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snazzy-suit · 5 years

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LLoG Chapter (?) Fool Me Once, Fool Me Thrice (Snippet)

Yeah I know technically they’ve only been tricked twice but it’s the third time they’ve been through ghostly shenanigans so let me have this

Can I offer you a snippet in this trying time?

Ever since Luigi’s Mansion 3 came out, I’ve been thinking about the masked ghosts in the lobby and just how bad their disguises were (I friggin’ loved it). I also kept thinking about how things might have gone if Luigi and friends had seen through their ruse right off the bat. I was just gonna let the thought be, but then I saw this clip of Luigi very clearly giving the hotel staff incredulous looks and was like “Shit, now I have to write it”.

So here we are! A sneak peak at my attempt to adapt the events of LM3 so they fit more soundly into the LLoG AU. This is very early in Luigi’s “liaison” career, before he and King Boo have shifted into their odd little frenemy relationship. He doesn’t quite have the confidence that we see later in the series, and still sometimes gets startled/alarmed by ghosts/spirits.

Oh! Also, this is a very rough draft, so if it feels choppy and/or if there are errors (grammatical, factual, and otherwise), that’s because I haven’t gone back and given it the ol’ spit and polish. All my writing starts this way. ^^’

For context, Luigi has just entered the lobby, and in his distracted awe, accidentally bumps into one of the hotel staff.

===

Luigi’s suitcase flies from his hand as he and the other unfortunate party crash to the floor with flailing limbs and undignified yelps of surprise. The plumber, quite used to clumsy mishaps, is the first to recover. He straightens his hat that had been knocked askew and pushes himself up, immediately spying a hotel staff member—the bellhop, to be specific—clutching at their face and blindly patting the floor in search of their own headwear. The odd behavior goes unnoticed, Luigi being far too mortified by the incident to even register it.

“Oh Stars, I’m so sorry!” Luigi cries, rushing to kneel at the man’s side. “Are you alright?”

“I-it’s okay! I’m fine, I’m fine!” the bellhop replies, still frantically patting at the ground. “I should have gotten out of your way.”

Luigi frowns at the response, perturbed by how the man could simultaneously sound both meek and jovial.

“No, I should have watched where I was going,” he refutes gently. Luigi carefully retrieves the bellman’s cap from the floor and presses it into the man’s searching hand. “Here you go.”

“Ah! Thank you, sir!” The staff member shakily dons the wayward piece of his uniform, back turned to the plumber as they gathered themselves. Luigi glances up to see Peach making her way toward them, face drawn with concern. He gently waves her off, silently assuring the princess that they were alright.

“Here, let me help you up,” Luigi offers, extending a hand to the recovering employee. The man turns and reaches up to accept his offer.

“Oh! Why, thank you!”

Luigi only just keeps himself from recoiling. The bellhop’s face...it isn't a face at all. It’s a mask, and a rather eerie one at that. Bulging, unseeing eyes stare back at him—well, sort of. The pupils are just a tad off, and so small they’re practically pinpricks. A manic grin takes up most of the mask’s lower half, every white, too-perfect tooth in full view—so much so it almost looks like a threat display. To top it all off, the mask is pale blue in color, reminding Luigi of a frozen corpse—a rather fitting description for the static expression pulled straight from the uncanny valley.

“No problem,” Luigi answers, struggling to keep composure. He takes the man’s gloved hand (it's cold as ice) and gently hauls them up (they're unnaturally light for their size) to their feet (they don’t have feet. Or legs, for that matter).

Luigi steps back as the bellman begins brushing off their uniform. He has to make a conscious effort not to let his eyes trail down the man’s coat to the marginal gap between it and the floor. The outerwear is far too long for the style, making the man look like a child in ill-fitting clothes, or more morbidly, someone that got chopped in half at the waist. Their attempt to hide their lack of legs drew more attention than it diverted, in Luigi’s opinion. It was so obvious it almost hurt.

Luigi was talking to a ghost.

“Heh, well, that didn’t quite go according to plan,” the ghost laughs nervously. “I came over here to help you, but you ended up helping me.”

A lot goes through the plumber's mind at that moment. How terrible the ghost’s disguise is. How, despite this, Luigi can’t help but be a little impressed that the ghost didn’t instinctively float upward after their collision, and thus, blow their “cover”. How Luigi can’t seem to escape the paranormal for one Star’s forsaken weekend. How, yet again, he finds himself getting tangled in some specter’s scheme.

But none of these thoughts deign to vocalize themselves, and really, it’s for the best. Luigi has to play this smart. Without the Poltergust, they’re doomed if the ghosts realize the jig is up. If he wants to get everyone out of here safely, he’ll need to feign ignorance—at least until he has a plan.

“Help...me?” Luigi says distantly, still somewhat lost in his thoughts.

“Yes! With your luggage.” The ghost gestures to Luigi’s suitcase, lying forgotten on the pristine floor. “Allow me to ease your burden and place it with the others.”

Luigi quirks a brow at his single piece of luggage. Burden? There was hardly anything in it.

“Oh. Thank you, but that’s not really necessary. I can—”

“Please, I insist!” The bellhop interjects, already drifting (quite literally) toward the aforementioned bag. “You’re on vacation, sir! You should be relaxing. Let me take care of the heavy lifting.”

Luigi starts to object, but then thinks better of it. Best not to create a fuss and draw unnecessary attention.

“Okay, if you insist. Thank you, mister...?”

“Oh! Um, I’m Steward! And it’s no problem, sir.”

The bellman’s name...is Steward.

You have got to be kidding.

Luigi quietly watches the bellman as they (rather awkwardly) carry his suitcase over to the precarious tower of luggage the Toads are desperately trying to stabilize. The plumber sighs, studying the lobby with a carefully concealed wariness.

Now what?

Luigi pauses when his eyes land on one of the other nearby staff members. They, too, are clearly wearing a mask, though it’s not nearly as off-putting as the bellhop’s. The static expression is rather lax—eyes partially lidded and mouth resting in a neutral line, neither a frown nor a grin. A thin, curled mustache is painted neatly above the upper lip, and the equally clean eyebrows are raised in a somewhat haughty manner.

When the costumed spirit turns their head to regard Luigi, the pupils of their mask wobble erratically like googly eyes before settling back into a more natural position (as natural as they can be, anyway). The plumber gently waves to them in a greeting, offering what he hopes is a convincing smile. The staff member acknowledges him with a nod. Their neatly combed wig slides askew at the movement, but they deftly readjust it without so much as a shift in their stance. Luigi quickly shuffles past them in an attempt to hide his grimace.

Good Grambi, he needed something to drink.

Fortunately for Luigi, there appears to be a pitcher of tea at the table Mario is still happily sampling treats from. It’s not what he had in mind, but if it occupies his hands and quenches his thirst, he’ll take it. The plumber approaches the table as nonchalantly as he can, grabbing the rather large kettle and pouring himself a steaming cup of tea. His hands shake minutely as he does so, and Luigi tries to convince himself it’s from the strain of hefting the heavy pitcher.

“Hey bro!”

Luigi nearly spills his drink at Mario’s sudden greeting. He turns, shooting his brother a strained smile.

“H-hey bro,” he says back.

Mario grins—oblivious to Luigi’s inner turmoil—as he snatches up a croissant. He takes a hearty bite and looks back to his brother, humming happily as he savors the taste.

“Isn’ thith plathe great?” Mario asks around a mouthful of pastry.

Luigi grimaces, both at the question and at his brother’s poor table manners.

“Yeah...great...”

Mario nods, taking another bite of the flaky treat. When he speaks again, Luigi is distantly grateful he remembers to swallow his food this time.

“Good food, good atmosphere, good friends...this vacation is just what I needed. What we all needed, right bro?”

Oh Stars, this is so unfair.

“Right,” he answers honestly. A nice vacation is what they needed, but clearly the universe thought that was too tall an order.

How is he going to break the news to Mario? And how does he keep his brother from reacting badly?

Luigi looks down at his cup, absently swirling the hot liquid inside. He subtly checks his peripheral for any nearby staff. Thankfully, they’re all a good distance away, so as long as the brothers keep their voices down, there shouldn’t be a risk of being overheard. It’s possible one of the ghosts knows how to read lips, but if they keep their expressions in check, they shouldn’t draw the attention needed to do so. If that doesn’t work...well, Luigi can only hope the masks are as hard to see out of as they are to look at.

The green-clad plumber watches his brother select a soft pretzel from one of the platters, seeing an opportunity as Mario begins to chow down on the salty treat. His brother can’t yell and make a scene if his mouth is full, right? It’s not ideal, but Luigi is too stressed to think of anything better. He gently sips from his tea, and when his brother takes another bite from the pretzel, he speaks as casually as he can around the rim of the cup.

“The hotel is a trap.”

Mario promptly chokes.

Luigi nearly drops his cup at his brother’s rather violent reaction. He blindly thrusts his drink onto the table and ducks around Mario’s distressed flailing to deliver several hard slaps to his brother’s back. Just when Luigi thinks he’s going to have to try a first aid maneuver, the food swiftly dislodges itself from Mario’s airway, leaving the red-clad plumber to hack and cough wetly as he recovers from the harrowing ordeal. Luigi looks up to find all eyes are on them.

Well, that was stupid. So much for not drawing attention.

A couple staff members move uncertainly toward them, as does Peach, but Luigi quickly waves them off.

“He’s fine!” he calls, voice slightly strained with panic. “Just got a little too...overzealous, is all!”

The disguised spirits exchange what might be—sans masks—hesitant looks, but none-the-less return to their stations. For one, terrifying moment, it appears that the princess is going to come over anyway, but another wave of assurance manages to placate her. Luigi knows he’ll need to tell Peach what is happening eventually, but he doesn’t think telling both her and his brother at the same time would be very wise. Keeping one person calm is hard enough.

“Sorry, Mario,” Luigi whispers. “That, uh...was poorly thought out on my part.”

“Ya think?” Mario wheezes, straightening from his hunched over position. “Making a bad joke like that while I’m eating—not cool, Luigi.”

Luigi frowns, but quickly replaces it with a fake smile. He feigns a hearty laugh and throws an arm around Mario’s shoulders, much to the latter’s confusion.

“I’m not joking, bro,” he says through gritted teeth, false grin still in place. “The hotel staff are all spirits wearing disguises. Really, really bad disguises.”

Mario gives his brother a bewildered look.

“If you’re not joking, then why are you smiling like that?”

“Because if they’re watching us, I don’t want them thinking we’re on to them.” Luigi grinds out. He reaches into his pocket with his free hand and retrieves his cell phone. He lifts it up, screen facing the brothers, and turns on the forward-facing camera. “Say: Play Stupid!”

===

And there you have it! Join us next time to see Luigi and friends smiling and taking pictures like good tourists as they scream internally about their terrible predicament. Laugh and cry as the nefarious hotel staff silently beg the mortals to Blease hurry up and check-in these costumes are itchy

#Luigi's Mansion 3 #Luigi's Mansion 3 spoilers #LM3 spoilers #Luigi #Steward #Mario #Peach #I couldn't stop thinking about this #my dingus brain refused to let me work on anything else #the asshole #it's almost done though #then I can finally finish the chapter 5 arc #ffs #snippet #suit speaks

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rachelstwomoms · 5 years

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Earrings For Rachel

This story takes place in my “Childhood Friends AU” universe, but several years earlier. If you’re like me and love the idea of Sera and little Rachel going around LA like the adorable mother-daughter pair that they are, this one’s for you.

——————————

The day that Rachel Amber’s been waiting for is finally, finally here. The child has an extra bounce in her step as she walks hand-in-hand with her mother down the streets of Los Angeles. They pass bakeries and bookstores and a bunch of other shops that, on this sunny spring afternoon, are all just a blur. Today, Rachel has only one destination on her mind.

From the days when she was a tiny baby who hadn’t even learned to walk, Rachel’s been fascinated with jewelry and pretty little accessories. Necklaces. Bracelets. Her very first piece of jewelry was a special bracelet that her mother gave her right after she was born. Although Rachel doesn’t have memories from that early in her life, Rose has told her before that she’s never taken it off, not even in the bath. Rachel doesn’t want to take it off, anyway. It reminds her of her mother. Even when she doesn’t get to see Sera it makes her feel a bit like she’s there.

If Rachel begged long enough, sometimes Rose would let her wear some of her jewelry. There was one particular necklace in Rose’s jewelry box that Rachel really liked, with a thin, silver chain and a star-shaped pendant. She asked her stepmother if she could wear it so many times that one day Rose just let her have it. Rachel wore that necklace every day until an unfortunate incident at preschool where it accidentally got flushed down the toilet. Naturally, Rachel flipped out and Rose was called to the school to come and pick her up early after three different teachers all failed to calm her down.

Luckily for her parents, Rachel got over it quickly. All Rose had to do was plop Rachel onto the couch with her favorite snack and stick The Little Mermaid into the VCR and she was fine. Unfortunately, the movie turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. Even though her daughter’s watched this movie a hundred times before, this time Rachel gets to the part of the movie where Ariel becomes human and is getting ready to have dinner with the prince and is utterly captivated by the mermaid’s new pearl earrings. Ever since then, that’s all Rachel’s been talking about. Earrings, earrings, earrings. Her parents are well aware that no fancy necklace nor bracelet could distract Rachel from her current obsession over earrings.

Gone are the days when Rachel��s love for the accessory could be appeased with little plastic clip-ons and magnetic studs. She’s getting older. Wiser. Now she knows that the earrings that Rose and Daddy buy her aren’t real. And Rachel’s ready for the real deal. She may or may not have thrown a good tantrum or two (or three or ten) in order to get her point across. Her birthday’s coming up and, this year, there’s only one thing that she wants: to get her ears pierced.

At first, James and Rose weren’t too keen on the idea. They both thought that their daughter was still too young. A big part of the reason why they ended up giving in, other than the tantrums, of course, was because Sera helped convince them. The young mother opened with the obvious, stating that plenty of girl Rachel’s age have their ears pierced. Sera took the time to explain that the safest option would be to take Rachel to a licensed body piercer, and that the tattoo parlor where she’s gone to get her own tattoos done also does piercings. Sera reassured them that it’s a reputable shop and that she trusts the staff. One of the employees who does piercings also happens to be one of her closest friends, so she would feel completely comfortable letting her pierce their daughter’s ears. James and Rose eventually got on board and gave Sera permission to take Rachel to have it done.

And today’s the big day.

As mother and daughter approach the end of the block, Sera suddenly comes to a stop in front of one of the shops and Rachel squeezes her hand excitedly.

“Mommy, is this the place?”

The first ten times Rachel asked, Sera’s answer had been no. This time, however, they’ve actually reached their destination. “Yeah, Baby, we’re here.”

Rachel tilts her head back and looks up at the gothic-style lettering of the sign above the door. Right in the middle, there’s a skull and crossbones with a pirate sword going through the top of its head and coming out of its mouth. Rachel can’t exactly read yet, but she does know her ABCs and their sounds, so she spends a second trying to make out what the sign says.

But these letters don’t look like the ones she knows. They’re shaped differently, and Rachel finds herself getting frustrated trying to decipher them. Before she can ask, though, Sera’s pulling the door open and leading her inside.

It’s rather dark inside the shop. Black walls are covered from top to bottom with framed tattoo designs and photographs of past customers. The reception area is dim and eerie, front desk illuminated by a glowing red neon welcome sign. On the wall behind the desk is another skull and crossbones that match the sign outside. Upon hearing the door open, a woman with four buns in her hair comes out from the back of the shop to greet her guests, breaking into a toothy grin when she recognizes who it is.

“Sera! It’s great to see you again!” She comes over and greets Rachel’s mother with a long hug. Her arms and neck are covered in tattoos and there’s a gold ring in her nose. She leans over to look at Rachel, smile growing even wider. When she speaks again, Rachel notices that she even has a piercing on her tongue. “You must be my client, Miss Rachel.”

Rachel puffs out her chest and beams upon being addressed in such a grown-up sounding way.

The woman reaches out to shake Rachel’s hand and introduces herself. “My name’s Dani. I’m going to pierce your ears today. Is that okay?”

Rachel’s wearing the biggest, happiest smile Sera’s ever seen. Her daughter gleefully takes Dani’s hand and walks with her to the back of the shop. Sera follows behind them, letting out a sigh of relief. Part of her had been slightly worried that Rachel might be scared, either by the interior of the shop and its whole skull motif, or when it was actually time for her to sit down and have her piercings done, but her daughter is all smiles as she chats with Dani and climbs fearlessly into the black leather chair.

“I get to have real earrings because I’m big now,” Rachel proudly tells Dani.

“Yeah?” Dani washes her hands and pulls on a fresh pair of rubber gloves. “How old are you?”

Rachel holds up all the fingers on one hand. “Five!”

Sera raises an eyebrow and chuckles. “No, Dawn, not yet. Almost. ” Her daughter erupts into amused giggles. Sera explains. “She’ll be five in July.”

“And then I’ll get to go to kindergarten. Right, Mommy?”

“That’s right. This fall.”

“Wow. School, huh?” Dani hands Rachel a laminated card showing their selection of starter studs. “Well, Miss Rachel, are you ready to choose your very first pair of earrings?”

