There sure is a lot of hustle and bustle around here.  (And somebody told me it was slower in the south.)  I really miss Madison and her family in Ohio.  I enjoyed meeting William and his family.  Today I met William’s grandparents, too.  William says they are here a lot.  William’s mom says we’re going shopping tomorrow so that I should get a lot of rest today.  I love shopping, just like my button says!  (Annah got me that, you know!)  William had a lot of appointments today.  His mom said we have to get to bed early.  I talked to William while he had a bath.  William’s dad told me to watch out for Belle, their new dog.  She seems pretty nice but I hear she’s been swiping things around the house.  Yikes! 

February 22, 2006

Shopping today!  I helped William eat breakfast.  His mom says he always eats the same thing.  Kind of boring if you ask me.  Cheerios & fruit.  Sometimes he has some rice milk.  I tried some, it’s pretty good!  William says that chocolate is the best but I thought the vanilla was pretty good, too.  I’m excited to ride with William in the van and go to the mall.  I’ve seen a lot of malls already, you know.

February 23, 2006

Gosh we got back from shopping so late yesterday there wasn’t anytime to write in my journal.  We went to Build-a-Bear and got me the coolest tuxedo!  Also a new T-shirt that says Georgia Tech and an Atlanta Braves flag.  Some fun souvenirs, William’s mom said.  We had a great time.  William gave me a bath (not a real bath; just pretend) and helped me try on my clothes.  I got some shoes, too.  William got in trouble for driving through the racks of clothes at Macy’s.  We had some more errands to run and William got in trouble again at Office Depot.  This time he was “bulldozing” the Duracell Battery display.  He moved it a pretty good ways before his mother caught us.  He sure gets in trouble a lot.

Sorry I couldn’t update again yesterday.  William and I fell asleep and woke up just in time for dinner.  After that it was bath and bed.  Yesterday was a lot of fun.  I went to occupational therapy with William and guess what we did?  Yoga.  It was a lot of fun and I felt great when we were done!  His OT, Dr. Jenn is super nice and gave me lots of hugs.  She helped me do all the positions just like she does William.  Everybody at the therapy clinic was really nice to me.  I told them all about my travels and all the kids we’d seen.  They promised to look on my web site.

After OT, we went to Taco Bell.  William ate a bean burrito!  Well, part of one anyway.  He also likes the chips but not the cheese dip.  Too spicy, he says.  He really likes the Sprite the best but he and his mom had a long discussion about why it was called Sierra Mist and if it was the same as Sprite or not.  After lunch we went home and played with William’s PaPa for a while.  We tried on all of our clothes to make sure we were ready for the SMAsquerade on Saturday.  William’s mom says I probably won’t have time to write again until Sunday.  She also says that I’m going to be leaving Monday.  I’m headed to see Madelyn in Wisconsin.

February 26, 2006

Well, we finally made it back to William’s house.  We stayed in a hotel in Atlanta last night after the SMAsquerade.  It was a lot of fun but boy, were we up late!  I felt like a celebrity, though.  William’s mom had told all her friends about me and they’d looked at my web site.  Everyone kept saying how cute I was and picking me up.  People thought William looked pretty cute in his suit, too.  Oh, and William got in trouble again.  Well, not really but he scared his mom a lot.  He ran into the grand piano with his chair and couldn’t stop!  His mom came running and hit a switch that stopped us and the piano just in time.  Good thing it happened before any guests got there for the party!  William’s mom fixed his chair pretty easily and William and I had some chips and Sprite.  We hung around with his Aunt Terri and Uncle Chris and PaPa and AhAh (Grandma).  William’s dad was there, too, but he was pretty busy most of the night.  There were some other nice kids there; Ashley, Madeline, Quinn, Eleanor & Jack.  It was fun meeting them.  One of their friends with SMA in Atlanta, Chessa, is in the hospital I found out.  They were a little worried about her. 

When we got bored with the party, we went downstairs where it was quiet and watched Monsters, Inc. with Quinn and his dad and William’s PaPa.  We had more chips and Sprite while we were there.  William’s PaPa said William’s mom would be mad when she found out that’s all William had eaten for dinner but he said, “That’s what PaPa’s are for.”  Quinn’s dad writes kids books about monsters that eat your vegetables (The Monster Who Ate My Peas).  He’s knows how to have fun.

