Moments, Tats, and Toys

on July 2, 2012
in FAQ Mondays

My prayers for a thunderstorm came true.  Overnight, the temperatures dropped thirty degrees thanks to the rain!  Too bad the sun will burn it all up in just a few hours.

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Happy Monday!  Who has a short week thanks to the holiday?

 

Breakfast:

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Stovetop banana oatmeal:

 

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup soy milk

Toppings: almonds, blueberries, brown sugar, splash of soy milk

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One lone stem.

 

FAQ Mondays

 

Describe a random moment of your weekend.  Yesterday, we went to Barnes and Noble to buy my father-in-law a gift card for his birthday and look at parenting books.  While we were there, I decided to  see if they had the Healthy Tipping Point book in stock.  There are so many books on the market that even just-released books aren’t always available in every store, but mine was!  It was a fun moment.  I also found Peas and Thank You, an excellent vegan recipe book by another blogger, on the same shelf.  In the parenting section, I couldn’t find the book I wanted to buy (Jo Frost’s Confident Baby Care) – boo!  On the way out of the store, I was very tempted to purchase the Game of Thrones series but I don’t want to spoil the excellent HBO show by reading the books. 

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Do you have any tattoos or piercings? Do you regret them?  I have two holes in each ear.  I also had my ear cartilage pierced and the upper and lower belly button skin pierced, but I removed those about eight years ago.  I have my mom’s middle (and my middle name) tattooed on my hip – Joy.  I don’t regret my tattoo at all and actually really want another one.  I regret piercing my upper belly button skin because it is now a mass of scar tissue that constantly hurt when stretched out the last trimester of pregnancy. 

 

Describe a really memorable present you received for Christmas or Hanukah as a child.   My Skip-It.  Do you remember that toy?  So cool – especially the Skip-It with the counter so you could see how many skips you had done.

Your turn!  Describe a random moment of your weekend, tell me about your piercings and tattoos, and let’s wax poetic about awesome childhood toys.  Moon shoes, anyone?

{ 66 comments }

 

  • Sarena (The Non Dairy Queen) July 2, 2012, 9:50 am

    My belly button scar is nasty from pregnancy too. I don’t necessarily regret it, but I don’t particularly love that scar. I love my tattoo. My mom swore I would regret it, but I rally do still love it. I have a four leaf clover on my ankle. Ironically, my best friend from high school and I ended up with the same tattoo, from the same place and we never knew it until years later…

  • Dana July 2, 2012, 9:51 am

    Buy Game of Thrones. The first book follows the tv series almost exactly, but just provides a ton more info that makes the series even better. 🙂

    • Vikki July 2, 2012, 5:55 pm

      I wish there were a like button for this comment because I would totally press it. 🙂

    • Vikki July 2, 2012, 6:09 pm

      Random Moment: I suppose the entire weekend was kind of random. I spent all weekend at a hoopdancing workshop in Chapel Hill, NC learning from amazing teachers and watching some of the best hoopers in the country do their thing. It was fabulous and I’m really proud of myself for getting through the weekend and all the activity that it involved. (Google hoopdancing if you don’t know what it is and be prepared to lose hours to you tube.)
      Tattoos: No tattoos or piercings due to a fear of needles. If I got a tattoo it would be a Clemson tiger paw somewhere on my back.
      Present: I might have gotten this for my birthday (summer birthday means summer toys) rather than Christmas, but I had a tether ball in the backyard that my brother and I loved. We would spend hours batting the ball back and forth to each other. Basically we were trying to knock each other over with the ball. It was fun.

      • Vikki July 2, 2012, 6:13 pm

        Ack…this was supposed to be its own comment. I don’t know how to fix it.

  • Claire @ Live and Love to Eat July 2, 2012, 9:51 am

    I got a tattoo in college (at Eye Candy in Shadyside) – my mom saw it, freaked out, and decided they were NOT paying for me to live in Oakland anymore. That’s why I became a resident assistant. 🙂 I still love it though!

  • Jen G. July 2, 2012, 9:54 am

    I’m a commitment-phobe, so never thought I’d get a tattoo. But on the second anniversary of my cancer surgery, I got a tattoo on my shoulder blade (a few inches south of my surgery scar) that reads “courage” in the language of a country I lived in for several months in college. Four years later and I still love it.

