Book Review

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

Synopsis: In 1932 a 21-year old debutante (Georgie) flees her brother's Scottish home when she hears that a party is going to be given in order to set her up with an undesireable Romanian prince. In London, where she has taken refuge, she has an adventure (that's right--singular, as in ONE), then discovers a dead body. She then goes on to try to figure out whodunnit.

Readability: Insultingly easy and as such, very hard to get in to. About 100 pages into the novel, the mystery finally starts. RED FLAG.

Predictability: To be honest, I didn't know whodunnit! To be fair, neither did Georgie...

Couldn't Put it Down Factor: I had no trouble putting it down.

Recommend it?: Not really, though it is a quick and easy read that takes you to a different city. Sometimes that's JUST what you need.

Overall Rating: Two stars. One for getting it published and the second for keeping me guessing til the end.

Believe it or not, I AM reading a book right now that I'm really enjoying. : ) Hopefully I'll write a nice review soon!

Thanks, Swampy.

This made me cry and cry. Sweetest thing ever.

Happy 80th Birthday, Shirley, Sr.!

Today, we had the honor and priveledge of throwing an 80th birthday party for Grandma Shirley. It was a small picnic with fantastic food, laughter and stimulating conversation. "Shirley Sr." got a new set of sheets, a memory foam pillow, a "Broadway Classics" CD and Special Edition Dark Chocolate Starbucks Frappuccino for her birthday.

Here are the Shirley Girlies!
Chatting with Gram during the party.

We had the opportunity (finally) to take a five-generation photo.
Here's a photo of the whole fam. A legacy of Christ-followers. My great-great-grandmother's prayer (six generations ago, if you're counting) was that each generation after she was saved would come to know Christ. I believe this includes our spouses as well. God has been faithful in honoring her prayer. God is good to us!

One of the big events of the day today was to go pick up Gram's Centurian award at the Polk County Fair. Leaving the house is nearly impossible for her these days, so McClain and Richard went to accept it for her. She was thrilled.

Dear Past Erin,

Just a couple things.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???? You are not 21 anymore. You can not stay out all night. Three movies at the drive in?? Are you crazy?

You will suffer tomorrow. Consider yourself warned, moron.

Sincerely yours,

Future Erin

p.s. Don't forget the wipes for the sleeping baby who will need to be changed in between each movie! Oops. Too late.

p.p.s. Batman was AWESOME!!!

S,

E.

I wish I had greener thumbs. If I did, I would say, "I like begonias. They're so complicated." If I was a flower, I would be a begonia.

"(23) May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (24) The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." -1 Thes 5:23-24

The mystery of sanctification is that the perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, not gradually, but instantly once I enter by faith into the realization that He "became for [me] . . . sanctification . . . ." Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life. (Chambers.)

Concentrate

I was supposed to get how many loads of laundry out of this bottle of laundry detergent?
Fifty-what?
Oops.

Potato, potahto.

I've had some pretty bad jobs in my life.

And I'm not very old.

While I was in college, I had a data entry job at the headquarters for a company known fondly by some as "God's Garage." (My opinion? "Satan's Lair." Potato, potahto.) When I quit, I did not give notice, and I was informed that I could not apply for a job with the company for seven years. Shux.

Anyhow, I worked the evening shift, which meant that I shared a computer with the woman who worked there during the day. Her screen saver read:

"Guys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses."

I changed it to:

"Guys don't make passes at girls with fat asses."

The seating arrangement changed the next day.

Dear Swampy,

I just couldn't do it. I'm so sorry. I'm sure Watership
Down, by Richard Adams is a beautiful novel, but I couldn't make
it past the first 100 pages. Here is my review.

Readability: Surprisingly tough (in a good way). I am
convinced that it is MY fault that I couldn't get into this book.

Predictability Factor: Something tells me the rabbits will have
many adventures, encounter much danger, and succeed in the end.

Recommend it? Yes, but only because I've heard such good things about it.

Overall Rating: Not applicable. I'm a weenie.

I hope you'll still be my friend. If it's any consolation, I gave it
five stars in my LibraryThing.