William finally went back to the hotel with Aunt Terri and PaPa and AhAh.  I stayed with William’s mom and dad to help clean up.  I spent some time hanging out with the SMA Support Holy Bears.  Some people thought we were related.  I don’t know, they are kind of cute.  I got my picture made with all the ladies who put the party together.

After nap, everyone was home; we decided that tonight was a great night for swimming! We got all of our stuff ready and headed to the YMCA. It was family night at the YMCA so there were a lot of kids. Ms. Maddie and I were a little afraid of all of the noise and the water. We warmed up to the water quite quickly. We splashed, threw balls, and chased Jordan. Candace and I didn’t go swimming we watched from the side. We had a great time! After swimming we stopped to have an ice cream treat and then came home to get ready for bed. Ms. Madelyn and I were very tired. Swimming sure makes you sleepy!  Candace read us books before we went to bed. Ms. Madelyn loves the story “Love you forever.”  Ms. Madelyn wanted it read again, again and again.  Good night, Prince Bear

March 11, 2006

Today I got to spend the whole day playing with Ms. Madelyn & her daddy.  We read books, watched movies, played with the dollhouse and took a couple of rides in the new wheelchair "little girl".  This afternoon I got to meet Grandpa Bob.  What a funny guy!  We all went out for pizza-I decided that cheese pizza is my favorite!  After nap, Ms. Madelyn's Grandma Nancy came over to visit.  She was so excited to see her Grandma!  She kept wanting more hugs, more kisses.  We visited and then it was bedtime.  We didn't want to go to bed, we were having so much fun!  We read some books and fell asleep quite quickly.  IT sure was nice visiting with family.  Goodnight, Prince Bear

March 12, 2006

Well, today is my last day with the Galovich Family.  I had a great time here in Wisconsin.  Today, Candace told me that since they have called me Prince Bear all week, that I should have my very own crown!  I must say, I do look rather royal with my crown on.  Ms. Madelyn and I took pictures tonight with our crowns on.  What fun!  Candace and I were talking tonight and she told me that I was a very special bear.  I have traveled many places and met many wonderful people in my short life.  Candace believes that with every family I visit, I take a little piece of them with me, and that is what makes me extra special.  I have felt a tremendous amount of love from every family I have met, and although it is always hard to say goodbye, I always look forward to meeting the next family.  Speaking of next families, I will be traveling to Indiana to visit the Stants family.  Along with my treasures, I will also be traveling with many hugs and kisses to give everyone from Ms. Madelyn.  Tonight will be my last night in the BIG bed with Ms. Madelyn.  I will be sure to hug her extra tight!  Can't wait to meet the Stants family!  Goodnight, Prince Bear

I’m here with the Stants family!  I heard Laura say that she knew Exactly what was in the box because of all the neat bears stuck to the outside of it!  Today was mostly “Arrive” day; I just kind of recuperated from my trip, missed Ms. Madelyn, and watched Laura and Kaylee check out the goodies in my box.  I can’t wait until everybody can see ALL the stuff that is here with me!  I know Laura is sending some back to MJ so my box will have room, but it’s pretty neat!  I got to sleep with Kaylee, who promised to take good care of me and not squish me in her bed.  I’m exhausted from my travels but I’m having a blast while I’m at it!

March 17, 2006

Today is Friday! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  I sat on Laura’s (green) lap while she drove Kaylee (wearing green) to school, then off to do some errands.  I had my green shopping button on so I couldn’t get pinched!  We went and did some shipping, the bank, the store, the post office, stuff like that.  She even took me with her and got a few interesting looks, but she didn’t seem to care and neither did I!  Then I sat on the desk and watched Laura “work” on the computer.  That wasn’t very exciting, but I think I needed a break already anyway.  Around 11:30 we picked up Kaylee from school and went out to the airport.  We had lunch with all the guys and I got to lick some green frosting off of that St. Patrick's Day cookie.  Yum...

I thought it was a neat old place!  There are lots of tough old guys out there, and once they learned what I was doing there, they went out of their way to be friendly.  They were really nice!  They help Laura a lot with equipment; I guess Laura keeps a lot of the SMA Support equipment in a heated area at the airport and these guys help her shuffle some pretty big boxes sometimes.  One of them even offered to give me my own pair of pilot wings!  How neat was that!  After that we went home and took a nap, and spent the rest of the day just doing family stuff.  I like family stuff.  :)

March 18, 2006

I got to go flying today!  It was kind of neat, I was in a plane called a Citabria, and then a Baron.  Mr. Bear in a Baron. 