Rachel’s eyes light up. She takes a second to admire all the different kinds, but it doesn’t take her long to select a pair for herself. She points to the picture of some simple white pearls. “These look just like Mommy’s!” She turns her head and looks at Sera. “Mommy, can I see?”

Sera complies and tucks one side of her hair behind her ear. Both Rachel and Dani look and, sure enough, the earrings are almost identical.

Dani lets out a small laugh. “Are those the ones you want?”

“Yeah!” Rachel bounces a little in the chair.

“Sera, I see you’ve got a ‘mini-me’ on your hands.” Dani looks at Sera and grins.

“Yeah, she’s going through her ‘just like Mommy’ phase.” The young mother finds it endearing how much her daughter tries to imitate her lately. Sera smiles lovingly at Rachel. “Aren’t you, Baby?”

Looking absolutely pleased with herself, Rachel giggles again.

“I figured it was best to get this done now,” says Sera, tucking Rachel’s hair behind her ears and taking one last look at the unpierced skin. “She’s been asking for E-A-R-R-I-N-G-S for her B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y, so…” Trailing off, she shares a knowing look with Dani. “You know, so they have time to heal before then.”

“Yeah, I get you.”

Dani pulls a wheeled tray of tools over to the chair. She shows each one to Rachel, tells her what it’s called, and explains exactly what she’s going to do with it. First, she cleans Rachel’s ears with a liquid solution and a small piece of cloth, earning more laughs from the clearly ticklish child. Dani then marks a tiny dot on each of Rachel’s earlobes where the piercing will be and has Sera take a look. Once she has both Sera’s and Rachel’s approval, Dani takes one of the tools from the tray and measures the marks just to make sure that they’re even on both sides.

Everything looks good.

“Okay, Miss Rachel, are you ready?” asks Dani, holding up the piercing needle. “Which ear do you want done first?” Rachel points to her left ear, so Dani moves to that side of the chair. “You’re doing awesome, you know that? I’ve had some grown-ups come in here before who were nowhere near as calm and brave as you.”

Rachel enjoys the praise. “I’m not scared.”

“You are the coolest kid I’ve met,” Dani says, gently turning Rachel’s head to the opposite side. “I’m going to pierce your ear now, okay? You might feel a teensy-weensy pinch.”

Rachel holds still and tries not to move her head, just like Dani tells her. Dani counts down from three and then sticks the needle through. From her seat across the room, Sera watches her daughter’s expression change as the piercing needle comes back out and Dani puts the first earring in place. There’s a shocked, confused look in Rachel’s eyes and her mouth is twisted into a tight grimace. Discomfort is written all over her face. Sera holds her breath and hopes that her daughter doesn’t have a meltdown. They’re already halfway through and can’t back out now.

Rachel looks over and searches her mother’s face for her reaction, so Sera makes sure to mask all traces of concern behind a reassuring smile and lots of praise.

“You doing okay?” Dani goes to put the back of the earring on to secure it in place, but Rachel pulls away at her touch. Sera jumps up from her seat and goes over to try and soothe her daughter before the situation has time to escalate.

“It’s okay. Dani’s just going to put the back on so it won’t fall out.” Sera holds Rachel’s hand and strokes her hair. “You’re such a brave girl. I’m so proud of you.”

While Rachel’s distracted, Dani slips on the earring back and then hands Sera a handheld mirror. Sera holds it up so she and Rachel can look in it together. “Oh, Dawn, look at your earring! It’s so pretty.”

Sera can tell from her daughter’s face that she’s dangerously close to crying. Rachel’s eyes are shiny with tears but she looks curiously into the mirror.

“Do you like it?”

Rachel nods and the motion causes two tears to roll slowly down her cheeks.

“You’re okay, Baby.” Placing the mirror on the chair, Sera takes Rachel’s other hand as well and gives both a comforting squeeze. “You’re so brave.”

Dani moves to the other side of the chair and a flash of panic appears on Rachel’s face. She’s no fool. She knows what’s coming now and isn’t looking forward to it one bit.

“Just one more and then we’re done!” Sera attempts to distract Rachel. “We can go get smoothies! What kind do you want?”

Rachel flinches when Dani touches her other ear. Her voice is wavery. “M-mango… and strawberry…”

“Alright, Miss Rachel, I’m going to pierce your other ear. Are you ready?” Compared to earlier, Dani’s tone much gentler. It’s clear that she doesn’t want to upset the four-year-old further. Rachel chokes out a tiny sob and nods her head yes , but her facial expression and body language say otherwise. “Would you feel better if you sat in Mommy’s lap for this one?”

Rachel nods again, pulling her hands from her mother’s and lifting her arms up. Sera lifts Rachel up and takes her place in the chair before placing her in her lap. Dani starts the countdown again and then pierces Rachel’s other ear, earning a stifled, squeaky cry of pain from the child. Once Dani sticks the earring back on that second earring, she holds her empty hands up in front of Rachel to show her that she’s finished. “That’s it! You’re all done.”

Wiggling in her mother’s lap, Rachel turns her body around and clings to Sera’s neck. Instinctively, Sera’s arms wrap around Rachel and she spends a moment comforting her, telling her how well she did, and reassuring her that she’s going to be fine. To everyone’s relief, Rachel only cries for a short minute before Sera coaxes her to look in the mirror again.

“Oh, Baby, look! You look so big. They look just like Mommy’s.” Sera tucks her own hair behind her ears and carefully brushes Rachel’s out of the way so they can compare earrings. “We’re matching now.”

Snuffling, Rachel turns her head to look. Her lips curl into a small smile when she sees her new, real earrings. Sera hands her the mirror so her daughter can continue to admire her ears while freeing up her own hands. She wipes Rachel’s tears away with her fingertips. “You really did so good. It ended up hurting a little but, huh?”

“Yeah…” Rachel pouts but still doesn’t take her eyes away from her reflection. “Can we go now?”

“Dani’s going to show us how to take care of your ears while they’re healing, but then we’re all done. Are you ready for your mango strawberry smoothie?”

Remembering the promise of her favorite fruity treat, Rachel perks up. She listens attentively during Dani’s explanation about the importance of keeping her ears clean and nods when asked if she understands. When Dani asks her to promise not to touch her ears or take out her earrings until Mommy says it’s okay, Rachel promises. But even Dani, despite only having known Rachel for a few minutes, notices a big change in the child’s demeanor compared to when she and Sera first arrived. Rachel’s a lot more quiet and subdued, and the piercer can’t help but feel a little guilty.

When it’s time to leave, Sera has to pry Rachel off of her when they reach the front desk so she can pay. Even once Rachel’s standing on her own again, she stays close to Sera, one arm around her mother’s legs.

Dani comes around the side of the desk so she can send Sera and Rachel off.

“Dawn, can you say ‘thank you’ to Dani?” Sera asks.

Rachel looks up at Dani from her spot pressed tightly against Sera’s side. “Thank you.”

Dani crouches down and smiles at her little client. “You did so awesome today. Can I get one last peek at those gorgeous ears of yours?” Taking a step out from behind Sera, Rachel pushes her hair behind her back to show off her earrings and Dani gasps. “Whoa! Sera, is that you? I could’ve sworn you were taller! Did you shrink?”

An amused smile creeps its way onto Rachel’s face. Shaking her head, she points up at her mother. “No, Mommy’s right here.”

Dani looks up at Sera, then back to Rachel, then switches back and forth between them a few times. “No way, there are two Seras? Since when?”

“No!” Rachel’s voice rises in pitch as she gets the giggles. “That’s Mommy! I’m Rachel!”

Dani shakes her head. “No. No way. I met Rachel today and she was just a little girl. And you’re practically a grown-up lady. Are you really Rachel?”

By now, Rachel’s laughing uncontrollably and she goes up close to Dani’s face and leans in. “It’s me! It’s Rachel!”

Dani reaches out and tickles the girl’s sides, causing her to shriek and burst into hysterics. “Ah, all right. I guess you do sound a little like Rachel. I didn’t recognize you because now you look just like your Mommy. You could be twins.”

“Mommy!” Rachel hops over to Sera excitedly. “Am I your twin now?”

Sera shoots Dani a grateful smile, then chuckles and puts a hand on her daughter’s head. “Do you think Daddy and Rose will be able to tell us apart?”

Rachel hums, suddenly thinking seriously about the situation. “Mommy, you have to wear a jacket so they can’t see your tattoos. Then we can trick them!” This earns a good laugh from the adults in the room. “Or maybe I can get a tattoo.”

Dani snorts.

Sera shakes her head, still laughing. “Sorry, Baby. No tattoos.”

“What about when I’m bigger?”

“When you’re much, much bigger.”

Rachel smiles cheekily. “Like when I’m eight?”

“Try eighteen.”

The door to the tattoo parlor opens, and in walks another customer. With Rachel back to her usual self, Sera knows that the time has come to bid farewell to Dani. Before they leave, Rachel throws her arms around her new friend and gives her a big hug. Dani wishes Rachel well in kindergarten and waves goodbye, only stopping once Sera and Rachel are completely out of sight. Back on the streets again, the young mother and her young daughter head to their next stop, the smoothie shop.

After walking a couple blocks in comfortable quiet, Rachel’s voice suddenly breaks the silence. “Mommy?”

“Yeah?”

“When I’m eighteen,” Rachel recalls the tattoo conversation from earlier, “will you still be my mommy?”

“Always, Baby.”

Satisfied with this answer, she smiles and squeezes Sera’s hand tighter. At four years old, Rachel Amber doesn’t really understand the concept of time. She’s old enough to know that a day means morning, afternoon and night. She knows that going to sleep makes one day end and the next day begin. But she can’t yet comprehend exactly how long a day is, or how many days are in a year, or just how many more birthdays she has until she’s eighteen.

They come to a stop at a crosswalk, and, while they wait for the light to change, Rachel catches a glimpse of her reflection in the window of the shop on the corner. Her new earrings glisten in the afternoon sunshine.

At four years old, Rachel is sure of one thing, though.

When she grows up, she wants to be just like her mommy.

#childhood friends au #rachel amber #sera gearhardt #baby rachel and young mama sera bonding #life is strange

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yxppeo · 5 years

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rest

pairing: chan x reader

genre: fluff

au: cafe, college

warning: none

summary: rest was not in this boy’s vocabulary

a/n: reposted from my old blog!

you were an employee at the cafe near your university

let’s call it the district cafe

chessy huh

after your classes, you immediately clocked in and worked until 8 with small breaks to get some homework done

you would sometimes work overtime and on holidays as well

needed that extra cash cuz you’re a broke bitch lmao

many people thought working at a place where you would see your peers might be embarrassing for them

thinking that they’ll be teased for working at a small cafe

but you were different

you would see many familiar faces from uni that would greet you with smiles as they ordered their coffees and pastries

they wouldn’t have to look at your name tag to know who you were

“hey y/n! can i get the caramel macchiato and a strawberry shortcake?”

“of course!” you smiled back, punching in the order

your manager was happy to have you as an employee

seeing that you were the only reason people still come to the cafe

you were the nicest cafe worker they would have ever met, and would come back for more

no matter how busy the cafe got, you still had a smile on your face

you knew a lot of your regular’s orders, and would have it ready as soon as they walked in

“hello y/n, can i have-”

“matcha frappe with cheesecake? already done.” you interrupted, winking at them

they would stare at you with awe as they paid for the food, giving you a very generous tip

one friday night, the cafe was running a little slow

there was no one at the cafe

which was weird because fridays were usually the busiest

but maybe because it’s the fifa world cup playing on tv, people stayed inside all day munching on nachos and screaming at the screen

you didn’t mind it though

there were times you needed peace and quiet

especially when you needed to clean up the tables

you looked at the clock

“4 more hours until closing.” you said to yourself

“hey y/n, you should go home, it’s pretty slow.” your manager said, catching your attention

you noticed she was wrapped up in her coat with her bag over her shoulder

ready to go home

“why? we’re open for another four hours.”

“fifa’s on and south korea is playing their first game.”

you looked at your manager

“hey, how about you go home and watch the game? i’ll stay here until closing.” you proposed

“really? you’re willing to do that?” she said, looking at you in shock

you nodded, giving her a smile

“yes, now go home and relax!” you said as you lightly pushed her towards the entrance

“you’re definitely getting a raise next week.” she laughed as she walked through the door, making you smile as you shook your head

you sat down behind the counter in silence

pulling out your laptop as you powered it on, wanting to get some homework done

ten minutes passed by as the bell on the entrance door rang

pulling you away from your studies, you stood up to see the person approaching you

you don’t recognize him, but you still smiled as you greeted him

“welcome to the district cafe, how may i help you?”

he looked at you, smiling before ordering

“he’s attractive.” you thought to yourself, noticing his cute nose and dimples that were prominent on his face

“i’ll just have an americano.” he said as he brought his wallet out

“okay, one americano for?” you trailed

“chan.” he answered

“right, an americano for chan coming right up.” you softly said as he smiled at you

chan sat down at a table, pulling out his laptop and headphones

plugging it in the jack and placing the headphones on his head

you delicately made the americano to perfection

you would usually call his name out to tell him his order was ready

but since it was just the two of you

you decided to leave the counter and give it to him personally

he looked at you, giving you a thanks before averting his attention back to his laptop

an hour later, you noticed chan was blankly staring at his screen, his mouth slowly open

he would drop his head a few times before jumping up and putting his attention back on the screen

you chuckled to yourself as you got up to make another drink for him

you walked up to him and gave him the drink

he looked at you with worried eyes

“uh, i’m sorry, i don’t have enough money for another one.”

you smiled

“don’t worry. it’s on the house. i noticed you were getting a little tired.” you said, sliding the drink towards him

he thanked you again

you took your laptop from the counter and sat across from chan

“do you mind if i sit here?” you asked

he shook his head

“nah, not at all, it’d be nice to have some company.” he said, giving you a small smile

which made your heart do a little flip

for the next hour, you typed away on your laptop as you flipped through your notebook as chan clicked and dragged his mouse, occasionally hitting a few keys

as soon as you were done, you looked at chan

he noticed eyes looking at him, so he looked up, locking eyes with you

he slid his headphones off

your eyes widened

“sorry to bother you, but i’m just curious, what are you working on?” you said, immediately becoming shy

he chuckled

“it’s fine. i was just working on a song. i’m a music production major.” he said, scratching the back of his neck

“can i listen? uh, that’s if you’re okay with that.” you blushed

“you’re in luck, i just finished!” he beamed, gesturing you to sit next to him

“wow his smile makes him even cuter.” you thought to yourself

you got up and took a sit next to him as he slid over to give you room

you looked at his laptop, looking at the different audio clips that were stacked on top of each other

you put the headphones on as you pressed play

listening to the music, you enjoyed the instrumentals as you bobbed your head to the beat

then you heard a voice singing

it sounded angelic, soothing really

“is that you singing? it’s beautiful.” you admitted, making chan blush a little as he smiled

the song ended, and you were left in amazement

“that was spectacular chan!” you told him

“really? thank you so much.”

and for the rest of the night you and chan got to know each other more

telling him about your major and whatnot

the both of you had laughs

he even offered to help you clean up

and even though you tried to refuse

his cute begging suddenly became your weakness as you gave in

you had a great time with chan

until it was closing time

“thank you for keeping me company while i worked.” chan said

“it was nothing.” you smiled as you slung your backpack over your shoulders as you closed the cafe

ever since that night, chan would come into the cafe and worked on his music until it was closing time

and you would do your homework with him

getting up on rare occasions whenever a customer or two walked in

there would also be times where you would have to wake chan up

telling him to go home and rest

but he was stubborn, telling you he’s going to keep working until the cafe closed

and you can’t really fight this cute guy

nor your rapidly beating heart

not only did chan become a regular

but he became a good friend

a few weeks later, the fifa world cup ended

which means the district cafe became busier

but it didn’t stop chan from walking in and ordering his usual americano and sitting down to work

he would notice how you would smile to every customer as you talked to them

and your small conversations with them

chan though you were cute and kind

and developed a huge crush on you

one day, you were working and before chan came in around his usual time, you had a customer who was friends with him

“vanilla bean latte for jisung!” you called out

jisung approached the counter, grabbing his drink

“thank you..” he said before looking at your name tag

“y/n - wait! you’re y/n?!” he exclaimed

“y-yes?” you responded, feeling a little nervous

“i’m friends with chan, and boy does he talk about you a lot.”

“he does?” you blushed

“yeah! he keeps talking about this cute cafe worker that he’s practically whipped for. no wonder his lyrics have been so sappy lately.”

“he likes me?” you asked him

“big time. anyways i’ve got to go, it was nice meeting you y/n.” he waved, leaving the cafe

as if he didn’t just expose his best friend

you blushed at the thought of chan liking you

you went through the rest of your shift with an extra bright smile of your face

chan walked in, which made your heart go !!!!

