#292: Spring Bucket List

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Emma

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You're listening to the Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort listen. I'm your host, Emma

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Chapman.

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Elsie

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And I'm your host, Elsie Larson.

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Emma

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And in this week's episode, we're sharing our spring bucket list. Since it's officially the first week of

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spring, it's still pretty cold where we live, so a lot of this is wishful thinking, but it's fun to plan things to

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look forward to. And we're also sharing an extra hot, hot take debate about kids and iPads. Oh, get

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ready for that.

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Elsie

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You know it's gonna be bad when people evoke the word iPad.

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Emma

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iPad, kid you're like, oh. Who you talking to? What are you gonna say? Everyone's gonna be mad one

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way or the other.

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Elsie

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Yep, yep. Okay, before we jump in, I have a little tale to tell so yesterday, okay? So to back up every

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month, once or twice, every month, I order this beautiful, gorgeous sandwich from big mamas, and it is

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one of my favorite lunches of the month. What's it called? It's called the Jacqueline, okay? And we it's

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this coffee shop that we used to live on the street when we were younger, and it's just very special.

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Their menu hasn't changed in 20 years, which is pretty cool.

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Emma

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It's next door to our old store that we used to have. Our store is not they are.

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Elsie

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Yes, yes. Now our old store is now an old lady tea room, and it's awesome. It's so good. My daughters

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love it. One of them just went there for her birthday and bought a whole bunch of cocktail rings. It's just

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wonderful. So anyway, I ordered the sandwich a couple times a month. It's our special thing that we do.

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And so I was sitting down to eat, like my half of my sandwich that I love so much, and I don't know, I

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walked away from the table for one minute, and then I see that one of our dogs has jumped onto the

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table, stolen my sandwich, and is running around the house with the sandwich. And they're both like,

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they're so excited, you know, like the run where they're like, butt is down. They're so excited. So they're

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doing that running their full speed for pugs, and I cannot catch them. I'm like, chasing them around the

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whole first floor of our house trying to get it back. At this point, I'm like, not even trying to salvage it. I

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was just trying to get it away from them. Yeah, the mess. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, finally, I get the

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sandwich away from them, and I reach down to pick them up. So I'm gonna put them in their kennel

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while I finish my lunch, try again round two, and I, like, all of a sudden have like, the worst pain in my

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life, like my back, like, from just like, I don't know, chasing the dogs or whatever. I like, could not even

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barely stand. Oh God, and I know, and I was like, crying. I put them in their kennel. I was like, walking

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around. I was like, scared. I was terrified that this was like, the first of a long term, like, because my

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husband has been through physical therapy recently, and like, that kind of stuff is, is just like, I like,

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could barely stand. I couldn't sit. I was like, kind of trying to stretch. And it was like, the most painful

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thing I have ever experienced. And so anyway, more than an hour later, my husband comes home, and

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I'm laying on the couch crying.

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Emma

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You're like, my sandwich.

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Elsie

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Yes, yeah, telling him what happened with the dog stealing my sandwich, and he just starts laughing.

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And yeah, it's fine. It was fine. And to be to give a good end to the story, I took to Advil and later on,

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even by, like, later on the night, and then we woke up this morning, I was like, Thank God, it is gone. I'm

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not even like, hurt. It was just a moment. It was weird. It lasted for like an hour, and then it went away.

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Emma

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I've had a few little things like that lately, not quite as bad as that. But I'm like, Emma, this is your sign.

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You need to get back in that yoga.

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Elsie

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Come on, girls. Like, I know, I know. I'm like, do I need to, like Pilates.

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Emma

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Do I need more strength, or do I need more stretching? And that's like, well, let's try a little of both here,

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because let's focus up. We got some years to go here. Can't be losing it the sandwich, though, what a

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loss. I know it's always a bar when you've been looking forward to the little thing. You know, even if it's

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like, I have this every month, it's still like, this was my moment. I was about to sit down have my little

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moment here, and you totally screwed me.

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Elsie

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They did. They thought that was one of their worst moments, but it was cute dogs, yes. So in this

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episode, we're gonna do our spring bucket list. It's one of our favorite traditions we do every year. So

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we're just gonna do our back and forth each five things that we want to try or do, or just little miniature

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goals we have for this upcoming season.