I liked it at first, and I liked looking out the window, but I think Laura got a little crazy on me for a few minutes there and I ended up in some weird positions! 

I wouldn’t let her post the picture of me tossing my cookies! 

I like being up in the air and I like being on the ground, too. 

 I liked it when it was calm and blue and peaceful and everything looked so small on the ground.  Laura says it makes her feel like she’s free, and I think I can see that…

March 19, 2006

Today Kaylee, Steve, Laura & I all went for a bike ride in the park.  It was a gorgeous day! 

The sky was blue, the temperature was warmish, and I got to sit in the front of the bike in a basket and be on top of the world! 

Kaylee rode her bike and her mom and dad were practically running to keep up with her. 

They said she is getting fast enough that they might have to ride their bikes next time too. 

I thought it was funny that we pulled away from them so easily, and so did Kaylee. 

I really enjoyed my time outside today!

March 20, 2006

Ah, Kaylee and I made chocolate chip muffins today and they were TASTY!  Kaylee loves to bake and Laura only bakes stuff that isn’t very good for her, so we compromised on chocolate chip muffins.  After the chocolate, Kaylee and I decided we’d best go for a walk, so just to keep it interesting we took Dulce the cat along with us!  The cat wasn’t sure what to think of me tagging along, but Kaylee was glad for the extra company.  I guess Dulce doesn’t talk to her very much. 

Just to make life easier, we had pizza for supper.  My favorite is cheese.  They had pepperoni, but Kaylee picked off my pepperoni for me because HER favorite is cheese too!  Laura had to tell Kaylee that I wasn’t going to be here much longer, and that didn’t make her very happy.  But I heard Laura explain that I got to see all these other families and that I have a lot of families to go!  Next I get to go visit Ange Trick in Canada next!  I’m sure that will be a lot of fun too!

March 21, 2006

It was different day today!  I took Kaylee to preschool and got to stay with her for a little while!  Then when Laura picked us up, we went to Applebees for lunch with Steve and our friend Chuck.  Now that was fun!  Kaylee had macaroni and cheese which is I think one of her all-time favorite foods (we made it for lunch one other day too!).  The snow was blowing all over the place and the wind was blowing and we sat in a booth right next to a bunch of windows and just watched the snow fly.  I like the snow, but I like blue skies better.  Indiana is kind of weird.  It was 60 one day and 30 the next.  But it has its charm!  Then we went to UPS, shipped off some Faces of SMA cd's and a small piece of equipment, then came home, and I watched a Princess video with Kaylee while Laura did some work.  Later  we had a fun family night playing chase, hot and cold, hide and seek, and some dancing in there too.  Laura wouldn’t let me post THAT picture either.  :o) 

March 22, 2006

Today is Friday again, and we went back to the airport for our Friday Lunch.  Our special friend Chuck gave me my own pilot wings to pin on my shirt!  And it was another pretty day! 

I have had fun with the Stants family.  Everywhere I look in their house I see pictures of Angel Devon, and Kaylee talks about him and Sidney and about a lot of the other kids with SMA too. 

She know I am visiting all the families, and that I am going to visit Ange and Alyssa in Canada next, Angel Jacob's family.  

I wish I could have met these kids in person, but I think their families are pretty special and I am glad to get to know them. 

I stayed an extra day so that Laura could copy some missing journal entries onto my web page, but I will be headed to Canada on Monday!

March 30, 2006

Wow, what a long trip!!!  But I finally made it all the way to Canada!  I am now in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada!!!  My first time visiting another country.  I loved meeting Angela, Alyssa, and their puppy Bear!  He has a neat name.  We didn’t do much today, I was really tired from my trip so we just enjoyed getting to know each other and unpacking all my things.  I traveled light this time!  I only have my amazing blanket, and my journal with me.  Whew, time for bed.