“hey y/n!” he smiled

which made you smile

“hey chan, let me guess, americano?”

he nodded as he placed the usual five dollar bill in front of you

as you entered his order, you looked at him

noticing the dark circles around his eyes

“chan, when’s the last time you’ve slept?” you said, catching his attention

he looked at you

“how long ago was january?”

you looked at him with wide eyes

“bang chan!” you said as you got started on his drink

“oops?” he nervously chuckled

“seriously, you need to rest. how could i have not known you haven’t been sleeping after you leave the cafe?” you said as you placed the lid on the cup, giving it to him

hours passed by as the cafe slowed down to the point where no one was coming in

and yet there chan was, sitting on his laptop

you sighed as you went into the back to grab your things

until you heard a loud thump

you quickly walked to the front to see chan’s head on top of the table

“oh my god.” you said, running towards him and taking the seat next to him

you shook chan a few times

“wake up! bang chan!”

he managed to lift his head up and leaned onto you

placing his head on your shoulder while asleep

your eyes widened as you felt his heavy head relax onto you

then you heard muttering

you turned your head to see bang chan slightly open his mouth

“y/n...y/n...why do you have to be so pretty?”

you almost choked on your own spit

“y/n, don’t smile at that handsome guy, smile only at me.” he softly said, sounding jealous

which made you smile to yourself

“shut up jisung, i’m not whipped for y/n. it’s not my fault i like her so much.”

you sighed

it was almost closing time

and you had to go home

“bang chan!” you yelled in his ear

scaring him as he jumped

“i’m awake!”

you shook your head

“how long was i out?” he asked

you smirked

“long enough to talk about your feelings for me in your sleep.” you said

making chan’s eyes pop out of his head

“what?! uh, y/n, i can explain-” he started

you interrupted him by planting your lips on top of his

chan melted into the kiss, smiling as he kissed you back

you pulled back

“don’t worry chan, i like you too - a lot actually.”

“you do?”

“yes you dummy. now can we get up because it’s closing time.”

chan looked outside the windows to see it filled with darkness

“only if i can crash at your dorm.”

“of course, let’s go so you can sleep.” you demanded

“yes ma’am.” he said as he got up, planting another kiss on your lips

“oh, and chan?”

“yeah?”

“you taste like americano.”

#✒️#stray kids scenarios #chan scenarios #bang chan scenarios

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idontevenwannaknow · 5 years

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sport necklaces

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kristallioness · 7 years

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Bring your daughter to work day

Summary: Katara brings Kya along to the hospital so she can spend some time with her daughter and get some paperwork done.

Word count: 9,406

Author's note: I got the idea for this story after I'd written my review of "Turf Wars: Part One". It's also inspired by my own experience - how I used to visit my dad at his workplace just to play on his computer and what we did together to make the rest of the day more fun when I was a little girl. And no, my dad doesn't work at a hospital, he works at one of the best machine factories in Estonia. I don't know about anyone else, but visiting a machine/metal engineering enterprise for years, knowing every corner, every room, the surrounding territory, the tools and nick-nacks on each worker's desk - it becomes so familiar that I really feel at home over there. This is what I was trying to portray by having Kya visit her mother's workplace - the two of them goofing around to take a break from paperwork, playing with the available items (in this case, Katara's medical instruments), spending time together. @jinoras-light - I know you wanted some headcanons about Kya, so I think you're gonna love these involving her and her mommy. The plot starts from the evening - Kya and Katara have returned from the cafeteria after eating supper and the little waterbender begins playing with a plush Appa. Then it describes everything that happened up until that point and the events move forward from there. Just wanted to make this clear since it might get confusing if you don't notice where it cuts back to the past (it's the paragraph that begins with "When they arrived in the morning..."). Oh, you know how there's this saying called 'get your hands dirty'? I came up with a saying for healers - 'get your hands wet'! Also, there's a reference to one of my older fanfics called "Recovery". And the nutrition bar that Katara gave to Kya is Hematogen, which I personally like very much and have eaten many times throughout the years. I think it's more common around Russia and Eastern Europe (the former Soviet Union countries, including Estonia).

----------x----------

"Mommy, can I play with that Appa?"

"Sure. Why don't you practise wrapping up his injured paw?" Katara reached for the plush toy on the hidden shelf underneath her desk and held it in front of Kya.

"Oh no! Which one is it?" the little waterbender gasped, grabbing the sky bison's face.

"Hmm.. I think Appa says it's this one," Katara pointed to its front right paw.

"Don't worry, Appa! I'll help you feel better!" Kya took the toy in her hands and scampered to the examination table. She attempted to safely push Appa up there while Katara fetched an elastic bandage from one of the cupboards. The elder waterbender lifted the younger one up on the bed next to the toy and handed her the necessary item.

It'd been a relaxing Saturday evening at the Republic City hospital. Katara needed to do some paperwork, hence she'd decided to go to her workplace during her day off at the weekend to catch up.

Kya wanted to accompany her since she wanted to spend time with her mother. Besides, she was used to visiting her mother's office - the familiar smell of herbs in the cabinets, the breathtaking view to the city and Air Temple Island from the vast window on the top floor, the similarity to the healing hut in their temple.

The place almost felt like an extension of their home, exactly like Aang's office at City Hall - another safe place Kya could always go to if she ever needed to be with her parents and they weren't on the island. Right now, Aang was at home taking care of a 2-year-old Tenzin with Bumi being there to lend a helping hand as well. Their older son had never been as fond of going to the hospital as their daughter. He figured he'd have a lot more fun, and get into mischief, by hanging out with dad.

Katara wouldn't even be surprised if her boys eventually burnt the house down. Leaving the three of them alone for almost an entire day ended with some sort of a mishap quite often. Bumi playing pranks on the acolytes, a training session gone wrong, something getting broken...

Katara released an exasperated sigh to take her mind off of that, hoping that everything will be alright when they return home tonight. She continued looking over the last few applications sent in by new members of staff, who'd recently been given a job at her hospital. Sure there were recruiters who handled the entire process, but nothing went by without getting the final approval from the head of the hospital, the best healer in the world herself.

Picking up the last application, she glanced at Kya, who was quietly playing with the sky bison toy. Katara would usually give it to her youngest patients to play with during their checkups so they wouldn't feel so scared. Her own little healer was nearly done wrapping the bandage around the pretend broken paw. Kya marvelled at the job well done, making sure it was tied together strong enough and fastened by two clips. She jumped off the examination table and ran to her mother to show her.

"Mommy, look! I did it! I wrapped up Appa's broken paw!" she grinned proudly, supporting the plush toy on the armrest. Katara lifted the toy in her lap to get a better look.

"You certainly did. It's all wrapped up nicely. Good job, sweetie!" Katara praised Kya by stroking her head.

"You know, thanks to your healing hands, Appa says he's feeling much better now. Would you be a dear and carefully unwrap the bandage so I can have it back?"

"No problem!" the little waterbender declared, grabbing the sky bison in her hands and scampering to the other side of the desk. She plopped down on the blue armchair opposite to her mother's and began untying the elastic bandage.

Katara thought that Kya had been very brave to last through the day in that boring office. Thanks to her imagination, she could learn new things or practise her healer skills with minimal supplies. And with the help of Katara's will to play along, the two of them had come up with some clever solutions to make the day more fun.

When they arrived in the morning, Katara had three huge piles of documents on the corner of her desk waiting to be filled out. She started with her patients' records first, filling in the descriptions of the treatments and medicine she'd given them, but hadn't managed to write down in great detail earlier due to such short breaks between the appointments.

Katara had already explained to Kya that she needed to focus on that task in silence back home. She brought along a pencil case with a bunch of pencils and found some white sheets of paper from her drawer for the little waterbender to draw on in the meantime. Kya seemed to enjoy that hobby very much and she didn't bother Katara too much. When her mother attempted to take a peek at what she was sketching, she quickly covered the piece she was working on with a clean sheet, telling her mother that it wasn't finished yet. Katara giggled and then dove back into her own paperwork, even though she couldn't wait to see what the pictures will look like.

Kya had finished three pretty masterpieces and Katara was more than halfway done with the pile of patient records by lunchtime. She escorted her daughter to the cafeteria, which was located more than a dozen floors below inside the hospital and where they had a light lunch. Kya didn't think much of the hospital food. Their home cooking was far more tasty. Katara wholeheartedly agreed, however, she'd gotten used to the bland taste of the dishes they had to offer.

There were a couple of employees who walked by to say hello to their boss and to meet her precious daughter. According to Katara, most of them were specialists, family physicians and those last two were nurses. Kya only recognized one of them, a cheerful old childhood friend of her mother's who she'd seen several times before - Niyok from the Southern Water Tribe. She'd really grown on Kya ever since they first met. Niyok liked playing with her, too, and she would sometimes visit them on Air Temple Island along with her sister Nutha.

Half an hour past noon, the two waterbenders returned to the office so that Katara could continue filling in the last quarter of patient records. During the first hour and a half, Kya managed to finish her fourth drawing of the day, putting it amongst the other three. By then, her mother felt like her arms could fall off any second.

"Sweetie, can you help me with something?"

"Of course, mommy. What is it?" Kya had put the drawing away, jumped off the armchair and walked over to her mother's side. She watched how she pulled off her right armband.

"I wanna teach you something about your healing abilities. Get your hands wet," Katara ordered, waiting for Kya to summon some water from one of the two large pots behind them at the back of the room. She waterbended the water around her small hands like gloves, ready for further instructions.

"Now, I want you to move the water up and down my forearm, like this," Katara grabbed Kya's right hand and moved it along her right forearm, exactly in the motion she described. She released her hold once the little waterbender began using both hands and got the hang of it. The water glowed a familiar bright blue colour, showing that she was actually healing.

"And what am I healing by doing this, mommy?" Kya wondered out loud.

"I've been writing for hours, so my arms are really tired. You're helping by untangling the knots in the muscles. It's even more effective when you gently press the path down with your fingertips, like this," she explained, taking a hold of her daughter's hand again to press her fingers down repeatedly. Kya attempted to copy the pattern. Katara felt a shiver run down her spine as her stiff forearm loosened up after being in a strained position for so long. She let her little healer continue for another few minutes until it felt tingly, like she'd just received a massage.

"Aaahh.. that's much better. Thank you, Kya," Katara softly rubbed her forearm, putting the armband back on.

"Don't you mean 'healer Kya'?" she asked playfully, waterbending the remainder of the water back into the pot and then climbing into her mother's lap.

"Thank you, my little healer Kya!" Katara corrected, then tickled her sides and peppered her cheeks with kisses, making Kya burst out in a giggle fit as she squirmed in her embrace.

After that refreshing experience, the master waterbender went on with filling in eleven more patient records. The younger one started work on her fifth drawing of the day.

Katara was so delighted to finish the biggest pile of documents an hour later that she decided to reward herself and Kya for being so obedient with a game of tag. Seeing that the waiting room was empty and there weren't any patients on that floor, they could run around the couches with ease and screech as loud as they wanted to.

"Okay, mommy, here are the rules: when I get behind the first couch, you can start chasing me. If I get back here in three laps, I win!" Kya pointed her finger around in a circle, acting like an important referee.

"Ready.. go!" she began running towards the seat and as soon as she was behind the corner, Katara sprinted right after her. Being a lot bigger than her daughter, she had to be careful not to hit herself against the coffee table in the middle nor against the edges of the couches. Luckily, Katara learned how to get through those thin spaces between them pretty fast and soon enough, she could catch Kya. She let her win the first time, though.

Their laughing and screams of joy echoed in the long corridor, reaching both the western and eastern wings. They must've run that same circle over a dozen times. In the end, Katara won three times and Kya managed to evade her four times.

"Alright, I think that's enough.. one more and then we head back to my office, okay?" Katara stooped slightly as she panted after their last race, wiping beads of sweat off her forehead. Kya nodded, doing the same to catch her breath.

"You remember how it goes? First one to run as fast as they can to the end of the eastern wing, touch the wall, run back and sit on the bench outside of my office wins."

"Mhmm, got it, mommy!" Kya said with a determined look on her face, taking a starting position next to her mother. The starting line was next to the elevator in the waiting room.

"On your marks.. get set.. GO!" Katara exclaimed. There was no way she was going to let Kya win this one without a fight. They dashed straight past the reception area and rounded the first corner equally, taking a sharp turn to their right to run to the end of the long corridor. The elder waterbender was in the lead by the time she reached the wall, gave it a strong pat and began heading back the other way. She almost crashed into the little waterbender, but jumped over her by stepping on another bench and giving herself a boost upwards. Kya nearly stopped in her tracks to marvel at that graceful move her mother just did, but she resumed running to still try and beat her. Katara reached the western wing in a few seconds and quickly sat down on the bench outside of her office. She giggled when Kya finally caught up with her and jumped into her lap to hug her.

"You won, mommy!"

"You were great, sweetie! I was so scared that I was gonna bump into you," Katara said, combing Kya's long loose hair.

"But you didn't! That move was so cool! Do it again!" the little waterbender begged, slightly bouncing in her mother's lap and making her chuckle.

"Maybe next time. C'mon, I still have two piles of very important papers to read through," she put her daughter down, stood up and grabbed her hand to guide her back inside. Kya scampered behind her mother's desk and opened the lowest drawer on the left where some of her patients' folders were stored in alphabetical order.

"Kya, what are you doing? Don't mess up my filing system!" Katara hurried to her side once she'd closed the door and noticed what she was doing.

"I'm not. I'm trying to find my own folder."

"Your folder? Why do you need your medical records?" Katara wondered with a puzzled look as she squatted down next to Kya and helped her search for her name from among those folders.

"It's a surprise," she replied, grabbing the folder in her hands once her mother found it and handed it to her. Kya took a seat in her armchair, placed her folder on the corner of the desk and continued colouring her fifth sketch while Katara moved on to the second pile - job applications.

After her mother had approved three of those, Kya remembered that she didn't have to be so quiet anymore. She was becoming bored of drawing, so she decided to finish colouring her last drawing after having some fun. She started looking at what medical instruments were scattered on the desk. She spotted a rubber hammer right under her nose.

"Mommy?"

"What is it, sweetie?" Katara asked, not taking her eyes off the paper she was holding.

"Can I play healer with you now? You promised," Kya pleaded. This time, the elder waterbender gazed at her daughter, seeing how she grabbed the hammer and looked at it curiously. She smiled lovingly at the sight.

"Of course you can," Katara said, watching how an excited Kya jumped off the chair, walked around the desk and stepped right beside her.

"Are you gonna check my reflexes first?" she tilted her head playfully, pushing herself a bit further away from her desk in case the little waterbender actually hits the right nerve.

"Mhmm. After all that running around, I wanna be sure your knees are okay," Kya nodded. Katara let her hit her left knee a couple of times. She frowned, she couldn't find the right spot.

"That's okay. You don't have to nail it the first time. Even I'm not that good. Just keep trying. Maybe try with the other one?"

Kya took her mother's advice and hit her right knee. Katara counted the number of times she missed. Five.. six.. seven... Her knee was starting to ache, so she merely kicked her leg up a bit at the ninth attempt to stop her.

"Wow! Did you see that, mommy?"

"I didn't just see it, I felt it. You almost hit the right spot. Good work, sweetie!" Katara rewarded Kya with a kiss on the cheek. The latter felt so inspired by her accomplishment that she scampered back to her armchair to finish colouring. She was done half an hour later.

Kya glanced at her mother, she was busy writing something on one of the applications. The little waterbender used the opportunity to hide all five of her drawings between her medical records and slip the folder in between the last pile. After that, Kya handed the rest of the clean sheets of paper back to her mother, who put them away in the drawer, completely oblivious to what she'd done with her drawings. Next, she picked up her pencils and put them inside her pencil case, after which she walked over to the door. Katara's shoulder bag was hanging from the coat rack next to it. Kya dropped the pencil case inside so she wouldn't accidentally leave it behind.

Soon it was time for the two waterbenders to eat supper in the cafeteria. The clock on Avatar Aang Memorial Island had struck five in the evening almost half an hour ago. When the bell inside the clockwork rang six times, Katara and Kya's tummies were full. They'd chosen a table right next to one of the windows, which the elder waterbender had cracked open once they were done with their plates. Now they were breathing in some fresh air and gazing at Republic City all lit up at nighttime.

"Look, mommy! There's our home!" Kya pointed towards Air Temple Island. She also spotted her daddy's huge statue on the other island, which was located quite close to theirs.

"Mhmm, I can see it, sweetie," Katara looked outside, too, sipping some of her tea.

The hustle and bustle going on in the streets made this metropolis seem so alive. People who had to work even during the weekends were beginning to head home. Others were enjoying a nice walk or riding their ostrich horse carriages through the traffic jams to reach their destinations. There were two police airships flying in the night sky, further away from the hospital. Kya heard a siren, wondering whether it was an ambulance or a police carriage driving by.

"How's auntie Toph doing? And baby Lin?" she wondered. Katara looked at her daughter, putting the empty tea cup down on the table.

"She's doing fine. I just spoke to her on the phone two days ago. And little Lin is growing into quite a healthy girl. Auntie Toph is having trouble getting her to stop being so clingy all the time, so she called me for some advice."

"Lin is exactly like Tenzin. He likes being close to you, too, mommy," Kya concluded, making Katara chuckle fondly at the thought.

"That's right. So were you when you were little," she booped her daughter's nose with her finger, which prompted her to laugh as well.

"But when it concerns Lin, I believe that she misses her mommy very much, because her mommy has to spend a lot of time away from home catching bad guys. And ever since her daddy, your uncle Kanto, left them behind, it's been hard for her to spend so much time alone. At least I think that's why she's so clingy.. Don't tell your auntie Toph I said any of this, though! She'll crush me if she finds out," Katara scratched the back of her head. Kya simply giggled and promised not to say a word. She didn't want her auntie Toph to hurt her mommy.