  • Marion July 2, 2012, 9:56 am

    Ha! I have “Joie” tattooed on my hip which is French for “joy”!

  • Dori July 2, 2012, 9:56 am

    I have three holes in my left ear, two in my right but for the last eight years or so I’ve only worn one in each. I got my belly button pierced when I was 18, and now I am 29 and still wear it. I love it, my boyfriend finds it sexy and I don’t plan to take it out until a potential baby is on the way.

    My good friend and former roommate won “Best Tattoo” in our high school yearbook, but to this day her parents still have no idea!

    I loved my Skip It too, and a college professor gave me an old one she had back in 2004. I don’t have it anymore though.

  • Lindsey July 2, 2012, 9:56 am

    No tattoos – not a fan for myself, I have both ears pierced, 3 holes on side and 4 the other and my belly button pierced. I feel like its almost time for the belly button piercing to go but I have had it for 13 years and it looks weird without it!

  • Regina July 2, 2012, 9:56 am

    While I do enjoy the Game of Thrones series on HBO, the books are fantastic. FANTASTIC. I guess I have the opposite attitude: I wouldn’t want the show to spoil the books.

    • LizP July 2, 2012, 3:04 pm

      Agreed! I am in the middle of the series and the books are so, so good! The tv show is an awesome addition, but I would recommend the books to anyone. So far, book 3 has been my favorite!

  • Megan@ The Running Doc July 2, 2012, 9:58 am

    I have a total of 5 holes in my ears, 2 lower holes on each side and my cartilage. I also had my nose pierced. I definitely regret getting the 2nd hole in my ears because I have a serious allergy to all metals and could never wear any earrings! I also sort of regret the nose piercing. I loved it while I had it but since I decided to take it out I have a lovely purplish spot on my nose because of an allergic reaction. So pretty, ha!

    • Heather July 3, 2012, 9:24 am

      I too have an allergic reaction to metals, my jewlery lady suggested that I take a probiotic every day and it would fix this problem. I started doing this and I have not had this problem since. So happy, I have so many beautiful hand made earrings that I can now wear!!!

  • Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed July 2, 2012, 9:58 am

    I love my belly button piercing and my “Live It Love It” tattoo on my hip, but maybe I’ll feel differently after pregnancy? lol, we’ll see!

    Hmmmm apparently I need to get into Game of Thrones? Everyone is talking about it!

  • Janae @ Bring-Joy July 2, 2012, 10:09 am

    Random weekend moment: Had to chase down my brother’s dog who we were dog-sitting. I’m not used to dogs, let alone, playful, energetic ones!

    Don’t have any tatoos, just ear piercings, one on each ear.

    Favorite childhood toy…those circular things you sit on & spin. Remember going around & around ’til I made myself sick!

    • Lindsay July 2, 2012, 10:30 am

      Hah Sit and Spin! Loved those!!

      • Jen July 3, 2012, 12:05 am

        Me too! Didn’t have one of my own, but I still remember the one at nursery school! 🙂

  • Elle July 2, 2012, 10:19 am

    Caitlin, did your tattoo on the hip change much during pregnancy? Did it stretch, etc?

    • CaitlinHTP July 2, 2012, 10:53 am

      Only when the baby dropped – otherwise, it was low enough so it didn’t stretch. Now it looks normal.

      • Elle July 2, 2012, 11:10 am

        Wow, alredy?? Interesting… am considering a tattoo but still have to figure out the “location” and the exact drawing (well, it’ll be a sentence)… thank you!

  • Tanya July 2, 2012, 10:23 am

    I loved the Skip It. Most fun toy ever.
    I have two tattoos, both honoring marathons I ran-one for my first marathon and one for the marathon my 13 year old son ran with me.

  • Beks July 2, 2012, 10:24 am

    I loved Skip It! My sis had one, and we used it a LOT. I always thought it was hard to get started, but once you DID get started, it was hard to stop! LOL A great workout, too, if memory serves.
    I have a treble clef and a rose on my right shoulder blade that my sis gave me for my 18th birthday. I don’t regret it. I do want to get another, but I think I’m going to hold off until I can be a full-time writer and won’t have to worry about hiding it all the time.