March 31, 2006

Today was a busy day with my new friends.  I couldn’t wait for Alyssa to get home from school.  We went to Wendy’s for supper and now I get to have a sleep over at Alyssa’s Nana’s house.  Angela has to work tonight late and early in the morning.  I’m really excited about it.  Alyssa really loves her new playstation she got for her birthday.  She even taught me how to play it!  Our sleep over was fun!  We sure were tired but managed to stay up pretty late.

April 1, 2006

We sure had another busy day today!  When Angela got back from work we went to a really neat store called Michael’s!  It is a big craft store where we bought neat stickers for my journal, cool paper, and even a nice sweater for me.  It has been cold here, so they bought me a blue sweater just for Bear’s that says “Angel” on it.  Angela thought it was pretty neat and thought it was perfect and reflected her son Jacob, who became an angel Feb. 19, 2005.  I sure like it!

April 2, 2006

Alyssa took me outside to meet and play with her friends.  It was a little warmer out!  Catherine is one of her friends and she gave me guitar lessons!!!  That was so neat.  I liked that.  After that, Alyssa and Makayla gave me bike lessons.  That was neat too.  We went to the park to play with Alyssa’s friends and then Mary-Kate and Catherine (Alyssa’s friends) came over to watch the movie Hoodwinked with us.  Then it was time for bed as Alyssa has school in the morning.  Good night!

April 4, 2006

Yesterday Alyssa has school and Angela had to work at night, so we didn’t get to do much.  I needed the extra time to catch up on sleep after our busy days!  Today I am going to school with Alyssa.  I brought a camera, pen, my journal, and my blanket.  I spent the day with her class, and teachers and got lots of pictures with her friends.  The whole school had heard about me and I traveled through the school meeting all the kids and teachers.  I had fun skipping at recess and playing with everyone.  It was so much fun!  We blew lots of bubbles in the afternoon recess, that was COOL!  When we got home it started to rain so we stayed inside for the rest of the day and had a relaxing night.

April 7, 2006

The past couple of days we haven’t done too much worth writing about!  We did lots of shopping and visiting with friends.  Alyssa has been busy with school and Angela has worked all week.  Today we are in Belleville visiting with Angela’s fiancé, Scott.  I get to go to my first Canadian hockey game.  Scott’s son, Kyle, is playing his final championship game this weekend and I can’t wait to see it.  We came down for the weekend.  I guess I am staying an extra few days with the Trick’s before heading out to Tina’s to meet Hayden and his family.

April 9, 2006

Well, I am packed up and ready to head out to Port Perry, Ontario to meet the MacIntyre’s.  I sure had a great weekend.  This weekend I got to see a hockey game and also painted Easter Eggs.  That was so much fun.  We have lots of pictures to share.  Alyssa gave me her neat Fight SMA pin for my sweater and another cool T-Shirt that is red and has “Canada” on it!  I sure will miss the Trick’s and wish I could have met their son Jacob…  He sure is missed in this house.    I can’t wait to meet the MacIntyre’s and spend Easter with them.  Alyssa is sad to see me go, but is excited for me because I get to do so much more traveling!

April 11, 2006

I arrived at the MacIntyre’s home late this afternoon. At least it was a short trip this time from the Tricks in Peterborough. I’d been cooped up for two days and Hayden and Lauren are on the tail end of illness so we were all pretty giddy with excitement when their mom, Tina, introduced me.  We lay pretty low tonight, just taking the time to get to know one another. The Mac Pac went through my journal to see where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing these past few months. We had a great BBQ dinner with steak and potatoes and nice crisp salad. Then it was bedtime routine, a bit of a snack for Lauren and a G-feed for Hayden. Lights out pretty late here… around 9:30 p.m.