Sincerely sorry,

Erin

Relax, baby!

Relaxing: A nice, long, hot bath with lavender and chamomile and 150 pages.
Not relaxing: Having to stand up three times to get the shampoo, then the soap, then the conditioner out of the shower caddy.
Even less relaxing: Having to "pump" after my nice, long, hot bath.

Dear Past Erin,

When you get a bug in your knickers to use the spot/steam cleaner to clean the arms and cushions of the couch, you will be horrified to see the brown, no-longer-see-through water coming off of the upholstery.
You will then turn around dump all of the dirty water onto the carpet.
Haha! The reservoir doesn't seal!
Happy cleaning!
Future Erin
p.s. I wish I could warn you further in advance, really, but it's just too funny.

July 19

Next week on July 19, during the 6:00 service at Faith Community Church in Hudson, we are having Shirley Jean publically dedicated to God.

We would love it if you were there to share in our joy.

Please join us in the community room after the church service for an hour of fellowship and to kiss the baby!

Hope to see you there, my blogfriends.

Me too me too me too!

I've been quoted!
Three times!
I am the first, sixth and seventh quotes on the page.
Wow!

Dear Kara Jo,

Yeah...they RE-WROTE all of The Nanny Diaries for the movie.
I never thought I'd say this, but the movie was actually a lot better than the book.
Thanks for recommending it!
Sincerely yours,
Erin

Book Reviews

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
Readability Factor: Easy and very engaging. Some scenes were hard to stomach as a new mother.
Predictability Factor: Either I'm too smart, or Picoult was too obvious. So well-written, however, that I invested myself in 400 pages hoping that I was wrong about "whodunnit," and the author would surprise me. Alas.
Couldn't Put it Down Factor: Five stars. (See why the ending was so disappointing?)
Recommend it? Sure. Just know this. Your first guess as to who did it is wrong. Your second guess is right.
Overall Rating: Four stars. Smart, intriguing, suspenseful and rich.


The Nanny Diaries by Emma Mclaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Readability Factor: Easy
Predictability Factor: I suppose it wasn't very predictable because I was so infuriated by the ending. Sososososo freaking mad about the ending. The romance, however, was too easy and predictable. To be honest, I'm not sure what this novel was really about. A nanny? A child? A romance? I'm still not clear.
Couldn't Put it Down Factor: Four stars (out of five).
Recommend it? Nosiree. Don't waste your freaking time. If you want to know how it ends, shoot me an email. My guess is that the movie has a much better ending than the book. How else would they even get the funding to film it? It was really THAT bad. I'm still stinging.
Overall Rating: Two stars. Cleverly-written, but an unprecidented waste of my time as someone getting closer to death every day.

Noble Character

I was trying to look something up on eBible.com when I came across The Wife of Noble Character.

Proverbs 31:15 reads:

"She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls."
This verse has always been a source of spiritual consternation for me. I am not that woman, and it bothers me. Don't get me wrong. I work hard at being a good wife and mother, but I often wonder if I'm working hard enough, if I could be working harder.

I was mentally debating whether to commit this issue to God or not (read: Do I want to work on this or ignore it for as long as I can and only address the issue when it becomes absolutely necessary?) and decided to click on over to my old buddy Mr. Chambers.

The first line of today's devotion reads, "A [Christian] is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ."

Self-serving? Perhaps. But it was a nice reminder of what my FIRST priority is, and, better yet, how God sees me mired in all my imperfections, through the loving eyes of a father. This is, quite possibly, the closest I have come to understanding who I am in Christ in a very long time.

I actually screamed out in frustration in the kitchen today.

