Writing Short -Green Moment

4 Oct

Writing prompt time! “Write 25 sentences that all start with the word ‘green’. Just see if something interesting happens. Trust me. (use any color) ”

Here’s what I came up with!

 

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Green leaves slowly fading to gold.

Green grass losing that touch of neon

Green eyes looking for the last wildflowers

Green house on a hill all alone

 

Green bottles reflecting the sun

Green sign on the roadside, leaning

Green preying mantis swaying with the stalk it’s on

Green beans dying on the vine

Green truck speeding by

Green ivy on the fence

 

Green galoches made for splashing

Green raincoat to keep one dry

Green scarf to warm one’s nose

Green swings lonely in the playground

Green gloves forgotten on a bench

Green ball covered in moss

 

Green  path filled with mud

Green balloon sailing over the trees

Green river flowing fast

Green feather found at last

 

Green door to let one in

Green chair to snuggle in

Green blanket to cover one’s toes

Green tea to sip on

Green eyes sleepy at last.

 

I hope you liked it!

Why don’t you give this prompt a try? Share your 25 sentences in comments, or share a link to them! I’d love to read them! 

~Laura

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Book Review – Sept 2o16

30 Sep

I’m pretty sure the end of September means it’s officially fall, doesn’t it? I obviously have no idea when it actually starts but it sure feels like it here! I’m loving being able to keep the back door open for some fresh, cool air. Abby is liking it too – being able to come in and out whenever she wants is right up her alley. It also means I can sit here at my desk and write while she plays in the sprinkler (she won’t play in it without being watched, oy). She’s mostly okay with this version of me being out there with her and I’m able to actually get some editing and blogging done. Thank goodness. Poor thing is going to be heartbroken when it’s too cold for the sprinkler though. Anyway, that’s enough about the puppy – on to books! bkrvwsept2016

 

A Call to Honor  ( The Price of Liberty #1) by Gilbert Morris – When Ben Logan is given the choice to join the Navy or go to jail, he quickly signs up for the Navy. He leaves behind his mother and a girl named Rachel and decides to live life to the fullest. But while serving in Hawaii, he changes his mind about God. His new faith is tested to the limits when bombs start falling on Pearl Harbor.

– this is the first in a long (7 books) series and once I’m through them all I’ll do a series review but since it’ll take me quite a while, I’ll review them separately now. Hopefully you don’t mind!  I haven’t read this series in several years now so I don’t remember very much about them. It is refreshing to read a book from a male point of view and the emotions just transferred themselves from Ben, to me… that does sound strange but I was talking to him as I was reading ‘don’t do it!’ ‘serves you right!’ etc…

City of Tranquil Light – When Will Kiehn feels God call him to go to China as a missionary, he leaves his family’s farm in the Midwest and goes. He falls in love with a fellow missionary, Katherine, and  after they wed, they move to Kuang P’ing Ch’eng – City of Tranquil Light – and settle in to offer medical and spiritual help to the people there. As the years go by, they endure much hardship – war, famine, floods, bandits – will their faith be enough to help them?

–I reviewed this about a week ago, check it out!

Evidence Not Seen : A Woman’s Miraculous faith in the Jungles of World War II by Darlene Deibler Rose –  This is the true story of a young woman, newly married, surviving the jungles of New Guinea and four years in a Japanese prison camp. Her triumphs and strengthening of faith despite everything.

– I’m a quarter in to this book and while I am enjoying it, it’s not a light/breezy/readrightthrough type of story. I just have a feeling it’s probably going to make me cry. I also find myself comparing it to ‘city of tranquil light’ since I just read that one. This one, equally well-written, starts off emotions galore, there’s no easing into it like in city of tranquil light, so perhaps that’s part of the difference. But it is very well-written and I think it will be worth the read. It just might take me a while to get through it. ( side note, the synopsis I wrote is SHORT because the one I read on Goodreads tells a lot of the story, some I wish I didn’t know because now I’m pretty positive this is going to be super emotional to read through…. )

Vegan Slow-Cooking for Two or Just for You by Kathy Hester – This isn’t your ordinary cookbook – these recipes are quick to prepare in your 1.5 or 2 qt slow cooker. Ranging from coffee creamers to side dishes to dessert, you can make anything vegan that you long for!