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Emma

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Yep, okay, I'll do my first one. So my first one is Easter baskets. Oh, so, as we all know, Easter is

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coming up, whatever you celebrate for Easter, whatever, man, I kind of just view it as so here's my thing

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with Easter baskets. I was also. So this way, with, like, doing a little Valentine's kind of, it wasn't a

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basket, but, like, gift assortment. I was like, I love Christmas because I like slowly collecting things that I

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like, know my kids are gonna love. Like, I like the kind of like, Oh, here's a book that I know that this

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one will love. Oh, here's this weird little hat that has, you know, like, my kids are kind of weird. They're

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kind of random, and I just like slowly buying things for them. But I don't like giving them presents every

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single day, because that obviously is not good for kids. Like, that's not a good thing to do. So I like, kind

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of slowly buying all the things for the Easter basket, and I slowly bought things for Valentine's. I actually

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feel like it's been a little bit of, like a thing that's helped me through this, like, winter season, just

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spending a little bit of time here or there, buying random for my kids. And right now, it's Easter I'm

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pretending to be the Easter Bunny, as we all do, I suppose. I don't know, we're not big on I'm like, yeah,

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there's an Easter Bunny. We don't talk about it that much. It's It's whatever, but yeah, I'm just like,

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finding little things that I know that they'll love, and it's just fun. And so if I have, like, a few minutes in

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the evening, sometimes I'm online looking, or if I'm like, out at a bookstore buying something, for me, I

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like a look in the kids area for them, because I never buy it in front of them, you know, because then

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they would want it. Rule number one, of course. So it's just sort of like a little I'm like, noticing, like, Oh, I

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like this. So I'm like, Okay, I think I'm gonna try to, like, you know, always be buying for the next little

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thing, because their birthdays are in June. So after the Easter baskets over, I can be thinking about and

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it's sort of nice, because a little bit kids interest can change kind of quickly. So it's like, you don't want to

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buy everything. The minute you think of it, it's like, I kind of like, I have like, little screenshots in my

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phone, and I kind of like, kind of keeping them there until a little bit before the actual event, in case

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they've changed their interest, like, they're no longer into Paddington and so I'm not going to buy the

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Paddington hat anymore, you know, or whatever. Anyway, this is sort of a thing that's like, kind of

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obvious, but I guess I'm just coming to the realization of, like, this is a good way for me to be constantly

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buying stuff for my kids, which is what I like to do, but not giving it to them, because that's not

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something I should do. So this is how I'm going to get around all of this.

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Elsie

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It's nice. No, it works for every season. I think that, I think that you're right. It is a treat. It is a treat. And

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it's like, fun. It's joyful. Yeah, it's fun to buy. I like collecting gifts for people. It's like making like a gift

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basket or a package is one of my favorite things to like, show love. Okay, so my first goal, or whatever,

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my first item bucket list, yeah, is I really want to get new hair. So I have had my black hair for a couple

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of years now, and I have been putting, I'm like, I need to get it put back to Brown, but it needs to be

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done by a professional. Obviously, I can't do it myself, so I need to find a professional again. And so I

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got a referral, and it's in my neighborhood, I can walk there nice. So I just need to book it. And then,

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yeah, I would like to just have, like, a little miniature glow up, like, get my nails. Like, that was one of my

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New Year's goals. I've only gotten them. It's almost March, and I've only gotten one nail set.

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Emma

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I saw them, though, and they were great.

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Elsie

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I tried, I tried. I'm still trying. And that's, like, a cool I think that's a good way to approach like, when you

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have a goal and you kind of fail right away, keep trying, you know, and don't just give up and be like, all

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the years over now, because it's kind of not, it's only Definitely not. So I can still have cute nails, and

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then, yeah, I want to try to get, like, an occasional spray tan, like, just kind of little things, like, I want to

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dress up more. I want to feel good about myself. So that's one of my goals.

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Emma

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All that stuff's just fun too. You know, like, your daughter, Marigold, loves all that stuff. Oh yeah. Like,

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girl, I get it. It's fun to, like, have someone do your hair, get your nails done or, yeah, it's, like, super fun.

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Yeah, it's nice. Okay, my second one is, I want to, so I've kind of been, like, slowly decorating our

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house. I'm starting to do a little more for years now I feel like we've talked about this. You were like,

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your house is so cute, but it's not decorated. And I was like, Yeah, and it won't be for like, five years.

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Well, I've kind of started this year adding a few things. We got a rug in the living room. Whoa, we got a

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rug. And I recently got these, like, bookshelves, and got them put up in the living room. So now we

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have more storage. It has storage underneath for kids toys, and then it has areas for books, and they

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look really cute, and they balance the room out. And we ended up, like, swapping some couches, like

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the the way that they fit in the room, because it just made more sense. And it's actually way better. And

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I didn't even see that coming

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Elsie

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I mean, that interesting.

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Emma

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It's been great. So I'm like, because it kind of like designates more of a play. All the play stuff is over on

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one side, and there's more of a sitting area on the other side of that. And it's really good. And, yeah, so

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anyway, so I'm, I'm like, Hey, this is good. Let's keep going. No pressure. But let's what area do you

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want to look at next you know? And so next up on my spring bucket list is I want to do our entryway.