  • Rebecca @ Blueberry Smiles July 2, 2012, 10:24 am

    Random wknd moment- we went to the beach boardwalk, felt like a kid again, rode the roller coaster, ate ice cream, and played skeeball…the two 6 yr old kids next to me got double my skeeball score….ha! What the heck? ego 🙂
    My most memorable Hanukkah gift was my sega genesis. I thought it was the coolest thing ever!
    And if I ever publish a book, I think seeing it in a bookstore would be such an amazing thrill! Very cool about Barnes and Noble

    • Jen July 3, 2012, 12:18 am

      This really shows my age, but one of the favorite Christmas gifts that I remember was Atari! It was this brand-new, AMAZING technology at the time! My (eight years younger) brother eventually got the Sega Genesis. Even though I was, at that point, in college, I still had fun playing it with him. 🙂

      Also, that boardwalk trip sounds right up my alley! 🙂

  • Laura O. July 2, 2012, 10:30 am

    I have six holes in the left ear (3 cartiladge, 3 lower) and six in the right (4 cartiladge, 2 lower). I wanted to get my eyebrow pierced in high school but my father forbade me but said I could pierce my ears as much as I want so that’s what I did :-). I only keep 3 in each ear now that I’m older…
    2 tats–a dolphin on left inner ankle and hibiscus flower on right inner ankle (want a small wrist one, hopefully after summer).
    She-Ra Princess of Power (and accessories) was my fav toy. Obsessed!

  • Presley (run pretty) July 2, 2012, 10:31 am

    Random moment: being pooped on for the first time this morning.
    Piercings/tats: two piercings in each ear & bellybutton (which I took out a few years ago & also stretched out a little in the last trimester… Bummer) and three tattoos. A hibiscus, stars, and “MRS”. They were all spur of the moment, but I oddly do not regret them.
    Toy: my pink Barbie car, which I drove around like a pimp. I liked to “work” on the motor, which was just a big battery. haha

    & I can’t imagine how cool it would be to see something I wrote in a book store!

  • Kendra @ My Full-Thyme Life July 2, 2012, 10:32 am

    I’ve got two earing holes, one piercing through the inside of my ear, and belly button piercing. I never wear earings, and even when I was 16 and in excellent shape I never showed off my stomach and really had no reason for a belly button ring. I kept the piercing through my ear only because it is pretty unique and I still get comments on it. I have a tattoo of a sun on my lower back (original, I know) and I don’t regret it one bit.
    Congrats on seeing te book at Barnes and Noble! How cool is that?!? 🙂

  • Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat July 2, 2012, 10:35 am

    Haha I remember Skip It AND moon shoes!! Right now I have 2 ear piercings in each ear, and as a kid I always begged my mum to let me get the cartilage part pierced too. She worked as a physio in a hospital and every time I asked, she always told me about “this one girl” she saw whose ear got infected and they had to remove the top portion. Every time she told that story (and I don’t even know if it’s true, but I believed it at the time) that was enough to put me off for a while!

  • Elisabeth July 2, 2012, 10:42 am

    There are plenty of fun Christmas gifts, but one I was thinking of recently was my first Walkman I got the year I was 8 (in the cassette tape days of 1990…ha!), along with some tapes – The Simpsons soundtrack – The Simpsons Sing the Blues, The Little Mermaid Soundtrack and Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl. I thought I was so cool with that thing – took it every day to school to listen to on the playground. A couple years later, I can remember listening to Janet Jackson’s ‘Again’ incessantly on it 😉

  • Michelle S July 2, 2012, 10:44 am

    I’ll admit it. I’m a tattoo junkie. I started getting tattoos when I turned 16 – not necessarily something I recommend for others. I’ve got 13 tattoos of varying sizes. Most of my tattoos can be easily hidden. My dad wasn’t really into his daughter having tats, so I respected that. I also didn’t want it to be an issue with getting a job. I love them because they each have meaning to me.

  • Kristy @ KristyRuns July 2, 2012, 10:47 am

    SKIP IT!!! Thanks for bringing back a fond childhood memory! Slip ‘n slides were (are) also the best!