– I have only made a few recipes from this so far (as I keep forgetting some key ingredients on my shopping trips, oy) but we’ve enjoyed them and I was surprised at how filling they were. That might sound silly but I have a hard time with staying full. And not eating meat tends to make that worse, but with these meals, I didn’t get hungry for about 3 hrs (which is good!). Once I get to the produce stand again I plan on making some more meals from this book =) 

Golden Retriever by Dog Fancy Magazine – Covering everything the owner of this friendly breed needs to know to be a well-informed caregiver, this book is easy to read with beautiful pictures of adorable puppies to adult Goldens to compliment the information.

– This book covers SO much. It was an impulsive grab at the library but I’m hoping to learn a few things, what with having a senior and a puppy. 

On my To-Read List:

The Color of the Star book 2 of The Price of Liberty by Gilbert Morris

Love’s Pursuit by Siri Mitchell

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

What’s on your to-read list?

~Laura

 

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Health Update – 9/23/2016

23 Sep

How in the world can September already be almost over?! Although, the coming of all things pumpkin and fall does help ease the shock of it 😉

 

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Overall Health: since getting back on the majority of my vitamins/supplements I’ve been better – comparably. For about a week I was stuck on the couch due to unbelievable weakness and exhaustion. I haven’t been quite so negative. I haven’t had to nap so often lately, but sleeping at night has been really rough. I’ve been able to walk the dogs a few times a week, which benefits all 3 of us.

Treatment: I went in to my doctor the beginning of this week and we changed up what I’ve been taking, and she sent me home with several new things to start! I am currently off the Xiao Chai Hu Tang (possibly the cause of my extreme exhaustion last week) and have started taking Silver. (yes, silver! apparently while it’s very gentle on you, it kills things, who knew?) Tomorrow I start taking EHB, then if I don’t react negatively to that, 3 days later I start Garlic pills (oh joy). 3 days later, Vitamin E and then, you guessed it, 3 days after that, Copper pills. She’s also told me to start drinking 1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar in the mornings.

Migraines: Killer. They have been going from a 5 to an 8 (or higher) in the blink of an eye, making thinking (and anything else really) incredibly difficult.

Digestion and TMJ: Neither have changed here-which means they aren’t that good… but while my jaw has been hurting a lot, it doesn’t pop as much as it used to! Silver lining right there!

Mood: It’s been better overall this past month, thank goodness. I feel like I mostly am back to myself although I do still feel a tad anti-social

Sleep: Except for the past few nights, it’s been atrocious. Of course, the nights I do sleep better I have nightmares..sigh.

Memory: Once again, it hasn’t improved but aside from freaking out late one night because I couldn’t remember words to songs that I’ve known for ages, I haven’t noticed any worsening.

Daily Vitamins:

Clonidine – for most of this month I was taking 3 a day but since Sunday it’s backed off to 1 or 2 !!!!!

off the Xiao Chai Hu Tang

Pulsatilla and Belladonna – finally got some more of these amazing tinctures!!!

Here’s a full list  – although I will have to update this next month!

Stick around and check out my other health updates!

8/23/16

Symptoms of my Lyme

7/27/16

Fighting Lyme and Migraines

The Big Health Update

 

Next week is the monthly Book Review, come back and check it out!

Have a fabulous Fall weekend,

Laura

 

 

 

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City of Tranquil Light Book Review

20 Sep

Friends, this book sat on my shelf for YEARS without me ever reading it. Not even a ‘read a few pages and put it down’ read. Never. Do you know what made me finally pull it out and give it a try? Running across an old email from my sister in law, recommending a few books (thanks Michaela!) , and this was on it.

