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Dec 31 2011
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DigiScrap, Knitting, Photography, quilting, School, sewing, Travel, Work, Writing

Year in Review (2011 Edition)

I was going to make this a post about how I did or didn’t meet my goals for last year then realized I never made any. Sure, I wanted to graduate but, really, was that ever in doubt? (Oh, I hope not.) So, again this year, a year in review.

January: Attempted, yet again, to blog daily which became weekly which became only when I felt guilty that I hadn’t blogged in awhile. Visited the National Building Museum. Started working with the TJ FIRST team. Mostly focused on coding my senior design project. Started a new job.

February: FIRST season concluded and senior design continued. Tried skiing for the first time.

March: Attended the St. Patrick’s parade in Old Town. DC FIRST regional held. Midterms and a big senior design deadline consumed my life. Spring break was spent working and doing school work. Attended Steph’s baby shower.

April: Life consumed by school projects, tests. etc. Traveled to West Point to attend a design competition (and really wished they didn’t have a rule about no AC before 1 may).

May: Wrapped up my last undergraduate semester. Graduated Suma Cum Laude. Celebrated Matt’s grandmother’s 90th birthday. Went to a color theory workshop with Ms Babs.

June: Started first full-time job (and it’s not so fun commute). Started looking at houses. Got back into sewing by making a few handbags (and failed at making myself a skirt).

July: Brutally hot month. Went to more open houses and house tours. Attended the first annual Bontrager cousins reunion in DE. Started digital scrapbooking five years of marriage.

August: Put a bid on a house, counterbid accepted, home inspection, mortgage application, and everything else invovled with buying a house. Felt not nearly as poor as expected at the end of the process. Really started my new job (assignment received). Started a quilt for the first time in four years.

September: Moved into the new house. Held a housewarming party with friends, family, and neighbhors.

October: Spent two and a half week exploring Spain, France, and Italy. Spent the rest of the month starting a new project at work and recovering from being away for so long.

November: Had Thanksgiving at our place, this time with Matt’s parents, Jesse’s family, Alison, and Lucy. Attended the DE reception for Caleb and Karen. Finished making a sweater for myself that actually fit.

December: Enjoyed a realitively warm December. Parents and brother visit for Christmas. Had first year of decorating our own house for Christmas (but settled for just a tree and some lights on a front window).

Mar 14 2011
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Food and Wine, Knitting, SWE, Travel, Work

Almost

To put it simply, I haven’t felt like myself for a month and I’m finally starting to get myself back.

Almost.

I won’t dwell on how or why I haven’t felt like me but, rather, what’s been helping me to get to being myself again.

Of course, Matt has helped immensely. He let me have only very temporary pity parties but also made me eat even though my jaw hurt*, go to the farmer’s market and have friends over for dinner when I didn’t feel social, work on my project although it was after bed time, took me to a big box craft store when I wanted to try cross stitch again, and even sat through a Disney cartoon when I was feeling nostalgic.

And then there was crafting. Crafting both makes me feel better and helps me to realize when I’m not feeling like myself. So it helped and didn’t, all at the same time.

I did a little cross stitch.

Back to it

Also, some knitting for baby Ada. Finished a blanket for her (no photos yet) then made a BSJ with the scraps.

BSJ for Ada, Pt 2

And, then there’s the trip planning. Both a short trip in the near term and our big European trip in the fall. Almost every day, Matt has some new question or fact related to that trip to distract me with. Plus promises of finding the jewelry shop in Venice where he got my engagement ring.

Finally, reminders that graduation isn’t that far off. Just over two months away. I have the announcements and the cap and gown to prove it.

I may not feel like myself yet, but I know that this “almost” should turn into “completely” very soon.

* Sore jaw due to four dentist appointments in 10 days which helped diagnose and treat what had been a multi-year problem with a single tooth. After a round of anti-biotics and a root canal, all is pretty much normal.

Feb 15 2011
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Crochet, Knitting, Photography, School, Travel, Work

Random? Random.

As usual, I’ve got a million things on mymind and some combination of “I don’t have time to blog” or “I don’t feel like blogging” means you’re stuck with a list post for today (with the requisite random photos).

