a photograph.

Neural networks:-

These are brain-inspired networks of interconnected layers of algorithms, called neurons, that feed data into each other, and which can be trained to carry out specific tasks by modifying the importance attributed to input data as it passes between the layers.

These are two supplementary topics which need to understand with artificial intelligence. One more of AI research is evolutionary computation. This is basically natural selection and sees genetic algorithms undergo random mutations and combinations between generations in an attempt to evolve the optimal solution to a given problem. This approach has even been used to help design AI models, effectively using AI to help build AI.

The most important question that comes to our mind is how AI will change this world. And I m (Anjuum Khanna) having my own thought process on the same. So let’s understand this with an example.

All of the major cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform provide access to GPU arrays for training and running machine learning models, with Google also gearing up to let users use its Tensor Processing Units — custom chips whose design is optimized for training and running machine-learning models.

All of the necessary associated infrastructure and services are available from the big three, the cloud-based data stores, capable of holding the vast amount of data needed to train machine-learning models, services to transform data to prepare it for analysis, visualization tools to display the results clearly, and software that simplifies the building of models.

These cloud platforms are even simplifying the creation of custom machine-learning models, with Google recently revealing a service that automates the creation of AI models, called Cloud AutoML. This drag-and-drop service builds custom image-recognition models and requires the user to have no machine-learning expertise.

Cloud-based, machine-learning services are constantly evolving, and at the start of 2018, Amazon revealed a host of new AWS offerings designed to streamline the process of training up machine-learning models.

For those firms that don’t want to build their own machine learning models but instead want to consume AI-powered, on-demand services — such as voice, vision, and language recognition — Microsoft Azure stands out for the breadth of services on offer, closely followed by Google Cloud Platform and then AWS. Meanwhile, IBM, alongside its more general on-demand offerings, is also attempting to sell sector-specific AI services aimed at everything from health care to retail, grouping these offerings together under its IBM Watson umbrella — and recently investing $2bn in buying The Weather Channel to unlock a trove of data to augment its AI services.

AI applications

To know more about AI we need to learn through examples. Here are some examples to see its impact on all major industries.

AI in healthcare: – This is the most critical industry as it requires precision and accuracy. The biggest bets are on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs. Companies are applying machine learning to make better and faster diagnoses than humans. One of the best-known healthcare technologies is IBM Watson. It understands natural language and is capable of responding to questions asked of it. The system mines patient data and other available data sources to form a hypothesis, which it then presents with a confidence scoring schema.

AI in business: – Robotic process automation is being applied to highly repetitive tasks normally performed by humans. Machine learning algorithms are being integrated into analytics and CRM platforms to uncover information on how to better serve customers. Chatbots have been incorporated into websites to provide immediate service to customers.

AI in education: – AI can automate grading, giving educators more time. AI can assess students and adapt to their needs, helping them work at their own pace. AI tutors can provide additional support to students, ensuring they stay on track. AI could change where and how students learn, perhaps even replacing some teachers. It can find out the gaps and help in resolving them.

AI in finance: – AI in personal finance applications, such as Mint or Turbo Tax, is disrupting financial institutions. Applications such as these collect personal data and provide financial advice. Other programs, such as IBM Watson, have been applied to the process of buying a home. Today, the software performs much of the trading on Wall Street.

AI in law:- The discovery process, sifting through documents, in law is often overwhelming for humans. Automating this process is a more efficient use of time. Startups are also building question-and-answer computer assistants that can sift programmed-to-answer questions by examining the taxonomy and ontology associated with a database.

AI in manufacturing: – This is an area that has been at the forefront of incorporating robots into the workflow. Industrial robots used to perform single tasks and were separated from human workers, but as the technology advanced that changed.

Here we have seen many directions in which AI has worked and has improved deliverables. This technology is growing day by day and showing improvement in many fields.

Anjuum khanna is a strategic leader with a proven track record of over 19 years in spearheading profitable ventures within Fintech, eCom Startups, BPOs, Telecom & D2H, spearheaded domestic & Global Business Operations with large team sizes.

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Anjuum Khanna- How Robotics, AI and Automation Are shaping the future of World – Anjuum Khanna · December 11, 2020 at 11:31 am

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text:
Inspiration – A nice example of simple profile completion

A humanistic robot

Slack presents a very nice way of getting a user to complete their profile by only asking for the minimum amount of information they need when registering. They then ask the user to fill in the remainder as they begin to use the system.

I wonder how many people write “hello” when asked to type something to get started? I’m no psychologist but I think I am not unique…

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Review Tour – Hat Trick by RJ Scott and V.L. Locey

A big welcome to RJ Scott and V.L. Locey as part of their review tour with Signal Boost Promotions for Hat Trick.

I love Stan. He has such a big heart, and he tells it as he sees it. I also love him and Erik together. They’re well matched, complement each other, and it’s obvious in their words and actions that they love each other. They’re also great dads, not just to Noah, but with the way they both react to and support Eva and Pavel as the children find their place in a new country, family, and learning a new language.

I thought the story handled Stan’s trip to Russia and the adoption—including the visit from family services—very realistically, rather than just having him go to Russia, pick up the children, and it’s a done deal. I liked that Erik did have some reservations at first, and especially about Stan’s safety in returning to Russia, and how more adopting would impact Noah. I was on the edge of my seat while Stan was in Russia, half expecting him to be trapped there, especially with the government agent sticking to his side at all times, and making comments about him being in a homosexual relationship.

I loved the way the team railed around Stan and Erik and supported them. One of the huge strengths of this series is the feeling of family within the team. I love it! I enjoyed Ten and Jared’s role in this story, and the strong friendship between Ten and Stan. Stan’s mother and sister are great characters, and I love the role of his mother especially within their family.

There are other things in the story I loved too, especially a rather special event toward the end, but am trying to avoid spoilers, so just going to say it was perfect, and very Stan.

I’d recommend Hat Trick to readers who enjoy hockey romances with a strong sense of family, fabulous characters who stay with you long after finishing reading, and a story that keeps you turning pages. 5 out of 5 stars.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | KOBO | Apple Books

Length: 50,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Harrisburg Railers Series

Book #1 – Changing Lines – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #2 – First Season – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #3 – Deep Edge – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #4 – Poke Check – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #5 – Last Defense – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #6 – Goal Line – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #7 – Neutral Zone – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Stan Lyamin has seen many of his dreams come true. He’s found his soulmate, loves Noah like his own, hoisted the Cup, and has his Mama living with him in his new country. But his fantasies of a loud, loving, madcap home overflowing with childish laughter linger. When a distant family member passes, Stan and Erik immediately agree to take in the two orphaned children, but that means a trip back to Russia for Stan, an idea that both exhilarates and terrifies him.

Erik’s world tilts on its axis when a phone call wakes him and Stan in the middle of the night. Abruptly, Stan is returning to Russia, making deals, working with people who know people, and fully intending to bring two orphaned children home. The red tape is overwhelming, and Erik is alone in Harrisburg with the nearly impossible task of finding a nanny who can speak fluent Russian. Being on his own is one thing, but add in fears about Stan’s safety and team issues, and Erik is finding everything hard to balance; not least of which is spending quality time with Noah.

When their family expands from three to five, the journey won’t be easy, but love can always find a way.

USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.

RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the links below:

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

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About Anne Barwell

Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She shares her home with a cat with “tortitude” who is convinced that the house is run to suit her; this is an ongoing “discussion,” and to date, it appears as though Kaylee may be winning. In 2008, Anne completed her conjoint BA in English Literature and Music/Bachelor of Teaching. She has worked as a music teacher, a primary school teacher, and now works in a library. She is a member of the Upper Hutt Science Fiction Club and plays violin for Hutt Valley Orchestra. She is an avid reader across a wide range of genres and a watcher of far too many TV series and movies, although it can be argued that there is no such thing as “too many.” These, of course, are best enjoyed with a decent cup of tea and further the continuing argument that the concept of “spare time” is really just a myth. She also hosts and reviews for other authors, and writes monthly blog posts for Love Bytes. She is the co-founder of the New Zealand Rainbow Romance writers, and a member of RWNZ. Anne’s books have received honorable mentions five times, reached the finals four times—one of which was for best gay book—and been a runner up in the Rainbow Awards. She has also been nominated twice in the Goodreads M/M Romance Reader’s Choice Awards—once for Best Fantasy and once for Best Historical. Anne can be found at
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I have an entire day that I will spend with my closest family and some of my dearest friends. Yesterday was a perfect day spent at the office, though with many of my colleagues leaving it had a bit of a bittersweet tinge to it. Today will be all about family!

I am starting the day with a proper breakfast which I enjoy in the presence of Son and Husband. Some fresh fruit, and freshly brewed tea which I bought at a tea-shop in Sweden this summer. Thus, a taste of summer with a hint of internationalisation (even if it’s only the neighbouring country ).

I wish you all a wonderful Saturday. May the day turn out to be everything you hoped it would be. I will surely enjoy it 🙂


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Class reunions Tag

A Little Waste of Time

[caption id="attachment_155" align="alignright" width="235" caption="Our Reunion Organizer"][/caption] I recently did something I've never done before.  I went to a class reunion.  Not my class, however.  My husband's law school class.  He graduated twenty-five years ago.  The reunion was held at the law school he attended.  The...


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Teas - Herbal Tisanes: Remedies, Recipes, How To Make

Agrimony * Alfalfa * Anise Seed * Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot * Calendula * Cardamom * Carob * Catnip * Chamomile * Cinnamon * Corn Silk * Dill * Eucalyptus * Fennel Seed * Ginger Root * Hibiscus * Holy Basil * HoneyBush * Lemon * Lemon Balm * Lemongrass * Linden * Meadowsweet * Motherwort * Mugwort * Oats * Orange * Passion Flower * Peppermint * Raspberry Leaf * Rooibos * Sage * Skullcap * Spearmint * Stinging Nettle * Sweet Woodruff * Tea * Thyme * Valerian root * Vervain *

Herbal tea making is just as much of an art as it is a science. Herbal infusions provide the best way to get acquainted with a new herb. You take note of the texture and color of the leaves and flowers as you measure and breathe in the aroma as the herb is unfurling in the hot water. As you relax with your cup of tea, color, taste, aroma all will signal when an herbal brew is "just right" for you.

mountain rose herbs
bulk herbs
Bulk Herbs
Bitters & Syrups
herbal extracts
Herbal Extracts
encapsulated herbs
Herbal Health

  • Tools : You don't need anything fancy, the most important tea tool is a non-aluminum pot with a tight fitting lid. Add a strainer and a tea cup and you are good to go.
  • Average Dose: The average dosage is usually 3 to 4 cups in a day. Bitter medicines need only be taken in small doses, usually 1/2 cup at a time.
  • Variations : Spices like ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and allspice add heat and energy to the infusion. Almond and vanilla extracts, raw honey, fresh lemon, or a pinch of stevia add flavor and zest.
  1. Standard Brew. Ratio : Two cups water to one ounce dried herb. This equals 1 to 2 tablespoons of dried leaves or flowers. To brew a single cup use 1 teaspoon per cup of water. When infusing fresh herbs use 2 to 3 times the amount of dried. Depending on the herb you will generally use hot to boiling water. Pour hot water over herb in a closed container and leave to steep.
  2. Brewing time: 5 to 20 minutes. Infusing herbal tea is unlike brewing "tea", Camellia sinensis, which becomes bitter and undrinkable if left to infuse too long. Most herbal teas benefit from a longer steeping time, the better to extract the medicinal properties. Brewing the herbs in a closed container like an enamel teapot prevents and volatile compounds such as essential oils from escaping.
  3. Strain: Or not. I often just let the herbs settle to the bottom and pour off the top, letting the herbs soak in the water. The second cup is often better than the first. With practice you will get a feeling for how strong you like your drink. You need not throw out the leftovers either, and may want to reuse them as a "starter" for another fresh batch.
  4. Storage: Refrigerate any unused portions in a clean glass jar with a lid. Herbal teas are often better the second day but should not be kept longer than 3 days as a general rule.
  5. Cold infusions: Sun and Moon Tea. Put fresh or dried herbs in a glass jar filled with water and place in a hot, sunny windowsill for several hours. A Moon tea is made by placing the herb in an open crystal glass or bowl. Cover the herb with fresh water and place directly in the moon light, a full moon being the best time. Do not cover. Allow to infuse overnight and drink first thing in the morning. These infusions will be subtle, and work best with fresh, aromatic herbs like chamomile, and mints.

Looking for something you can read offline? Join our mailing list and get a free copy of Methods for Using Herbs. This free handbook includes instructions on how to make basic herbal preparations at home. It covers making herbal teas, herb infused oils and balms, tinctures, and more.


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#667 The La’s – The La’s

The La’s eponymous debut album is known for having the great song that became more famous for its cover version. They are known as a one-album wonder. Vocalist, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist Lee Mavers is a bit of a recluse and a perfectionist so another album is highly unlikely. Mavers was disappointed with every producer […]

Read More #667 The La’s – The La’s


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Lent.36: Mob Action

holy week

Mark 15:6-15

During the festival, Pilate released one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. A man named Barabbas was locked up with the rebels who had committed murder during an uprising. The crowd pushed forward and asked Pilate to release someone, as he regularly did. Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” He knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of jealousy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead. Pilate replied, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?”

They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done?”

They shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus whipped, then handed him over to be crucified.

Mark 15:6-15, Common English Bible (c) 2011

The crowd.  No estimate on size.  No description of individual participants.  No longer are there are individuals.  All have been sucked into something outside themselves, beyond their best judgment.

With a few choice words the crowd becomes a mob.  Thinking, caring, rational human beings lose their identities, say horrible things, and act in ways foreign to their ordinary daily lives.  No effort is made to consider the consequences.  Caught up in the moment, there is no time for second thoughts.

As Mark tells the story, Pilate knew better but bowed to the crowd.

This business of going along to get along still happens today – even when we know it is not in our best interest.  How do we resist?

-Teressa Clark, 2019

Lenten Reflections 2019:  Following Jesus from the Mount of Olives to the Tomb ~ Day 36

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Q. How can I research a topic about rewards, children, and behavior?

Begin with the Psychology Library Guide: http://library.uhd.edu/psychology

From the databases listed in the middle of the screen, try PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and Academic Search Complete. Here are a few search terms that you might want to try. Also, the quotes are important! Where it says “AND” you can either type that or you can put each term in a separate search box. This will pair words of phrases together in your search.

“children” AND“reward”

“children” AND “reward” AND “behavior” (adding the word behavior will narrow the search a bit)

“children” AND “positive reinforcement”

“child” AND “reward” AND “behavior” (using the singular form “child” will give different results than using plural form “children”)

“child” AND “reward”

“child” AND “positive reinforcement”

“child behavior” AND “reward”

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The Reckoning

By Theodore Goodridge Roberts

YE who reckon with England–
Ye who sweep the seas
Of the flag that Rodney nailed aloft
And Nelson flung to the breeze–
Count well your ships and your men,
Count well your horse and your guns,
For they who reckon with England
Must reckon with England’s sons.