I have had 3 hours of sleep. The baby has had 10. Does that seem fair to you?
Last night, I stayed up late to finish The Nanny Diaries and was so PISSED OFF by the ending that I couldn't sleep. Really. It was that bad. (Incidentally, I'm never reading again. It seems impossible for someone to write a book with a good / original ending, so I quit. I can't bear to invest myself in another book only to be disappointed AGAIN.)
I was still awake (fuming) at 3:30 when it started storming outside and Richard woke up long enough to say, "The cat's outside."
So, feeling like a TERRIBLE mother, I got up to look for him. Finally, I woke Richard up and asked him to help. The storm instantly stopped and the cat came home.
He raced downstairs presumably to eat, which he promptly threw up all over the living room floor. We, of course, had just started to drift off.
We both whisper-swore so as not to wake the baby. Together we cleaned up cat barf at 4:30, and woke the baby up. I put her plug back in her mouth, praying that she would just go back to sleep...which she did.
Yesterday was worse. We spent FOUR HOURS at the mall doing pictures and came home with a baby so tired that she couldn't sleep. The coffee I bought in the morning and worked on all day couldn't have helped either. She finally crashed around 8, but not before she cried for 4 hours straight. One hour of crying for each hour we spent at the mall.
Today, I've been trying to be productive, but I SWEAR if I step in ONE. MORE. CINNAMON. TOAST. CRUNCH. I. AM. GOING. TO. LOSE. MY. FREAKING. MIND.
Where are they coming from? I have swept, vacuumed, sicked Pedro on them.
WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM?????

* * *
The baby is finally napping now, and what am I doing? Blogging.
I have to go.
I have to nap on my sheet-less bed. Am I in college again?
Don't tell me how sorry you are. It's ok. Just one of those nights. Who knows...maybe after my nap I'll find it amusing.

He was so ugly, I nearly cried. I nearly cried, y'all. You ever seen a silverfish? I nearly cried.

Mr. Silverfish on my wall,
I don't like you; not at all.
Yes, I'm nearly six feet tall,
but you have more feet than them all.

Just stay where you are, you nasty little creature.
You spawn of satan.
Product of the Fall.
Purposeless filth.
Stay where you are and I won't touch you, and you won't get out of my kleenex and crawl (faster than a Nebraska cockroach) up my arm.
Deal?
In fact, stay where you are until morning so that you can get out of Richard's kleenex and crawl up Richard's arm. I think Richard would handle that a lot better than I would.
Deal?
Mkthanks.

The Animals

Dear Pedro,
Please stop pooping under the clothesline. I mean, I don't want to punch a gift horse in the mouth, but...please.
Love,
Mommy

Dear Kitty,
No more midnight romps for you.
The driveway is a long way away from the house when Mommy is in her nightgown.
If you can't be quiet when you are outside, you won't get to go outside anymore.
Love,
Mommy

Family Ties

BlogFriends, Richard's grandmother is having surgery tomorrow to have her spleen removed. Please, as you think of us, pray for her safety and speedy recovery.

Heavenly Father, I pray that your hand would be on Joyce tomorrow as she heads into surgery. Make your spirit known, Lord, with your peace and grace. I pray that you would allay any fears that Joyce may have and build Dick up in your sovereignty and faithfulness as he cares for his wife. I pray also that you would build up Brenda, Lori and Kevin as they serve their parents in caring for their physical and emotional needs. I pray, too, that Your peace will be palpable to our family.

In Jesus' name, amen.

p.s. THIS IS MY NEPHEW!!! Is he not the most beautiful creature you've ever laid eyes on???

Congratulations, E&V!

You are a beautiful family. God's many blessings on all of you. Little Eva, I pray that you will grow to be a towering woman of God, that you will turn to Him in all things and trust His son as your friend and savior.

Welcome, little girl.

Competition!

Tuesday.
Doorbell rings.
Erin: Hi, Gertrude!*
Gertrude: Does Richard like heavy bread?
E: Sure!
G: We bought this bread and we don't like it, but I thought Richard might like it.
E: Well, thank you, Gertrude!!

Wednesday.
Doorbell rings.
E: Hi, Gertrude!
G: Can you get me Richard?
E: He's not here, he's working.
G: Oh, well, will you see if he can fix my alarm clock? I can't make it work.
E: Here, I can help you.
G: No, give it to Richard.