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This story pulled me in right from the start and I quickly fell in love with Will, Katherine, Chung Hao and the descriptions of China. When Will Kiehn feels God call him to go to China as a missionary, he leaves his family’s farm in the Midwest and goes. He falls in love with a fellow missionary, Katherine, and  after they wed, they move to Kuang P’ing Ch’eng – City of Tranquil Light – and settle in to offer medical and spiritual help to the people there. As the years go by, they endure much hardship – war, famine, floods, bandits – will their faith be enough to help them?

Caldwell writes in an enchanting memoirlike way – alternating between Will and Katherine’s perspectives, each come alive in a remarkable way. And as these characters reminded me strongly of a former pastor and his wife, it added another depth of emotion to it , as I could so easily see these people doing what Will and Katherine did – living a hard life in response to their God’s call.

I highly recommend this book, although perhaps not for younger teens as some of the violence is described. I am planning on getting Caldwell’s first novel, The Distant Land of my Father, next time I get to the library!

~Laura

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Unexpected Side Effects of Chronic Pain

13 Sep

So guys, I’ve been thinking about doing this post for ages, I just wish I’d written down all the little things when I thought of them… because trust me, there’s a lot more than this.

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-you get used to people checking up on you ‘are you okay?’ ‘do you need anything?’

– stairs are not.nice.ever. = you get passed by 60 year olds…

– you decide you’d rather have weight loss than weight gain, and then realize how terrible of a person that probably makes you

-traveling loses quite a bit of its appeal when you realize it takes at least a day to recuperate, you won’t be able to keep up with whoever you’re visiting, if the PAIN hits you’re in a new environment/probably won’t be able to deal with it like you need to, faking feeling better than you do is something that just happens, etc.

– you become the person that carries around a mini pharmacy in their purse (and people still wonder why you carry such a large one)

-standing in lines makes you cranky, achy and wonder why you ever leave your house

-Light PHYSICALLY hurts. no joke.

– Sound does too

-you have multiple pill boxes for all your daily pills

-the things your brain chooses to remember is baffling

-going to two or three stores in one trip is EXCITING (yes, the realization of how pathetic this is does dawn on you every time)

-you’ve rarely answered a ‘how are you’ question with ‘i’m great!’

-learning to balance productivity with what your body says is….interesting

 

Basically, pain takes away your independence. But still we fight, day by day to pretend we still have that independence and inexhaustible energy that someone our age is supposed to have.

I just had this verse pop into my head

“They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8

~Laura

what would you add to this list?!

 

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Currently: Sept 2016

9 Sep
I found this post from a few years ago and decided it would be fun to do it again! Enjoy!
currentlysept2016
making: almond milk is in the soaking stage!
cooking:  nothing/because you don’t really cook almond milk =)
drinking: water, lots of water
reading:  City of Tranquil Light
wanting: to live close enough to a dog park that I can walk to it
crafting: gifts!
wishing: all my dear friends lived near me 
enjoying: listening to Count Basie
waiting: for the movie I’m transferring from vhs to dvd to finish
liking:  this cooler weather
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wondering: if my health will ever get back to what it should be
loving: being able to keep the house cleaner
hoping: I can edit my book without too much revision
smelling: the diffuser
needing: more sleep, less pain
 
wearing: comfy pajamas because I can
 
following: Ninja Writers,  Caravan Sonnet , Paleo Running Mama,  Seven Graces
 
noticing: my mood is a bit better this week – yay!
 
thinking: I really should walk the dogs today
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bookmarking/pinteresting:  fall decorations and outfits; inspirational quotes
 
thanking: Abby for finally calming down; my OH for being such a great support and listener in times of need ; a friend for guiding me back to God when I get to whining
 
giggling:  some seriously funny things on pinterest lately
 
feeling: tired and yet content with where we are right now; disbelief that Abby is a year old ; excited I’ve finished the first draft of my novel

Copy and paste and play along! Leave your link below!