April 12, 2006

What a glorious sunny day. It’s still a bit cool here (7 degrees Celcius or so), but oh that sun fells so good on my belly! Hayden awoke pretty early for him around 8 a.m. and Lauren was soon to follow. Ian, Hayden and Lauren’s daddy works in Toronto, a little over an hour away, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays so he was gone today before anyone was up. He lets the night nurse out and transfers everything over to Tina. Hayden’s Baba (grandma in Ukrainian) and Gigi (grandpa) live “with” the MacIntyres. They’re Tina’s parents and have their own place downstairs. The home has a walkout basement so the grandparents have their own full home at ground level at the back of the house. Baba usually comes up every morning to help Tina out. She’ll dress Lauren and then help feed her. Baba came upstairs this morning, as always. It was great to meet her. She’s such an amazing woman.  Around 10 a.m., Tiffany, the sitter-helper came. She helps Tina out by being that second set of eyes and playing with the kids while Tina gets stuff done around the house. Tiffany is typically in most days from 10 til 3 p.m. We had an extremely busy morning. We played with some Ice Age toys from McDonalds. Hayden loves to collect all the little toys from McDonald’s or BK or Wendy’s because they’re nice and small. Everyone knows that and gets them for him. I got to go on a Magic Pegasus ride with Lauren on her huge stuffed pink horse. Then Lauren made us all some tea. After that, we built domino towers, read “The Mighty Mites Comic Adventure”, read a fact guide on minerals, made an “Experimental Dart” paper airplane. And then, all of our tummies were grumbling so we had lunch. After lunch, it was naptime so I got to cozy up with Hayden on his very comfy bed. We slept for two hours! Lauren didn’t sleep. She rarely does. So much energy that girl!  Every Wednesday, the MacIntyres have their “Sunday dinner” with Baba and Gigi, “at their house”. But, because Hayden is still not quite totally well and needs his cough assist and other equipment at the ready, Baba and Gigi came up to have dinner with us. These people LOVE to barbecue. We had yummy pork chops tonight.  Well, that was pretty much our day. Hayden is home from school because of his cold. He likely won’t go this week at all, especially since the school is nearly an hour away.  G’night. I can’t wait for tomorrow!

April 13, 2006

Oh, what a great sleep I had last night. I finally feel settled here and know the routine a bit. Hayden has a night nurse from 11 p.m. til 7 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday. It’s a bit weird because there is a different nurse almost every night, but Hayden cuddled me tight and told me not to be afraid.  Tiffany was in again today so we had lots of playtime in the morning. After breakfast, Hayden did lots of drawing. He drew an amazing T-Rex and wrote a little story about him (well, OK, dictated his story to Tiffany). That guy is some artist, let me tell you. He has found his own way of doing things and is really good. And the stories! He has a super imagination. After drawing time, Tiffany read us a book about cold, clammy creatures. Yuck! But both Hayden and Lauren loved it!  No napping for anyone today. We watched some TV later this afternoon. The kids love TV. We watched Dora for Lauren and then Oliver’s Adventures for Hayden. It was quiet the rest of the day and evening and we tried to get to bed early because we hadn’t napped.

April 14, 2006

A dark rainy Good Friday here. The kids slept in a bit today so I know it was a nice break for Mom and Dad. A leisurely breakfast was followed by a marathon computer play session. Hayden has a loaner setup from Bloorview Kids’ Rehab in Toronto. He can’t access the computer through his chair yet, but uses a big trackball and microlight switch to play on the computer. He’s an animal when it comes to the computer. He only hooked up with one in December and just can’t get enough of it. We played Rescue Heroes and Brain Play and then he has this awesome BBC Walking with Dinosaurs CD‑ROM that has videos of “real” dinosaurs and all kinds of facts about dinosaurs. Miss Lauren is also a computer whiz in her own right and loves her Reader Rabbit CD‑ROM. While we were all up in the office playing computer games while Daddy was working, Mommy did all of the house cleaning in preparation for Easter visitors. It was “group nap” day today after lunch. A cozy, cloudy day for that so I snuggled in with Hayden while Daddy got Lauren down. Mommy went for a quick run in preparation for the Rebecca Run for SMA in Newmarket in July.  We avoided meat all day so Tina made a delicious homemade veggie pizza tonight.  Baba and Gigi came up to join us.  Man was I full after dinner.  Made me so sleepy too, so I was glad it was an early night tonight.

April 15, 2006

Today, Hayden’s godparents, Karl and Shauna came for a visit with their two children, Liam and Haley and gran, Stella.  They live almost 5 hours away and the MacIntyre’s hadn’t seen them since last summer.  We had soooooo much fun.  We played lots of hide and seek.  Hayden and Lauren are pros at that.  Then we all played in Hayden’s room for a bit.  He’s got the coolest setup with lots of dinosaur posters and statues and skeletons.  We played some board games and with some really noisy musical toys.  Lunch was a wonderful feast of ham and cheese quiche, cold cuts and fresh bread, salad, apple cake and brightly colored Easter egg cookies.  I had tried to sneak sweets all day.  We were a big bunch around the table, that’s for sure.  Everyone was so full after lunch, we could bearly move.  Our guests headed out around 4:30.  Lauren and Hayden were exhausted.  It was a very quiet evening.  We got to have what the MacIntyre’s call a “TV Dinner”, which means dinner in the living room with the TV on.  We watched “Charlotte’s Web 2”.  Late dinner so no snack and then off to bed.