Ye who would challenge England–
Ye who would break the might
Of the little isle in the foggy sea
And the lion-heart in the fight–
Count well your horse and your swords,
Weigh well your valour and guns,
For they who would ride against England
Must sabre her million sons.

Ye who would roll to warfare
Your hordes of peasants and slaves,
To crush the pride of an empire
And sink her fame in the waves–
Test well your blood and your mettle,
Count well your troops and your guns,
For they who battle with England
Must war with a Mother’s sons.

Random Quote

I waited with baited breath to see what tune the authorities had chosen for us when England won their first gold. To my horror it was the anthem of imperialism, Land of Hope and Glory.

— Charlie Whelan, Evening Standard

Support anthem4england on Facebook

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Friday, March 31, 2017

Youth Day

Last Sunday we celebrated "Youth Day", where our youth led in all aspects of our morning service. They did a fabulous job and freely shared their talents and gifts as they led music, prayer, offering and testimony. We appreciate our youth and urge you to always keep them in prayer for their faith and integrity to stay strong through their lives.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Family Ministries Meal

This week's Family Ministries Meal will be
Grilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs
Tater Tots
Corn on the Cob

Children and youth will meet at 6:30 PM, adults will meet for prayer meeting.  Come and join us for Family Ministries!

Monday, March 27, 2017

Ladies Fellowship

Our ladies gathered for their monthly fellowship last week. It was a beautiful time of food, fun and a heartfelt devotion encouraging us in the ways of the Lord. Thank you ladies for sharing and growing together!

Who Do You Follow, Walk for Christ

The annual Who Do You Follow Walk for Christ will be April 15.  If you are not involved with our Children's Easter Celebration which is the same day, be encouraged to join other churches and Christians in a community wide walk to exalt our Lord publicly. More details will be shared as the event comes closer, but please mark your calendars and save the date!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Children's Easter Celebration

Our Children's Easter Celebration will be April 15 beginning at 10:00 AM.  This will be a time of celebration with games, prizes, an egg hunt and a time to share the true meaning of Easter.  There will be lunch following the egg hunt. All children are welcome, be encouraged to bring your family and also to invite other families you may know.

We will be needing lots of individually wrapped candy and you are welcome to donate bags of candy to help fill this need. There will be a drop off box in the church foyer.  Thank you!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Take a Look At This!

Praise be to the Lord for a generous gift donated to Antioch. A beautiful and updated organ was recently received as a gift from a generous donor. Word spread quickly about it after Family Ministries and several stopped in the sanctuary to take a look! Our musically gifted girl quickly jumped in the seat to try it out and it plays beautifully!

We are so thankful for this new addition and anticipate many hours of worshipful music coming forth from it!

Monday, March 20, 2017

Ladies Fellowship Thursday Night

We have a wonderful ladies fellowship planned for this month!  We will meet on Thursday (March 23) at Charlotte M.'s home beginning at 5:30 PM.  All ladies are welcome and encouraged to come, bring a finger food, salad or dessert to share and plan to enjoy an evening of fellowship and a time to grow in the Lord.

This month we will be talking about by passing New Year's resolutions (which have probably been broken by now!) and focusing on a word for the year.

The idea is simple – choose one word to fully embrace in 2017. A word that will guide you, inspire you and challenge you this year. Your word can become part of your daily life all year long. Like a gentle reminder to inspire you in the choices you make throughout the year.

The idea is that we should choose one word we can focus on every day, all year long — one word that sums up who we want to be or how we want to live. Especially because, when we force our self to funnel the hopes and goals for an entire year into a single word or phrase, we also force our self to focus on what truly matters and what will make an eternal difference in my life and the lives of those I care about.

Be encouraged to be in prayer about a word that draws us closer to the Lord and allows our focus to be on what God alone can do in our hearts. Hope you will plan to come to the Ladies Fellowship Thursday night!

Here are some examples of word to ponder and pray over:

Youth Sunday

This Sunday is "Youth Sunday" where our youth will be leading the morning worship service. The youth group will be responsible for greeting, music, ushering and speaking. We are excited about the opportunity for our youth to share their talents and also grow in the Lord as they use them.  Please plan to be there this Sunday as we celebrate Youth Sunday!

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

How To Develop a Heart for God Part 2

Developing a heart for God is not as difficult as it may sound. It involves concerning our heart with the concerns of God's heart. We must develop those qualities that are worth having in our lives.

Each of these steps is an antidote, a cure, or a remedy, to the diseases we have just discussed.

A. Be humble in spite of success.  In order to keep success from crowding God out of the heart it must be kept in check. Humility is simply recognizing the grace and mercy of God. When it comes to success and accomplishment, humility recognizes where these things come from.  Perhaps the ultimate test of a heart for God is: How do you handle success? The greatest test of our character is not adversity but prosperity. When things are going well do you pray as often? When you are enjoying promotions and bonuses do you recognize God as the ultimate source of those blessings?

B. Be mindful of the Shepherd.   The antidote for selfishness is the exaltation of God. Whereas selfishness shrinks the heart, the exaltation of God expands the heart. It creates room for God. It dispels the unnecessary things in life.

C. Be available in service.  The antidote for sloth is service. Sloth dries up the heart. Service opens a floodgate of life-giving resources to bring energy and power to one's heart and devotion to God.  It has been said that God wants our availability before he wants our ability. The truth is he wants both. But the fact remains that he can't use our ability unless we have made ourselves available to him.

D. Be repentant of sins.  David prayed, "God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). He wanted a heart that was clean before God. This represents an individual who devotes their life to God.

E. Be trusting in a Savior.  Stress breaks even the sturdiest of hearts. David had an antidote - Trust in a living God. This was the controlling factor in his life.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Family Ministries Meal

Family Ministries Meal this week:

Fried Chicken
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Fruit Salad

Hope you will plan to come out and enjoy great fellowship around the table followed by ministries for the entire family.  Be aware of the families you come in contact with through the week, and invite them to join us!

Monday, March 13, 2017

Developing a Heart for God

Sunday's sermon was on the subject "Developing a Heart for God."   Our society is obsessed with physical appearance.   But God has another standard. When Samuel was looking for a man to succeed Saul as King of Israel, God said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). Whereas man places a high price on the externals God examines deep within that man for something more. Man judges one on the basis of one's appearance, but God critiques the heart.

In Biblical thought, the heart was the central organ that controlled all activities thus determining one's character of living. The heart housed the place where qualities worth having in our lives were first formed. The heart embodied the womb of character.

I. What will destroy a heart for God?
Our physical heart is positioned by God to provide protection from destructive external forces. Not so with the spiritual heart. It is susceptible to all kinds of harmful diseases and influences that might jeopardize its integrity.

A. Success. Success crowds our heart with things and the signs of accomplishments. It tends to puff up our heart with counterfeit accolades causing us to say "look what I have done."

B. Selfishness. Selfishness shrinks our heart to where there is room for only three - me, myself, and mine. It becomes grotesque and unable to face life because it alienates the needed life support of others.

C. Sloth. Sloth dries up the heart with inactivity, laziness, and lack of service. The heart is like love, it functions to maximum capacity as it pumps out service to others.

D. Sin. Sin hardens the heart to the things that really matter in life. The heart becomes blackened like a chain-smoker's lungs as it is separated from its life source, God Himself.

E. Stress. Stress breaks the heart by placing unnecessary demands on it. The heart crumbles under the pressure. It fails to recognize the power that has been made available to prevent anxiety.

Each destructive force is a disease that must be held in check.