1. Finished knitting the alpaca shawl and hoping to block it soon, though I really don’t know when. The cats have taken to taking naps on the futon I usually block things on. May just block on my side of the bed, starting one of these days when I get home well before Matt. I can point the fan at it to help the drying process, right? It has no destined recipient so it’s not as if there’s a big rush.

2. Have finished knitting the scarf for Leah and am now working on a single crochet edging to help stop some of the curl. After that’s done (hopefully shortly after I get home from work this evening), I’ll toss it through one or more machine wash cycles to “block” it. Really, really want to get it to Leah tomorrow though Monday (when I would see her next) seems more likely.

3. No progress on the gloves for my coworker due to the concentrated work on the other projects.

4. First sock for Danielle is done, second is only a few rows away from starting the heel turn/gusset (whichever comes first on a cuff-down sock).

5. I have applied for graduation with the university, filled out my departmental paperwork, and even bought graduation announcements. Yet, still, I can’t seem to wrap my brain around the fact I’m actually, FINALLY graduating.

6. Next knitting project I’ll start will likely be a blanket for Dan and Shelagh though I’m waiting on them to pick yarn/colors.

7. If I finish the gloves and am itching for another WIP to work on, I’ll probably be good and finally finish up the sweater I started for myself months ago. Just needs 1.25 sleeves and a good blocking.

8. Been very much slacking on my daily self-portraits. Missed taking one altogether last Thursday. I blame the fact we had friends over for dinner though, really, I had no excuse. I even had my camera downstairs! Look, I took this photo of the flowers Matt got me.

Flowers

9. Turned in abstract for my project to a conference/competition at UVA. Project is going in a different direction, yet again. I’m not too bothered, really, as it’s more of a change to the wrapper of our projec than it’s core.

10. The robot ships a week from today. I doubt Matt will be on the same planet as me before then. I’m still quite distant from what’s going on with the team as I’m only at their Saturday meetings and, well, I’ve been doing my own school work then. Maybe I’m helpful in showing that women are engineers? The school is a fancy engineering/science prep school with a good 50% female population, so it’s not as if the girls don’t think they can go into this field, but it’s another thing altogether to know the female engineer isn’t something their teachers made up.

11. It was super warm for a few days but today, back to very windy and upper 30s. Thankfully, more warmth is coming later this week.

12. We’re thinking of going to Europe this fall. Matt has a new idea as to where every time we talk about it. This time, we’re going for at least two weeks. Sort of tired of rushing around for 8 days and just plain getting worn out versus relaxing.

Feb 08 2011
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Crochet, Knitting, School, Work

Flake-itude

Once upon a time, I could keep simple promises. Promises like blogging weekly and reading freinds’ blogs then commenting. Apparnetly I have now succombed to what I’ll call Flake-itude. When you adopt of the attitude of a flaky person.

But, I will try to shake my current affliction and get back to blogging. Maybe even multiple times this week. Gasp!

So, what’s going on in my life?

School project is crazy.

Other class is easy (learning about inventory control which I learned at a previous job).

I’m starting to figure out what’s going on at work (at last!).

Went skiing for the first time Saturday and didn’t manage to kill myself despite the fact I had the wrong skis and bindings. Will try again at the end of the month. I won’t say I enjoyed myself though I did much better than I expected.

Booked a giant pavillion which will house my graduation party in May. Plan is to get BBQ from a place in Annapolis and invite basically everyone I know, even if they don’t live nearby.

I read a book. It was for class, but it’s the first book I’ve even tried to read this year. I’ll lead my review of the book for a later blog post.

I’ve been doing lots of knitting and a little crochet. And that’s where this post’s photos come in.

The oldest WIP I’m actually working on is this shawl in Ultra Alpaca Fine. I have no idea who to give it to when it’s complete, I just know there is no earhtly way I could wear it against my neck. Alpaca’s fine for me to knit with but, man, does the stuff make me itch everywhere else. Does one of you in blog land want it? It’s a beautiful crescent shape with a simple, traditional lace edging.