April 16, 2006

Easter Sunday.  It was an early start today.  The kids were egg-cited although Miss Lauren had a rough start.  Hayden got up in his chair pretty early and we did a really fast Easter egg hunt – man, these kids don’t miss a thing!  Ten eggs found led the kids to an Easter bag of goodies.  Lauren got her spring outfit of a Barbie rain poncho and umbrella, and Barbie tin of goodies.  Hayden received Narnia, the movie, a 3-D dragon figure, and some cars.  And both received chocolate, of course.  Hayden loves chocolate but knows it makes him goopy so he rarely asks for it.  Lauren, on the other hand, is a real girl and her LOVE for chocolate is in her veins.  She is crazy for chocolate and wanted to eat some for breakfast.  Shortly after breakfast, some of the MacIntyre’s friends came over their three girls.  Adria is Hayden’s age, and Jade and Julia, identical twins, will be 4 this summer, so Hayden and Lauren each had someone in their age group to play with.  These friends didn’t stay long as they just dropped in en route to their own families Easter celebrations.  After a late lunch, Hayden’s Grandma Sylvia, Auntie Lori, Uncle Clyde and cousins, Stephanie and Shannon came over.  All of the kids played with me.  Some hide and seek and a sticker extravaganza.  There were stickers everywhere, including Lauren’s nose and my head!  Easter dinner at Baba and Gigi’s was a real feast of barbecued pork loin, potatoes, carrots, pickled beets, salad, mixed veggies, and a lemon meringue pie (I found out meringue can be really sticky stuff!).  Grandma stayed over tonight so she helped us get ready for bed.  Wow, even though the MacPac doesn’t leave home much, they sure do try to keep busy!

April 17, 2006

Today was more quiet.  No visitors.  Just me and my best buds, Hayden and Lauren.  We kinda hung out and managed to get a walk in with Grandma before lunch.  After lunch, Ian drove Grandma home and was off to Toronto to do a bit of work.  And, as a rare event, he stayed to go to a Raptors basketball game…he received free tickets from a client.  Hayden had a nap as he was exhausted from all of the happenings of the weekend.  Miss Lauren fought her nap, of course.  We later watched The Incredibles – one of their favorites – and it was an early night.  Lauren even climbed into her bed and basically put herself to sleep before I could even sneak in and kiss her goodnight.

April 18, 2006

I had Lauren all to myself today as Hayden was out as of 7:30am for recasting of his AFO’s and hand splints, and more work on his computer access.  Tiffany, Lauren, and I went for a long walk and saw Omar, the neighborhood llama.  Then we blew bubbles out on the deck.  Hayden, Ian, and Tina didn’t arrive home until 4:30pm.  The kids had a bath before dinner and that was pretty much it for the day.

April 19, 2006

My last day here.  I’m sad but I know I have so many more wonderful families to meet and play with in my journeys.  And I am so excited to make the trip out to Western Canada to the Harapchuks.  I’m really hoping the mail goes quickly because I really want to make it there for Kaitlyn’s 4^th birthday on Tuesday.  Tiffany was in again and we had fun building log cabins out of some Lincoln Log kits.  We also read a really great book on animals and wildlife.  We had a quick lunch and then went out for a walk.  It was so warm and sunny today.  We just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  After our walk, we played out on the back deck for a while.  Baba and Gigi came out too.  Lauren stayed downstairs with Baba and I went up with Tina and Hayden to the office.  Hayden was Mr. Rescue Hero on the computer this afternoon.  After that, we went all the way down for Wednesday dinner with Baba and Gigi.  After dinner, we went out to enjoy the last bits of daylight, listening to the spring peeper frogs singing from a nearby pond, and watching the Canada geese fly overhead.  A twosome of geese flew right over us and was so low we could hear their wings flapping.  Amazing.