Thursday.
Doorbell rings.
E: Hi, Gertrude.
G: Can I ask Richard if he likes shrimp?
E: I'm sorry Gert, he's not here, he's working.
G: Well, I got you some frozen shrimp for your holiday weekend.
E: That is so thoughtful of you! Thank you.
G: When will Richard be home?
E: Oh, not for a while now. It's just me and the baby. Do you want to come in?
G: No. Cute kid.

If old Gert was about 50 years younger, I think I would be worried. I'm hoping tomorrow she'll bring some of HER MONEY.

*Names have been changed.

Who says we don't know how to party?

Kitty came in this morning VERY dirty. Who knows what he got in to, but let's just say that he's in the basement now, plotting our deaths.

Dear Richard's Professor,

I hate you.
I don't know what you're looking for.
NO ONE writes memos anymore.
We have email in the real world.
Your grading scale is preposterous.
This class isn't even related to our...uh, Richard's...major!
I'll get you, my pretty.
Very sincerely,
Erin
p.s. Does this memo follow your freaking outline???

Conversations

Richard: You look good today.
Erin [washing dishes]: Mmhm.
R: Your shirt looks good.
E: Mmhm.
R: Your hair looks good.
E: Mmhm.
R: Your armpits stink.
E [checks]: Mmhm.

I am a work in progress.

When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life
through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, "What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!" There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in
God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s.

-Oswald Chambers

Dear Husband,

Thank you for taking me shopping tonight and convincing me to buy "cool tones" like blues and greens, by telling me you've never seen me look so good.
You have no idea how good that made me feel.
I will wear sapphire blue forever. : )
I love you so much,
Wife

A couple things.

How does it work that I have run out of soap in EVERY room all at once? Currently on my shopping list: dish soap, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, hand soap refill, Johnson's soap.

Operation Clean Out the Freezer in '08 has begun.
Today for lunch I ate a personal pan pizza from 1999.
OK, not that old, but close.
For dinner we are having stuffed shells that Lauren made when the baby was born.

SJ and I are about to head to WalMart to buy SOAP in many different forms, and some new shorts for Mommy, since I currently own ONE pair that I bought my sophomore year in college.
Exactly.

We have taken to taking morning naps. SJ and I lay down every morning around 11 and sleep until 1. I don't know why I am ashamed of this, but I am. I'm hoping that by admitting it publically, I won't feel bad about it anymore.

What's the deal with baby capri pants? What a joke!

I think that's everything I wanted to say for today.

Oh, how about an haiku for old time's sake?

Staying at home and
caring for my hus and girl;
all my dreams are true.

A Walk to Remember

We just tried to go for a walk, because I suspect that Little Miss is getting a little stir crazy...or maybe it's just me.
I thought she might need a little more action--some fresh air--something new to look at. Alas.
After the sixty minutes it took me to dress myself and the baby, change the baby after the poop-splosion, find the dog's leash, and locate my sunglasses, SOMEBODY screamed all the way down the driveway and halfway up the hill, and then SOMEBODY didn't want to go home already and got out of his collar and tried to make a break for it and all the while SOMEBODY ELSE was sweating profusely and cursing the brilliant idea of going for a walk.
I came inside holding a screaming someone, and told Richard what happened. I said, "We've been gone a half hour and only made it about 100 yards."
Richard said, "Half hour? You've been gone ten minutes."

I may never have to blog again...

As long as Ellen keeps doing stuff like this.

Have you guys seen this yet?

No? Why NOT?!

Baby Gavin

My first-ever nephew, Gavin Jeffrey Desvousges-Nelson was born today to Jeff Desvousges and Stacy Nelson at 12:35pm, weighing 8lbs, 9oz and measures 22 inches long.

Welcome to our family, little boy. You were created in God's image and belong solely to Him. We love you already and can't wait to watch you grow. I pray you will be strong and corageous; gentle in spirit and bold in faith and love.

Blessings on you Gavin Jeffrey.

I love you dearly.

oink

Dear Richard,

When comparing our baby to a hungry piglet, please keep in mind that this hilarious scenario makes me a sow.

I love you forever and always,

Erin

p.s. When we are mere minutes away from meeting your co-workers, please keep your opinions about my "just ok" hair to yourself.

