Tag Archives: break time

Mar17

Face Mask Festivities: Revitalizing Japanese Sake Sheet Mask By GlamUp Edition

Posted on March 17, 2024 by lifewithlilred

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Face Mask Festivities! While I was sick AF, I found myself growing rather fond of sheet masks. Surprising, I know, because I don’t really like them or find them to be effective. However, what I did like was the ritual of it. That twenty or so minutes of just sitting and being while the mask sat was relaxing, even if I was constantly adjusting the mask! Returning back to work this past week after being sick for a week was absolutely exhausting and I was hitting a slump by the time Wednesday rolled around. What I really wanted was to go back to watching TV at noon, but that’s (sadly) not in the cards for me until I retire lol. So, I decided to do a sheet mask instead. Check it out:

I’M SEXY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my schedule allows for a brief break in the afternoon between shifts and I thought that was the perfect time to do a little pampering. Thursday morning, I selected the Revitalizing Japanese Sake sheet mask by GlamUp to bring with me to work. Then, I put it on at my mom and dad’s, which is where I go on my break. Let’s just say that they were completely floored by my beauty as I sat at their kitchen table for twenty minutes with my mask on. Lol, I kid you not my dad literally shuddered when he looked at me!!

I chose the Japanese Sake mask for no particular reason other than that it was said to be “revitalizing” and to “enhance radiance”. I definitely needed a bit of that! As I let the mask sit, I tried to take myself back to sitting on the couch at my apartment, watching TV, and snuggled in my blankets – the pinnacle of relaxation. It was actually pretty nice to take that time to close my eyes, rest, and focus on my happy place. The only thing that was missing was an episode of Euphoria. 😀

After the twenty minutes were up I was, for once, impressed with the results. Before I used the mask, I looked as tired as I physically felt. My skin was dull as dishwater and I couldn’t believe that this mask helped me get my glow back. It was seriously a night and day difference and even though I wasn’t well rested in the slightest, I looked it! I also found that my skin was soft and smooth to the touch. This little pampering break really helped perk me up and I felt ready to take on the rest of my day afterwards.

I am going to rate the Revitalizing Japanese Sake sheet mask with a six out of ten stars. This was, easily, the best GlamUp mask I have used and I think I found my new favorite way to spend a quick break during the work week!

How do you spend your breaks at work? How do you give your skin a radiance boost? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan6

All Better OOTD Bloopers

Posted on January 6, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone and welcome to the blooper reel from my All Better OOTD! I spent the majority of my holiday break being sick AF and only started rallying over the weekend. This couldn’t have come a moment too soon because my family celebrated Christmas late when the whole crew could be there. On Friday, we enjoyed a wonderful family meal at Hibachi Japan and I was stoked! It is one of my favorite restaurants in my neck of the woods and also the last time Johnny and I went I dropped my leftovers all over the stairs leading up to our apartment. SMH! Anyways, let’s get to these bloopers:

When you literally can’t pop your foot

Lol, SO over it!

She sticks the landing!!!

Making sure no one saw that…

Lol my eyes look terrified, my mouth is smiling, and I have no idea what’s happening

I LOOK GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had grand plans for my holiday break. Sure, I was going to rest and spend some time reading and watching my favorite shows. In between the R&R, I had dates for outings with friends and family and a few shifts that I didn’t feel like missing. That all went up in shambles and it turns out that I would be spending my break in its entirety recuperating and watching endless episodes of My 600 Lb. Life. It was a massive bummer but, on the bright side, I really love watching My 600 Lb. Life so I guess it wasn’t all bad? lol

Come this past Tuesday, I was honestly so ready to go back to work. I’m sure many of you didn’t want your holiday break to end on account of all of the fun you were having. Myself, on the other hand, was willing every day to go by quicker because it would be one less day of being sick! Returning to the grind after a solid week of vegging out wasn’t ideal, but I couldn’t wait for the change to my routine – especially considering I could breathe out of my nose again. All I know is that I am taking a whole week off for my birthday in June to make up for this dud of a break. Start crossing your fingers now that I don’t get sick for that too!