"C'mon, let's go upstairs!" Katara picked up their trays of empty plates to put those away and began heading towards the elevator, quickly followed by Kya.

Back in her office, the little waterbender wanted to practise her waterbending, so Katara went through some simpler forms together with her before letting her try those out for herself for a while. Kya had already mastered keeping the water ring flowing around her body thanks to Aang teaching her when Katara had been sick. She could easily use it to stream the water in various ways, forming snake-like shapes or small bubbles. Or simply learn how to direct the water towards another waterbender, that being Katara, and take control of it again at just the right moment without losing a drop when her mother waterbended it back towards her.

After practising for almost an hour, Kya waterbended the water she'd been using back into one of the pots. At the sound of the clock striking seven times, she walked over to the large window behind her mother and looked outside. The view was from a much higher point, the pedestrians down below looked like little ants crawling around the streets in an orderly fashion. The little waterbender squinted to get a better look at their island. She spotted Appa flying above it along with two other sky bison. She'd recognize their big fluffy buddy anywhere.

As she happened to stand at the back of the room, she noticed a plush sky bison on a shelf underneath her mother's desk when she turned around. The toy looked similar to the one she had in her bedroom. Kya asked whether she could play with that one. Katara said 'yes' and presented her with a problem - Appa having a broken paw.

Now the little waterbender was busy untying the elastic bandage she'd used to wrap up the pretend broken paw. She rolled up the bandage and put it on the desk, slightly nudging it closer under her mother's nose.

"Thank you, Kya!" Katara picked it up once she noticed that her daughter was done with it to place it back in the proper cabinet. Kya continued snuggling that Appa plush. It certainly looked more secondhand than hers with all the loose threads and the coarse fur. She counted the stripes on its back just in case. Four.. five.. six! They were all there.

The little waterbender plopped back against the armchair and sighed. Her cerulean eyes ran across the room, but she couldn't think of anything fun to do alone. She wanted to play with her mother.

"I'm hungry."

"Sweetie, we ate supper at the cafe less than two hours ago," Katara protested while writing something down on the last job application.

"But, mommy!.. It wasn't as yummy as what you make at home. I just want a snack," she whined.

"Oh, alright.. come here," Katara beckoned Kya to approach her. She dug in one of her drawers for a while until she found a small pill bottle. She gave it a shake before opening the lid and dropping three tiny yellow balls in the palm of her hand.

"Here you go," Katara held them in front of Kya's nose. She tilted her head and eyed the round pills.

"What are these?"

"Candy," Katara barely managed to finish the word before Kya grabbed all three pieces and stuffed them in her mouth. After a few seconds of moving them around in her mouth and licking off the outer layer with her tongue, she made a very sour face as her lips puckered.

"Bleh! It's soooo sour!" the little waterbender cried, but she didn't spit them out. She swallowed quickly. Katara giggled as she picked up an empty glass and went to fetch some water from the sink.

"That's because those were vitamins meant for children. They taste like lemons from the inside, but sweet on the outside. Here, drink this," Katara sat down on her knees and handed Kya a glass of water. She took a few sips.

"That was not nice, mommy!" Kya knit her brows, then continued drinking. Katara chuckled, her angry face was too funny to be taken seriously.

"You're right, I'm sorry for tricking you. I'm gonna make it up to you. Finish that water and I might just have something else that's edible.." Katara said, opening another drawer to take a peek at what's inside. She pulled out something bigger, something that reminded them of a candy bar. Kya swallowed the last drop of water and handed the glass back to her mother, who'd unwrapped the top of the bar.

"And what's this?" she pointed a finger towards the brown sweet.

"It's a nutrition bar. That means your body will get a lot of good vitamins and other nutrients when you eat it, so you can grow into a healthy little waterbender. It tastes like dark chocolate."

Kya quirked an eyebrow, she was still suspicious whether her mother was telling the truth. Katara took a small bite to prove that it tasted good.

"Mmm... Do you want some?" she offered the rest to Kya, who took it in her hands and then bit off a larger piece. This time, she chewed it carefully to understand what it tasted like.

"Hmm.. You were right, mommy. It does taste like chocolate. Not as sweet though, but still good."

"You happy now?" Katara patted her daughter's head. She nodded and walked back to the armchair opposite to her, sitting down next to the plush Appa to enjoy her snack. A few minutes later, the master waterbender happily pushed two neat piles of documents to the left side of her desk.

"There.. done! Now I only have one more thing left to do. Would you like to help me? It's really easy and it won't take long."

"Only if I can play healer with you again," Kya replied, biting into the last piece of the nutrition bar and handing the wrapper to her mother, who threw it away in a trash bin.

"You must be really bored by now, huh?" Katara glanced at her daughter, seeing how she nodded in agreement.

"Okay, but what do you wanna do?" Katara asked, waiting for an answer by putting the patient records she'd filled out during the first half of the day back in the lower left drawer in the correct alphabetical order. Kya looked around the items scattered on her mother's desk and her gaze fixed on a cup containing a couple of things.

"Can I use these?" she pointed towards the medical instruments. There were several wooden tongue depressors, an otoscope and a thermometer in there. The elder waterbender stopped organizing her folders for a second to look at what her daughter had chosen, she smiled.

"Sure," Katara closed the drawer and stood up, grabbing the last as well as the smallest pile of documents. She put the stack on the examination table, then walked over to Kya to pick her up from the armchair and carry her up on the bed, too. Katara also reached for the cup Kya had chosen, bringing it along with her as she took a seat on the examination table right next to her daughter.

"What can I do to help, mommy?" Kya asked as Katara lifted her onto her lap and placed the cup on the nursing trolley, which was pushed right next to the examination table. It was more convenient to have the patient sit close by while Katara prepared the equipment she needed to give an injection.

"Well, I need to arrange these patient files for appointments coming next week. I thought that maybe we could get through them faster if you helped me read the dates and times so I can sort them according to the days."

"I can do that!"

"Great! But first, what would you like to do to me, healer Kya?" Katara smirked as she emphasized the title. The little waterbender looked behind her, thinking which item inside the cup she should pick first. She decided to measure her mommy's temperature, so she reached for the thermometer.

"I wanna be sure you don't have a fever after working so hard all day," Kya said in a concerned voice, making Katara giggle. She attempted to shove the thermometer underneath her mother's short-sleeved water tribe coat, but the fur collar was too small for her to reach any further from that angle. Katara grabbed the thermometer from Kya's hand to give it a try. Having lifted her left arm up a bit and moving her tunic out of the way, she managed to place it under there. The elder waterbender pressed her arm against her side and held her hand on her belly.

"That should keep it from slipping away. Would you like to check?"

Kya touched the bump below the coat and tried to move it, but the tip of the thermometer didn't seem to budge too much. Katara held it tight.

"I don't think it's going anywhere," the little waterbender agreed, after which her mother nodded and grabbed the first patient's file in her right hand.

"Alright, let's see here.. on which day does this person have an appointment with me?" Katara wondered out loud, holding the folder closer to Kya so she could read the date and time written on top.

"Umm.. on Tuesday at 2 p.m."

"Okay, so this one goes into the 'Tuesday' pile.. what about this one?"

"Wednesday, 9.45 a.m."

Katara arranged the folders into five different stacks according to the days - from Monday to Thursday in separate piles, Friday and, if there were any scheduled for the rest of the weekend, in one. Before she reached the middle of the unorganized pile, she found a folder that didn't have a time for an appointment written on it.

"Wait a minute.. this is your file, sweetie!" Katara exclaimed. Kya looked at it curiously, nodding as she recognized her own name.

"Kya.. is everything okay? Or do you wanna make an appointment with me because you're sick?" Katara's voice became rather serious. She dropped her daughter's medical records on the examination table and cupped her cheek. She began to worry that maybe something was horribly wrong and her baby girl didn't have the courage, or the heart, to tell her. That wasn't the reaction the little waterbender had expected.

"No, mommy! I'm okay, honestly," Kya laid her own small hands on her mother's to convince her that this wasn't the case. She was still frowning.

"You sure?" Katara asked again, receiving a nod for an answer.

"That's not the reason why I put my folder in the pile. I wanted to surprise you, mommy. Look inside the folder!"

Kya watched how her mother hesitantly opened the folder by lifting the cover. She gasped and covered her mouth with her right hand. Her frown turned into a smile and tears welled up in the corners of her diamond blue eyes.

"Aawww! K-Kya..." was all Katara could say as she sighed in relief and began wiping her cheeks dry. She felt so awkward for misreading the entire situation. Kya wrapped her arms around her mommy's waist in an attempt to comfort her with a hug. Katara supported her chin on her daughter's head and pulled her as close as she could by using her right hand, mindful of the thermometer under her left arm. She didn't wanna ruin their playtime, too. Kya squeezed her a bit tighter when she felt a few tears drop on the top of her head.

"Do you like it?" she asked in a hushed tone after a minute had passed in silence, her mother's quiet crying being the only sound filling the room. Katara stroked her back and sniffed.

"Mhmm.. I love it," she nodded, rubbing her cheek against Kya's temple.

"Don't you wanna see the rest?"

"Of course, show me," Katara said with a more chipper tone, releasing her embrace and wiping off the last of her tears. Kya picked up the first drawing she'd seen and began explaining in great detail what she'd drawn. There were two girls sitting, the bigger one was healing a scrape on the smaller one's knee. The water around her hands was coloured in a pretty shade of cyan.

"That's you healing my boo-boo, mommy."

"Oh, I remember this. That was like.. three weeks ago?"

"Mhmm," the little waterbender nodded, a proud smile on her face, and waited for her mother to finish marvelling at the drawing. She handed her daughter the next one, laying it on top of the first.

"And what's going on here?" Katara chuckled as she looked at the second drawing. It seemed so cheerful and full of life thanks to the bright colours Kya had used.

"Daddy's playing his flute and Bumi and I are dancing."

The master waterbender recognized her husband in the familiar palette of reds, oranges and yellows. If not that, then the sky-blue arrow tattoos were a giveaway. Momo was sitting on the emerald green grass right next to him. Her two children, as well as her husband, were wearing flower crowns and clearly jumping around with joy. Kya even drew a few musical notes above them.

"I adore all the bright colours you used. It really brings the drawing to life. And this is such a precious moment."

"Thank you, mommy!" Kya said, giving her a quick hug.

"Let's not forget to show this one to daddy when we get home. I'm sure he'll love it!" Katara lifted her daughter's chin up to look into her glistening cerulean eyes. She beamed at her.

"Good idea!"

"Now.. what else do we have here?" the elder waterbender wondered, seeing how the little one reached for the third drawing.

"Another drawing of me?" she quirked an eyebrow. Kya slid a fourth piece of paper out from underneath that one, holding the two pictures side by side so her mother could see both at the same time.

"Wow.. is my hair really that poofy?" Katara blushed and combed the fingers of her right hand through her locks. Kya merely giggled.

"Maybe.. I just really like it because I think it looks pretty on you. Your hair is so long and soft, just like mine," Kya explained, patting her own head a couple of times.

"So you wanted to show that by making it seem so poofy?"

"Yeah."

The top drawing was a close-up of Katara. She was in awe of how well the little waterbender had captured all of her details - from the beads in her hair loopies to the carving in her mother's necklace, the blue eyes and even the patterns around the fur collar of her coat. The other drawing was a full body shot of her wearing some of her healer equipment.

"That was really nice of you. But, what am I wearing in this picture?"

"That's your healer's belt."

"I'm impressed! How did you remember it so well?"

"I saw an ambulance worker at the cafeteria earlier when we were having lunch. He was wearing it. And I also drew your pouch, see?" Kya pointed to a black-and-brown striped semicircle, which was drawn near the figure's waist.

"Yes, I see it, sweetie. And what's this long shiny necklace?"

"That's not a necklace! That's your stethoscope, mommy!" she corrected, making Katara laugh. Kya had based the design of that medical instrument on the one she saw on her mother's desk, painting the tube a matt black. Her mother marvelled at the two different depictions of herself.

"These are lovely. Is there anything else you wanna share with me?"

"Just one more.." Kya leaned forward to pick up the last drawing she'd slipped between her medical records.

"Wow! What is this?" Katara said, her mouth remaining agape as she ran her right index finger down the white uncoloured edge of the paper.

"It's a picture of our family. Look, there's you and daddy! Tenzin is in your arms. Bumi and I are standing next to daddy. And I didn't forget Appa and Momo!"

Kya described everything perfectly - it was a drawing of their entire family standing in front of the temple. She'd drawn her parents standing really close to each other, which was such an irrelevant little thing considering the context of the whole picture. But if that was the way Kya saw her parents in their domestic life - being loving and supportive of each other - then it was all Katara could've hoped for and it melted her heart.

She was also amazed at how well her daughter remembered the details of the courtyard - the bridge going over the small pond, the exterior of their home, even the tower of the temple. All coloured in pretty shades of grey, yellow and blue, with a bit of emerald green for a couple of bushes in the background. All five of them fit right in front of Appa, Momo was sitting on top of the sky bison's head.

"This one's my favourite. It's so beautiful!" Katara smiled.

"Really? Thanks, mommy!" Kya hugged her from her middle again.

"Really. These are all beautiful. Shall I put these in my shoulder bag so we wouldn't forget to take them back home?"

"Okay."

"But before I do that, maybe you'd like to take a look at my temperature?" Katara offered, carefully pulling the thermometer out from under her coat. The reading was probably ready minutes ago and she'd been wanting to move a bit more freely for a while now.

"Oh! Yes, please!" Kya slightly bounced in her lap and held out her hands, waiting for her mother to hand it over. Both waterbenders stared at the mercury inside the glass.

"36.6 degrees, that's completely normal. Right, mommy?" Kya looked up at Katara with her big cerulean eyes, sensing how she let a hand run down her back.

"That's right, sweetie."

"No fever, yay!" the little waterbender clapped her hands together as she let her mother place the thermometer back into the cup. After that, Katara lifted Kya up in her arms for a second to lay her down on the bed so she could stand up and stretch her legs. She grabbed the five drawings to put those among the rest of the drawing supplies already packed up inside her shoulder bag.

"Alright, my little healer.. now where were we with these appointments?" Katara wondered as she walked back to the examination table, took a seat and lifted Kya back on her knees. She pushed her daughter's medical records a bit further away from the other stacks so she wouldn't forget to put it back in its proper drawer. The two waterbenders continued sorting the rest of the folders for almost a quarter of an hour.

During that time, the clock on Aang Memorial Island had already struck eight in the evening. As soon as they'd arranged half of the pile, Katara allowed Kya to choose the next item she wanted to use to play checkup. She picked one of the many tongue depressors.

"Stick out your tongue!"

Kya burst out in a giggle fit when Katara blew a raspberry.

"Cut it out, mommy! I wanna look at your throat!" she said through her laughter, but seeing her mother's funny face only cracked her up. Eventually Katara started giggling, too. They took a minute to get it out of their system.

"Open wide!" Kya asked nicely once she'd calmed down.

"Aahh!"

Katara obeyed her little healer like a good patient, letting her look inside her mouth for a few seconds.

"So.. how did it look?"

"Okay."

"Does that mean I can do this?" Katara asked before she began peppering Kya's face with kisses, trying to get her to laugh again. It certainly worked. The little waterbender squirmed in her mother's embrace until she stopped.

They resumed sorting the second half of patient files after that, with Kya helping Katara by reading the days and times of the appointments out loud. By the time there were only four folders left, the little waterbender crawled off her mother's lap to fetch the last medical instrument she hadn't used already. Katara glanced at Kya as she crawled closer to her right side and stood up, balancing herself by holding onto her shoulder. Her mother didn't say a word, she simply tilted her head in the opposite direction a little bit so she could examine her ears better by looking into them with the otoscope.

"Ow! Ow-ow-ow.. Kya, be careful! Pull my ear back a little before you insert it in there," Katara warned her, grabbing her right ear and pulling it back herself since Kya was already hurting her. She carefully withdrew the medical instrument from her mother's ear.

"Oops! I forgot.. I'm so sorry, mommy! I didn't mean to hurt you," Kya said, a sad frown on her features as she stroked the back of her head. The gesture made her mother smile.

"It's okay, sweetie. I forgive you. Accidents happen. Why don't you try again?"

Katara looked down to her left and waited until Kya went on with her second attempt. She followed every step correctly this time. She crawled to the other edge of the bed and repeated the same procedure with her left ear. Katara tilted her head to the right as she read the date of the appointment written on the last patient's folder.

"All done?" she asked when she felt Kya remove the otoscope and heard her drop it back inside the cup. The little waterbender hopped onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her middle.

"Mhmm," she nodded.

"Good, because I'm done, too. See?" Katara waved a hand towards five piles of documents, all sorted according to the days and in order according to the times of the appointments.

"That's great, mommy."

"What do you say, should we call daddy to come pick us up? Or do you wanna read some new waterbending scrolls with me for another hour?"

Katara had agreed with Aang that if she didn't finish early, he'd come after them at ten o'clock. Otherwise, she would call him on the phone to tell him to fly Appa to the hospital sooner. Kya pouted and held a finger in front of her lips for a few seconds to think.

"Hmm.. do those scrolls have pretty pictures in them?"