Stir Fry Threat

Tonight Richard made dinner for us.
Nervously, he said, "Do you like it? You can tell me if you don't like it."
I said, "I love it."
He said, "Don't lie to me--I'll make it again."

Emory Estella Tharp

She's here!! She's finally here!

After a tense couple of weeks, Emory Estella was born into our family today at 1:35pm, weighing a surprising (in my opinion) 5lbs 13oz.

Miranda, her proud mama, was hypertensive and on bedrest for a while. Not an easy thing with an almost two-year-old running around! God is so good to give us another healthy and beautiful baby.

Welcome, sweet little girl! God's many abounding blessings on your curly brown little head. I pray that you will be a gracious and kind woman with your mother's gentle spirit. God is doing a good work in you already, baby, as well as in your future husband, for whom I also pray. I look forward to many, many years of telling you not to hit your brother and to chew with your mouth closed.

I love you dearly--you are a miracle baby.

Love,

Cousin Erin

p.s. If you learn to put your head on my shoulder and pat my back like your brother does, I will do ANYTHING for you. A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

p.p.s. I can't wait to love you up!

p.p.p.s. I can't believe I missed your arrival by mere days!! It's killing me!

Milwaukee, here we come!!

We took our first family trip this week to the great city of MILWAUKEE. Wahoo.
Richard's company was hosting an employee appreciation event at Miller Park (which cost us nearly $100. "Let us show you we appreciate you...but it'll cost ya!"). Regardless of the cost or nutso co-workers, we had a really great time on our first-ever family getaway.
Warning: MANY photos to follow. : )


New theory: the bodily fluids that show up on a hotel bedspread in a black light MIGHT be spit-up.
















Gracie Jo teaching Shirley Jean to suck her thumb.

















Pondering baseball.
















The belle of the ballgame.
















Daddy-time.














Mommy-time. (Notice the guy in the background.)






My mother is wearing a Brewers hat!!




If Richard looks thrilled to be sitting in a giant baseball glove, it's because he is.
























This is what I saw ALL WEEKEND. It's impossible to get anywhere easily in Milwaukee.
















Telling secrets over Mexican food.


Hands down, the highlight of our weekend was taking the baby swimming for the first time. Check out my baby blog for video!

Fear (and a little Loathing)

It's pretty well known that Satan will attack us where he knows we are weakest, right?
For some reason, my weakenesses are almost always fear-based.
If I get really angry, sad, let myself be overcome with worry, or fall down in general, I can usually trace my failure back to some root fear that I cannot EVER seem to escape.
Well, without going into the gory details, I have been having some very serious issues with emotionally paralyzing fear. You know the kind? The kind that stops you mid-breath and makes you question whether or not you can continue INHALING?
Well, until about an hour ago, Satan had me so confused by fear that once I got over one particular fear (or so I thought), he had another one waiting for me on the other side of the bathroom door. Literally.
I prayed and cried with Richard about it, and then came upstairs to check the blogs and read My Utmost for His Highest.
Once again, Chambers (http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php) proves to be proufound. (Thank you, God for using this man's writing so eloquently in my life.)
Chambers writes,
"I [...] have to build my thinking patiently to bring it into perfect harmony with my Lord. God will not make me think like Jesus— I have to do it myself. I have to bring 'every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ' (2 Corinthians 10:5). 'Abide in Me'— in intellectual matters, in money matters, in every one of the matters that make human life what it is."
Oh, there is so much to talk about here!
The most important part to me, tonight at 1:36am?
I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR MY OWN FEARFUL THOUGHTS!!
I can ask God to help me remove specific images from my mind, but it's MY responsibility, not HIS, to focus on Godly things. This, to me, means that I need to trust God in the areas that I worry about (hel-LO! Aren't fear and WORRY essentially one in the same??)
Is focusing on my fear Godly?
2 Chorinthians 10:5 in its entirety says, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (ebible.com)
Now look at the way I've been thinking about it:
"We demolish arguments [posed by Satan against our ultimate goal of glorifying God IN. ALL. THINGS.] and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of [thoughts, focus on] God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ [ERIN!!! GOD DOESN'T WANT YOUR THOUGHTS TO BE TAKEN UP BY FEAR. THAT IS NOT 'OBEDIENT TO CHRIST.']
God is so faithful to us when we cry out to Him.
I just had to share.