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Yeah, so our entryway, it's like, when you walk in our front door, we have a split level, like I said. So

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there's stairs that right away go up to kind of the main living room and kitchen. It's sort of an open area,

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and then the stairs keep going up to the bedrooms. Or you can also, when you walk in the entryway, if

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you don't go up the stairs, you can kind of go straight, and you'll go into this other living room, and

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there's a laundry room and how you get to, like, the garage or the back porch, and that's like, where we

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have our TV and stuff. So anyway, the entryway is, like a pretty good size entryway, and there's nothing

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in it, except for one piece of commissioned art that I had done years ago. And we love it, but it's just

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hanging there, and there's nothing else around it. So it's almost like not even I got it framed. But other

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than that, I haven't done anything. Haven't done anything. And then our stroller, because I think you go

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on stroller walks, and that's where the stroller goes, nowhere else to put it. So it's just right there all the

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time, and that's it. There's like, no rug, no nothing. So anyway, so my goal is to do something with that

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entryway. And in my mind, I'm like, you don't have to make it like how it's going to be forever. Just make

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it better than it is right now.

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Elsie

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So like, maybe, like a little side table, or something.

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Emma

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I have two chairs that now don't have anywhere to go, so one or both of them could go down there. I

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would like that piece of art that I had commissioned. I would like to showcase it more. And I feel like if

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the space gets done a little bit more, then it will be shown off more, and then also the stroller. Like

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Hugo's now, like, not as interested in being in the stroller. He's much more, like, wanting to walk around.

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He also has this little tricycle that, like, I push, and we do that a lot, and he's just not as interested in

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being in the stroller. So I don't know if I'm gonna get rid of that big stroller.

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Elsie

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You can put it in the garage or something.

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Emma

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I think I'm gonna move it, and then probably this summer though, we will actually get rid of it. We still

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have, like, travel stroller that, like, I always have one in my the back of my car, that's like, for when I

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take them into the library or just somewhere that. So we still have that. But, like, big step i Yeah, I'm

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like, I think there's stroller errors over. This is kind of weird. But also I'm like, that means I'm gonna do

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this entryway, because this big old stroller is gonna go somewhere.

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Elsie

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It's definitely not over. Keep the travel stroller.

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Emma

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We still have the travel stroller. We still have the trouble. Yeah, now Oscar still needs the travel stroller

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once in a while. Yeah? Like, yeah, it's still good for that. But this is the big, my big stroller that's, like, for

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going on a long walk. And Hugo's just not as interested in that. He wants to, like, be walking himself. So

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I'm like, Okay, I think this is, I think this is getting moved so wonderful. Anyway.

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Elsie

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Okay, so my literary goal for the season, I feel like this could actually stretch. I'm gonna say, like, spring

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and summer for this one, is I really want to read all of the Bronte novels. So there's seven. Most of them

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are short. It's not hard. It's just like, I don't know, I'm like, nervous to start it.

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Emma

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Something about classic sometimes can be a little daunting.

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Elsie

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Yeah, I agree. And I think that that's okay. Like, I have read books before where I needed, like, to read

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analysis afterwards, to under, you know? And, yeah, that's okay. That is all fine. I don't I don't know

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what they're gonna be like. I've listened to people on Tiktok, like, talk about, like, What were their

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favorites, and things like that. So I feel like I have a little bit of an idea. But it's like, it's seven novels

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written by three different sisters, and one of the sisters only wrote one, so it's mostly written by two

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different sisters. And, yeah, I'm just curious and excited to go on that journey. And I kind of want to put

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them all in. The reason why I want to put them all in one year together is so that I can, I don't know, like,

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enjoy them as a group, you know, and kind of like, be able to, like, maybe pick my favorites and things

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like that, like, before I start forgetting things.

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Emma

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I'm also very excited for you to see the movie Wuthering Heights. Yes, I just saw it, and I'm just very

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curious to know what you think.

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Elsie

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Oh, yeah, I think we're going on Friday. So I'm I cannot wait. I was like, not sure I was excited. Okay, so

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here's my hot take. This is my hot take of, like, a long time I usually I try not to, like, ever give anything

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that's like, gonna like, yuck, someone else's yummy.

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Emma

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I know same. I just want people to enjoy their life.

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Elsie

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But the reason why I wasn't sure I wanted to see Wuthering Heights is because I did not really enjoy

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salt burn very much. I thought it was, like, very emotionally flat for me. So it was like, I felt like it was like

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internet rage bait. But like, I wasn't enraged, and I just, like, didn't really, like, get a lot out of it. I thought

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it was beautiful. So I was like, just kind of like, I'm not sure if I like, if it's just for the costumes. I'm not

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sure if I'm like, interested in that. But then my friends told me that it was pretty sad, and then I got

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interested. So, yeah, I'm excited now. I'm gonna try. I loved it. I want to cry.