Progress

Next is a scarf for Leah, of which I have no recent photo. It’s now a good 30 inches long so far more distance to go before it’s complete. It’s large enough that I can no longer tote it with me to/from work or school though I must get better about actually working on it. She’s a great friend and I don’t want to get the scarf to her after it’s already warmed up enough not to need it. [Yarn is Berroco Weekend]

Scarf for Leah

Then there’s these fingerless gloves I started to crochet for a coworker but got stalled on when I got to the second one. These’ll get finished real quick once I pick them up again. [Yarn is Neighborhood Fibre Co Studio Sport in a OOAK colorway named L'Enfant Plaza.]

Half Done

Finally, another pair of socks for Danielle in squishy Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!.

7 Feb - Cold Toes

Jan 28 2011
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Crochet, Knitting, Photography, School, Work, Writing

So much for that…

For the last couple weeks, I kept posting my daily post on Thursday. I knew this and fully planned to write a post yesterday. Too bad all sorts of things conspired together and I didn’t actually get that post written. I also almost forgot to take my daily self portrait.

Oh, right. I don’t think I’ve said anything about that here. I’m trying, yet again, this year to take a self-portrait daily. With a brand-new camera and a year that’s going to be full of all sorts of big changes in my life (hello, college graduation!), it was the perfect time to try again. So far, I haven’t missed a day.

I can’t say all of my shots have been wonderfully inspired. Some are just quick iPhone shots of me during my commute or sitting at my desk at the end of the day, but there’s always a picture. On more exciting days, I’ve been trying really hard to record what happened to make that day important/special/impactful (yes, it’s a word). Way to record my life, even though it’s usually pretty mundane.

Outside of this photo project and forgetting to blog, I’m working on getting back into the swing of things with school and work. I only have two classes so most days are spent at work, not at school. That’s going to take a lot of getting used to, as I was only working 8-10 hours a week last term.

But, only 15 weeks of school left and my classes aren’t that bad. Senior design is complicated and stressful but, really, that’s expected. My last operations research class looks like it’s going to be easy and the professor is a good combination of informative and interesting (though he voice is so soothing, it makes you want to sleep in class).

Oh! And the crafting. I finished that blanket for Steph and Kevin and the socks I’ve been working on for Danielle since early December. Also slowly plugging away on an alpaca shawl for some as of yet undetermined recipient. Feeling guilty that my cardigan I started for myself in late November still has only 3/4 of its first sleeve (though the body is all done). Started the next pair of socks for Danielle though the dark color of the yarn she chose is obfuscating the pattern horribly. Just this morning, started a pair of fingerless gloves (crocheted) for a coworker with permanantly cold hands.

Exciting, huh?

Today’s random blog photo is of a prototype for the claw the students designed. Search my blog for FIRST and you’ll find previous posts about the high school robotics program I work with. New school, same concept. [Though these kids can all solder, machine, weld, and draft far better than I can. It's nuts!]

Claw Prototype 002

Later, all!

Jan 04 2011
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Crochet, Food and Wine, Knitting, Photography, Running, School, Travel, Work

Year in Review

Alternate title: The New Year is not nearly exciting enough to blog about, yet, so I’m going to cheat and blog about what last year was all about.

January: Worked part-time during winter recess from school. Found myself with more free time than I knew what to do with. Did almost no blogging but lots of knitting. Matt was away for work for a week and I passed by time by hanging out at the yarn store and going to lunch with my friend, Rosemary.

February: Started the Couch to 5 K for the first time (which ended a few weeks later when I got sick and could barely breathe). Went to West Virginia so Matt could go skiing with Alex and Shelly during a horrible snow storm. Two days after unburrying a parking space for Matt’s car, we got another 20″ of snow. I did get to miss four days of both work and school, though my poor car remained burried for a full three weeks. I participated in and nearly finished my goals for Ravelympics. The semester really got going, including two classes which went late into the evening. Thanks to Dan’s wife, I got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Mason Inn construction site.

March: Spent a week feeling like death which was really just a bad cold. Did a lot of knitting while Matt spent my Spring Break skiing in Vermont.