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Book Review – August 2016

2 Sep

Hello again friends! I didn’t feel like I’d done a lot of reading this month and then I started writing this post! Ha! This month feels like it’s been going on a lot longer than 31 days, does anyone else feel that way? It definitely had its good times though – getting to be in Bend and celebrate my brother in law’s and a nephew and a niece’s birthdays; having a good friend stay over so we could binge-watch Star Wars and play with the puppies and getting oh-so-close to the end of the novel I’m writing. I am glad to see it go for the hard side of it too – severe pain; moodiness because of the pain; for the first time not being able to recall words to songs i’ve known for years and puppies having bad reactions to fleas. But! That’s not why you’re here! Books! Books! That’s why you’re here.

bkrvwaug2016

I want to remind you of two things real quick.  One, while covering different genres, I do not read anything that has blatant sexual content. I will tell you if there is any sort of such (typically very mild and delicately put) in them and if I don’t think they’d be appropriate for young/teenage readers.  Two, I have an ever-updated Book List of all the books I’ve reviewed, check it out!

December Caravan by Rebecca Vandemark – Just when her life seemed as perfect as it could get, Rebecca’s world turned upside down. A few month before their wedding, her fiance left her. As the months and years passed, her body seemed determined to fail, no matter what she did. After getting diagnosed with late-stage Lyme Disease and cancer (among other things), her plans and goals for the future drastically change. But what remained constant was her love of the Lord and seeking His heart no matter the circumstances.

~I received this book free for an honest review. I enjoyed this look into Vandemark’s story so much as she constantly reminded me to keep my focus and hope on the Lord.  Her trials are beyond imagining, and yet here she is, years later – encouraging those around her to run to the heart of God. I highly recommend this book and if you want to know more about her, here’s her blog! 

Why Can’t I get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease by Richard I Horowitz – Lyme disease is known as the great imitator. And Horowitz has been studying it for years. In this book he shares the method that he uses for diagnosing Lyme, and other chronic pain as well as thoroughly covering Lyme’s leading symptoms.

~ This book is nothing if not thorough. To be honest, I only made it a quarter of the way through. The information was interesting and I picked up a few tidbits that were extremely helpful to know. The reason I wasn’t able to finish it was that it read like it was also written for doctors – with a lot of information that only those with medical background would find helpful. It was interesting reading how he started his practice and how it evolved into what it is today – with surprising advancements in Lyme research and ‘curing’ if you will. I’d love to read it if they cut it down to maybe half it’s size and written especially for non-medical readers. 

Tucker Mills Trilogy by Lori Wick – Tucker Mills, Massachusets in the mid 1800’s. Jace has fallen for Maddie but will his sister allow him to follow his heart? Reese is finally a free woman, but her heart is still in a cage of fear, will she let Conner in? Dannan’s world has drastically changed, but the one thing he longs for most can never happen, can it?

~Let’s move to Tucker Mills, shall we? In case you missed it, I reviewed it earlier this week! 

These Three Remain A novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman #3  by Pamela Aidan – After being rejected by Elizabeth, a humbled Darcy returns to Town and tries to become the kind of man he’s always wanted to be, the kind of man Elizabeth could love. When a chance meeting brings Elizabeth back into his life, Darcy sets out to show her he still loves her. But when Wickham creates havoc again, will Darcy’s newly-found strength withstand the test?

~I adore these books. I mean, Darcy and Elizabeth all over again? Yes please and thank you! Come back for a review of the whole trilogy!! 

On my To-Read list:

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell

 

I hope you found something to read! Happy last-day of August to you all!

 

~Laura

 

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Series Review – Tucker Mills Trilogy

30 Aug

You Guys. Seriously. I can’t tell you just how much I LOVED this trilogy. Yes I’ve read it before. Yes I read them all in about a week. Yes, it’s by Lori Wick. What can I say? She’s a favorite of mine.