It’s never fun feeling under the weather, but it is even worse when it’s over the holidays. I am SO happy to be back on my bullshit and not sounding like Napoleon Dynamite anymore. Bring it on, 2024!

What are your tried and true remedies for a cold? When was the last time you got sick? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May1

Working From Home 101

Posted on May 1, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! One of my goals for 2023 was to gain more opportunities to work from home. On January 3rd, this was answered through a partnership with a tech entrepreneur and I have been his in house writer ever since! It is the absolute best and now I spend my mornings working from home doing what I do best: Content creating and social media. At first, this new job was a bit stressful on top of my work schedule as an Independent Provider for people with special needs. However, I have gotten my work from home flow down pat and these simple adjustments keep my days running like a fine tuned machine:

Sticking to a schedule:

This seems like a no brainer, but a solid schedule is how I achieved optimum success. Once I learned that my mornings were going to be different, I immediately formed a schedule and a new wake up time based on how long it takes me to complete everything else I need to do. Unfortunately, this meant starting to get up at five AM every morning and that was really hard at first! However, after about a week, my body adjusted to the “early bird” BS and I am so thankful for that lol. I was able to work out to the minute how long it would take me to take care of Mel and Pen, shower, write for lifewithlilred, eat breakfast, and start WFH while still making it to all of my afternoon clients on time. In writing, it seems like a lot but this schedule sets my day up to run smoothly and I would be lost without it!

Break time:

I am an on the go type of gal and one mistake that I made when I began WFH was not allowing myself a break or two. This is why I now eat breakfast almost every day and when I have spare time, I watch an episode of Assassination Classroom on CrunchyRoll. It might not seem like it, but sitting in an uncomfortable chair in front of the computer for hours on end can be really draining – especially when you have another job to go to after! Whenever I am feeling stiff or my brain needs a breather, I know it’s time to get up and stretch or tool around on Facebook for five or so minutes to get myself back in check. All work and no breaks leads to burnout and I now know that taking a ten doesn’t hurt my work flow but help it drastically.

Communication is key:

When you work from home, obviously, your boss isn’t in the next room over so you can ask questions. Therefore, communication is key to WFH success. My boss and I are essentially on the same schedule in the morning, which means that we can hop on a conference call, game plan, and I know he’s just a call away if something doesn’t make sense. Working from home does give you some free reign, but that means nothing if you didn’t do what needs to be done correctly. I used to not be the fondest person of asking questions and now I know that this is a no no and I highly encourage check ins so everyone is on the same page.

Don’t forget to end your day:

When your home is your office, it is SO easy to forget to stop working lol. The saying goes to not bring your work home but what if your work is already at home?! Believe you me, whenever I get a new email or message from clients after hours, I want nothing more to respond immediately and that’s not good! Like any other job, clocking out at the end of the day means that you are done and it is important for your own well being to respect that. Unless it is an absolutely urgent matter, I consider my work day done at five o’clock and I am so glad for it. If you struggle with not being able to turn your work mode off, I cannot recommend setting up an out of office email enough and setting limits for yourself because you are only going to end up exhausted.

I have been working from home for five months now and it took some time for me to get the hang of it. All of the above helped me out so much and I hope some of these tips work for you too!

What are some of your own WFH tips? Do you prefer going to work in person or virtually? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar19

Lil Red: A Creature Of Habit

Posted on March 19, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! At the moment, I have three jobs and my life has been very busy. I work as a provider for people with special needs, create daily content for lifewithlilred and complete online work, and I just began a new marketing gig in January. At some point this year, I will cut back on my work in the field and give myself more time to not only work from home, but relax with a less demanding schedule. For now, however, I am enjoying the ride and I love seeing all of the hard work I put into lifewithlilred come into fruition in my new job.