Watch for another post later in the week on how to develop a heart for God.

Our Role

This is where we live. Where we raise our families. Where we work, and where we play. And it’s mostly a post-Christian world. 269 million of our neighbors in North America do not know Jesus Christ. Daily, we sit next to those without hope. But we can reach them through one of the most effective evangelism methods: planting churches. Together we can equip missionaries and reach the unreached in North America.

Together we can equip missionaries through the power of prayer and through our financial gifts. Missionaries need training, resources and education. They need a community network. They and their families need support for the basics of living life while they build a congregation.

Your financial gifts provide a solid foundation for these missionaries, their families and the churches they are building. We can’t all go, but we can all give together.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Spring Forward This Weekend

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night!

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Family Ministries Meal

The menu for tomorrow's Family Ministries Meal will be:

Roast Beef
Mushroom Rice
Field Peas

Meal begins at 5:30 PM, ministries for the entire family begin at 6:30 PM.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® changes lives forever by empowering North American missionaries to bring the gospel to the lost. With over 269 million lost people, North America and its major cities are some of the most spiritually dark places in the world. Join us on the mission to equip every missionary and reach every lost person in the United States and Canada.

100% of gifts given are used efficiently to support and equip missionaries in North America.   AAEO gifts are well-stewarded through an accountability process so you can be confident your gift is making a maximum kingdom impact.

Our local church goal is $2,000.00. Please begin to pray now about your gift.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Focus on WMU

March begins our journey toward the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.  We will be highlighting and sharing some of our mission organizations in the church.

Woman’s Missionary Union challenges Christian believers to understand and be radically involved in the mission of God.

Pray for Missions
To pray for missions means to communicate with God on behalf of missions work, people involved in missions work, and people that need to know and accept God’s redeeming love.

Engage in Mission Action and Witnessing
The teaching and actions of Jesus recorded in the New Testament show us that the Christian faith is not stagnant but active and participatory. We are to share the gospel in word and deed verbally and through our actions.

Learn About Missions
Learning about missions helps believers better understand what God says about making His name known throughout the earth.

Support Missions
Christians have a part in upholding the cause of missions, maintaining missions work, and encouraging missions personnel.

Develop Spiritually Toward a Missions Lifestyle
For the believer, spiritual development involves growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ. It involves day-to-day living that applies and carries out the missions imperatives of God’s Word.

Participate in the Work of the Church and Denomination
As a missions ministry within a congregation, WMU encourages and provides opportunities for all church members and other participants to be aware of and involved in missions and cooperates with other missions ministries within the congregation to help the congregation fulfill its missions potential.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Ladies Fellowship

Our ladies had their monthly fellowship last week. They enjoyed lots of food and fellowship, but also did some deep thinking of their sphere of influence and where to share God's love with others. What a blessing it is to share and grow together!


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Contemporary Canadian Literature with a Distinctly Urban Twist

Anvil Press

Bryan Wade

Bryan Wade is an associate professor and the acting department head of UBC's Creative Writing Program. He has had numerous productions of his stage plays in various theatres across the country, including Factory Theatre Lab (Toronto), Toronto Free Theatre, Playwrights Workshop (Montreal), Theatre Calgary, and Vancouver's New Play Centre. He has also been a playwright-in-residence at Factory Theatre and the Blyth Festival along with being an invited artist at the Playwright's Colony at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Stratford Festival. Several of his plays have been published by Playwrights Press, including the anthology Blitzkrieg and Other Plays.

Books by Bryan Wade


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Contemporary Canadian Literature with a Distinctly Urban Twist

Anvil Press

photo of Shannon Mullally

Shannon Mullally

Shannon Mullally is a two-time winner of the International 3-Day Novel Contest. Her latest novel, The Second Detective, won the 40th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest. Shannon holds a doctorate in creative writing from the University of Denver and a master of fine arts in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She writes, edits, and lives in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Books by Shannon Mullally


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New DataViz About Dating, TV Shows, Populists, and School Safety — DataViz Weekly

Data visualization is a wonderful way to represent data for intuitive, insightful exploration. The following new dataviz works we’ve found are actually good examples to prove this point.

Today on Data Visualization Weekly:

  • dating pool by age;
  • TV shows in IMDb user ratings;
  • rise of populist parties in Europe;
  • safety on the roads around American schools.

New DataViz in Data Visualization Weekly: November 23, 2018 — November 30, 2018

Dating Pool by Age

According to the Wikipedia article about age disparity in sexual relationships, “the “never date anyone under half your age plus seven” rule is a rule of thumb sometimes used to prejudge whether an age difference is socially acceptable.” Webcomic xkcd calls it the “standard creepiness rule.” Statistics and data visualization guru Nathan Yau charted how the dating pool of a person changes with age according to this rule and added demographics data from the U.S. Census Bureau for a more pragmatic look. Find out at what age your dating pool (in America) peaks depending on what kind of partner you are looking for in terms of sex, employment status, and race.

TV Show Dramas in IMDb Ratings

The Economist looked into whether American television actually is in a new golden age. An interactive visualization published this week displays the average IMDb user ratings for all TV dramas that have aired in the U.S. since 1990. Further down the article, you’ll find three static charts that show the distribution of the ratings for films/TV seasons in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

Rise of Populist Parties in Europe

The Guardian’s research, conducted in collaboration with over 30 political scientists, revealed a consistent growth in the overall populist vote in Europe since 1998. As a result of this trend, 13 times more Europeans are currently living under governments with at least one populist in cabinet than 20 years ago. Take a look at several cool visualizations in the article to learn more.

Safety on Roads Around American Schools

Zendrive, a company striving to make the roads safer using data and analytics, mapped safety scores for 125,703 schools all over the United States. In fact, car accidents are reported to lead the list of the most common causes of death for the school-age kids in America. Check out how dangerous the traffic is in the area around the school your kids attend. And explore the situation across the country, by state and county.

We appreciate your attention to data visualization in general and new dataviz examples we share on DataViz Weekly in particular.

Have a great time and stay tuned.

Originally published at on November 30, 2018.

Cross-platform JavaScript/HTML5 data visualization solutions, flexible JS charts libraries & Qlik Sense extensions for all your dataviz needs:

Cross-platform JavaScript/HTML5 data visualization solutions, flexible JS charts libraries & Qlik Sense extensions for all your dataviz needs:


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Reset Password

Your search results

Family with children

20. 6. 2020 by admin7468

We offer great amenities for families with children. Per request, we can provide highchairs or cribs for your children. Thanks to the location of our buildings, you will find yourselves just a stone’s throw away from the Novako Resort, where your offspring will surely have fun. Also, not far from here is the Baby Jesus Trail, the peat bog with the educational trail, or the Boží Lookout Tower. In the winter, the Boží Dar – Hranice Ski Resort is a short walk away. The resort is suitable for families with children. More advanced skiers will enjoy the nearby Klínovec Resort.  In the evenings, you will appreciate the social room for game playing or for resting by the fireplace.

Our apartments are also ideal for family gatherings, celebrations, or weddings. We will gladly prepare a tailor-made offer for you according to your needs.

Options and Facilities

Common Areas

Social room with a fireplace
Kitchen with oven

Laundry machine
Outdoor terrace

Every apartment has

a parking spot

Crib for children

Possibility of organising family celebrations, weddings, etc.


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Outstanding Marquees Covering the South and West

For a quarter of a century Apex Marquees has been one of south west England’s most prestigious suppliers of marquees for all types of outdoor events. We have an outstanding reputation for wedding marquee hire, together with corporate and private functions, and we also offer a complete event planning and management service in partnership with our sister company, Punch Event Management.