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Emma

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I wasn't expecting to love it or hate it. I had no real expectation. I just thought it looked beautiful and I

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liked the book, but I did read it in college, and I am 40, yeah, so it has been admitted, so I'm not going.

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Pretend like I remember everything from it, because it was a long time ago that I read it, but I thought it

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was gorgeous, and I thought it was definitely emotional. Okay, I think it's great. I have heard I'm not

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super in touch, but I've heard that the Internet doesn't love it, but I thought it was wonderful. I thought it

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was great adaptation, if you're expecting something to be true to the book, I couldn't say because,

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again, I read it so long ago, but I thought the vibes were high and fun and something I hadn't seen in a

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long time. I felt very inspired after seeing it. And I was like, I think Elsie should watch this, just for the

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interiors, but I think she'll like it anyway.

00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:31.000
Elsie

00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:32.000
Well, I am excited to go on that journey. What's your next one?

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Emma

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Oh, okay, so my next one is, since it's spring, I feel like it's time for us to refresh our fairy garden, which,

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to be fair, our fairy garden is really more of a rock garden. So ours is in the front of our house. We have

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a little free library that's on a stump. It was a tree that was dead when we bought the house, and so we

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had the tree removed, but we left the stump and I added a little free library. And it's a little bit like you do

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have to walk into this kind of, like, rock garden area in order to get to it. So it's not perfectly ideal for the

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neighborhood, but it was just the stump I had. So this is what we did, how we've made it more inviting

00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:40.000
to, like, make sure people know please walk into this area we're not bothered by that is my kids paint

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rocks and seashells and bricks and all sorts of things all the time. We paint all sorts of random things,

00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.000
and we put them out there. And I've noticed other families have started adding things once in a while

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too, like love kids have painted little ceramic ghosts, and I know they didn't come from my kids, and

00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:44.000
they're just out there. And so I and I love that. I also it doesn't bother me if no one adds anything. But if

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you happen to know where I live and you've seen my rock garden, feel free to bring some stuff,

00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:46.000
because I love it. My kids notice too. And Oscar talks about the ghost. He's like, they just showed up

00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:47.000
one day. Oh, like, he's, you know what happened? I'm like, well, another kid painted them, and their

00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:48.000
mom brought him. It's great. But anyway, so it's kind of a rock garden, and I think it'd be a good time to

00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:49.000
refresh it, because it gets kind of like all weird in the winter, and many of the rocks are kind of ready to

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be repainted, because they're almost missing all the paint now. And so anyway, I just thought that I'd

00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:51.000
get the kids out there and we would kind of clean it up, pick up anything that could be repainted. Kind of

00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:52.000
work on that. And then there's also this Paddington book that I read with Oscar fairly often at bedtime,

00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.000
where Paddington gets a garden, and he accidentally spills his marmalade into this quick dry cement,

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and it makes these orange rocks. So I don't exactly know how I'm going to do this, but I figured we'd

00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:55.000
have some kind of marmalade rocks Art Project One day after school where we could make a whole

00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.000
bunch of orange rocks and put those out in the rock garden to make our own little Paddington rock

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garden. So we're going to do that too this spring. I love it.

00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:58.000
Elsie

00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.000
I need to do that also. My fairy garden is also trashed, yeah, and it's ready for a refresh. And that

00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.000
sounds really fun. The Spring is the time to refresh. It's a wonderful thing, and so fun to like make little

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.000
things. It is okay. One of my goals, I've had this goal for a while, and I just still have not gotten to it, is I

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want to start buying fresh flowers and practicing making little arrangements. And I found this place in

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town that's supposed to have weird flowers. And I, you know, you have to have a business idea. We

00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:04.000
have one that's fine. I need to just do it. I need to go there. I need to figure out, like, what's the deal with

00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.000
it? And then I need to start, you know, going, like, a couple times a month and just getting weird flowers

00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:06.000
and filling up my house and, like, I want to practice making the arrangements. When I was really young,

00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.000
I worked at a flower shop for a little while. It was one of my favorite that's a fun job, minimum wage jobs.

00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:08.000
It was so fun. And, yeah, I just think it's a joyful thing, and it's a gift I can give myself in a year when,

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you know, the there's like, emotional ups and downs, you know, and it's, it's a comfort.