  • Lauren T July 2, 2012, 10:49 am

    Moon shoes were so awesome! In elementary school we would get to use them on occasion in P.E. class!
    I got my upper cartilage pierced in one ear and the middle cartilage pieced in the other year 2 years ago. I kept them in constantly for 2 years and I just took the upper cartilage out a week ago to clean it, but the hole started bleeding so I didn’t put it back in. I tried to put it in that night, but the hole already closed up too much! I’m not too disappointed though because it was mostly just annoying since it hurt all the time. My other cartilage piercing is pretty much fine though.

  • Katie @ Soulshine and Sassafras July 2, 2012, 10:54 am

    Right now I just have one piercing in each ear, but I used to have 7 in each ear (in various places, not just on the lobe/cartilage area), my belly button, and my nose. I took them all out after college because I’m an actor, and the only one I miss is my nose ring. I wonder sometimes what my belly button scar will do when I get pregnant! I also have 4 tattoos (why I think it’s ok to have tattoos but not piercings as an actor is a mystery to me): a paw print on my right foot, the word “hope” on my left wrist, a sunflower on my inner forearm near the crook of my elbow, and a tree on my lower back. I love my tattoos and will quite possibly get more over time, and I loved my piercings when I had them!

  • Joy @ The Joy Vey July 2, 2012, 10:56 am

    Oh gosh – I had completely forgotten about skip it! What a fun toy (and a decent workout!).

    I have a tattoo on my ankle and am really, really wanting another one. My first was easy to decide on the art and location, but I’m all up in the air for my second. I’m so indecisive, it might be another decade before I actually go under the needle again!

  • Dana July 2, 2012, 10:57 am

    I adored my skip it!

  • Meet At The Finish July 2, 2012, 11:01 am

    I don’t regret my tattoo at all! In fact I want more 😉 It’s Anuhata on my hip and it symbolizes a lot of stuff for me. No piercings anymore just never needed that. Not quite my thing! Most memorable Xmas gift? For sure my first pony! What little girl doesn’t want a pony for Xmas?

  • jenn July 2, 2012, 11:31 am

    BUY THE BOOKS!! The Game of Thrones books are so detailed and the writing is so good. I love the HBO series but I always felt that I was unsure about why certain things were happening or confused about who all of the characters were. After reading the books – the series is so much better because you have the background behind everything.

  • Heather July 2, 2012, 11:43 am

    Run to B&N and buy those dang books! If you think the show is excellent then the books will blow your mind. Seriously, the books are so richly detailed-the show pales in comparison. But be warned, those books will suck you in so buy the series all together.

  • Shelly @ EpicOrganic.net July 2, 2012, 11:54 am

    Just got my 8th tattoo day before yesterday! No regrets. That’s not to say I wouldn’t go back and change a couple of them if I could (was the ugly spooky tree *really* necessary?), but they’re part of me and represent moments in time and times of my life that I wouldn’t change for the world. They’re part of the sum of my histories that make me who I am today.

  • Laura @ The Bright Side July 2, 2012, 11:55 am

    SKIP IT! I knew the song before I even pressed play on that YouTube video. I always wanted one of these in pink, but I somehow forgot to add it to my Christmas list that year.

    🙁

    My wild and crazy college thing was to get my upper ear cartilage pierced. I did and have kept it. I still like the way it looks.

    I was also really jealous of my cousin’s “Talk Boy” they also had “Talk Girl.” Remember, the little recorder that Macaulay Culkin used in Home Alone 2? I thought those were the coolest.

  • Sarah July 2, 2012, 12:01 pm

    Awww, how fun that our books are chillin’ on a shelf together.

    Just wanted to tell you that you are doing such a good job with being a mama–I’m so proud of you!

  • Leslie July 2, 2012, 12:07 pm

    I am so glad you mentioned skip it . I loved it too. I have two granddaughter who are the perfect age for that toy. Im going to see if I can find it on line. What good fun and exercise that would be for them.

  • Kimberly July 2, 2012, 12:15 pm

    Last night a bunch of friends decided to do a spur of the moment trip to the beach to watch some local fireworks. We had a bonfire at the beach and stayed up late chatting. I’m exhausted at work today but it was well worth it! And oh, the Skip It…easily the best gift I received as a child! I had it in bright pink.