April: Decided to train to run a half marathon, while only being able to run for 2 minutes at a time for 30 minutes.

May: Learned to crochet, hexagons specifically. Spent a long weekend in Chartlottsville wine tasting. Went strawberry picking. Finished up what turned out to be a 4. 0 GPA semester.

June: Went back home for a friend’s wedding. Managed to also go to the Florida Keys (finally) during the same trip.

July: Celebrated the 4th at Arlington, as I did last year. Knit a shawl for a coworker and an ill-fitting sweater for myself. Got an iPhone 4, an upgrade I really didn’t need.

August: Made fingerless gloves for Sarah. Gave away about a third of my stash, finally got the last of it to the recipient this past week. Went to DE to go to the beach (but forgot to take photos, apparently).Visited the National Zoo.

September: Began my penultement semester of college. Got eaten alive by my senior design project. Celebrated my 26th birthday by not being able to talk for three days. I finally went to the doctor about my hip and was told no more running until some physical therapy (or a monthly injection). Had family over for labor day.

October: Went to the Rally to Restore Fear/Sanity. Celebrated fourth wedding anniversary but going somewhere for dinner than neither Matt nor I can remember. Ran out of candy at 7:15 on Halloween, despite expecting very few children.

November: Had a cousin’s-only Thanksgiving, again. Lots of school stress. I’m sure I did some knitting.

December: Last days of the semester. Caribbean cruise with parents and MIL. Barely stayed up until Midnight on New Year’s Eve. GOT NEW CAMERA!

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Dec 31 2010
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Photography, Running, School, Work

Things I May Do Next Year

Because we all know how good I am at following through, here’s my list of things I may possibly do next year.

1. Learn how to use my new camera: What new camera, you ask? My pretty Canon Digital Rebel something-something Matt got me for Christmas. While I know the absolute basics of how to use it due to prior experince using his (original model) Rebel, I really don’t know what I’m doing. That being said, I do have the manual and Matt, of course, to help me figure it out. I plan to take lots and lots of photos, not just on special days like vacations but also on normal days and throughout my normal, daily life.

2. Take self-portraits: I know better than to try to do this every day, but I do want to take self-portraits that really show where I am in my life at that particular moment.

3. Graduate: Okay, this isn’t a may do but a WILL do. I have been in college since 2003, it’s about dang time I graduate. Only two courses remaining, the second half of my senior design course (did I mention I got an A in the first half?) and a final course in stochastic modeling. I can’t believe I’m almost, at last, done.

4. Visit more touristy places in DC: Sure, I’ve been to most of the Smithsonians and the National Gallery of Art, but want about the Udvar-Hazy Center, Arlington Cemetary, and the moments (other than the Washington Monument). I live less than 5 miles away from the city, there is really no excuse. Okay, maybe the cold. The cold is a good excuse.

5. Blog more: Partly because I feel better when I write, partly so phone calls to my mom aren’t nearly as necessary. Man, that sounds horrible. I really like talking to her. Really. I just don’t want her to worry that I’m dead. Blogging means she’ll know the important (but not super private) stuff and will only have to fill her in on the important but not blog[able and stupid stuff.

6. Get back into running: Sure, tehre was the whole injury thing which I never followed up on. Then school got busy and now it’s cold. But, really, there is not adequate excuse from now on. I have a great gym on campus with decent treadmills and have both the time and money available to get physical therapy for the injury. And I’m pretty sure I can convince my former running partner, Jen, to keep me focused.

7. Watch what I eat: And not in the “watch as I eat it all” way. I’m not talking a diet, per say but being more mindful of what I’m eating. Again, school was busy last term so it was all about just eating anything that was available. But this next term, I only have two classes and a part-time job. I should have more than enough time to eat healthier.

8. Figure out what I want to do for a career: Although I know what industry and discipline I want to work in, generally, I really need to work on figuring out specifics. Performance? DOORS and other database stuff? Project management? Risk mitigation? Find a manufacturing job? Process improvement? Work on a software-based program? Small program? Big program?