Our Marquees

We have this range of beautiful marquees available, each to suit different tastes and types of event. Click on each to have a look

Grand Pole

Traditional Canvas

Garden Frame

“Thank you so much for helping to create our dream wedding. The marquee looked stunning and the team who put it up were wonderful! We would recommend Apex Marquees to anyone! With warmest wishes, Rebecca and Tom”

Get in Touch


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HC Deb 24 May 1954 vol 528 c5W
Mr. Bartley

asked the Minister of Labour to state the rise in prices in accordance with the official cost-of-living index and for food only since June, 1952, giving each figure separately.

Mr. Watkinson

Between June, 1952, and April, 1954, the all items figure of the Interim Index of Retail Prices rose by 3 per cent. and that for the food group rose by 3½ per cent.


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Tag Archives: remembering

WellSpring LXXI ~ Swirling

Arriving focussed, unbalanced, undimming, gently, thrilling, humming, seasons in becoming, swirling of leaves, description of own swirling, temporal explanations, generative repenting, within remembering, grace re-membering, sociology becomes, humaniology, visiting marsness, preceding knowing, immersive nature glimpsing, (human) nature doing the seeing, conceptual-ising particles, inquiry-ising allness, curious verses inquiryness, whole-seasonality, winterness telling us, about (not summer) only


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Ruchira’s keynote speech at NGO CSW/NY Forum Consultation Day before the start of UN CSW 59

Screen Shot 2015-03-12 at 12.26.27 PM

Click the image above or here to hear our founder Ruchira Gupta deliver a keynote address at the Apollo on CSW59 Consultation Day which took place at the historic Apollo Theatre on Sunday March 8th, 2015.

Please share the recording and the documents on this page with your peers and help us advocate for change.

Transcript of keynote address: Ruchira Gupta, Apollo CSW/NY Consultation Day 2015

Our Letter to UN Women: Apne Aap’s letter to UN Women

2012 UN Reports: UN reports 2012

UN Women’s note 2013: UN Women’s note on sex work sexual exploitation and trafficking


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Apostolos Doxiadis

Apostolos heads to Italy for the Ravenna Comics Festival!

Apostolos Doxiadis and Alecos Papadatos will be honored guests at the 6th Komikazen International reality comic festival, which runs from the 8th to the 10th of October in Ravenna, Italy.

Alecos’s original artwork from Logicomix–from thumbnails to the final penciling–will be on display at the festival.

For full schedule and info on venues, visit the festival website.

Comments are closed.


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Prune Filling for Pie or Kuchen

Rate this recipe

Preparation info

    • Difficulty

Appears in

The Settlement Cook Book

By Lizzie Black Kander

Published 1903

  • About

  • ½ lb. prunes
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Boil prunes, following directions. Stone and rub through colander. Mix and mash well with juice, add sugar to taste and flavor with lemon juice or rind or cinnamon. Use mixture for Pie or Kuchen fillings and in place of preserves in Turnovers or Kipfel. If used for pie, have upper crust or add whipped cream sweetened and flavored.


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Not-for-profit Canadian museums and other Canadian heritage institutions are eligible to contribute to Artefacts Canada.

If your institution is eligible, you may register at to become an Artefacts Canada contributor.

Eligibility Criteria

To become an Artefacts Canada contributor, a heritage institution must be:

  • not-for-profit;
  • exempt from federal and provincial government income taxes;
  • administered in the public interest for the primary purpose of conserving and preserving, studying, interpreting, assembling and exhibiting objects and specimens of educational and cultural value. This includes artistic, scientific (whether animate or inanimate), historical and technological material;
  • a museum, art gallery, art exhibit centre, historical society museum, historical house, preservation project or site which meets the aforementioned requirements.

Become a Contributor Today

Register to become an Artefacts Canada contributor.

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About Seesaw Sign Up

Teachers, save “Math: Module 1 Lesson 26 (Kindergarten E…” to assign it to your class.

Mrs. J (Camille Johnson)

Student Instructions

Math: Module 1 Lesson 26 (Kindergarten Eureka)

Welcome to today's math lesson! Note: There are two math pages today. 1) link Press the picture to watch the video. 2) Press the X when the video is done. 3) Press add 4) Use the label or drawing tools to finish the problems. 5) When you finish page one, do page two. (Click on page two in the top right corner to open it up.) 6) Press the check check two times to send your work to your teacher.

Kindergarten, Math
2190 teachers like this
Compatible with: Chromebooks, computers, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, Android phones, Kindle Fire

Students will edit this template:

Teacher Notes (not visible to students)

Thanks to Kristin Arwood for giving us permission to use her videos. Video by Teaching Independent Learners. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCELqg9AdEu9zTof1qFv99MA


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About Seesaw Sign Up

Teachers, save “Computer Programming 2 (BrainPOP)” to assign it to your class.

Mr. Wagner Guy Pierre

Student Instructions

Computer Programming 2 (BrainPOP)

1. Watch this movie = https://www.brainpop.com/math/dataanalysis/computerprogramming/ 2. Complete this worksheet with the LABEL tool 3. Explain your answers https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wFOy9vzIpz4t2flzTMy9cVusdwq0SVW8/view?usp=sharing "Computers can do all sorts of amazing things, from navigating the Internet to piloting an airplane. But they can't do anything at all without a set of instructions. That's all a computer program is, a series of steps that a computer can follow. Computers can't really understand English. So programmers have to write their instructions in special languages. That's called "coding," and the lines of instructions are known as "code." There are literally hundreds of different languages." They have to be step-by-step, ordered instructions, an algorithm. That's why so many programming tools automatically number your lines of code. Like making a recipe, you are telling a computer what to do."

8th Grade, 7th Grade, 6th Grade, STEAM, Computer Science
39 teachers like this
Compatible with: Chromebooks, computers, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, Android phones, Kindle Fire

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App Quality Dashboard

Wazu Or Ghusal

1.0 / 5

Chhi Score

This app is performing

High Risk

Medium Risk

  • Install time: 6.20 Sec
  • Launch time: 0.28 Sec
  • Application size : 3.32 MB
  • Last tested on : 13/04/2017
  • Build ID
    :   v1.0
  • Chhi Score
    :   1.0
  • Change Rate
    :   0%

What to fix?

1 Risk(s) are due to Threads in CPU exceeding the threshold.

Your App Memory is now in a High Risk Zone. With a small investment into your testing you can improve your app quality better. Get more test coverage

2 tests need immediate attention. View performance graph.

The app has a high performance risk for the phone manufacturer(s) Samsung, Lenovo. Check coverage report for more details.

Coverage: Android version coverage for reports will range between 5.1.1 to 7.1.2

Printing logs on callbacks would make debugging easy for tests run in our platform

Testability: Providing login / sign-up details could very well improve depth of bot clicks

Optimize the app to render elements at 60 FPS for buttery smooth experience.

Do not initialize objects that aren't necessary during launch times. Moving to singleton pattern helps

Fix & Optimize launch time using Flatbuffers for storage and rendering performance.

Avoid wake-locks in background, using Batch and schedulers APIs such as GCM, Job schedulers could reduce wake-locks

There is high probability of identifying risks running the apps with conditions

Caching: Use LruCache for data caching to optimize memory usage

Follow simple UI hierarchy by reducing nested layouts to Relative layouts.

106.06 MB of App Dalvik utilized by activity powersolutions.wazuorghusal.ViewClass. View details

Fix Oncreate() if the launch time is exceeding more than 3.2 secs. Try deflating views and layouts to optimize.

Below 10 MB approach would increase app installs in crowded markets such as India, China and Russia!