With three jobs under my belt as well as being a very active bunny mom, I have been asked a lot since the beginning of the year how I have been managing. I am no stranger to working several jobs at once so this isn’t a brand new situation for me, but it does help a lot that Lil Red is, first and foremost, A Creature Of Habit. Because of this, my days run like a fine tuned machine and all of the following components help me to achieve this:

Sticking To A Schedule:

My schedule is the most important thing to achieve optimum success during the work week. Without it, I wouldn’t have the time to care for the bunnies in the morning, create content, and work from home before going to a client’s home. This morning routine came into place this past November when Johnny and I brought Mel and Penelope home, but it became an absolute necessity when I started my new job at the beginning of the year. Of course, waking up at five AM is not my idea of a good time in the slightest. However, if I don’t, my work day wouldn’t end until six or so in the evening and that sounds like less of a good time to me. Sticking to this schedule has lots of obvious benefits and my weekend days feel very off when I don’t have to follow through with it!

Forming Good Habits:

Prior to bringing the bunnies home, I was able to sleep in a bit later and was never too pressed if I had to hit the snooze button once, twice, or several times! As wonderful as it was to get the extra Zs, this was a habit that I needed to break for my day to run smoothly. Believe you me, I would LOVE to hit the snooze every morning and if I am extra tired, I will every now and then. But, I like being able to relax when I get home from work rather than work more. Fighting the urge to hit the snooze is definitely a habit that I am glad to have made.

Another good habit that I have formed fairly recently is establishing a meal schedule. Since my days shifted to a much earlier time and I have a lot to do, I go from hungry to hangry really quickly and that is not okay. During my mornings at home, I have penciled in time to have an actual breakfast, pack a snack or lunch for later in the day, and not be completely ravenous by dinnertime. I have come to realize how important it is to fuel my body for long work days and it has helped so much in reducing how rundown I have been feeling.

Take A Break:

Going nonstop is my forte, but it’s not a good thing to be gifted in lol. If I have the time after online work in the morning, I have given myself permission to take a break. Usually I will give my brain some breathing room by watching one episode of Assassination Classroom on Crunchyroll or reading a chapter or two in whatever book I’m working on. Because I work for myself, no one but me tells me when it’s time to rest for a bit. If I had an employee, I would most certainly allow for breaks for them, so why not me too? Even little breaks throughout the day to stretch and hydrate are helpful and it keeps me from completely crashing later. Total win/win!

Creating a schedule and habits that work for me took a decent amount of trial and error, but I am fully satisfied with the end result. I am proud of the work that I accomplish and, honestly, look forward to getting up every morning to see where the day takes me!

How important is a schedule to you? What do you like to do during break time? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb10

Work/Life Balance

Posted on February 10, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! I don’t know about all of you, but I have been feeling So. Freaking. Exhausted. At the beginning of the new year, I formed a partnership with a local tech entrepreneur and have been putting in work. So much so, that I have been clocking in close to fifty hours every week between my jobs for the past month and change. It is tiring but the opportunities that have opened up for me are very exciting!

The work/life balance is something that everyone talks about. However, is it something that they are actively trying to pursue or does it just sound good? Lol, I definitely fall under the “think about it, but don’t do it” category and I know that this is something I need to change to avoid burnout. If you, too, struggle with making time for you amidst a busy schedule, you are not alone! In fact, you are in great company because I’m right there with you! Let’s explore some ideas we can all work on to achieve a better work/life balance:

Take Breaks:

During the work day, I try to allow myself a few five minute breaks throughout to get up, stretch, and hydrate. You can do whatever you see fit, though, to relax for a spell. Watch a funny YouTube video, read a few comic strips, grab a snack – whatever is clever. It is so easy to just keep on working even when our brain is literally telling us to take a pause for a couple of minutes. Remember, that the work you are completing when your mind is feeling mushy probably isn’t going to be something that you are fully satisfied with.