"They're called illustrations, sweetie. And yes, some of them do," Katara shrugged.

"Then, okay!" Kya grinned. She jumped off her mother's knees and ran to her armchair to take a cosy sitting position while she waited for her mother to join her. Katara lifted the separate piles of patient records into one, starting with the appointments on Monday and the ones scheduled for the weekend remaining at the bottom. She carried the heavy pile of documents on the corner of her desk, not forgetting to put Kya's medical records back in the lower left drawer. The little waterbender scampered to the nursing trolley to place the cup with the medical instruments she'd already played with back on the desk, too. Katara noticed it.

"Thank you, sweetie!"

She turned off the lights in the ceiling, leaving only the table lamp on. Katara thought that maybe reading in a more dim room would give her daughter the feeling of being at home, in her own bed, and help her fall asleep.

She sat down in her armchair and, seeing how Kya eagerly held out her hands, picked her up and lifted her onto her lap. Katara opened a drawer to grab one of the new scrolls she'd recently received as a gift from the Northern Water Tribe, but hadn't managed to read yet. After that, she slouched a little bit before opening the scroll to begin reading, allowing Kya to snuggle up to her chest.

The little waterbender gazed at the few pretty illustrations of waterbending, which were drawn at the top of the text. They weren't much to look at, she was done admiring them in less than a minute. She tried to read the first paragraph of the text below, but the letters reminded her more of fuzzy scribbles than words or sentences.

She sighed and raised her hand a bit higher, laying it above her mother's heart. Her fingers grazed the soft blue fabric of her coat. Katara lifted her left hand from the armrest and wrapped it around Kya to offer her some warmth and hold her close. Her baby girl looked up at her with her big cerulean eyes, resting her head on her chest. Sensing her mother's calm breathing helped her feel relaxed, too.

Kya stared at the shadows formed on the wall to their right, the scroll in her mother's right hand, the Appa plush she'd left on the other armchair. Everything seemed so still, the office was quiet. If she didn't know better, she would've guessed that they were at home, her mother was reading her a bedtime story and she was getting ready to go to bed. But she wasn't tired. She tried to focus on her mommy's heartbeat and let that lull her to sleep. Instead, she had an idea - if she wasn't sleepy, she might as well play a little bit more.

Katara's eyes widened when she saw Kya slip out of her embrace, slide off her and walk away.

"Kya, where are you going?"

"Nowhere," she said, merely taking a step closer to the desk to grab the stethoscope. Now Katara understood. She smiled, waiting for Kya to climb back onto her lap. She welcomed her daughter back with a kiss on her forehead.

Katara didn't let Kya's playing bother her, or at least she thought it wouldn't bother her, hence she carried on reading through the scroll. The little waterbender placed the earpieces into her ears and grabbed the diaphragm. First, she lifted the white fur trimming on the lower half of her mother's coat and snaked the other hand under there to listen to her tummy. She moved the stethoscope around underneath the coat, but that only made Katara want to giggle because it was tickling her, badly. She managed to stifle her laughter pretty well, though.

Katara heaved a sigh of relief when Kya stopped tickling her from her stomach. She pulled the metal end of the stethoscope out and laid it on her mother's chest. Being covered up by three layers of clothing - including a sarashi, a navy blue tunic and the water tribe coat - made it very difficult to hear any vibrations. But Kya liked to pretend like she could hear something nevertheless.

Katara glanced at Kya, her chest swelling with pride when she felt her baby girl go through a familiar pattern while pretending to listen to her heart, then her breathing. She seemed so focused and in character, like a true healer.

Kya tugged at her fur collar and placed the diaphragm above it on the bare skin below her collarbone, practically under her neck. At least she could hear her mother's heartbeat from there. Lub-dub.. lub-dub.. lub-dub... It was remarkably slow, the rhythm ever so soothing. Her body language spoke the same. Katara must've been utterly relaxed. She noticed how Kya was listening from a spot where she could actually hear something. She took a few deep breaths to let her listen to her lungs, too.

Kya yawned as she turned the chestpiece, then laid it back on the same spot to listen with the bell, too. That recurring cadence was starting to lull her to sleep. She rubbed at her eye before taking the stethoscope out from her ears. Katara stared at her wide-eyed as she placed it into hers instead.

"Hold this," Kya whispered, then resumed her cosy spot from before, snuggling up to her mother's chest.

"Do you wanna listen, too, mommy?" she looked up at her with her big cerulean eyes.

"Uh.. okay," Katara merely shrugged. Kya grabbed the diaphragm and slid it under her own light blue tunic, pressing it softly against her chest. She held it above her heart, both hands tucked below her chin. The little waterbender took a deep breath before she closed her eyes. She was too tired to put the medical instrument away, hence she'd decided to let her mother hold on to it. Her breathing became even, she was curled up like a baby in her safe place. She fell asleep.

Katara had watched what she'd done, feeling slightly puzzled at first. When she saw that Kya fell asleep, she figured her little waterbender was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. And right now, that bed meant being snuggled up close to her mother.

Katara snaked her left hand back around Kya's middle to hold her close. She didn't move at the contact, but she held the stethoscope tight, like she was cuddling one of her toys. Katara could hear Kya's slightly faster heartbeat, but it remained within normal range for a child her age. She adjusted the headset so it wouldn't hurt her ears.

Listening to that steady rhythm was comforting, but also starting to make her sleepy, too. Katara yawned, but tried to read through the longest paragraph on the scroll. She blinked after every sentence, then after every single word.. She stopped stroking her daughter's arm. Her right hand slowly dropped on the armrest and her diamond blue eyes gradually fell shut. The two waterbenders had both fallen asleep.

Almost an hour had ticked by when Kya woke up. She'd heard the last few bongs coming from the clock under her daddy's statue. It was loud enough to be heard all the way back to the furthest point of Republic City, even when the windows of the buildings were closed. The same applied to the hospital in the heart of the capital. It was nine o'clock. The little waterbender yawned and looked up at her mother.

"Mommy?" Kya whispered a few times, but she didn't budge. Katara was completely out of it. She looked around her mother's office, everything was so quiet. Silence seemed to prevail in the room. Daddy had promised to come pick them up in an hour. Kya didn't wanna wake up her mommy either.

She summoned some water around her left hand, using the tentacle like an extension of her arm to reach for the Appa plush on the opposite side of the desk. Kya carefully waterbended the toy onto her mother's belly and grabbed it so it wouldn't fall down. She waterbended the water back into the pot and cuddled her new companion, snuggling against her mother's chest and closing her cerulean eyes to nap for another hour. Katara released the scroll in her right hand, leaving it hanging on the armrest, and wrapped her hand around the plush sky bison through her sleep. She mumbled a little bit, but otherwise remained lost in her dreams.

It was five minutes past ten in the evening when there was a gentle knock at the door. There wasn't an answer, so Aang quietly opened it and peeked inside.

"Katara? Kya?"

His grey eyes grew wide as he stepped inside his wife's dimmed office. That certainly wasn't the picture he imagined he'd stumble upon in his mind. His girls were sleeping. Having closed the door, Aang tiptoed over to the armchair and squatted down next to them, observing their weird poses.

Kya's head rested above Katara's heart, slightly rising and falling according to the pace of her mother's breathing. She was curled up in the fetal position on her tummy. She was cuddling the plush sky bison and something else seemed to be stuck between her and the toy. Aang followed the tube of the stethoscope, seeing that it reached Katara's ears. He chuckled at the sight. How many times had she fallen asleep on his chest by listening to his heartbeat? He'd lost count during their first years of being together as a couple.

Aang stared at their tranquil features - Katara and Kya looked so much alike. Same pretty blue eyes underneath those lashes, Kya had her mother's cute widdle nose, her luxuriant brown locks, even her smile. But she had the spirit of an airbender, his optimistic view on life, his carefree attitude from his childhood. And apparently, even his snore.

Aang tenderly stroked Kya's head, slowly waking her up.

"Mmm.. daddy?" she said, releasing a short yawn.

"Hey there, sweetie! What'cha doing?" Aang smiled at her. He kept his voice down in order not to startle Katara.

"I was sleeping," Kya said as she rubbed an eye.

"Do you wanna go home now?"

"Mhmm."

"Come here," Aang said fondly, carefully lifting Kya into his arms along with the plush sky bison she was holding onto. She hugged him tight.

"What were you and mommy doing before you fell asleep?" Aang asked with amusement as he stared at his wife practically sprawled out in the armchair, still sleeping peacefully. He'd noticed the waterbending scroll on the armrest, too.

"Mommy and I were reading that scroll, but I became bored, so I played healer with her. Then I felt sleepy listening to mommy's heartbeat and fell asleep. And then mommy fell asleep, too."

"What do you say, should we wake mommy up so we can head home?"

The little waterbender nodded again, watching how her daddy gently ran the back of his hand over her mommy's cheek until her eyes began to flutter open.

"Katara?.. Kataraaa..." he whispered her name, after which her lashes began to tremble. She slowly opened her diamond blue eyes and met her husband's loving gaze. She noticed an awake Kya cradled in his arms, too.

"Aang.. you're here. Why does everything sound so loud? And why are my ears aching?"

Aang and Kya looked at each other before snickering quietly. Katara watched how her husband leaned closer to her, reaching for something on her belly. He grabbed the metal end of her stethoscope and pressed it against his chest. Hearing the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, Katara blushed and averted her gaze, realizing what'd happened. She remembered now. She tried to remove the earpieces ever so slowly.

"Ow-ow-ow!.. My poor ears. I don't think I'm gonna be able to listen for a week," she said, rubbing at the inside of her ears.

"This ain't the first time it's happened, you know," Aang said with a smirk while wiggling his brows. Kya started laughing when Katara gently nudged him in the ribs. She took the stethoscope from his hands, coiled it up and put it back on her desk.

"So, did you have a fun day at work with mommy?" the airbender wondered, tickling his daughter's chin while his wife rolled up her waterbending scroll and put it back in the drawer.

"Mhmm, it was really fun!" Kya said excitedly. She began retelling everything fun she'd done with her mother ever since they arrived in the morning. Aang handed the plush Appa over to Katara so she could place it on the hidden shelf underneath her desk. She turned off the table lamp, almost leaving them in complete darkness. Luckily Aang used his firebending to provide them some light. Katara grabbed her shoulder bag from the coat rack, scanned over her office one last time, then stepped outside along with her husband and daughter, locking the room with her key.

"I drew some pretty pictures, daddy. Mommy loved them and she thought that you might love them, too!"

"Really? Well then, remind me to take a look once we're back home. I'd love to see them."

Even though the dim nightlights in the ceiling were turned on, Aang kept firebending to light their way as they walked down the corridor of the western wing and entered the staircase to head to the rooftop of the hospital where Appa was waiting for them.

"Appa!" Kya exclaimed as she rubbed her cheek against the sky bison's furry face and hugged him with her tiny hands. Appa grunted, closing his big brown eyes for a moment to enjoy the display of affection. Aang still held Kya in his arms, he grabbed Katara from her waist and she did the same. He gave all three of them a boost with his airbending and they landed on Appa's head. Kya continued talking about all the shenanigans she and her mommy had been up to throughout the day during their ride home.

By the time she'd finally climbed into her own bed, it was almost eleven o'clock. Aang joined her, letting Katara get ready for bed in the meantime, and to look at those drawings she'd been talking about so much.

"This is really beautiful!" the airbender said, looking at the picture of their entire family.

"Thanks, daddy!" Kya crawled out from under her blanket, closer to him to hug him from his middle. Aang stroked her head in return.

"Sweetie, would you mind if I framed this and put it up somewhere in my office?"

"Really, daddy? You'd do that?" the little waterbender gazed into her father's twinkling grey eyes. He nodded, a proud smile on his face.

"Mhmm."

"No, I wouldn't mind. Can I help you pick a spot?"

"Sure, you can come along to work with me next time I need to visit City Hall. Just like you went to the hospital with mommy today."

"Can we go see uncle Sokka, too?" Kya pleaded with her big glistening cerulean eyes. It'd been a while since the councilman had seen his little waterbending niece. Aang pulled his daughter into his embrace and kissed her temple.

"Of course. Nothing would make me happier."

#the Kataang family #Kataangtag #Kataang #Katara and Kya II #Aang and Kya II #Katara #Kya II #Aang #Appa #ATLA and TLOK #my fanfiction #mine #shards of Kristal

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kaliiwashere · 5 years

Text

baseball fashion blog

Nevertheless baseball jewelry, as we speak it is often the spies and celebrities who're wearing hats as a result of they don't wish to be acknowledged by anybody. Furthermore you'll be able to require the manufacturing facility to customise unique type hats that you like. The double link provides power and style. You don't need to be a professional to dress like one. While no one will possible be using them to make new customized jewelry, these gems are sport necklaces unique and have fascinating histories. A method a man can look his most interesting is by wearing cufflinks. It's a novel method for men to accessorize without the heaviness of jewellery that can get in the way or is uncomfortable. A basic males's diamond tennis bracelet is a great way to add an elegant, but masculine shine to any look. From the office to the golf course to a night time out on the city, this statement piece can add a classy, style forward accent. It's a protracted standing tradition in lots of families so as to add a charm to a bracelet over time as a holiday or birthday gift.

You additionally get to see these photos every time you placed on the jewellery. Probably the most thrilling truth about trend jewellery is that it always retains altering. But let's remind you that even a small ring you wear comes into the class of the jewellery. The truth is, possibly a quick conversation about those New York Yankees, Oakland Raiders or even a little little bit of Alabama Crimson on your wrists will lead to a more in depth dialog which may inevitably lead to business offers. Like a Baseball Mom bangle bracelet worn by the entire crew will encourage them to do better, present cooperation and even embolden the crew members to play nicely. There's the play and costume jewelry. Diamond jewellery is particular in that it conveys feelings with out saying phrases. The head secures the diamond. Like could also be a pitcher participant allowed to wear a men's wedding ring in the on the mound?

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You can order personalised golf balls, cookies made to appear to be footballs, baseballs, or soccer balls, or any number of other sports or staff oriented gifts. The group spirit and cooperation might be increased by designing the identical jewellery merchandise for the staff. Jewellery market veterans in China say cadmium has been utilised in home gadgets there for years. Take a quick look at various kinds of Pet Cremation Urns and other memorials obtainable available in the market. Employee Recognition Awards - Workers take great pleasure in sporting lapel pins that show their achievements, and they're going to treasure employee recognition awards that they will often present to others. Wish to take a wild guess at what keyphrase theyre focusing on? Sometimes a ring or necklace can have a particular, private which means as a result of it was a gift. For the fan that enjoys the physique piercing pattern a pink or blue Biobplasts Blazing Baseball Stomach Ring will do the trick.

The inexpensiveness of some modern rhinestones has allowed them to be utilized in every type of utility, from dog collars to baseball caps. Some of essentially the most distinctive fun baseball products are baseball slippers for women offered on amazon, baseball purses and totes or baseball cuff link, money clip, and tie tack for males. At the most primary, you won't go fallacious with knee-length or longer skirts for women and suits or gown shirts and pants for males. Second, tucking shirts in and wearing belts are okay for the holidays, however they certain aren't the cool hip look we're going for. The place where you will is n determining issue for the accessories. This means earrings; bracelets, rings and necklaces are all no-no's. Mothers and boys proceed to complain that COOL boys clothes are non-existent. These are some great wedding ideas for sports lovers. Maybe you are fascinated with sports activities cufflinks that exhibit your hobbies.

This French hybrid grape produces a dry crimson wine that is daring, wealthy, and full bodied. For white wine fans, strive the LaCrosse, a semi candy gem with aromas of melon and pear. Other hot picks embrace a diamond bracelet or perhaps a diamond and sapphire coronary heart locket. One of the crucial simple, but traditional, items of jewellery is a top quality bracelet. There's the inexpensive choice of fashion jewelry. Wholesale trend jewelry is the idea assigned to organizations that manufacture type jewellery. A standard misconception is that style jewelry is simply too fake trying. Trend jewellery is available in all differing kinds. A photo of just a little lady at her first dance recital or slightly boy in his first baseball sport put on photograph jewelry may make fantastic keepsake reward. The standard of Gold present nice pliability along with ductility as nicely as the man views and his awesome ability to generate wonderful together with sophisticated patterns affords full Gold Jewelry the infatuation related to loveliness. From a three-stone ring that sparkles with the previous, present and future, or a classic eternity ring, diamonds are a arms-down sentimental favourite. There are a number of seems to be that must be pulled together in 2006. If you're going for a glance, go all the way in which and baseball jewelry.

For the sports activities fan in you, there is a wide choice of sports activities cufflinks accessible including a wide variety of sports group cufflinks. Individuals do not realize that in the event that they cannot afford the actual deal, there are more options. Mouth - select a cute pair of lips, smile, chuckle, frown or even a tongue sticking out plus more. Gifts for Collectors Nearly any object can be collected: baseball cards, spoons, vintage brooches, and even vintage blenders. The Boston Pink Sox is probably essentially the most well-known baseball staff to affiliate with Phiten titanium necklaces. Do you love your workforce almost as much as the individual you intend to marry? If you're a baseball fan or even a soccer fan, you'll be able to rotate your team throughout the seasons so you are all the time on prime of the sport. Boys' clothes are getting cooler and cooler the entire time. This is nice for people who are up in age who have points corresponding to osteoporosis, arthritis, or something that has brought on their legs to become weakened. However, a lot of people say it has really helped them; they even talked about they have been also skeptical to start with.