And, just so this isn’t a totally boring post, a random photo I took on our cruise this last week (that I’ll blog about in detail at some point).

In the water on Princess Cays

Aug 04 2010
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Crochet, Knitting, Running, School, Work

awake

It’s amazing how much more awake you are when you go to bed an hour and a half earlier (for those playing along at home, that means I was out by nine). I figured I should probably take advantage of the awake-ness and write a short (or, possibly, very long) blog post. Plus, I really don’t feel like getting to work at 7:30 and today’s not a scheduled run morning. Time to kill at home and all that.

1. I’ve been knitting a lot recently. Finished the sweater, finished the shawl for coworker Kim, started and finished a worsted shawl for myself, started a shawl which I frogged, and started a sweater for myself. All the photos I’ve taken are “off.” I blame the new iPhone wanting to get in as much light as possible. I got so used to the old one not letting any light in that I tend to overlight (is that a word?) photos now. Go to my Flickr to see what I mean.

2. Crochet has taken a backseat to knitting. I did start a doily yesterday (in worsted weight, ’cause I’m a rebel). I really need to get working on some amigurumi animals and imaginary critters for the young children in my life. My little cousin is having heart surgery today and I meant to make her a critter and just never got around to it. I feel like a horrible cousin. :(

3. Running is still going. Seven weeks until my race. Ten miles last Sunday, eleven this Sunday. I’ve realized that my body likes 8 miles then spends the rest of the mileage convincing me I shouldn’t run any longer. My shoulders, hips, and bottoms of my feet all, suddenly, start to hurt at mile marker 8. Hopefully that’ll pass soon so I can much more easily complete the last miles. It’s one thing to be too worn out to go, another when you’re body’s just being stupid and painful.

4. I’m considering another half marathon in Pennsylvania’s Amish country in November, but Matt wants me to wait and see how my first goes. A long November run sounds heavenly plus I always hear so much about Lancaster County but have never actually been.

5. I have three and a half weeks of work before I return to school which means 3.5 weeks to complete my boss’s to do list. I like a good challenge. I also have to schedule in a time for Alison and I’s grand school supply shopping trip and textbook ordering. No other real prep required. Oh, how I do not miss having to move into a dorm just before classes begin or otherwise adjust to returns to school. There’s a big mental adjustment from corporate world to school world but that can be more gradual.

6. Speaking of that transition, I think I will focus more on dressing up this school year. Get into the mindset that “grown up” clothes are my real wardrobe, not jeans and t-shirts. Sure, I’ll still wear them on weekends, but dressing up more during the week will probably help me to act more professionally on campus. Wait, that sounds wrong. I always conduct myself with a modest amount of professionalism, but something about school just brings out my immature side. Must find a way to quiet it. As Jocelyn says, I am a grown-ass woman. [Anyone else picture their mother, looking disappointed every single time they curse?] I should learn to act like it (almost) all of the time.

7. Sometime this week I will have a post in which I’ll have some FOs and yarn I want to get rid of for the cost of shipping. It’s all been weighing me down and I just need it out of here. The timing depends on when I have an evening to really take time and get some decent photos.

8. We went to the National Zoo on Saturday, but I’ll talk more about that in another post once I get the photos off Matt’s camera. It’s a rather nice zoo, seeing as it’s free and we went on one of the most beautiful days we’ve had this summer (read: very crowded). I just wish you didn’t have to walk the whole way uphill at the end of your visit to get to the exit that’s closest to the Metro.

9. We’re looking into doing a Caribbean (1 r, 2 b’s, must remember) cruise again this summer. Trying not to get too excited. [My favorite story my mom tells about her Spanish students is the kid who asked, "Who is Al Caribe?" It took her awhile to figure out they meant "al caribé" as in "to the Caribbean." The textbook had all dialogue text in capital letters, it was just a matter of incorrectly parsed capitalization on the student's part.]

Jul 13 2010
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Crochet, Knitting, technology, Work

Photoless

I have really got to learn to take photos either after work or before work. Now is when I remember, not while waiting at the stop for my bus or during my chill time right before bed, but right now. But, I do have lots of things to blabber on about, even if there’s no photo evidence.