Make Meals:

I, personally, notice that I am not getting a proper work/life balance when I am not cooking meals for dinner. This was actually the first key indicator that I needed to slow down a bit when I saw that my fresh groceries were going to waste. Of course, no one is saying to cook a five star meal every night but I always feel better when I have something homemade for dinner. My goal is to at least make a few simple meals per week because I enjoy cooking as much as I do eating!

Make Plans (And Stick With Them!):

I’m going to be honest with all of you, the past several weeks of this workathon, I have had so many plans and I pretty much bailed on every single one. I was just too wiped out and canceling made me feel worse. This taught me that, for the time being, I need to make plans that I know I can stick with because anything more would be stretching myself too thin. However, we all need to give ourselves permission to have fun so don’t cut all evening activities out and fill your schedule with things you enjoy when you are able.

It’s Okay To Say No:

Always remember that it is okay to say no when you are feeling especially overrun. Knowing your limitations of what can and can’t be achieved in a certain time period will go a long way and can stop burnout in its tracks. I am such a people pleaser that I rarely say no to anything work related and I know that this is something that I really should improve on.

When a work/life balance seems impossible, carve out small periods for you throughout the day until you get back on track with a normal schedule. You will thank yourself during your next mini break!

What stresses you out about work? Do you achieve a good work/life balance? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May10

When It’s Time To Take A “Mental Health Break” From Work

Posted on May 10, 2022 by lifewithlilred

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When It’s Time To Take A “Mental Health Break” From Work

Slogging away at your job for months on end can earn you a lot of money, but it can also lead to mental health problems. Over time, constant work grinds you down and, eventually, you feel like you can’t move forward with your life. You want to be happy and successful, but the demands of your job bring you down. It’s not easy.

According to research, around 1 in 4 adults experience a mental health disorder during the course of their working lives. Many others experience unpleasant, but undiagnosed psychological turmoil, including burnout. For that reason, the concept of a “mental health break” from work is becoming more popular. People are now using vacation time to simply stop all activity and practice being still – something that is lacking in the modern world.

There are good physical health reasons for doing this, too. Stress, for instance, can accelerate the aging process and put people at higher risk of diseases. It can also affect a person’s financial and emotional well being by impacting their ability to earn money and relate to their partner or family.

In this post, we take a look at some of the signs that it is time you took a much needed mental health break from work:

You Can’t Focus Anymore:

If you want to be successful in your role, you need to focus on your work intensely. Not being able to do so makes you less competitive and can even result in your peers forming negative opinions of you. Making too many mistakes could cost you a promotion. Because of this, it’s worth remembering that just showing up isn’t always the best strategy. Sometimes, you need to take time off work to restore your mental health so that you can do your best work.

You Feel Anxious All The Time:

Feeling occasionally anxious is perfectly normal, but if it becomes a regular part of your daily life, it suggests that something has gone wrong. Feeling panicky or on edge constantly usually means that your nervous system is hyperactive, possibly because of job pressures.

Sites like https://greendolphincbd.com/gummies/ recommend that people take a two pronged approach. First, they should take time to relax and unplug from work. And then, second, they should use compounds that bring the body back to balance. The combination of these two factors is essential in any mental health break.

Your Face And Body Are Suffering:

Intermittent stress is natural and won’t harm your body. However, if you feel stressed constantly, it will eventually take its toll. For instance, if you are chronically stressed, you may notice that you have more heart palpitations. You may also observe how your face looks puffy or tired in the morning or you have dark circles under your eyes.

You Don’t Care For Yourself Anymore:

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Lastly, lack of self care is another sign of extreme stress, according to https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/2019-01-30/when-to-take-a-mental-health-break. You’re so focused on the things you think you need to do that you ignore the need to shower, eat well, or exercise. Ultimately, your physical health starts to fail. If you experience this, you should take a break sooner rather than later.

During the grind of your career, take the time to listen to your body and what it needs. If you are experiencing any of the above, it might be time for a break.