Upload APKs with and without 3rd Party SDKs to monitor and optimize the impact of app performance

Screen Coverage

competition benchmark

This app is ranked #1551 in Books & Reference


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Operational Risk Management Application

An Official US Navy mobile application, produced by the Navy PMW 240 Program.

The Operational Risk Management app, or ORM app, offers users three risk management courses developed by the Naval Education and Training Command and the Naval Safety Center. These courses teach users ways to avoid and mitigate various types of risk when performing Navy tasks, missions, and operations, as well as risk in their personal activities.

The inability to consistently manage risk is the most common cause of task degradation and mission failure. ORM training is designed to reduce or offset risks by systematically identifying hazards and developing ways to effectively assess and control associated risks. The Navy vision is to develop an environment in which all military and civilian personnel are trained and motivated to manage risk in everything they do, whether on- or off-duty, in peacetime or during conflict.

The ORM app includes the following training courses:
• Individual Managing Your Risk (CIN - CPPD CPPD-ORM-MYR-1.0). This training has a mandatory triennial completion requirement for all DoN Personnel.
• Supervisor Managing Your Team's Risk (CIN - CPPD-ORM-MYTR-1.0). This training is required upon initial assignment of supervisory responsibilities and every 24 months while assigned at Command.
• GMT Time Critical Risk Management (CIN- CPPD CPPD-GMT-ORMTC-1.0). This training instructs the user in applying ORM at the point of beginning or executing a mission or task at the time critical level. This is an alternate means for Commands to complete required annual training.

• Future versions of the ORM app will include Manager Directing Your Command's Risk Management (CIN- CPPD CPPD-ORM-DYCRM-1.0) and Assisting Leading Risk Management Integration (CIN- CPPD-ORM-LRMI-1.0).

In addition to these training courses, the ORM app includes Videos, Guidance and Policy, Awareness Presentations, ORM forms and Risk-related Materials, DoD HFACS (Human Factors Analysis and Classification System) information, Lessons Learned, and related tools and materials.

Navy personnel are responsible for managing risk in all tasks, and Navy leaders at all levels are responsible for ensuring proper procedures and appropriate resources are available for their personnel to perform assigned tasks. The ORM app enables Navy personnel at all levels to learn about risk management while also completing required training. Download the ORM app today!

Course Completion Verification
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jajsjfjfhdhdhjs ,

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Doesn’t work

I have my info after completion and it didn’t even send it properly. Waste of time

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Why I love Beto O’Rourke’s Beto vs. Bill basketball game

The Beto & Beto basketball game was a huge success.The Betos basketball team went on to win the first two games of the NBA season in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.However, the most exciting moment of the game occurred when the NBA announced that the bet on the Beto-Bill fight would be played on TNT […]


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Innovations are a core element of our long-term success and sustainability. Consumers in Russia, and globally, are changing as technology influences ever more aspects of our everyday lives. We see greater demand for convenient and time-saving services that enable customers to get what they need on the go. The largest shift in behaviour and business models is the growing availability of omnichannel retail, where consumers increasingly expect access to any goods and services, anywhere and anytime.

While technology is enabling many changes in consumer behaviour, it is also playing a major role behind the scenes in retail operations in a way that helps first-movers become more competitive by improving the quality of goods and services while lowering costs.

Search and implementation of innovative technologies
ADDED IN 2018 +209 +157 +35 +6
Pilots across the X5 value chain

How we manage innovations

X5 has created and funded an internal process to search for, pilot and implement tech innovations. This process focuses on finding innovative technologies that will help us to enhance our customer experience, improve and automate business processes and drive greater efficiency.

2017-2018 highlights

By teaming up with some of Russia’s largest funds and accelerators, in 2017-2018 we analysed technologies from over 500 startups; launched 68 pilots in our stores, DCs and Corporate Centre; and had nine tech innovations in rollout phase by the end of 2018 in areas like pricing, process automation, energy efficiency and personalisation.

Plans for 2019

Our work on innovations will continue to focus on both our top line by helping increase sales and our bottom line by improving efficiency across the business.

In the year ahead, we aim to further expand and enhance our innovation search and implementation process by increasing the number of projects that we review, while improving the effectiveness of the integration process. Key areas of focus will be shelf availability, self-service points of sale, process automation, energy savings, etc. At the same time, we aim to launch a variety of omnichannel approaches in order to better understand customer preferences and to gain a better understanding of related business processes.

Examples of the innovations we are currently testing

Shelf video monitoring
  • Shelf video monitoring uses cameras located throughout the store to automatically notify personnel when shelves need replenishing. This technology has the potential to reduce in-store personnel costs while improving shelf availability for customers.
  • We installed smart sensors in stores that send information to a smart energy control centre that helps to optimise energy consumption in accordance with constantly changing store needs.
Queue video control
  • Queue video monitoring enables us to track queue lengths and notify a store manager to open additional check-outs or close idle ones. Customers receive faster service, while the store manager can plan cashiers’ schedule more flexibly.
Virtual reality
  • We use virtual-reality (VR) tools to train our store assistants who serve customers over the counter in the meat, fish, and cheese categories. Shop assistants regularly use VR sessions where they go through typical conversations with virtual customers. The training system recognises the user’s voice and matches his or her speech with the script. This training technology has helped us to raise customer service quality and cross-sales.

Big data

Our Big Data Department was established in 2018 and is headed by Anton Mironenkov, who has been with X5 for more than 10 years. Anton was previously Director of Strategy at X5. The Big Data Department currently consists of over 100 professionals.

Big data helps us improve efficiency through the use of data in all areas of the business and for decision-making at all levels.

In 2018, X5’s Big Data Department rolled out a technology platform for data collection, storage and processing. Its basic, underlying principles – fast scaling, support for multiple data processing technologies, a high level of security, low storage and computing costs – have made data available to the entire Company.

This has established an optimal production process for our current business goals. The Corporate Centre’s Big Data Department is building analytical systems for the benefit of all our formats, as well as creating and developing a single data storage and processing centre for all our formats, where analysts from all of X5’s formats and functions can do their analytical work.

The Big Data Department has developed a library of more than 40 million unique customer profiles.

Ten segments are broken down according to socio-demographics, loyalty levels, lifestyles and missions to help us better understand the structure of our client base and predict the future behaviour of our customers.

The knowledge we have accumulated about our customers (around 100 indicators for every profile) helps increase the impact of regular targeted marketing campaigns.

Get to know your customers by engaging with them

The transition from analysis of quantitative indicators, such as sales receipts and revenue, to understanding the qualitative characteristics of every customer – their socio-demographic characteristics, loyalty to our formats, consumption profile, consumer missions – has allowed us to switch to a customer-centric business management model and to put into practice various tools for customer interaction.

Big data is primarily leveraged to drive improvements in business operations

Data everywhere – efficiency in everything

Integrated business planning

Existing data and technologies to work with that data enable us to implement an integrated analytical platform for business management called integrated business planning.

The main goal of the platform is a single agreed sales plan at all levels of the Company that is focused on meeting consumer demand, improving the Company’s main indicators and reducing unforeseen budget expenditures by means of optimal resource management.

The integrated platform allows us to make informed business decisions in terms of managing our pricing and product assortment, predicting demand and making promotions more impactful.

Product assortment

One of the keys to our customers’ hearts is having the right product assortment at our stores. By using a vast amount of purchase data to analyse our customers’ consumer missions, we have been able to develop a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of our current product assortment. This tool enables us to identify grey areas in terms of how representative various customer demands are in respect of our product assortment, and it allows us to back up decisions concerning the development of our assortment in a way that achieves the desired effect.