I love when Christians have a sense of humor!

Torn

Mom, SJ and I are leaving tomorrow morning after the first feeding (not to be confused with the first light. Although, I suppose from SJ's point of view, one could make the argument...).
In preparation, I borrowed two books on CD from the library, which I am, at this moment, loading on to my iPod.
Is this bad?
I mean, I'm doing it for the convenience of not having to take 18 cd's on the road with us. Not because I want to steal anything.
I just don't know if this is right or wrong.
I'm doing it either way.

Creative Cooking

In the same vein as my friend Kara Jo, I have been trying to be wise with our money and plan our meals ahead of time. (Thankfully, Shirley Jean is easy to please, as you can tell by the photo.) I've been praying that God would help me be creative and thrifty. He has honored my prayer requests...and we've eaten some pretty weird things lately, that all turned out delicious.
Tonight? Grilled chicken breasts and caesar salad along with stale hamburger buns grilled with EVOO and garlic salt. (I know, right?!) Not that weird, I know, but it gets better.
Last week? Homemade hasbrowns: two Russett potatoes, one sweet potato, one parsnip (again, I KNOW!!), grated and fried with sausage and eggs.
The next night? Stromboli made from packaged pizza dough, salami and cheese.
I know none of this proves I'm a genius or even a fantastic cook, but it's a small victory for me as a new SAHM.

Dear Richard,

Let's face it. I have some pretty good ideas.
Before I came along, you didn't even eat sweet 'n' sour sauce on your McNuggets or French Fries.
I still maintain that Nebraska needs a professional football team.
Imagine it!
Nebraska! Home of the Fighting Tornadoes!
The Mighty Corn Rows!
The Rumbling Runzas!
The ROLLING WHEAT FIELDS!
I love you.
Sincerely yours (forever),
Erin

Dr. Phil

Do you think Dr. Phil ever gets sick of dealing with people's ridiculously stupid problems?

I sure hope he makes a lot of money. It would take a lot to deal with these idiots.

I'm just saying.

Why Women Need Catalogs

Dear Swampy,

When can we have another blogger brunch?
Sincerely yours,
Erin

p.s. Please note, I said brunch.

p.p.s. We could even consider a blogger DINNER. Thoughts?

p.p.p.s. When I was looking for this photo of me and Kristi, I found this:

A 'Ton of Fun

During our Tornado / Guitar Hero / Richard and His Co-Workers Hate Their Lives Party tonight, it was decided that we needed to make cream cheese wontons, or 'tons as they shall henceforth be called. (Pronounced "tahn.")
McClain and Mike made up a simple recipe for Crab Rangoon (along with lots of interesting shapes for our 'tons), and from there we went through the cupboards looking for other goodies to put in our 'tons.
Here's what we came up with:
-Brat-ton
-Reeses-ton
-Fudge-ton
-HighLife-ton
-Nutella-ton
-PeanutButter-ton
-Smucker-ton
-Oreo-ton
-DogTreat-ton
-Tea-ton
-S'More-ton
-SweetPotato-ton
-TaterSalad-ton
-Broccoli-ton
-Guac-ton
-Tuna-ton (a group favorite)
-Crouton-ton (my personal favorite)
We fought over the 'tons as the came out of the fryer, and stood outside barefoot on the deck burning the insides of our mouths on our 'tons.
Sadly, we didn't get to actually try any of our new flavors due to the inclement weather. We spent the next hour inside watching the news and arguing about whether or not to move the party to tbe basement. Guitar Hero (upstairs) won out.
I realize this might be the kind of story that is only funny if you were there, but...I don't care. We laughed and laughed.

An Uphill Battle

In Lincoln, my grandma's house is at the bottom of a hill.
Every time I am visiting, I see the same gentleman in a wheelchair working his way to the top of the hill.
Kills me every time.
Oh, the irony.