Or is the deck stacked against her and she'll lose a lot of money? It is apparent that much less money is needed for a flea market than for a retail retailer, but what's not so obvious? In other phrases, concentrate on how a lot cash you may have already made on that order that came in, rather than specializing in the items which can be left over and haven't bought. In addition to giving the video games their construction, rules are meant to give all individuals a (supposedly) even playing discipline. These seats embrace a button that permits the seated individual to rise up with ease, each time they're prepared. Are you able to easily get to various spots to buy? Get a second opinion. Men also hit a home run with the lady of their lives by marking a significant (or not so vital) anniversary with the diamond anniversary ring. I believe this could possibly be an amazing gift for a particular occasion similar to graduation or marriage ceremony or an anniversary.

I made a necklace with a favourite photo of a sunset right here. Add earrings and a necklace to finish your look. When using the search terms, you should also add your city or city identify to the search with a view to uncover sources near you. Certain, you could find replica Collection bands along collectively utilizing arranged stones and likewise diamonds, nevertheless these would be the exception, not the particular rule. Diamonds dazzle like nothing else can. Dazzle her with a diamond. These collars also include some type of identification on them, very similar to we use on our canine tags at the moment. Such a wonderful paradise that is like a slice of Heaven on Earth. Even when you don’t have expertise at all, it can just take a couple weeks of messing around with programs as Photoshop and Illustrator. Nevertheless, in today’s world the place mummification will not be possible, pet owners still have the choice to honor their furry pals with the help of pet memorials.

When i lived at dwelling, I all the time tried to help make modifications for the higher, fairly than just letting dangerous politics resolve for me. These really show off the interests of any sharp dressed man all whereas catering to his interior sports lover. In case you ask a man what he actually wants, he's likely to say a brand new automotive, some sports activities gear or model new instruments. Missing baseball jewelry, which usually shelving up wards repeated flyer a long way in arms and, joints, fingers, legs and, in addition to earlobes. Many rabid baseball enthusiasts placed on additional the typical investing credit charge enjoying greeting handmade homemade enterprise notes, signed objects, banners and ads, paint footplate, in addition to bubblehead dolls. The first Pizza Hut opened in 1958, which is about 500 years closer. It always has a recent just cleaned regarded that seems to fade rapidly with yellow gold. Judy is considering promoting earrings at the local swapmeet with baseball jewelry.

0 notes

pipbabi · 5 years

Text

sport necklaces

However baseball jewelry, at this time it's normally the spies and celebrities who are carrying hats as a result of they do not wish to be acknowledged by anybody. Moreover you can require the manufacturing facility to customise distinctive type hats that you want. The double link adds energy and style. You do not have to be a pro to dress like one. Whereas no one will possible be utilizing them to make new customized jewellery, these gems are unique and have fascinating histories. A method a man can look his finest is by wearing cufflinks. It is a unique approach for men to accessorize with out the heaviness of jewelry that can get in the way or is uncomfortable. A basic men's diamond tennis bracelet is an effective way to add an elegant, but masculine shine to any look. From the office to the golf course to a evening out on the city, this statement piece can add a complicated, trend ahead accent. It is a protracted standing tradition in lots of households to add a jewelry and accessories used in baseball charm to a bracelet over time as a vacation or birthday gift.

You also get to see those photographs every time you placed on the jewellery. Probably the most thrilling truth about vogue jewellery is that it at all times keeps changing. However let's remind you that even a small ring you put on comes into the category of the jewellery. In fact, possibly a quick dialog about these New York Yankees, Oakland Raiders and even somewhat bit of Alabama Crimson in your wrists will lead to a more in depth dialog which might inevitably lead to enterprise deals. Like a Baseball Mother bangle bracelet worn by the complete team will encourage them to do higher, show cooperation and even embolden the staff members to play properly. There's the play and costume jewellery. Diamond jewelry is special in that it conveys feelings with out saying words. The head secures the diamond. Like may be a pitcher player allowed to wear a males's wedding ring in the on the mound?

You'll be able to order customized golf balls, cookies made to look like footballs, baseballs, or soccer balls, or any number of different sports activities or workforce oriented gifts. The team spirit and cooperation might be increased by designing the same jewelry item for the team. Jewelry market veterans in China say cadmium has been utilised in domestic objects there for years. Take a quick take a look at different types of Pet Cremation Urns and other memorials available in the market. Worker Recognition Awards - Staff take great pride in sporting lapel pins that show their achievements, and they'll treasure employee recognition awards that they can regularly show to others. Want to take a wild guess at what keyphrase theyre concentrating on? Sometimes a ring or necklace can have a special, private which means as a result of it was a reward. For the fan that enjoys the body piercing pattern a pink or blue Biobplasts Blazing Baseball Stomach Ring will do the trick.

The inexpensiveness of some fashionable rhinestones has allowed them to be utilized in each sort of software, from dog collars to baseball caps. A few of essentially the most unique enjoyable baseball products are baseball slippers for girls offered on amazon, baseball purses and totes or baseball cuff hyperlink, cash clip, and tie tack for men. At the most fundamental, you won't go mistaken with knee-size or longer skirts for ladies and fits or dress shirts and pants for men. Second, tucking shirts in and sporting belts are okay for the holidays, but they certain aren't the cool hip look we are going for. The place the place you will is n figuring out factor for the equipment. This implies earrings; bracelets, rings and necklaces are all no-no's. Moms and boys proceed to complain that COOL boys clothes are non-existent. These are some great wedding ceremony concepts for sports lovers. Maybe you might be all for sports cufflinks that showcase your hobbies.

This French hybrid grape produces a dry pink wine that's daring, wealthy, and full bodied. For white wine followers, attempt the LaCrosse, a semi candy gem with aromas of melon and pear. Other scorching picks embody a diamond bracelet or perhaps a diamond and sapphire coronary heart locket. Some of the simple, but classic, items of jewelry is a high quality bracelet. There is the cheaper choice of fashion jewelry. Wholesale fashion jewellery is the idea assigned to organizations that manufacture type jewellery. A typical false impression is that style jewelry is too pretend wanting. Vogue jewellery comes in all different types. A photo of a bit of woman at her first dance recital or a bit boy in his first baseball sport placed on photograph jewelry could make fantastic keepsake gift. The standard of Gold present great pliability together with ductility as effectively because the man views and his awesome skill to generate fantastic along with sophisticated patterns provides full Gold Jewelry the infatuation associated with loveliness. From a 3-stone ring that sparkles with the past, current and future, or a basic eternity ring, diamonds are a hands-down sentimental favorite. There are a number of seems that ought to be pulled together in 2006. If you are going for a glance, go all the best way and baseball jewelry.

For the sports activities fan in you, there may be a wide collection of sports cufflinks available together with a large number of sports activities team cufflinks. Individuals do not notice that in the event that they can not afford the true deal, there are extra options. Mouth - choose a cute pair of lips, smile, giggle, frown or perhaps a tongue sticking out plus more. Gifts for Collectors Almost any object might be collected: baseball playing cards, spoons, vintage brooches, or even vintage blenders. The Boston Purple Sox is probably probably the most famous baseball staff to affiliate with Phiten titanium necklaces. Do you love your group nearly as a lot because the individual you intend to marry? If you're a baseball fan or even a football fan, you possibly can rotate your workforce all through the seasons so you are always on prime of the sport. Boys' clothes are getting cooler and cooler the entire time. This is nice for people who are up in age who've points such as osteoporosis, arthritis, or something that has induced their legs to develop into weakened. Nevertheless, lots of people say it has really helped them; they even talked about they had been also skeptical to begin with.

Or is the deck stacked towards her and she'll lose some huge cash? It is obvious that less cash is needed for a flea market than for a retail retailer, however what's not so apparent? In different words, give attention to how a lot cash you've got already made on that order that came in, quite than specializing in the objects which are left over and haven't bought. Moreover giving the video games their structure, rules are meant to offer all individuals a (supposedly) even playing area. These seats embody a button that permits the seated person to rise up with ease, whenever they are prepared. Are you able to simply get to various spots to buy? Get a second opinion. Males additionally hit a home run with the lady of their lives by marking a major (or not so significant) anniversary with the diamond anniversary ring. I think this may very well be an excellent present for a special occasion corresponding to graduation or wedding or an anniversary.

I made a necklace with a favorite picture of a sunset here. Add earrings and a necklace to complete your look. When utilizing the search phrases, you also needs to add your metropolis or town title to the search in order to uncover sources close to you. Sure, you can find replica Sequence bands alongside collectively utilizing organized stones and also diamonds, nevertheless these would be the exception, not the particular rule. Diamonds dazzle like nothing else can. Dazzle her with a diamond. These collars additionally comprise some type of identification on them, very like we use on our canine tags right this moment. Such an attractive paradise that is sort of a slice of Heaven on Earth. Even if you happen to don’t have expertise at all, it is going to just take a couple weeks of messing round with programs as Photoshop and Illustrator. Nevertheless, in today’s world the place mummification is just not doable, pet homeowners still have the choice to honor their furry pals with the help of pet memorials.

When i lived at dwelling, I at all times tried to help make modifications for the higher, reasonably than simply letting bad politics decide for me. These truly show off the interests of any sharp dressed man all whereas catering to his inner sports activities lover. If you happen to ask a man what he actually needs, he's prone to say a brand new car, some sports gear or brand new tools. Missing baseball jewelry, which often shelving up wards repeated flyer a good distance in arms and, joints, fingers, legs and, as well as earlobes. Many rabid baseball lovers placed on extra the typical investing credit score cost taking part in greeting handmade homemade business notes, signed items, banners and ads, paint footplate, as well as bubblehead dolls. The first Pizza Hut opened in 1958, which is about 500 years closer. It all the time has a contemporary just cleaned seemed that appears to fade quickly with yellow gold. Judy is contemplating promoting earrings on the native swapmeet with baseball jewelry.

0 notes

craftsguide · 5 years

Text

Why You Should Get a Magnifying Lamp for Your Workshop

New Post has been published on https://craftsguideto.com/awesome/why-you-should-get-a-magnifying-lamp-for-your-workshop/

Why You Should Get a Magnifying Lamp for Your Workshop

Ensure What You’ve Been Missing

We set this magnifying lamp to work in our store and immediately considered the difference. We could gauge how sharp chisels really were and actually read swoon drill size etchings and the tiny publish on spray can. But most important, this lamp built quick work of splinter removal. Lamps like these cost between $30 and $60 online and at woodworking stores. Click here for one of our favourites on Amazon .~ ATAGEND

Want to build something so tiny that you need a magnifying lamp? Try this contemporary key hanger project .~ ATAGEND

Every product is independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our connections, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Next, check out what you can do with some free stuff from The Home Depot:

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Home Depot Paint Stick Sanders Paint sticks are free at any Home Depot paint department. Naturally, Home Depot paint sticks useful to use as paint stirrers, but there’s a world of other uses for them as well. A little bit of glue and some sandpaper can transform a free paint stick into a custom sanding tool. If you’d like to kicking it up another notch, glue a few paint sticks together and then carve them into a curved shape. Adhere sandpaper and suddenly you’ve got a custom curved sander, attaining it perfect for remarkably shaped objects. This is just one of the many genius sanding tips-off to be found in this great collect .~ ATAGEND

Carpet Sample Rug Most Home Depot flooring departments provide carpet sample squares. While they’re intended to provide a way to envision the finished product( sort of the equivalent of paint swatches) they can also be joined together to create a larger carpet, or even wall-to-wall carpet. The size and variety of designs range from store to store, so you may want to visit a few locations to get a grouping that seems good together. To bind the squares into a greater whole, you can either sew them together or adhere the back sides with construction tape or duct tape.( And just for fun, here’s 12 more brilliant employs for duct tape .~ ATAGEND)

Red Flags Almost every Home Depot offer free red flags! Usually they’re found in a bin near the contractor loading bay, for use when transporting oversized materials. Once you get to your work site, don’t merely dispose these useful flags. Keep a few in your vehicle, but keep some in your workshop as well. Attached to a paint stir stick, these stimulate great caution flags to keep well intentioned family members out of work regions, or to mark a landscaping plan in your yard. Check out these tips-off on how to use your pickup truck to transport material safely and effectively .~ ATAGEND

Paint Can Opener as a Mini-Prybar Freely available from your local Home Depot paint department, these tiny metal devices build surprisingly great utility tools. The looped end lets them be stored on pegboard hooks or a tool container carabiner. Their tightly hooked pry lip attains for a relatively gentle pressure phase, especially when be included with a scraper. Check out this tutorial on how to use one to repair a refrigerator water dispenser switching .~ ATAGEND

Paint Stick Push Tool When it comes to working with foresee, safety is paramount. But if you can get safety alongside great value, then you virtually can’t go wrong! Maintain your free Home Depot paint sticks in a PVC tube near your table watch, and you’ll never have an excuse not to use a move stick the next time you’re ripping a board. For more details on table assured safety, check out this great refresher .~ ATAGEND

The In-Store Tool Department Sometimes something free is more of a rental than a gift. The next time you’re in Home Depot and realize that you forgot your tape measure, don’t waste time with a journey back home. Just head over to the tool department( Home Depot insiders call it the “Tool Corral” !) to borrow a tape measure right off the rack. Notice that the tape measure is packaged to allow the tape to be pulled out without removing it from the package. Just use that videotape to confirm whatever measurings you need, and save yourself a trip-up home.

The same thing runs for lots of the tools and items in the tool department. Even the items that have security locks can be opened up if need be–just ask a sales associate. As long as you’re checking a measurement or sizing to help you buy something, they should be happy to help. If you liked the tool corral tape measure tip, here are some more amazing asses tips and tricks that you’ll love .~ ATAGEND

Paint Shake and Re-Tints This one isn’t weird so much as unexpected. If you bring your old paint to a Home Depot paint center, you are able to have it shaken up in their machines. This saves the effort of stirring up your old paint, but it also sets up another great service: paint re-tints. If you have paint you purchased at Home Depot and would like to make it a darker colour, the staff at the paint department will adjust the color of your paint with and extra shot of pigment. This is a great way to get a tint in your primer, or to tweak the remainder of your wall paint, right before you do up an accent wall.

This tip-off can save you from buying an entire gallon if you only need a little bit of the new coloring. Perks like this are exactly the kind of option that most store employees won’t say to you unless you ask .~ ATAGEND

Cardboard Box Furniture This is something that isn’t often offered free in-store, but comes free with many Home Depot buys! In addition, disposed boxes are freely available in the recycle bins behind the store. But before dumpster-diving, ask the store manager for permission: that route you’re not trespassing, and you’ll often get the picking of the best boxes.

Creative makers have long salvaged cardboard from behind big box stores to craft a wide variety of objects, including some surprisingly functional furniture. If you’d like to learn more, you can find additional brilliant ways to reuse cardboard boxes in this collecting of notions from Family Handyman .~ ATAGEND

Shipping Pallets Much like cardboard boxes, pallets are one of the perks of buying bulk material. Pallet crafts have gained popularity in recent years, due to their fashionable distressed looking and affordable price–sometimes free! Home Depot offers home delivery, and many of their bulk orders ship on a pallet. It’s also worth asking them to throw in a pallet if you buy a large order at the store, or even if they have a few hanging out in the back lot.

If you don’t have a large order planned, you can always buy a disassembled pallet. If that sounds like a weird thing to buy off the shelf, we agree–it’s on our list of twenty weird things you can actually buy at Home Depot !

Paint Sample Projects The paint department at Home Depot is a gold mine when it comes to free items and services. And one of the most* ahem* colorful of these freebies is the extensive coloring sample selection. All of those beautiful sample swatches are free to take home. And sure, they’re helpful for stimulating color selections, but they’re also beautifully colored, high-quality slips of newspaper. That means that they’re ideal raw material for all kinds of crafts, from cut paper to origami. Hop over to this list of 15 surprisingly cool DIY projects for paint samples, and we think you’ll get the recommend to construct something creative of your own .~ ATAGEND

Photo: Politenes of Style at Home

Flooring Sample Coasters One of the easiest ways to set a Home Depot freebie to use is to collect a few wood floor samples, then glue vinyl bumpers beneath the corners. Just like that, you have a nice decide of attractive and amazingly affordable coasters.

If you prefer the looking of ceramic tile, you can check to see if your local Home Depot gives out tile samples( not all locations do ). If not, you are able to usually pick them up for relatively little upfront expense. The ones in this tutorial were 45 pennies each.

Paint Stick Lint Cleaner Yet another weird use for the ever-versatile paint stick! Grab a cloth and one of these handy wooden helpers to get a deeper clean on your dryer’s lint trap. Doing so will help your clothes dry faster and reduce health risks of a lint build-up fire-hazard. For a video on how to do this important cleaning chore, just click through and follow the instructions !