  • Chelsea @ One Healthy Munchkin July 2, 2012, 12:17 pm

    I don’t have any piercings or tattoos… I tried to get my ears pierced as a kid, but I chickened out every time! 😛

  • Tracy July 2, 2012, 12:37 pm

    My ears are double-pierced, but I usually just wear one pair. No other piercings, no tatoos.

    I spend 2 days a week usually with my kids at a local waterpark… so I’ve answered a ton of questions about tatoos recently. I’m starting to think that 50% of people have either multiple tats, or large tats, or definitely visible with regular clothing tatoos.

    I don’t remember the “skip it” brand specifically, but we just picked up a one-leg-jumper thing with a plastic lemon on the end at a flea market for a quarter 🙂

  • Emily July 2, 2012, 12:52 pm

    Random weekend moment – Currently training for a 70.3 triathlon, so schedule had a 10 mile run on Sat & 60 mile ride on Sun. With the storm that rolled through the DC area, my 10 mile run on Sat turned in to an obstacle course climbing over, under and through HUGE downed trees on the trail. At about mile 40 on my ride on Sun, our cue sheet took us to a road that was closed, so we had to “cyclo-cross” it to the other side through a huge construction zone complete with black snakes warming themselves in the nearly 100 degree heat! Definitely a training weekend I won’t soon forget.

    Childhood Christmas gift – Pogostick!

  • Brigitte July 2, 2012, 1:40 pm

    I want to emphatically recommend that you read the Game of Thrones series–and it will NOT spoil the HBO show! They take enough liberties in the second season that reading the books won’t make watching the show any less enjoyable. In face I think it makes it even more fun to watch! Just my two cents 🙂

    You and Henry are looking great! My husband and I are consistently inspired by your blog. Congrats on your beautiful family!

    • Hillary July 2, 2012, 3:54 pm

      I totally agree! I watched the first season before reading the first book, and I think that helped me visualize everything, but I caught up with the books before the second season started and it didn’t ruin a thing. You’ll love them both!

  • Amber K July 2, 2012, 2:12 pm

    I loved my skip-it! I had the one with the counter. My brother had moon shoes, but we weren’t impressed with those. But many an hour was spent with my skip-it.

    So cool to see your book out and about. I know the Sparkpeople cookbook isn’t “mine”, but I still love seeing it!

  • Ali @ Around the VeggieTable July 2, 2012, 2:54 pm

    Random moment: went to see Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter this weekend and actually really liked it 🙂 No tats but I have my ears and navel pierced, plus a second hole in my ears that is “closed” (except that it will probably never actually close…I guess it’s just closed for business) and I used to have a nose ring! I was never cooler than when I had the nose ring lol. I remember being like, 3 and getting this toy robot called Alphie that I thought was the shiz.

  • jameil July 2, 2012, 3:14 pm

    I’ve batted around the idea of a tattoo for years but always said I’d wait until I was sure of what I wanted. At almost 30, still can’t land on anything. My 2nd idea is to wait until I’m like 85 and get one at the same time as one of my grandkids to freak ’em out. LOL I have two piercings in each ear and like them though I rarely wear earrings in my 2nd hole. I briefly considered 3 in one ear but decided against it. Oddly, most of the people who have seen my belly button (wearing bikinis, stretching) say, “You have a perfect belly button for piercing! You should get it done!” Um… Lastly, husband had no idea what a skip it was. I showed him that video a few weeks ago and he was baffled. He’s 8 years older and it’s almost like he’s from another country! LOL

  • Army Amy* July 2, 2012, 3:23 pm

    I have your book and the Peas and Thank You book. Both are excellent! (In fact, on Sunday I made and blogged about a recipe in your book – sweet potato enchiladas. They were a big success!)*

  • Lexi @ You, Me, & A World to See July 2, 2012, 3:41 pm

    Oh my gosh, I had a Skip It when I was a kiddo! Loveeeed that thing.