00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:10.000
Emma

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.000
So, okay, my next one is to start going on walks outside again. So I this is already kind of started even

00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:12.000
by the time we're recording this, so I'll be well into it by the time you're hearing this. But I love going on

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walks, and I don't do it as much in the dead of winter. I will if I'm desperate, like I will put on my ski

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outfit, as I've mentioned before, and go for a walk, but it's just not as frequent. Whereas I like it to

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become, if not a part of my daily life, then at least, like, two or three times a week I get out and go on a

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walk, mostly by myself. I used to it a lot with Hugo in his stroller, but now that he's not as into the

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stroller, I have to kind of figure out a new method, and I push him on his his little tricycle, but usually we

00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:18.000
don't go that far, and then he wants to hop off and pick up sticks or and that's great, and that's

00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.000
wonderful, but I don't really, for me, that's not really a walk. I have to, like my mind has to be able to

00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:20.000
wander while my feet are moving. It can't be just stopping and doing sidewalk talk with my kids. That's

00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.000
fun, but that's a different activity to me, so I have to kind of find a new way to fit this into my life, either

00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:22.000
with my partner or by myself, because my kids aren't as into it at the moment. So. But I just love our

00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.000
neighborhood. We have a really lovely neighborhood that it does have sidewalks, but there's also lots of

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areas where you have to walk in the street, but there's kind of a lot of hills, which can be nice if you

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don't have a kid with you, and it's athletic, it's feels kind of good. You feel a little winded when you get

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up that hill. That's nice. And then we also have a lot of ponds in my neighborhood where we have

00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.000
geese, and there's also, like, these two swans that you'll see fairly often. It's just like, sort of special. So

00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:28.000
it's fun to be out there and to see them be like, Oh, I see the swans today, you know, or whatever.

00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:29.000
Elsie

00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:30.000
My kids love trying to spot your swans.

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.000
Emma

00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:32.000
I don't even know why they're there. Like, what the deal is with those swans, but they are kind of

00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.000
special.

00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:34.000
Elsie

00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.000
Okay, my next one is to paint all the time, so I just moved my painting studio home, and I just want to be

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:36.000
out there painting a little bit every day is the ideal amount. And sometimes on the weekends I do like a

00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.000
big, long session, but a lot of times it's like an hour before bed, or right before I pick up my kids from

00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:38.000
school or something like that. And I just want to take advantage of the fact that it's now back in my

00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.000
home, I don't have to drive anywhere. I don't have to do anything. It's, you know, it's all just their way

00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.000
there. I always have a half finished painting laying out on the table pretty much at all times. And I can

00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.000
just go in there and do a little bit and, you know, enjoy that. So it's kind of like my activity in life, like, it's

00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:42.000
the most like peaceful activity that I've ever found, and where it like, it really does, like, clear my brain

00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:43.000
and I feel just like perfectly at peace when I'm doing it. And I've never, I've heard people say they feel

00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:44.000
that way about exercising, and I'm jealous for those people, but I've never experienced the way I feel

00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:45.000
painting with any other activity. It's just kind of clear and peaceful. That's special.

00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:46.000
Emma

00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.000
Yeah, I like that. Okay, my last one has to do again with kind of how I've been slowly decorating a little

00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:48.000
bit in our home, yes. So I have this one area in our kitchen where I think it could use some wallpaper

00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:49.000
that probably sounds weird for a kitchen maybe. My house is actually very minimial.

00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:50.000
Elsie

00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.000
Is it behind the bar?

00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.000
Emma

00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.000
Yes.

00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:54.000
Elsie

00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.000
I think that's a great place. It's kind of it's an open shelving situation.

00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:56.000
Emma

00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.000
Yes, most of my kitchen counters, I also so I have this like quartz, and I the backsplash around. Most of

00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:58.000
it is the same quartz, but there's this one area where it just was different. It's kind of like has pantry

00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.000
cabinets on both sides, and then it has these floating shelves in the center. It's where we have our

00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:00.000
coffee stuff, and then we have some liquor bottles and some like, like a giant salad bowl that I bought

00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.000
recently is there, and some cutting boards, like, some more decorative things that I use sparingly are

00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:02.000
there, and it just like has always looked nice, but like a little bit unfinished, and I just think some

00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.000
wallpaper would look really good there. I haven't totally gotten my husband on board with this yet. He's

00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:04.000
not against wallpaper. We have wallpaper in the house in a number of places, but I picked two that I

00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.000
ordered samples of that I'm just gonna like tape up and kind of look at and see what he thinks about

00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:06.000
those. If neither of those work, then we'll order some more samples. But I am kind of into one of them

00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:07.000
especially. But I ordered the other one because I liked it too, and it's a slightly different vibe, and I just

00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.000
wanted to kind of see what we think. But I have a feeling he's gonna feel like they're maybe a little too

00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.000
traditional. Oh, interesting. So we'll see. But I don't know, he may be like, I love it. I have no idea. I think

00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:10.000
it's easier to to kind of, like, work with your partner on design stuff, if you have something to show them.

00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:11.000
So I was like, I'm gonna go and order these samples. They're like, $4 a piece, whatever. And once they

00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:12.000
come in, then I'll be like, imagine one of these all here. It's also one of those things where I'll have to

00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.000
hire someone to help because, like, we can take the shelves out, but the metal can't really be removed.