10-15% Off “Mover’s Coupon” in the USPS Mover’s Packet Home Depot offers “Mover’s Coupon” in USPS Mover’s packets. So the next time you need to go to the post office, grab a few mover’s packets and clip some of the included coupons. Click this connection for more moving tips .~ ATAGEND

Get Boards or Sheets Cut If you don’t have enough room in your automobile or can’t cut parts at home, a Home Depot employee will cut any part for you for free. This is a pretty normal part of the job for Home Depot employees but if you want to read about some crazy things they have considered, click here .~ ATAGEND

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letterdrill08-blog · 5 years

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About face mask

Inside the cult of Shiva, located in Anatolia from circa six,000 BC, the younger, bare ithyphallic god appears in a very horned mask.[15] While in the Greek bacchanalia as well as the Dionysus cult, which concerned the use of masks, the everyday controls on behaviour were temporarily suspended, and folks cavorted in merry revelry exterior their everyday rank or position. René Guénon statements that inside the Roman saturnalia festivals, the common roles ended up generally inverted. Particularly not comfortable styles, including an iron mask, by way of example the Scold's bridle, are in good shape as equipment for torture or corporal punishment While some do-it-yourself face masks and scrubs do the job finest on oily, dry or sensitive pores and skin, I've pulled jointly a summary of nine wonderful masks and eight scrubs that work on all skin forms. These recipes are perfect for events and for teams simply because they Focus on every kind of skin. Utilize a thin layer with the mask on your face, and Allow it sit for ten to quarter-hour. Then rinse with heat water. (You should definitely spot a metal or plastic strainer within your sink to avoid clogging the drain Together with the granules.) Mayonnaise facial masks Pueblo craftsmen generated extraordinary work for masked spiritual ritual, especially the Hopi and Zuni. The kachinas, god/spirits, often take the method of highly distinctive and elaborate masks which might be used in ritual dances. Want to show day to day right into a great pores and skin working day? Need to know tips on how to preserve your skin youthful, refreshing, and glowing 24/7? Each man or woman wishes to feel and appear their best always. Our assurance is right proportionate to the way we really feel about ourselves. Deriving the very best away from on your own is having said that a activity which might be drastically assisted with using smart items. The variability and sweetness in the masks of Melanesia are Nearly as really designed as in Africa. It is a tradition exactly where ancestor worship is dominant and spiritual ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably, most of the mask types relate to use in these ceremonies and so are connected While using the things to do of solution societies. In Activity the protective mask will usually Use a secondary functionality for making the wearer surface much more outstanding as being a competitor. Pat your face with mild yellow mustard for just a bracing facial that will soothe and promote the skin. Attempt it on a little exam spot initial to be certain it won’t irritate. Lemon facial masks Our supplied Surgical Disposable Face Mask is used by surgeons and Medical doctors for masking the face when any surgical system which has a individual to prevent any infections. Owing to its Protected and trusted Operating functions, it's extensively Employed in hospitals and healthcare investigate institutes. We offering Disposable Face Mask. The provided face masks can be found with bacterial filtration effectiveness and plastic coated nose clip for comfort. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exfoliation_(cosmetology) use substantial-quality standard content and the most up-to-date technological know-how to manufacture these face masks which lessen the spread of infectious liquid droplets. Aside from this, customers can avail these face masks from us at nominal rates. Ask for In this post, I share eighteen astounding uses for simple substances you can find inside the kitchen area. Make your own personal child wipes, receive a recipe for just a lip scrub, give your self a steam that has a teapot plus more. I like a very good lip balm year-spherical, but particularly in the cold months when my lips can chap. So consider my surprise Once i learned you could potentially make your personal using beeswax, almond oil, honey and a bit of outdated lipstick. It is normally approved which the masks, noise, colour and clamour are supposed to drive absent the forces of darkness and Winter season, and open how with the spirits of light and the approaching of spring.[forty one]

An Unbiased View of face mask

Employing vinegar like a pores and skin toner dates again to time of Helen of Troy, and it’s equally as powerful now. Once you clean your face, combine one tablespoon apple cider vinegar with 2 cups drinking water as being a ending rinse to cleanse and tighten your skin. Pacific Northwest Coastal indigenous groups were usually very skilled woodworkers. Their masks were typically grasp-parts of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, or possibly a mask inside a mask, and elements moved by pulling cords. We offering Disposable Face Mask. The available face masks are available with bacterial filtration efficiency and plastic coated nose clip for comfort. Our adroit designers use higher-grade essential substance and the newest know-how to manufacture these face masks which lessen the distribute of infectious liquid droplets. In addition to this, shoppers can avail these face masks from us at nominal selling prices. Ask for Masks must keep on for ten-15 minutes. I like washing masks off using a steaming very hot washcloth. I run a washcloth less than warm water, squeeze out the surplus h2o after which you can press to my face for an entire moment. I then Carefully wash from the mask in a round motion. skin treatment are brilliant for exfoliating. A few shots of the exact same female noh mask exhibiting how the expression changes by using a tilting of the head. In these pictures, the mask was affixed to your wall with constant lights, and only the digital camera moved. Opera masks ended up Employed in a primary "common" type of opera executed without having a phase or backdrops. These triggered colourful facial designs that we see in the present Peking opera. Korea [31] In Papua New Guinea, 6 metre-substantial totem masks are positioned to safeguard the dwelling from spirits; Whilst the duk-duk and tubuan masks of recent Guinea are utilized to enforce social codes by intimidation. These are conical masks, comprised of cane and leaves.[32] North The united states Korean masks have an extended tradition related to shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks had been used in war, on both equally troopers as well as their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to keep in mind the faces of excellent historical figures in Loss of life masks; and while in the arts, specially in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical performs. There's also plenty of products available which can be created to provide specific reasons in aiding and controlling the skin. Olay Full Consequences 7-In-1 Anti-Ageing Product + Serum Duo SPF 15 is a fantastic example of an item that focuses on anti-growing older while offering a concentrated moisturizing method. It fights all big signs and getting old and helps you appear and feel young than prior to. Goods like the Nivea Oil Regulate Males’s Face Clean are excellent offerings in the sector of elevating oily skin and giving you having a refreshed search. The sufficient pores and skin styles, tones and conditions are all achieved and looked after by the diverse set of products and solutions offered on Amazon India. Individuals inside a black bloc at protests usually have on masks, often bandannas, to avoid recognition, also to consider to safeguard from any riot Manage agents applied. Why squander income on pricey creams if you can deal with yourself to the calming handmade face mask with complete-egg mayonnaise from your possess refrigerator? Gently unfold the mayonnaise over your face and go away it on for about twenty minutes. The trick to wonderful pores and skin is in masking. And it works great for some #SundaySelfLove. Rapid track your face to flawless perfection! I've compiled some wonderful facial scrubs that work just along with the pricey scrubs, but all genuinely all organic and natural and cost virtually pennies. Nowadays, throughout carnival while in the Netherlands masks are often replaced with face paint For additional convenience. See also: sugar scrub

5 Tips about face mask You Can Use Today

We are giving Elastic Face Mask. The face masks are used by the health care employees for facial security versus airborne infections. These face masks are made from your pretty tender product which will allow air circulation in this kind of method that the consumer does not truly feel suffocation. Many African masks depict animals. Some African tribes think that the animal masks may also help them communicate with the spirits who reside in forests or open up savannas. Folks of Burkina Faso called the Bwa and Nuna contact to your spirit to stop destruction. The Dogon of Mali have complex religions that also have animal masks. [25] Biologist Jeremy Griffith has instructed that ritual masks, as representations on the human face, are particularly revealing of The 2 fundamental elements of the human psychological affliction: firstly, the repression of a cooperative, instinctive self or soul; and secondly, the really angry point out from the unjustly condemned mindful pondering egocentric intellect.[26] Africa A "shameful" mask (Schandmaske in German) is devised for public humiliation; a well known minimized variety are donkey ears for your terrible pupil or student Japanese masks are part of a really aged and extremely complex and stylized theatrical tradition. Although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults, they have got developed into refined artwork sorts. Goaltender mask, a mask worn by an ice or discipline hockey goaltender to guard The pinnacle and face from harm The distinction with overall performance masks is not usually very clear-Minimize. Ritual and theatrical masks by themselves is usually looked upon as practical, and protecting masks inside a athletics context in particular will often be meant to improve the looks from the wearer. Health-related The Senoufo individuals of your Ivory Coast symbolize tranquility by building masks with eyes 50 percent-shut and contours drawn close to the mouth. The Temne of Sierra Leone use masks with compact eyes and mouths to represent humility and humbleness. They depict knowledge by making bulging forehead. Masks play a vital part in just globe theatre traditions, notably non-western theatre sorts. Additionally they go on to become an important power inside modern theatre, as well as their usage will take a number of types. Why expend greater than $20 over a retail store-purchased facial scrub every time they continue to be in your face for just minutes and all those fancy ingredients get washed down the drain? We presenting Disposable Face Mask. The presented face masks can be found with bacterial filtration effectiveness and plastic coated nose clip for consolation. Our adroit designers use superior-quality standard material and the most up-to-date engineering to manufacture these face masks which reduce the unfold of infectious liquid droplets. Apart from this, clients can avail these face masks from us at nominal costs. Ask for Disposable Face Mask is actually a healthcare basic safety merchandise made away from non-woven cloth, threads and elastic that be certain its Secure utilization, Tremendous flexibility, smooth texture and hygienic nature. In food stuff industry, it stops saliva fall into foods. In Indonesia, the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It really is believed that the usage of masks is related to the cult of your ancestors, which thought of dancers the interpreters from the gods. Indigenous Indonesian tribes such as Dayak have masked Hudoq dance that represents character spirits. The N95 mask is design for high protection and extended don time. It's easy to breath via, gentle on the pores and skin, and easily limited. honey scrub is really sized for Asians, and the result is usually a mask which is restricted for basic safety, still cozy to have on.The N95 Respirator Surgical Masks enable lower publicity to microbes by filtering particles smaller than 0.1 Microns. Suitable for infection Manage, the N95 Respirator Surgical Mask is snug and user friendly, with dual preset straps so it stays set up, whilst a nose band allows for a more customized healthy.

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newagesispage · 7 years

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DECEMBER 2017

*****The Astros win the World series.

*****Jill Kimmel is doing stand up.** Her brother Jimmy’s childhood drawings were turned into flesh super heroes The terrific Ten.** Jimmy is in a twitter war with Roy Moore. After being called out by Moore, Jimmy is heading to Alabama to either fight or talk since he is unsure of what Moore is taunting him to do. He wants to dress like a girl scout since he feels that Moore only notices little girls. Kimmel would really like to talk Christianity because as a Christian he does not understand him.

*****So.. Scary clown has delayed his decision on elephant trophy’s which has angered hunting groups.** It is said that Rex Tillerson is about to be out and Mike Pompeo in. Business as usual!

**** The tax bill is atrocious. It adds a trillion to the deficit and the middle class tax cuts would expire. They are trying to sneak in a caveat in the part about college savings plan. It would not actually change anything for savings now but it a backdoor way to have their way on abortion. It would introduce ‘fetal personhood’ into law which of course would be a short leap to taking away choice.

*****Scary clown 45 is ranting about the jury in the case of Kate Steinley who the jury says was accidently shot by an immigrant named Jose Inez Garcia Zarate. Trump has been ranting about this case for a while now but the San Francisco trial just ended.** And we are really seeing what Trump and his fake news are doing to the world. His yelling about CNN put doubt into other countries about a REAL story they did on modern day slave auctions in Libya. These are real humans that need help and he has others doubting the very story. ** He also put out fake stories about terrorism which were debunked but Huckabee Sanders said it does not matter if the stories are real, the threat is real. The fake news also gave much free publicity to hate group Britain First.

*****The original Conklin’s barn was torn down on November 7. Fingers crossed that the donations will keep coming in so they can reopen by December 2018 as Barn 3. Time for some Days cast members to donate some fundraising time??

*****Patton Oswalt kicked ass in his new Netflix special Annihilation and also just got married to Meredith Salenger.

*****Boo Boo Stewart and Mark Derwin star in Lowlifes out in 2018. Lowlifes is the story of a second chance boot camp who stumble onto a terrorist group.

*****Meghan McCain seems so angry and it seems she wants to tear Joy Behar’s head off sometimes. She is supportive of some liberal agendas but automatically turns off some ideas simply because of who is proposing them. This is the very thing she rails against. I did love her take on sleezy Matt Lauer though, I too never had any respect for him after the Anne Curry thing. And c’mon ET all the Lauer clips you showed seemed to have him in front of Rolling Stones advertising.** Lauer has been accused of many things including exposing himself. Why do these men always think we want to see their dicks? They all think they have something special, they are not that fucking different. Keep it in your pants, most would be embarrassed if they were held up to other men. And I don not believe for a minute that Jeff Zucker did not know about it. I never trusted him either.

*****China says that Trump is proof that democracy does not work. They are benefitting from our misery and zeroing in on being number 1. Besides spreading propaganda, they are making lots of jobs with clean energy that they can sell to the world.

*****Steve Green of Hobby Lobby has finally opened the 500 million dollar Bible museum. The idea of making all guests sign a promise to become evangelicals when they leave was nixed.

*****$15 mil in taxpayer money has been spent on the sexual harassment complaints of congress.

*****James Jagger and Matilda Lutz are the face of Giorgio Armani’s fragrances Because it’s you for her and Stronger with you for him.

*****Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross declared the divestment of his holdings but he’s still part owner in a company. This Russian company has ties to Putin’s son in law.

*****Please Please Conan.. More Butterscotch the clown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*****The UK is having its own political and sexual misconduct scandals including a secretary of state Damian Green.

*****The Mark Twain prize for Letterman was filled with my favorites and was very emotional. Al Franken edited out? Maher is right: The liberals are pussies.

*****The Paradise papers about offshore finances were leaked. The secret financial activities of the superrich show a lot of Russian dealings. There are also questions about Queen Elizabeth’s private estate and other business leaders.

*****The list of those accused of sexual misconduct grows, from Dustin Hoffman to Brett Ratner to Russell Simmons and more to come. Simmons is accused of raping Lena Horne’s granddaughter. We need a special kind of thank you for Ronan Farrow who is working tirelessly to blow the lid off of the Weinstein bullshit. I Can’t wait for his new book. He has exposed many things which have helped feel safe enough to come forward. So many helped in the Weinstein mess , including Dylan Howard, chief content officer of American Media Inc. which publishes The Enquirer. Howard was apparently a helper in the disgusting network of suppression. Sime sticks together like Levin sticks with Trump.** We need a real truth teller, an honest Cronkite type and I see it in Ronan. **Jane Seymour had her own story of sexual harassment with a powerful producer at the start of her career.** Charlie Rose is fired after his allegations. That one hurts.** I am so glad the women are coming forward. The bravery of citizens like in The Keepers is opening up a world of (hopefully) more truth, more justice. ** Are political operatives helping to dig any of this up?** A good portion of people I know are natural flirts. Are there some who don’t even realize that they are offending? Out and out rape and authority figures who try to stop an employee’s rise when they do not get their sexual way is obviously wrong. We are human though and sometimes that line may be crossed unintentionally. I think each story has to be looked at for what it is. We must discern between real and cruel sexual situations and tasteless jokes and bad manners. All is wrong but there are different ways to deal with the accused. Listen fully to the stories from the victim’s mouth. Follow the evidence and force yes or no answers. This political speak of “let me tell you” or “I will say this” is nonsense. People out and out believe that celebs of journalists did the bad deed but politicians receive more skepticism. People take the side of their left or right hero without really listening. If you can’t see the difference I wonder about your ability to reason, about your moral compass. An Al Franken or Garrison Keillor seem to be a bit different from a Weinstein. ** Uma Thurman had a great tweet: Happy Thanksgiving everyone (except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators. I’m glad it’s going slowly-you don’t deserve a bullet)** Pelosi could be a little more eloquent and quit getting in her own way defending the left. Just before I put this page out, Pelosi says Conyers should resign.. WOW! complete turn around.** A woman came forward to the Washington Post trying to push some fake news about Roy Moore. She claimed that she was impregnated by him and then it was found that she was meeting with Project Veritas whose purpose it is to set up stings on the mainstream media. Of course there are REAL reporters at the Post so the story was not published. Hmm imagine looking up facts and not getting your news from the 700 Club or online scuttlebutt. ** Isn’t all the money and power enough for these men at the top? Law and order SVU must have enough script ideas for another 20 years.** Is all the women standing up and not taking it anymore what we get for losing Hillary? It is like she had to sacrifice herself and gain liberation for the rest of us. So many can’t believe what got into the White house and real truths need to be out there. WAKE

*****Prince Harry and former Deal or no Deal employee, Meghan Markle are engaged .

*****The governor’s award honored Donald Sutherland

***** Fashion Police on E is over.

*****I watched Ozark on Netflix and wasn’t too sure after the first episode but tried the second and then I was in. There were times when I could not quite suspend my disbelief but then there were so many characters that I seemed to recognize from my real life. Bateman and many deserve some love for this project and I will miss Russ in season 2.

*****Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr story sounds like a great doc.

*****The Grammy noms are out and leading the way was Jay-Z with 8. That was followed up with Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars, SZA, Childish Gambino and Khalid. Also on the list of nominations are Lorde, Lady Gaga, Imagine Dragons, Bob Dylan, Kraftwerk, Leonard Cohen, Jason Isbell, Gregg Allman, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Bruce Springsteen, Bernie Sanders, Carrie Fisher, Dave Chappelle, Queens of the stone age, Jim Gaffigan, Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Hart and The Rolling Stones.