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Jan15

How To Stay Clear Minded And Focused Throughout The Day

Posted on January 15, 2022 by lifewithlilred

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How To Stay Clear Minded And Focused Throughout The Day

If you’re someone who tends to get distracted and you find it harder to focus the longer the day drags on, there are many reasons why that might be the case. Today, we’re going to take a look at the things you can do to stay focused and be more clear minded throughout your working day. A combination of the ideas discussed below might deliver exactly what you’re looking for:

Go to Bed and Get Up Earlier:

First of all, you should take a look at your sleeping patterns and routines. If you’re going to bed late and then skipping the alarm five times before you get out of bed, your mornings are always going to be more chaotic and stressful than they should be. And that can lead to problems with focus due to a lack of sleep and a good morning routine throughout the day. So go to bed earlier and get up earlier too.

Take Regular Breaks:

It’s a good idea not to work yourself too hard if you can help it. By taking regular breaks away from your desk and the computer screen throughout the working day, you can make sure that you’re not becoming too tired and drained. If you don’t take breaks, by the time you reach the middle of the afternoon, you’ll probably be exhausted and your performance will decline.

Drink More Water:

Drinking more water and staying hydrated throughout the day is one of the best things that you can do to stay focused and keep your mind clear. You’ll become more distracted and irritable, finding it harder to stay focused when you’re not staying properly hydrated. If you don’t really enjoy drinking water, you can find a coffee or try the best bubble tea you can find; just stay away from drinks that contain too much sugar.

Stay Away from Excessive Multitasking:

Staying away from too much multitasking is definitely a good idea if you want to make sure that you don’t get bogged down in too much work. When you multitask, you also don’t work in a way that’s efficient. So try to focus on taking on one task at a time because that’s usually something that yields better results and better focus throughout the whole day.

Work on Building Willpower:

Finally, you should think about whether your willpower or a lack of it is negatively impacting your work performance. If you struggle to focus on the task at hand, it might be because you give in to distractions and other temptations too easily. By training your brain to focus on what you’re doing and building your willpower up, you should be able to stay focused for longer.

We all need to stay on our A game throughout the day, especially when we’re juggling our jobs with our family responsibilities and the like. If focus is something that you’ve been struggling with lately, be sure to give the ideas above a try and see if they help you out!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Nov9

Making Time For Me Time

Posted on November 9, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! I am self employed and have been running two businesses for over half a decade now. Of course, I love my jobs so much but anyone who is their own boss can tell you that it can be highly stressful – especially because if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. Two businesses means a demanding schedule with weeks feeling too long and the weekends, sadly, not being long enough!

I never really realize how much I push myself for my jobs until something as small as the common cold knocks me completely on my ass. On Halloween day, I woke up with an unbearable cold and it was a struggle to get out of bed. Thankfully, a scary movie day was on the agenda so not much movement was required but I had to call off of work on Monday, which is something that I rarely do.

For most people, a cold is something that they can usually still function through but for me, it was the polar opposite. This was pretty alarming to me and I knew that it was related to just how hard that I have been working for what feels like forever. Whenever I fall sick, I always tell myself that I am going to be more lenient with giving myself a day off if I need it. While it never happens, I actually mean it this time lol.

I will be taking time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas and in the new year, I am making it a resolution to give myself permission to give myself a break. This completely goes against my work ethic but I have now realized how important it is to give myself a mental and physical break from my work. I wish that meant lavish vacations to Paris but, in reality, it will be taking an afternoon off to get my nails done or spending a day playing Animal Crossing when I feel myself getting run down.

This, of course, won’t be a monthly thing but pushing through exhaustion isn’t healthy and I know that the next time I fall ill for days on end, I will be wishing that I gave myself a break. Chill evenings with TV and a face mask is great but it just isn’t enough after an uber busy work week and jam packed weekend.

My normal self care involves pampering of some kind but I have come to realize that it is so much more than that. I now know that a more effective form of self care for me would be being less hard on myself and allowing for a day of rest as needed. It will be difficult because it goes against everything that my brain is wired to think. However, I can’t have another half decade of success in my businesses without it!