00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:14.000
I mean, you, I couldn't do it. Yeah, someone else could do it. I couldn't do it. So I don't know if the

00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.000
wallpaper lady will, they can go around it. Yeah, it's, it's sort of like a small area, but still kind of a tricky

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:16.000
job. Anyway. It's kind of a whole thing. But I am hoping to have wallpaper this spring. I'm at least going

00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.000
to be moving towards it. If we have to order more samples or whatever, though, that's fine, yeah, you

00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:18.000
can go in summer. I don't care, just moving towards it.

00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.000
Elsie

00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000
I think that could be really nice.

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.000
Emma

00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:22.000
Yeah, I think it would feel cute, like, and just more finished and just like, have a little bit of a thing,

00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.000
Elsie

00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.000
My last one is to finish our mouse mansion. So we started, we had the idea, I think it was on a snow

00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.000
day to kind of we have this, this small section of bookshelves in our living room, and we took all the

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books off of two shelves and divided those up so it's each shelf is two rooms, and we're just making a

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little doll house in the bookshelves, that is. It's kind of low to the ground where all the children in our life

00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:28.000
can reach it. And yeah, it's just really fun. But it has been unfinished now for more than a month, and I

00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.000
am still and I posted it on Instagram the day we started, so I'm still getting messages of like, when,

00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:30.000
when did you ever finish that? I'm like, oh, because I didn't yet finish it. But yeah, our friend Kelsey, her

00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.000
daughter, was, she's in middle school, and she was getting rid of her dollhouse stuff. And so we traded,

00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:32.000
I traded her something she's interested in, and she traded me all her dollhouse furniture, which was

00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.000
cool. So I have all this, like, new furniture. You have plenty of stuff I just need to, like, take probably a

00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:34.000
day or two to do all the crafting of it, you know, like securing everything painting. I always, I had this

00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.000
little part where I wanted to add bricks made out of paper clay. You know, how I get, like, it needs to be

00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:36.000
a whole thing, and I can't let it be easy. So, yeah, that is my dream. But I just think it's so fun. Our piano

00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.000
teacher had this doll house that was like in her little bookshelves, and I always just loved it. We went

00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:38.000
over there, and then finally, we're making our own, and I think it's gonna be so fun when it's done. No, I

00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.000
love that.

00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000
Emma

00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.000
But speaking of Kelsey and getting rid of her dollhouse stuff because her daughter was getting older, I

00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:42.000
got the doll house.

00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.000
Elsie

00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:44.000
Oh, you got the doll house?

00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.000
Emma

00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.000
Yes, because so a little bit of backstory. We had a podcast listener write in about a book that she wrote

00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.000
with a friend, and it's called mouse town. And I bought the book. I read. I do read all your emails. Like

00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:48.000
I've said before, it's true. We read every single one, yeah. And I was like, Oh, this book looks amazing.

00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.000
So I ordered mouse town. I wrote down the names. It's by Jody Levine and Margaret McCartney

00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.000
Grover, and it's really cute. I honestly kind of bought it, I mean, just because, you know, as podcast

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.000
listener, it looked like a cool book, but also I was kind of buying it for myself, but it came in the mail. I

00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.000
opened it up. It was just sitting on the counter, and my older son, Oscar, who's four and a half, saw it,

00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.000
and was like, Mama, what's this? And I was like, oh, it's called mouse town. Do you want to read it?

00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:54.000
And it has like little parts where the mice talk, but it's mostly a crafting book. And certainly you could do

00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.000
this with kids, but it is slightly more advanced crafting than my kids can do, because my kids are pretty

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:56.000
young, but my son got really into it, and he was like, I want to do mouse town. We need to make a

00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:57.000
mouse town. And I was like, Okay, well, we could do that. So mouse town, this book does a lot of with

00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:58.000
recycled materials, which is very cool. But I just kind of knew my son kind of wants to do a lot in a day.

00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.000
He doesn't like the idea of slowly collecting things is going to be tricky for him anyway. I just kind of

00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:00.000
knew, like, I'm going to get a blank doll house, and we're going to have a mouse house, and then we

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.000
will slowly add other things from the book, here and there, and that will be the way to go for us, for his

00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:02.000
level, and for, you know, just how they are. So Kelsey was getting rid of this blank doll house. So I was

00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.000
like, perfect. Can I have that dollhouse? And she brought it over, which was so nice of her. And now it's

00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:04.000
a mouse house. I sent her a picture. We put wallpaper. I had extra wallpaper that's in Oscar's room, in

00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.000
Hugo's room, so I put those in two of the rooms. We painted some of the other rooms. Oscar wanted to

00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:06.000
paint a lot of it pink, so he did that. And we have two mice that they got them for Valentine's Day. I told

00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.000
them they were brothers. It was actually a boy and a girl, but I just took the skirt off. Doesn't matter.