*****So glad Search Party on TBS is back!!

*****The Crowns Plaza hotel has a projection on the outside of the building that declares FUCK TRUMP.

*****Don’t take your eyes off this administration and the judges he is putting in place, the rules that he and his cohorts are changing and the rights he is taking away from all of us. We have a lot to deal with now but don’t let his tweets or his slick talkers distract you. Yes we need justice from the Russian probe but somebody is handling that,. I wish the news would let that play out and update us more on what they are taking from us.** If you can’t see what is wtong with a Trump or a Roy Moore, I have to wonder about your moral character.

*****Hooray for Washington Week for 50 years and Meet the Press for 70. Thanks Washington Week for your touching tribute to Gwen Ifill.

*****Dan Rather has a new book, What unites us.

*****Nathan Fillion is back on ABC with The Rookie. The program is inspired by a true story of the oldest rookie in the LAPD from the executive producer of Criminal Minds, Mark Gordon.

*****For the fifth year in a row Michael Jackson has been the top dead celebrity earner.

*****Laurence Fishburne is divorcing Gina Torres.

*****Papa John’s has apologized for blaming the knee taking football players for low pizza sales. C’mon who eats that pizza anyway?.. get a good product!** The alt right has named them their official pizza.

*****Voting has begun for the rock and roll hall of fame. This year we have Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues, Dire Straits, The Cars. Judas Priest, The Eurythmics, The Zombies, J. Geils Band( please finally!!!!!), Depeche Mode and Nina Simone.

*****U.S. court judge Colleen Kollar- Kotelly barred Trump from continuing with plans to exclude transgender people from military service and thinks those who have sued have a good case.

*****So.. What the fuck is the hinky biz going on at Guantanamo? The place has its own rules and nobody can seem to agree on said rules. Brigadier General Baker found good cause for Nashiri, a suspect in the USS Cole bombing, to lose his lawyers. After the lawyers were allowed to quit, a judge ordered Baker to rescind that order but he refused. The judge put the General in jail. The General , a U.S. citizen and the 2nd highest ranking officer in the military claims the judge has no jurisdiction over him. We will have to see how this plays out.

*****James Comey is releasing his story in May with the book A Higher Loyalty.

*****Michael Lewis tells us about all the prep the Obama administration went thru to bring the Trump administration up to snuff in his new nook The Undoing project.

*****Brit Vandegraft married John Witt on October 14 and honeymooned thru Dallas and on to the West.

*****According to the pentagon, America has spent $250 mil a day on war every single day for sixteen years.

*****Donna Brazile’s book Hacks claims the Dem campaigns were offered a chance to bail out the DNC and get much support. The Bernie campaign declined but the Hillary campaign supplied the money. Brazile seemed a bit surprised and rattled about the reaction to her book in the beginning. After a couple of weeks she settled into it and the defensiveness sort of faded. She tells us that she has been in politics for fifty years and if we don’t like it ,we don’t have to buy it. She claims she enjoyed Hillary’s book and backed her all the way. Brazile writes that she got to the bottom of everything when she took over the DNC and was threatened over and over again.

*****Days alert: WTF Adrienne?? Poor Lucas never gets to keep the girl! **Peggy McCay celebrated her 90th.** Keep Hope and Raif together. Damn!

*****So glad to see Katherine Erbe on How to get away with murder.

*****Spot on writing and acting on another level with Jane and Lily and Sam and Martin on Grace and Frankie. What treasures!! Thrilled to see the appearance of Mary kay Place . Craig Welzbacher who played Myron on Days was on there too.

*****Dinklage, Harrelson and McDormand in Three Billboards… can’t wait.

*****This winter, Trump requested 70 foreign workers with special permission from the U.S. labor department for Mar –A- Lago. He also would like some for various golf clubs thru the H-2B visa program. There are currently 5,136 qualified persons in the area ready to work. America first?

*****The second part of Stranger Things just as good as the first.

*****Scary Clown 45 is being sued because he blocked twitter followers. He now knows that since he uses his tweets as an ‘instrument of governance’ blocking is not allowed.

*****Fifty years brings Rolling Stone magazine an HBO doc, a rock and roll hall of fame exhibit and the whole thing up for sale.

*****Rand Paul was attacked by his neighbor as he mowed his lawn.

*****Ok.. I realize that shows like The View have to shift.. well I guess they do.. But I don’t get how they can talk about a shooting and then hey ”view your deal’. C’mon, it just seems so inappropriate to suddenly talk about spending $ on silly things. I always tune out when this shit happens.. can’t this shit be at the end of the show. No offense to those companies but I do not watch for that. .. But good for Sonny Hostin for going to Puerto Rico to tell their story.

*****Sad to see Dale Earnhardt Jr run his last race. Is Chase Elliott the next Mr. popular ?

*****An American woman, Shalane Flanagan won the New York marathon.

*****Manafort had 3 passports and we won’t get to the trial for he and Gates until May.

*****Charles Manson is dead. Writer Phil Luciano still has some letters from him that he does not know what to do with. They are now headed into the Lincoln library in Springfield, Il.** How did Charlie wrangle such good publicity from American Horror story? The timing as usual is impeccable. Charles (Manson) in charge?** The History channel seems to have some unheard recordings from Charlie that will air on December 3 as Manson Speaks.

*****Prince Salmon Mohamed is purging in Saudi Arabia. His crackdown has included about 500 other Princes who have been rounded up. He is consolidating power and getting rid of enemies. Just days before Jared Kushner went for a visit. It seems like so many ego driven men in the world today are grabbing all the power they can.

*****Check out Jeff Ross roasts the border.

*****The recent elections went pretty well for the left including Bill DeBlasio. Congrats to all the newly elected including the first openly trans woman and an African American mayor in Montana. Nobody should get too cocky.

*****The VA says they won’t help the dishonorably discharged per the Trump team. Hmm no help from VA, no universal health care.. I guess soldiers should suffer in silence, beat their families or become addicts.

*****Wow Darrell Hammond was awesome on a Criminal Minds that Aisha Tyler directed.** BTW Did ya see the episode where Mantagna utters the line, “I don’t like a the snakes.’? OMG

*****HBO is making a limited series about the Jonestown tragedy with Vince Gilligan and Octavia Spencer.

***** Watch for Peter Fonda in The Ballad of Lefty Brown coming out December 15.

***** So.. Tiny kitchens are a thing?

***** Pumpkin spice has reached its peak. Pumpkin out: Maple in.

*****Check out Sean Astin as Paul Manafort in Houseguest (on Colbert).

*****I thought my head was gonna explode when Bill Maher had Michael Moore, Donna Brazile, Chris Matthews and Sarah Silverman on the same episode.

*****So the People mag sexiest man is stupid anyway but Idris isn’t the man this year? WTF??

*****Jim and Andy: The story inside the story inside the story of Carrey playing Kaufman. This is a great piece of work. Is it wrong to say how hot it is that Jim gets this look in his eye about Andy? Even though he is no longer inhabited by Kaufman, something seems to bubble inside him when he talks about the man.

*****On November 14th Bob Corker held hearings on executive authority to use nuke’s .

*****The Louis CK film I was looking forward to ‘I love you Daddy’ looks like a wash.

*****They say the Pres has no control over fuel prices but Trump in.. prices soaring.

*****Rwanda has offered to host African migrants stranded in Libya.

*****Why do people always say they did not think it would happen to them or their communities when shootings happen? How long does it take to sink in to Americans that mental illness and this obsession with weapons is everywhere? I will agree with a couple of things that the NRA says like we need to enforce the rules in place better a that mental health is a big part of the problem. If mental health is the real issue then where is the universal health care we need to take care of this problem?

*****GQ has named Colin Kaepernick citizen of the year.

*****Just as I am posting this the Mike Flynn charges were announced. They broke into the news with this news. A real reporter must never get any sleep in these Trump times. Apparently he is pleading guilty and cooperating in the Russian investigation. Go Go GO DOJ!

*****Why is the last sketch on Saturday Night Live usually the best?

*****R.I.P. Dennis Banks, Liz Smith, Lil Peep, Malcolm Young, George Young, Brad Bufanda, victims of the Texas church shooting, Gloria Fallon, Roy Halladay, Robert Knight, Chuck Mosley, John Hillerman, Paul Buckmaster, Mel Tillis, Della Reese, David Cassidy, Earle Hyman, Joseph L. White, Jim Nabors and Rance Howard.

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jamestwalden · 7 years

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Safety in the Shop

by Bill Spenceley, Flexahopper Plastics

One of the major challenges facing rotomolding companies remains the heavy dependence on labor. And while there are new advances in equipment, most companies continue to experience higher input labor costs than found with other competing plastic processes. It is also equally important that company managers have ready access to a labor pool of capable, experienced workers with some general knowledge of mechanical equipment. Sadly, unlike a generation ago, young people today may find fewer opportunities to gain experience mechanically in their schooling. Public educational institutions tend to avoid these activities, fearing legal reprisals if students are injured during the course of this training (wood working, automotive, etc.).

Faced with this reality, managers need to devote even more resources to assess what skills each individual has and provide any customized training necessary on their premises. Most successful operations I’ve visited have well established programs to solve these deficiencies. But even trained and experienced workers get injured. I’m hopeful this article will raise awareness of some industry specific incidents and help you identify risks and opportunities to create a safer work environment. The examples will gradually increase in severity and you might get queasy with the graphic pictures.

Based on industry incident reports, the most common injuries are hand lacerations involving hand scrapers or utility knives. These small and useful tools require a healthy respect from their users and most injuries occur when employees become complacent (lose respect). A valuable example of an injury from even the most innocuous of working materials is shown in (see photo on page 43 of a high energy equipment injury). This nasty laceration resulted from the mishandling of steel wool (venting material) and would require a trip to the doctor and stitches. Who’d have thought?

Obviously, when injuries like this occur, the first action is to assist the worker and provide first aid, but don’t waste the opportunity to communicate to other staff the cause, result, and ways to avoid similar situations going forward! Host an emergency safety meeting and discuss the incident with workers while things are still fresh in their minds. Sometimes we have been lucky to have pictures provided by the injured workers, with their permission, and have displayed them on notice boards near workstations.

The next level of injury involves accidents with what I refer to as “high energy” equipment. Unlike simple hand tools, high energy equipment includes power devices like routers, table saws, and band saws. The risk level here is much higher and a momentary lapse in respect can result in severe injury. Operators need to be trained, with demonstrated competence, on how to always maintain control of these devices and use established safety procedures. Senior staff also need to address or discipline workers when they observe noncompliance with safety guidelines.

Companies can also raise the level of shop safety by maintaining and replacing outdated equipment. There are also opportunities to introduce new safety technology similar to a product called Saw-Stop. Saw-stop was the first company to develop an emergency stop mechanism that detects any flesh coming into harm’s way and instantly arrests the high speed saw blade. Before Saw-Stop’s technological breakthrough the outcome of such a situations were dire, with victims usually losing one or more fingers. We were skeptical how this product would perform with some of the specialty materials we cut (including semi-conductive materials) so we sent samples to the company to test before buying. No problems occurred and we can report that in nine years of use we have never had an injury with that saw. When technology like this becomes available you can’t afford not to purchase it! If you’d like to see Saw-stop in action, check out this website (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eiYoBbEZwlk) and watch the inventor demonstrate the product’s effectiveness while saving his own finger!

Luckily, similar technology is now in development for band saws. I’ve seen countless facilities where large band saws are used to cut up scrap with guards typically raised high for convenience reasons. A complacent operator can easily cut off a finger without even knowing it. However, until it reaches the market, guards must be adjusted properly and proper training given.

Hand routers, because of their size, won’t likely see applications with this technology as the inertia to stop a heavy spinning armature would be too great. For these devices the most important thing for the operator is to always make sure the direction of the cut is against the rotation of the blade. By doing so the operator maintains control and can avoid the router kicking back. I’ve even see operators bring the blade to a stop when the material starts to bind. An inexperienced operator cutting WITH the rotation can easily get into trouble and I’ve heard of a router flinging away and causing a major injury.

For some parts a hand router might place operators at risk because of an unusual geometry or confined placement that makes it difficult to hold the device firmly. These types of cuts are best done on a CNC router. With area guards in place, CNC routers reduce the risk to employees and produce consistent parts. If your company manufactures a substantial number of products that require difficult trimming you should look at the economics and might find that these machines are within financial reach.

Movement of heavy equipment in a facility is another area of risk that is often overlooked. I always tell people the most dangerous pieces of equipment in my plant are forklifts. Not only that, but every time I buy another one the risk factor jumps by a large measure. They are essential to move heavy objects but misuse can result in severe injury or death. As part of your safety program, insist that all new operators be trained and tested to demonstrate competence and awareness of procedures before they ever get near the keys. There are quite a number of YouTube videos that show actual incidents with operators and these are great ways to spread awareness.

Operators need to realize that the safest place to be in an upset is seat belted in their seat. If an incident occurs, they will not have time to react and we’ve had a forklift flip over where an operator ejected out of his seat and was lucky not to be crushed.

The roll bar also provides a measure of safety from falling debris from an unstable stack of products particularly when moving through a doorway where the door is not raised fully, or clipping a column of a shelving rack (search for forklift accidents on YouTube).

A really bad habit that operators practice is using a forklift to push things away for convenience. Instead of getting off the forklift to move something out of their path, they simply nudge the object with the leading face of the equipment. This can place other employees at risk particularly when multiple objects are pushed. The forklift is a powerful piece of equipment and the operator will not be able to sense something resisting the items being pushed. That little push on the gas pedal could spell disaster.

As an owner, it’s very important to catch this unsafe behavior before it becomes a common practice. Chances are that the staff members who are practicing this behavior will make sure they do it while you are out of sight. We discovered a simple method to stop this practice when we brought a used forklift from one of our west coast branches. Although it was a used unit, the reseller insisted on repainting and it appeared almost like new when they delivered it. It was a point of pride for one of our supervisors to keep it in immaculate shape and he drilled that into his staff who were afraid to be the first person to scuff it up. When we received this particular forklift at our headquarters we compared it to a unit we had purchased new (refer to photo of forklifts parked back to back). The difference was astounding and we decided to paint all of our units so that any driver scuffing it up would have to file out an incident report (which is a rarity). So a little paint not only makes your forklift fleet look better, but dramatically reduces impacts or injury.

Fire is another hazard to consider in your company. Most companies keep a reasonably clean shop, but what about inside the ovens. Molds can leak material out over time and, if it gets hot enough, can ignite. What are your operators trained to do and are there any procedures? Sadly, most companies fail here and it might be just by chance that the situation gets resolved effectively. More likely, people will be drawn into a panic and mistakes made. Astronauts have a valuable saying they live by, “That there’s no such thing as problem you can’t make worse”. Panic is a real worry when dealing with a fire and a major disaster can unfold easily.

Aside from shutting down a machine on fire, there should also be a gas gate valve in close proximity to stop more fuel from entering the oven. One helpful suggestion to avoid an oven fire turning into something bigger is to retrofit individual ovens with some water sprinklers that can simply be activated by a manual valve. It might be messy in the end but it should stop the fire cold. Other causes of fires include operators mishandling flammable liquids like solvent based releases.

The last topic of this article deals with fatalities. Sadly, our industry has not been immune from these situations and, as owners, we’re haunted by the thought of life loss in our business. For the two incidents I’m aware of there seemed to be a disconnect in operating procedures, that lead to terrible outcomes. One of the cases involved improper lockout procedures during the maintenance of an oven where an operator was trapped inside. This case was widely documented, litigated, and the local rotomolding association produced safety guidelines to address lockout and egress from a heated oven. I encourage all molders to consider adopting some of those recommendations and share the story with your staff.

Another reported fatality occurred when some employees used unauthorized demolding techniques involving air pressure to release a stubborn part. We’ve all been there when you have a tough part that doesn’t want to come out. If the particular part had been small nothing may have happened but the volume of the part and the high pressure finally released with such force that the workers were killed. Despite the management not sanctioning this procedure the company incurred significant financial penalties. As an owner, you need to be aware and correct any unsafe work practices!

What’s the take away from this? Share these stories is the first step. Help your employees understand that they may not be aware of the dangers that lurk from misuse or lack of understanding with procedures. Build a culture in your company when employees take ownership and they communicate. Emphasize safety and continuous learning. Developing this culture takes a lot of effort and will require changes and discussion.

There are a number of ways to deliver your message within the company. Regular safety meetings are helpful. Establish committees to meet regularly and any workers who haven’t been injured should be enlisted to populate the group. Bring in outside consultants who can help you craft policies and identify hidden hazards. These people are experts and can accelerate implementation and communicate awareness to your team.

Place pictures (even gory ones) at workstations where accidents have occurred. Make them visible and share the story behind the occurrence. In the last couple of years, we’ve installed TV monitors inside our plant. The screens are hooked up to computers that loop PowerPoint presentations highlighting safety issues as well as performance goals and company activity. Your workers will see these messages every day and they’ll continue to reinforce safe work practices in your organization.

I hope that we can share concerns with the industry and keep our molders safe.

from an article at RotoWorld® https://rotoworldmag.com/safety-in-the-shop/ from Blogger http://jamestwalden.blogspot.com/2017/01/safety-in-shop.html

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