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Moonlight on the Millpond – As a newcomer to Tucker Mills, Massachusetts, Jace Randall learns the workings of his uncle’s farm and mill. When Maddie Shephard comes back to town, Jace is instantly smitten and decides that not even his sister, Eden, could find fault with her. What he didn’t count on was Eden’s need to control his life – or the lengths she’d go to to maintain it. Will Maddie and Jace be able to forgive her, and each other, after the betrayal and lies?

~First off, I love the name Maddie. Second, Jace just happens to be one of my favorite guy’s names. Third, this book sucks you in on the first page and you quickly fall in love with, well, pretty much everyone. Except Eden. (coughcough)

Just above a Whisper – Indentured servant, Reese Thackery’s life gets another hit when the owner of her contract dies and the bank becomes the holder of her fate. The bank owner’s son, Connor Kingsley, comes to investigate and soon releases her from service. He then hires her to keep house for him, but Reese can’t decide how she feels about him. Can both put aside the hurt of the past and learn to trust again?

~Honestly, I think these two characters are some of my favorites of Wick’s. Reese’s attitude throughout her trials is how I would sincerely like to be! And Conner’s patience…sigh.

 

Leave a Candle Burning – Dannan Mckay has taken over his uncle’s practice in Tucker Mills. While everyone loved Doc Mckay, Dannan has settled in and feels welcomed by the townspeople. When he has an unexpected meeting with a woman in the general store, he starts to dream of something more – a wife and family. But then he learns something that stops his dreams of love in an instant, and he focuses all his attention on his patients. Life once again gets turned upside down when he ends up taking guardianship of a young cousin. The new role of father makes Dannan think of how the young one needs a mother – but the one he loves is out of reach.

~I remembered very little of this one – happy sigh. A unique storyline, wonderful romance. 

If I could move to the small town of Tucker Mills, I would do it in a heartbeat.  I’m not kidding. I would. BUT, we’ll get back to reality now… I enjoy how Wick weaves faith into all of her books, I’m always left contemplating the focus in each novel (i.e. each of her novels tend to have one main point in faith that the main character is dealing with) and that normally inspires conversations with my OH.

As with most (if not all ) of Wick’s books, any age could read these – I probably started reading them when I was 13/14. You might have noticed I had to get the 1st and 3rd from the library! Such a tragedy I know, but so far I haven’t found them in used bookstores. One day though, One day.

I also love that since I’ve been reading them for…well, over a decade, I am picking up on different things. Now that I’m married, I pick up on the hurt or joy when it’s a marriage moment… did that even make sense? Maybe I’ll close now and say : This trilogy is delightful. READ IT.

~Laura

Do you have a series you’ve been reading since you were a teen and still enjoy today?

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Writing Shorts

26 Aug

 

 

Three months and four days. That’s how long it’s been since I felt normal. I could still feel the cold fear that had settled on me that first day when I realized something had changed. It used to consume me but by now it had settled down in my stomach like those dumplings I’d eaten from the street vendor last time I’d been downtown. I allowed my mind to wander as I remembered that evening, the shining stars had been reflected in my daughter’s eyes as she’d told me about her art class.

“I’m just going to replace the fluids and then the doctor will be in.”

My dreaming interrupted, I was pulled back to reality as I heard my mother respond to the nurse – it sounded like Linda – her gravely voice made me imagine her with a cigarette hanging from her lips. The swish of a page, the click of the fluid bag being hung and then I heard quick footsteps precede the doctor. I hadn’t been able to peg him yet, whether he loved his job or just drank copious amounts of coffee.

“Morningmorning. Let’sseehowshe’sdoingtoday, ifyoudon’tmindwaitingoutside, it’lljustbeaminute.”

Silence followed the shuffle of my mother’s feet. The cold fear had started to rise and I willed my hands to move up to my chest to rub at the spot. As every other time, I couldn’t. No matter how many signals I sent, they remained motionless at my side.