Machine learning algorithms enable us to identify promotional offers that are attractive to our customers and profitable for the Company. Promotions that have been launched based on the recommendations generated by these algorithms are already beginning to show greater impact than campaigns planned through traditional methods. The use of big data algorithms enables us to evaluate the effect of promotions not only within categories but also on the entire consumer basket.

Another objective of our big data algorithms is to offer a price that meets customers’ expectations and that, at the same time, is satisfactory in terms of business performance.

Our algorithms allow us to determine those goods whose prices differentiate us from our competitors and to identify conditions that are sufficiently advantageous to shoppers. Daily monitoring and pricing flexibility (right up to the individual store) are tools that help us manage our competitive advantage.


text:
Arabian (arabian) wrote,

5.07 - 'Death and the Maiden' (The Vampire Diaries)

Saturday morning and I'm finally getting my Vampire Diaries write-up done. Phew! Good episode. :)

I was talking to a friend about the show and had said that I thought it was a very strong episode and that I had only one issue with it. And then I proceeded to rant about that one issue, blah, blah, blah. Later, I added bits and pieces of that rant to my previously jotted down notes for my post. And then I rewatched the episode. When I got to that section, I was prepared to get annoyed anew, girded with my self-righteous indignation all set on high, but it deflated pretty damn quickly because I had forgotten a few key things when venting about my one issue. So I'm going to address that first because my friend had the same problem and there may be others out there who were bothered by it as well. And, hey, this might help; it certainly helped me and now I'm pretty much walking away with this episode 98% happy. (The 2% we'll discuss in a bit and it has nothing to do with the writing or direction of this particular episode.)

So towards the latter half of the episode, Elena tells Stefan that he probably knows her better than anyone else. And *that* is what upset me. I mean, really? That's just BS. What about her brother? Or Matt? Bonnie, Caroline? Hello?! And, yeah, Damon? Hell, even putting that aside, saying something like that in front of her BOYFRIEND?!?!? with his Stefan-shaped issues–especially involving Elena–and then putting THAT aside, there's the fact that there wasn't even a reaction shot from Damon after Elena said that. Just no. So wrong.

OK, so that's what I thought after watching the episode once, ranting to my friend about it 24 hours later and then jotting thoughts down post-rant. After rewatching the episode, I picked up on a few things I had noticed the first go-round but forgot and/or missed the significance of when thinking back upon the episode. Namely: Stefan was rather a jerk to Elena to begin with. She was doing her whole, 'I'm stubborn, I'm not giving up ever' about bringing Bonnie back and Stefan was like 'duh, are you even listening?' in a fairly insulting tone.

*That* was when Elena turned to him and was like, 'uhm, dude, you got your memories back, you know me, probably better than anyone, you know I won't give up.' And, yes, the actual words (not my take on them, LOL) were sweet, but the tone, her expression and body language all read 'dude, you are such an ass. You know me. Hey, I never gave up on you despite all the shit you pulled, hello! Kindly sit down and shut the fuck up.'

It wasn't about 'oh, Stefan, you know my heart and soul above all others' and angels descended from high and crowned their love with glory. It was 'Stefan, stop being a dick, do a little recall and get with the fucking program.' THAT is why she said it and THAT is why we didn't get a reaction shot from Damon. He got exactly where she was coming from and exactly what her point was. She was pissed at Stefan and she was reminding him of whom she was which she wouldn't have to do if she actually believed that he knew her better than anyone else.

However, we *did* get a Damon reaction shot… after Stefan's next comment when he continued to be a jerky-boy telling Elena that she put her hope in the wrong things and wrong people. Looking towards Damon. Tsk, tsk. Oh, Stefan. So, I take back my one issue with the episode. Yay! Leaving us with a perfect episode pretty much. Double yay! My 2% lay with the fact that I still am getting a wee tired of the lack of Damon/Elena-ness and the focus on Stefan/Elena even if it's not romantic with them. However, while that (along with the lack of Damon and Stefan interaction) bothered me mostly throughout the episode, I actually was OK with it by the end because of the last couple of scenes. *But* if this continues through the next episode, I am done being understanding.

The one thing that cannot be corrected is Olga Fonda. Casting people, why, why, why did you cast her? Ugh. She is just terrible. Katherine Pierce would never, never, NEVER have a daughter that lame. Just not possible. Elena Gilbert would never be the offspring of a great-great-great-x-mother whatever that lame. Just not possible. I demand a DNA test. Wait, screw it. It can be corrected. I don't care. Recast Nadia. Please. I'll take it. Fonda is so bad. She's just so bad. Ugh. At least she's heading out to Prague for a while and we'll hopefully be spared her "acting" for a while.

OK, no more complaints since everything else was soooo good. Starting with the other new casting addition this season that we sadly also lost this episode and even more unfortunately will not be getting back. (Why couldn't they have cast Janina Gavankar as Nadia?!?!?) Quetsiyah/Tessa is no more. Waaah! Excuse me while I sob in the corner. {SOB} Yes, we might see her on the other side and flashbacks, so there's a chance she'll come back, but still, the chances are slim. *sigh* I know she's a petty, vindictive, awful, terrible, selfish person. I know this. I don't care. She's fictional, so I don't care. I LOVE HER!

I also love Katherine and Caroline together. I loved their little moment where they acknowledged that Katherine murdered Caroline and they hate each other, but it was so obvious that they did kinda bond. Aww, I loved that. So, you know, at first I kinda thought that Katherine was leaving Mystic Falls, but I guess she's not, so that's good (maybe we'll get more Caroline/Katherine scenes!!!), but what's gonna happen with her whole aging thing? (Ooh, kudos to florencia7, she called that in last week's comments.) I wonder if she's gonna try and get Bonnie to help her. But what could possibly ever compel Bonnie to help Katherine? Hmm…

Ooh, speaking of Bonnie. So… yeah. Bonnie's getting a haircut next week. If you didn't see the previews, it's cute and sassy. Oh, yeah, I guess we should probably talk about the whole anchoring thingie. Yeah. Obviously there had to be a twist. Ouchie. Of course, previously mentioned petty, vindictive, awful, terrible, selfish Tessa wasn't gonna mention that whole little bit about the excruciating pain that Bonnie was going to undergo on a regular basis whenever a supernatural baddie passes through her.* Poor Bonnie. But, hey, she's here, even if that's no way to live, so I'm guessing by season's end, she is going to either be pulled completely to one side or the other, probably the living side (better be the living side).

*Hmm, I wonder if this will cut down on Damon's casual killing of supernatural baddies?

Still, she's here. It was one of those predictable things. We knew it was gonna work. But it was a lovely earned moment, when Jeremy reached out and then they realized they could feel each other, then Elena calling her name cuz she and Caroline see her! Awww. The girls embracing, Caroline being Caroline and going on about their original college plans and in perfect unison Elena and Bonnie saying her name. Just, ugh, so perfect!

Also perfect—although I didn't realize it was perfect until the final scenes featuring the trio—was how the Damon/Elena/Stefan dynamic is being handled. (I just want to make a note here as I often do in episodes written by Rebecca Sonnenshine that I love her beautiful character writing.) In last week's write-up, an anon poster mentioned her frustration with the lack of Damon/Stefan interaction and how the show was missing out on taking advantage of some good brother bonding. I argued that it made narrative sense at this point and that we had time still to explore them. While watching most of the Stefan/Elena scenes and during the dearth of Damon/Stefan scenes this episode, I found myself thinking about that discussion and thought that her point was valid here and we should be seeing Damon trying to draw Stefan out. And then we got the last batch of scenes.