What is your method of self care? How do you make time for you with a demanding schedule? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr10

Adult Coloring Book Fun

Posted on April 10, 2018 by lifewithlilred

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Hiii everyone! So when my mom had her stay in the hospital, she was gifted with a plethora of adult coloring books to keep her occupied. So, we now have a plethora of adult coloring books at home for anyone in my family who is interested in doing a little coloring of their own.

I have to admit, I have never fully completed an adult coloring book picture before. God knows that I have started them with every intention to finish it, only to lose interest or give up a few days later. With that in mind, you can only imagine how excited I was to have finished my first picture in its entirety. I was so thrilled that I even started another one! Check it out:

It was easy to choose which pictures to color, since I love The Little Mermaid and all things skulls! Is my mermaid picture the best? Of course not! But, it was fun to do. It was nice to take a quick five or ten minutes during the day to sit down and fill in some of the blank spaces.

Taking a little break to focus on something other than my work day proved to be beneficial. It’s always good to take a breather and relax when you feel like you’re going nonstop during the day. And, even though my colored picture was low quality, I felt accomplished to have actually finished it instead of leaving yet another half finished page in the book. In fact, I’m even looking forward to finishing my skull picture!

Who else likes to use adult coloring books? What kind of color palette would you use for the skull picture? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun9

Break Time!

Posted on June 9, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Heyyy everyone and happy Tuesday! It’s been a solid morning of homeworking and coffee drinking, so I figured now would be a perfect time to take a study break and touch base with all of you before I continue on with my day. I’m really REALLY fucking tired today. Did I tell you guys that I’m completely out of both my sleeping pills and my antidepressant? If not…I’m completely out of my sleeping pills and antidepressant. -__- So I haven’t been sleeping much these past few days and now that I’m not on any of the pills that I’ve been taking daily for the past few years I’ve been feeling some awful withdrawal symptoms. Now on top of being exhausted from not having a decent night of sleep since last week, I feel like I have the flu but really it’s just medication withdrawal. I feel dehydrated, weak, and really disoriented…It’s not a good feeling. I’ve been up and running since nine o’clock this morning, but I already feel like I’m ready for bed and it’s barely after noon. #FML On the bright side, I treated myself to some Starbucks this morning after getting my brother to work compliments of the gift card that my nail tech got me for my birthday. If you haven’t tried the cold brewed coffee from Sbux then you need to get on it pronto. It’s a little bit more expensive than the classic iced coffee BUT it’s a million times better so it’s so worth it! When you get iced coffee from Starbucks it can be a very hit or miss experience. Sometimes your drink is awesome and other times it tastes like you’re drinking coffee that’s been sitting in a toilet for a week straight. Lucky for me, I haven’t had a disappointing drink experience ever since Starbucks introduced the cold brewed coffee and it was a nice pick me up to start off my day with coffee that I didn’t have to make. #TREATYOSELF

My Social Psychology course started yesterday and I can’t complain too much about it. Like a lot of my other classes it’s just a lot of text book reading which can get kind of boring, but that’s okay! It gets the job done and I’m still learning a lot! After this little check in I have quite a bit more to do and then I’m going to meet up with my darling Lea for a quick mid afternoon hang out. Seeing her will probably result in us getting coffee because I feel like a straight up zombie. It’s so frustrating because sleep is something that comes so easily to most people but unfortunately it’s a struggle and a half for me. Last night for example, I was totally exhausted but I couldn’t catch a solid few hours of sleep to save my life. It seemed like as soon as I dozed off I would wake up and then it would take an eternity to get myself back to sleep again. This vicious cycle has been occurring every night since last Wednesday and it’s complete hell. Whatever. -___-

Alrightie, I need to get back to work but I will talk to you all soon! Does anyone have any tried and true methods that help you fall asleep? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -A very sleepy Sarah

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