  • Kelsey Y. July 2, 2012, 3:50 pm

    I just ordered your book off of Amazon…and it should be here any day now! I’m excited to bring it on my weeklong trip to the UP of Michigan, in addition to Jillian Michaels Unlimited.
    Random moment? Crazy people at my job at Cold Stone Creamery!
    Tattoos/Piercings? I have my nose, cartilage, tragus, plus three “lobe” piercings on each ear, AND two tattoos: Sisu on my arm (it means “got guts?” in Finnish) and a peacock feather on my foot!
    Childhood? I had a Skip-It and LOVED it. Otherwise, my childhood was Barbies and Beanie Babies with my older sister!

  • Lindsay @ Trial By Sapphire July 2, 2012, 4:48 pm

    I had a Skit-It with a counter! But one day, my brother and I were taking turns, and the Skip-It hit me in the shin. OOOOOOUCH. 🙁

  • Kris July 2, 2012, 5:16 pm

    Favorite Christmas toy? Definitely my troll house. It was like a cave, and I filled it with many Wishnik trolls. My mom sold it at a garage sale when I was in my 20s w/o asking mm — boo! I’m 54 and I still want a tattoo. Someplace discreet though.

  • Brenda July 2, 2012, 5:31 pm

    I most definitely had moon shoes and was irate when my mom donated them to the rummage sale at church. She mentioned something about me never playing with them…. I loved toys I could collect. Pogs, troll dolls, Littlest Pet Shop to name a few.

    What’s the deal with that upper belly button piercing? My bb ring had been out almost 5 years, but the scar hurt so badly the last month and a half of pregnancy. It felt like the skin was going to break. Yowch!

  • Kate @KateMovingForward July 2, 2012, 6:07 pm

    I looked for your book this weekend in our Barnes and Noble, but couldn’t find it! 🙁 But I live in the semi-boonies. haha!

  • Julia H. @ Going Gulia July 2, 2012, 8:08 pm

    I only have my ears pierced (the normal 1 hole in each ear)…but I’ve gotten my ears pierced twice. I first got them pierced for my 10th birthday, but didn’t like it (plus they kept getting infected!), so I let them close. A few years later, I ended up re-piercing them…and proceeded to become an earring addict, haha. I own so many earrings!!

  • Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) July 2, 2012, 8:45 pm

    Gah, I love the Skippit!!!

  • Marybeth July 2, 2012, 11:37 pm

    Would you encourage Henry to get a tattoo?

  • Dominique July 3, 2012, 12:06 am

    I don’t have a random moment from the weekend but I have a couple of funny ones…like when the fiance accidentally spilled OJ all over the counter (because he thought the lid was snapped close) and when he accidentally spilled fruit all over the other counter because he didn’t realize the blender was plugged in (and the lid wasn’t on). I have a bunch of piercings in each ear (two in one and four in the other, one is a tragus piercing). I also have a tongue ring and a tattoo on my lower back (that I didn’t realize was called a ‘tramp stamp’). I thought Tamagotchis were pretty awesome back in the day as well as Treasure Trolls. I was basically obsessed with Treasure Trolls and even had the TT board game. Oh and I LOVED the Skip-It. My parents never bought me one but my bestie at the time had one and we used it all.the.time.

  • Kelsey July 3, 2012, 1:17 am

    I love when people ask me how many tattoos I have, because I have a “bodysuit” (full back, legs, chest, and half sleeves that are all connected) so my answer is always “I only have one!”
    That response is met with a confused stare, haha. As far as piercings, I have had my eyebrow, lip, a marilyn piercing, labret, nose and 4 microdermal piercings along with 10 holes in my ears. I got into ear stretching a couple years ago (gauging is the colloquial term) so I also have 1″ stretched ear lobes.
    Wow I guess I like needles.

  • Shannon @ A Pinch of Ginger July 3, 2012, 6:30 am

    I loved my skip it and can totally still sing along. My coworkers and I had this conversation the other day about childhood toys. Did you have a puppy or kitty surprise?

  • Heather July 3, 2012, 9:30 am

    I have 6 tattoos: A frog and a butterfly that I got when I was young, that are going to be covered up soon, (I do regret those!!!)
    my son’s name, the brain cancer ribbon, hibicus flower, and 3 forget me not flowers. (My husband is a tattoo artist 🙂 )

    3 holes in each ear, use to have my belly button done, and now my nose is pierced.

    LOVED my Strawberry Shortcake doll!!!

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