We had Elena actually having to tell Damon that Stefan was on the edge because Damon didn't realize it, or couldn't allow himself to realize it. Damon's face when Stefan looked past Elena and said "both of you," that he wanted her and Damon to find him just so clicked with me. We've heard Elena say over and over how guilty she feels about having the summer of her life while Stefan was in that safe drowning over and over again, while we've only heard Damon even hint at that guilt once. But we know how deeply Damon can and does feel guilt and yet no one—not even Elena, because she's too busy feeling her own—has taken into account how deeply scarred Damon is by what happened. Because it's not just that he had this amazing summer while Stefan suffered horribly. Damon had this amazing summer with a girl that totally wrongly so but one that Damon still considers Stefan's girl at heart… while Stefan suffered horribly. So Damon doesn't know how to act with his brother.

And on top of that, this is a totally new situation for them. Damon's never been the victor. He's never been "the chosen one." It's always been Stefan. So that's why he's keeping his distance. And it all came into focus for me in that scene with Elena when she asked him to go look for Stefan and then the one when Stefan admitted he wanted them to find him. The dynamic is completely off-kilter. He took his girl, he didn't save him and he's the winner, Stefan's the loser. In a 170 years, it's NEVER been this way. When it comes to Stefan, Damon feels confused, a bit lost and guilty. He doesn't know how to act with his brother anymore.

And then there were the Stefan/Elena scenes. Until that scene with Stefan and Elena towards the end, I was frustrated with her being all peppy and so determined to help him. It's like, ugh! he's not your boyfriend anymore, Elena. He's not your responsibility. But then in the end she flat-out admitted that it was entirely for selfish reasons. She felt guilty because she was so happy during the summer, she was so in love with Damon, and now she had Bonnie back, all she needed was Stefan to be better so that she could reclaim her happiness about her perfect summer without any regret. She wanted Stefan to be better so she could be happy about her summer of love with Damon. So her helping Stefan was all about Damon.

However, now that we have that set-up done. Now that we have Stefan more or less back in place as normal and we can begin to deal with the fall-out of the summer… can we have Damon and Elena now? Please? I hope so. Because it's time. The pieces are in place now. We can start building to good stuff here. I mean, I think… I could be totally wrong, but I think we could be heading towards a blow-up of sorts within the triangle and Stefan could have some eruption of rage. Damon and Elena (understandably) have been keeping their relationship on the backburner lately because of all of this going on, however things are more or less going back to "normal" now. And Elena is going back to school so they'll have some separation, thus when she comes back, passionate reunions will ensure. Tessa did make that comment about the three of them living in that big house together so I could see that being a little hint of a stirring of the pot. On top of that we have Stefan's vampire-heightened emotions reaching a boiling point, as mentioned by Silas, so, yes, I could see things blowing up big-time in the next couple of episodes. It is November sweeps…

Alrighty, random thoughts …

- Aww, we had a few moments of Damon and Elena finishing each other's sentences. Double aww.

- Heh, I liked that Elena is confident and has enough sass in her now to show-off to Katherine that she can take a little pain (in the bloodletting scene). Hehehe.

- "The cute one's here." Oh, Katherine, never change.

- Wow. Three Nina's. Yeah. Wow. Amara was as different from Katherine as Katherine is from Elena as Elena is from Amara and so on and so forth. Fantastic job. I mean just look at this image here. Same actress, but the body language in just the stance of the three characters is completely different. Amazing.

- That opening scene with Silas and the couple was HI-larious. Awful, of course, but HI-larious. As I've mentioned before, it took four episodes (more counting last season) for the writers and Paul Wesley to make Silas feel like a legitimate, stand-on-its-own-character, but Silas finally became a real boy and he sure was fun. And now he's gone. Ah well. At least Tessa is happy. {SOBS *My Tessa!*}

- Ah, we didn't see them interact much (although, whee! Jeremy was sitting on the couch next to Damon when they he told him and Elena about the plan to anchor Bonnie), but there was this moment that I loved. When Bonnie went to tell Jeremy that it wasn't going to work because Amara was dying, Jeremy's response was an incredulous "that's impossible. Damon's—" And I literally had to choke back a giggle despite the seriousness of the moment because I love Jeremy's hero-worship for Damon. I love that Jeremy believes that if Damon is doing something to stop it, then of course it's impossible for that thing to not work. And of course Jeremy was right.

- So yeah, the doppelganger's deal is clearly is that if they are meant to do anything, it is to end in tragedy, uh huh. I mean, Silas and Amara started it all and their ending was kinda reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet and that was a tragedy, folks. Yeah. But, man, she didn't even die in Silas' arms. Or even his doppelganger's. She was in Damon's.

- I liked that this time (for the first freaking time!) everyone played their part: Elena got Tessa back into the mix to finish the spell, kept her from dying after Silas tried to kill her. Caroline brought Katherine to the party. Damon kept Amara alive long enough for the spell to be completed. Stefan (yes, Stefan!!) killed Silas. Go team!

- Hmm, the Jeremy/Bonnie fireplace kiss was staged almost identical to the Damon/Elena fireplace kiss. Intentional or just a nice, romantic shot? Jeremy following in pseudo-mommy/daddy's footsteps? Things that make you go hmmm…

- I liked that Stefan just simply admitted, even though it was selfish, that he wanted it to be Elena and Damon to find him in the safe. It wasn't done to guilt them; it was done without embellishment. It was just an honest admission that showed Stefan allowing himself to be seen (evne to Elena) as not perfect, not the "good brother," just himself, honestly and without pretense. I thought it was a really good first step at just being Stefan… the real Stefan.

- Katherine to Dr. Maxfield–"just personality," LOL! Again, Katherine, never change.

- Aha, so now we know. If a vampire's blood won't heal Katherine, a vampire's bite wouldn't work to turn her either. Yeah, she's gonna be talking to Bonnie, ain't she? What is she going to do?!! (TALK TO MATT!!! I know that won't solve anything, but my inexplicable Katherine/Matt shipping remains, OK!)

- Speaking of… MATT!! Three episodes without my Matty!! Wah! Well, sigh, at least they are getting all of the Matt-less episodes out of the way now.

- Oh, Damon, you crafty, sexy boy. I loved him playing Tessa with the whole 'You were right about the doppelgangers always ending up together. How does it feel to say I told you so' spiel, knowing it was the thing to say to get her to help them. Damon knows how to play people like fiddles. He's such a master.

- So it wasn't a twist ending, we knew it was still gonna effect him. It was more of an emotional gut-punch, but since Stefan isn't exactly the show's most popular character, I think the Stefan-overload needs to kinda start underloading any episode now. Just saying. I love him, but I need a wee bit more Damon and I know others definitely do.

- So what's gonna happen with Jesse? Come on, show, don't leave me in suspense. I do like Jesse.

- Caroline looks soooo pretty in yellow.

- I love this episode title.

- Yes, I know, no gifs this week. Give me Damon/Elena, I'll give you gifs, dangit!

So this was a REALLY fantastic episode. Like most of Rebecca Sonnenshine episodes, a rewatch enhances the viewing. The first time around it's a strong episode, subsequent viewings just improve it tenfold over and over. Strong characterization, tight narrative and just superb all-around. Loved it. (Now give me some Damon/Elena next week and I'll be a VERY happy camper!)
Tags: bonnie bennett, caroline forbes, damon salvatore, damon/elena, damon/jeremy, damon/stefan, elena gilbert, ep discussion-tvd, jeremy gilbert, jeremy/bonnie, katherine pierce, nina dobrev, stefan salvatore, the vampire diaries, tv

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