  • Matt and I ordered new iPhones last week and they should arrive today. FedEx has an estimated delivery time of 3:00 so Matt’s leaving slightly early so we don’t miss them. (He worked a really long day yesterday, so it’s not like he’s skipping out on work.) I have a feeling an evening of the two of us totally ignoring one another is expected. We bought our current iPhones on my birthday in 2008 and spent little of that entire day actually confirming one another’s existence. (Though we did talk some at breakfast at a place in Seal Beach I really miss called Blackboard Bistro.)
  • I learned something new at work yesterday and am now really, really excited to start using my new knowledge. It’s nothing exciting or particularly hard, but I feel like a giant door of opportunity is now open. (It has to do with a relational database and our specific implementation scheme, if you care.)
  • While Matt played video games last night, I worked my way through the remainder of the second sleeve on my sweater. The entire sweater is now on a single 32″ circular (barely).
  • Due to the size / weight / wanting-to-fall-off-needle-ness of the sweater, I started the Ms Clarke shawl for my coworker last night. Nice, small project for bus knitting. I’ll continue to work on the sweater at home (hopefully finishing it this week) but forge ahead on the shawl in-transit. It’s been forever since I made a shawl, especially one with lace as the body of the shawl. Having to pay a whole lot more attention than my usual bus knitting but it helps the time pass faster. (You’d think I had a two plus hour commute, the way I talk about it – it’s only five miles and takes 20 minutes.)
  • The shawl is being made in the skein of Dragonfly Fibers Sock in “Rocky Top” I was using to make that crocheted scarf. I decided to frog the scarf after realizing that a scarf is boring to make, even though crochet does tend to go faster than knitting. Plus, it’s amazing yarn and, really, I want someone else to benefit from it vs keeping it for myself. My neck would probably break out from it, anyway. (Stupid neck is wool intolerant, I’ve realized.)
  • I’m already thinking about my next sweater, which will also be done in Weekend. I’ve got 1400 yards and it’s a solid worsted weight. Any ideas on what I should make?
  • Amazon’s giving away free Prime memberships to people with .edu addresses. I signed up in an instant as 1) I am cheap and 2) I will be very unlikely to continue using my .edu address after I graduate in May.
  • I didn’t run today as it took me a full 15 minutes to be awake enough to do more than read my email. When I headed out to go to the bus (about 45 minutes after I would have started my run), I was happy I had decided to skip the run: 75 degrees and over 70 percent humidity SUCKS. (Sorry, Mom, I know you hate that word. It’s just perfectly appropriate here.)
Jun 04 2010
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Crochet, Food and Wine, Running, Work

Random Friday

This may become a regular Friday topic though, really, I am random on other days of the week.

1) Still worried about the 26 people (and three) kids coming to our place tomorrow. Where will everyone sit? Will we have enough food? Just how much beer should I buy? Will I get the house clean in time? Will I have any alone time at all before people show up? Would it be wrong to go to Dan’s house tomorrow morning for waffles and leave Matt at home to clean up and cook?

2) I’m getting very good at reading pages upon pages of requirements. Not sure this is a good thing, as it means I’ll be required to do more of it in the near future.

3) The crochet hat isn’t going as bad as I thought. I’m actually doing things correctly. It now looks like a dinner plate instead of a hat but I’m only two rounds away from decreases. Still not used to starting a hat at the tip-top rather than the brim.

4) Ran again with Alison this morning. Wasn’t feeling great so ran faster than usual during the running parts. 2.5 miles at perfect 13:00 minute per mile pace Now quite sore and reading for a nap as a result.

5) Saturday and Sunday is the Old Town Alexandria Craft Fair. Really hoping I can make it on Sunday, post party recovery.

6) I brought frozen pizza for lunch today. The cooking time was given in table format. For each of three possible oven wattages, there was a range of cooking times. I zapped it for four minutes and hoped for the best.

7) The edges are crispy, the middle is a puddle of molten cheese.

8) Decided I can no longer take work notes in an actual notebook. Have moved to engineering paper inside a three-ring binder. I already feel calmer.

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