“This doesn’t look good. Her vitals aren’t changing as they should.” The doctor’s energy seemed to have vanished. Now his voice reminded me of an old haggard man faced with terrible news. “Go ahead and call her family back in, they need to know.”

I tried not to panic as I wondered at his ominous words, part of me refusing to understand what they truly meant. I had blocked so much of what I’d heard but now it threatened to come back and overtake me. I sent every signal I could think of to my legs, then to my arms, trying to move, trying to prove them wrong before he could further break my mother’s heart. And what about my daughter? What would she do without me?

In all my panicking, I missed the beginning of what the doctor said but one word broke through – the one word I’ d been hiding from since I first heard it.

Coma.

The rest of their conversation flowed around me as I finally let the reason for the hard, cold fear settle around me. I was in a coma. For three months and four days now.

“It’s not looking good.”

“Please don’t go out tonight, the roads are icy.”

“Will she come out of it?”

“Just cancel, they’ll understand.”

“You need to prepare yourselves.”

“Mommy?”

The past and present seemed to meld into one, horrible and terrifying moment. The fear and pressure built so strong that I did the only thing I could.

I screamed.

And so did my mom. The doctor dropped his clipboard and the nurse looked like she might faint.  When the four of us had stared at each other for an interminable time, the doctor said, dryly,

“Welcome back.”

 

 

 

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Health Update – 8/23/16

23 Aug

This past month has really tested me – I feel that my normal good-humor is starting to slip and as such, I’m quieter because I’d really rather not spew all this anger and frustration on those of you I’m around! (plus, there might be tears. and that’s not cool) Please don’t think I’m walking around depressed or eternally angry, okay? That’s not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that chronic pain is wearying. Thanks in equal parts to my OH, parents, friends and dogs, I’m making it through but by golly, I’m heading to the store today to pick up the vitamins I need, whether I feel up to it or not!

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Overall Health: Honestly, it’s the same as last month’s update. TIRED. EXHAUSTED. WORN OUT. that’s me. Leg/foot cramping has come back along with such severe, drive-me-crazy-body-pain that I’d rather just have a migraine, thank you very much. Weight is still slowly going up.

Treatment: I’m still taking the Xiao Chai Hu Tang but I don’t think (which means I know I’m not but I don’t want to admit it) that I’m taking the proper dosage. I am taking 2 a day and apparently I’m supposed to be taking 3 or 4 three times a day….Definitely need to up them!!

Migraines: They have been severe, long-lasting and daily this month. If I don’t catch them right away, nothing touches them. And sometimes, even if I do take everything, it doesn’t seem to touch it.

Digestion and TMJ: digestion has been iffy but I’ll admit it, I haven’t been super strict on my diet lately. So, that’s my own fault . TMJ seems to be even-ing out again after getting worse for a few weeks. I really need to get into the habit of wearing my night guard when I take naps so my jaw doesn’t ache like it is right now.

Mood: I have been more irritable these past weeks and I do. not. like. it. I sincerely apologize to anyone if I’ve been short or rude to you! I try not to let it out. oy. It is directly related to feeling so overwhelmingly awful for so many days in a row.

Sleep: As of a few weeks ago, I have been taking naps almost every day. Sometimes two naps. Yesterday I slept about 5 hours just napping and still was so tired. Still needing melatonin or theanine in order to sleep.

Memory: I don’t think it has improved any. If it has, I can’t tell.

Daily Vitamins:

Clonidine – still averaging 2 a day probably.

I have recently run out of : Magnesium, Chaste tree berry, Olive Leaf Extract, Evening Primrose Oil, Calcium, Fish Oil. ( some of these I’ve been taking less of to get them to last longer i.e. til I get to the store)

here’s my full list of vitamins!

Check out my other updates and info on Lyme!

Symptoms of my Lyme

update 7/27/16

the Big Health update

Thanks for stopping by, I feel so blessed that SGL reaches as many people as it does!

~Laura

 

 

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