00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:08.000
Doesn't matter. They're mice, and it's called mouse house for the for them, but it's a doll house. And I

00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:09.000
bought some, like, blank doll house furniture, and we've painted some of it, some of it just is what it is.

00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:10.000
We framed a bunch of art. Oscar, like, picked things out of magazines, and we spent that was, like one

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:11.000
craft one day was we framed it, and then I glued it in there wherever he wanted. So it's kind of like a

00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.000
dollhouse that I'm letting it be very much like what he wants. And his little brother plays with it too. But I

00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:13.000
also kind of try to help steer it so it doesn't just become like a trash pile, you know. So anyway, it's really

00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.000
fun. So it's funny that you're talking about your your mouse mansion, because we are on the same

00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:15.000
journey. We're on the same journey, and it was all from mouse town. So thank you to our listeners,

00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:16.000
amazing.

00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.000
Elsie

00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.000
No, I just ordered it on my phone.

00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.000
Emma

00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.000
The day I was like, were made these little pies. It's from Mouse Town.

00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.000
Elsie

00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:22.000
Yeah, in bottle caps, yes, the pie pan is so cute. Make mouse town a best seller.

00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.000
Emma

00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:24.000
It's really cute. It's a really cute book.

00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.000
Elsie

00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.000
Yeah, all right, I love it. Would you like to read Kayla's hot take?

00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.000
Emma

00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.000
Yes, here we go. Okay. She says, Oh no, I feel so bad writing this, but here I am. Don't talk to me about

00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:29.000
your kids inattentiveness, poor impulse control, listening skills, reaching math comprehension and so

00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:30.000
forth. If they have unlimited access to a screen, especially an iPad mic drop, I'm assuming, yeah, oh

00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:31.000
man, oh man. Okay, so just to clarify, because I'm not always the best at reading between lines. She's

00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000
saying, if they have unlimited access to an iPad, of course they can't pay attention and be good at

00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.000
these things that she's listed, listening skills, impulse control, because the screen's making them a

00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:34.000
terrible kid kind of thing. That's sort of the message here.

00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.000
Elsie

00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:36.000
Yes, okay. She's saying, if your kids have too much screen time, don't complain about these things.

00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.000
Emma

00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:38.000
Okay, that's what I thought. I was just making sure that I wasn't like, mm. Yeah, sometimes I feel like I

00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.000
just totally miss things. You know what I mean? So okay, I mean, I don't have kids the age of iPads yet,

00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:40.000
like my kids aren't old enough for that type of thing, so I don't want to be too here's my strong opinion

00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.000
about something that I don't know about yet. You know what I mean. But it does seem to me that iPads

00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.000
kind of suck for kids a little bit. So I don't know. I guess I'm with her, but it feels, feels a little harsh, but

00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.000
also, yes, question mark, I don't know.

00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000
Elsie

00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:45.000
Okay, I'm gonna take the opposite side. I think, sure, okay, it's very easy to villainize screen time. It's

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very easy to blame screen time, especially if you're in a phase of life where your kids are having little

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amounts or no screen time, right? Yeah? Like, you know, high horse. Like, I get that. I've been on both

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sides of this.

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Emma

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I love a high horse. Yeah, I'm always sad when I'm not on a high horse.

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Elsie

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I've been on the high horse. And I've also been in, you know, my survival eras. I think that iPads can be

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good. I think iPads can be very good for kids. I think it's better when they're limited, sure. But I think

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that, you know, there's lots. I think it also depends on it's your job to set it up where it has the things you

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want them to have on there. There's lots of learning games. There's lots of things. My kids make videos

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of themselves with their iPad.

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Emma

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It's really cute. Show me a few of them, and they are so cute.

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Elsie

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Yeah, and our iPads have no YouTube and no internet browser, so they don't have access. Like the

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main thing I don't want them to have at this age is YouTube, and that's just my opinion, you know, and

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like other, you know, I'm not shaming on anyone else. I just think, like, just be careful where you throw

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these kind of hot takes. Because I think that for like, single moms, for people who are, I don't know,

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going through a hard time, kids who are, you know, sick or in bed for whatever reason, or, you know, we

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have limited like, child care or resources. Like, there's just all kinds of different reasons why people rely

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on iPads. So I don't know, I feel like it's like, it's a there's a judgmental thing in our society, like, my

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husband, like, doesn't ever want our kids to bring their iPads in public, because he feels like people will

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judge us that they're like on it all the time. And I don't know, I wish it wasn't that way, because I think

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that the main thing that I think is an area that I'm interested in thinking about and talking about, is that

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it's very, very easy to say, like, kids should have absolutely none of this stuff when they're little, right?

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Like, when they're like toddlers and like, Emma's kids age, sure, it's easy. And when my kids were

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younger, we had our iPads were only for traveling. And then, as they've gotten older, they now, like, ask

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for it constantly. So now it's only for weekends, you know, and we we've changed our rules over time,

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because that's just like, going to happen. So the thing I'm thinking a lot about is, like, our kids are kind

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of in there, like they're eight and 10, so they're, like, kind of approaching that tween age. And I have lots

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of friends with younger teens who both have phones and don't have phones, and I'm starting to think

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about, like, what are we going to do? Because there's, this is a hard area that everyone has to face.

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And my biggest thing is, like, instead of, how am I going to limit them for as long as possible? Because,

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sure, I'm going to try to do that, right? That's what that goes without saying. Like, I think most people try,

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but how am I going to prepare them to be able to use the internet and phone without me there? Like, in

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a good way? I think that's something that we don't talk about enough, is like, How can I teach them to

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have a healthy relationship with it? Because they are going to have a relationship with it.

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Emma

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Yep, I totally agree with that. I think too. I was talking with a friend of ours recently, and I won't say who,

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because she didn't, I wasn't like, Can I share this on the podcast? But she mentioned her kids are also

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approaching the tween age, and she mentioned that her husband has been kind of researching

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basically better and worse video games. Yeah, that kind of teach you, like, problem solving versus just

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kind of, like, dull your brain kind of stuff, you know? And I was like, that's an interesting approach. If not,

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like, we're just a harsh no on video games. It's like, you know, we're gonna be okay with some, but I'm

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gonna research and, you know, figure out which ones, and those will be the ones we have.

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Elsie

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And I think, you know, it's really smart there. We've, we've learned already, there's, like, vast differences

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in the different types of games. And some of them, they learn so much like, and sometimes you think

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they're gonna learn one of my children did like, I think, six months of Duolingo, and she cannot say a

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single word in French besides Bonjour and croissant. Like, that's it. That is it.

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Emma

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She probably knew croissant already.

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Elsie

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It didn't work at all. And I and I let her use my phone every day.

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Emma

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Burn dual lingo.

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Elsie

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I mean, I hate to say it, but it sucked. I don't know, but it's like, it's a thing that you would have thought I

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was doing this big educate like, at the time, I was like, I'm doing this big educational thing, you know

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what I mean? But like, you don't know until you try things sometimes. Yeah, so it's kind of interesting.

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Anyway, I don't know. I think, like, let's all approach this delicately, because I think that most, if not all,

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parents are trying their best. Most parents are trying their best.

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Emma

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Also not all parents, not everyone has seen everything that you've seen, right? So if you're like, I'm

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super aware of the anxious generation I read that book, and I'm aware of all the lawsuits that are

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happening with matter right now. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, good, excellent. You might come in

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contact with a parent who's never heard of that, yeah? So just, you know, you don't need to just be

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aware of that, yeah, you know. And just know, like that doesn't you know. Just, let's just all, like,

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approach one another with, like, some curiosity and some love and some like, maybe you have some

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information I don't have. I'm going to be open to that. And maybe I have some information you don't

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have, and I don't need to be a know it, all about it, but I should approach the conversation like, maybe

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you let's just keep sharing info, because we all want the same thing. We all want our kids to grow up

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happy and healthy. Yeah, we all want the exact same thing, and that's simple, so let's just keep it there

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and then know that we're going to do it slightly different, but like, let's just keep sharing and trying to,

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like, make that happen for everyone. Yeah, that's all there is really.

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Elsie

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So no, I love that, yeah. Just always remember that on one kid's iPad might be like the worst YouTube

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channel you've ever seen in your life, but on another kid's iPad is Anne of Green Gables. Okay, that's

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my mic drop. Done. Okay, um, so we're gonna pass it over to a joke or a fact with Nova. Hey, Nova,

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what do you have for us this week?

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Nova

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A meditation.

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Elsie

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A meditation. Okay? What type it's gonna be about?

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Nova

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And this isn't real. It's gonna be about if Sushi was babies and they were alive.

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Elsie

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Okay, I'm excited for this one. I'm closing my eyes.

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Nova

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Imagine just made a sushi roll. Okay, you cut it. And then after you were ready, they suddenly pop open

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their eyes. They said hello with their cute little smiles. Then you spent the day playing with them and

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giving them some food, cookies and milk. And then at the end of the day, you tucked them into bed, and

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they said, Good night. You looked at them. And then when you went to your room, you had a good story

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to tell your friends tomorrow, open your eyes, take your deep breaths and say to yourself, This will be a

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good day. Or if it's night, then say you'll have good dreams and you will imagine good thoughts in your

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mind.

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Elsie

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Thank you, Nova, that was beautiful. You're welcome. We'll be back next week.

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Nova

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Bye.

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Emma

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Thank you so much for listening. As always, you can email us with hot takes, with ideas for episodes, or

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with great book recommendations, like mouse town, we are at podcasts at a beautiful mess.com Love

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you.

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Elsie

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See you next week.