My son Alex and I were standing out on our back porch, bundled up in sweatshirts, looking at my potted herb garden.

“Are you going to bring any of them in?” He asked as he pulled off a yellow leaf from my basil plant.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “I’m not making that mistake again.”

Alex looked confused. “What does that mean?”

“You don’t remember the ant problem we had one year in the kitchen, when we lived on Riverside?”

Alex shook his head. “No.”

I pointed through the dining room window at the large pathos plant sitting on a tall pedestal table in the corner of the dining room. “I put that pathos plant out on the deck for the summer when we lived on Riverside. It looked so pretty out there on the table, and it really had a growth spurt while it was outside.” I shook my head. “But when I brought it inside, when it started to get cold out at night, I began to notice little black ants all around the kitchen.”

“So what did you do?” Alex asked as he bent down to get a closer look at the parsley plant.

“First, I couldn’t figure out where they were coming from!”

Alex looked up at me. “But didn’t you just say it was because you’d brought the plant inside?”

“Yes. But I didn’t know that at first.” I sighed. “I spent weeks trying to track down where they were coming in.”

“But they weren’t coming in.”

“Exactly!” I looked over at the bird feeder where a squirrel was hanging upside down, doing pull ups to eat the birdseed. “When I finally followed an ant trail back to the planter and began to pull the plant out of the pot I realized the entire thing had turned into an ant nest!”

“What did you do?”

“What anyone would have done if they’d been me.” I looked over at him and shrugged my shoulders. “I screamed and ran to the kitchen door, opened it, and threw the entire pot outside.”

“Seriously?” Alex started to laugh.

“Yup.” I had to laugh too. “The pot broke into a dozen pieces and ants were scurrying all around the deck.”

“So what happened next?”

“I waited until most of the ants left. Then I went outside, took the plant and shook all the dirt off it’s roots, brought it back into the house, found a new planter to put it in and re-potted it.” I pointed back in the window by the dining room. “And there it is now, looking as beautiful as ever!”

Alex bent down again and looked at the mint plant. “It doesn’t look like any ants are on any of these plants.”

I shook my head again. “Nope. Not worth it. Unless…” I looked over at him. “You’d like to bring them into your room?”

Alex stood up, brushing dirt off his pants. “On the other hand, they seem fine out here.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

“What are you doing?” My son Alex had just pulled up in the driveway and was walking up our front walk when he’d noticed me crouching over our fall display.

“Never thought I’d be doing this but, it seems like I’m going to be weeding our decorations this season.” I complained as I yanked another patch of grass from our decorative hay bale. I pointed to the already growing pile of weeds that were next to the pumpkins and mums. “I bought this hay bale from the craft store wrapped in plastic, no less, and now I’m weeding it!”

“That’s weird.”

“Tell me about it!” I was tugging on another weed. “These weeds are really stuck in this thing!”

“Maybe it’s not suppose to get wet?” Alex asked.

I looked up at Alex. “I’ve had real hay bales from the farmers market that never did this.” I sighed as I grabbed another weed and began tugging. “I can’t believe I get a little decorative one and this happens.”

Just then my husband Steven came around the side of the house carrying his file case he wanted to put in his truck. “What are you two doing?” he asked.

“Mom’s weeding the decorations.” Alex called.

Steven came over to get a closer look.

By now the weed I was pulling on was actually lifting the small hay bale up from the ground. “Oh, this is getting ridiculous!” I cried.

“Why don’t you just flip it over?” Steven suggested.

I look confused. “What?”

“Take the gourds off and flip the hay bale over so the weeds are on the bottom.” He put the case down and began taking the gourds off and placing them on the sidewalk. He flipped the hay bale over and began stacking the gourds back on. “See, good as new!”

I looked over at him. “But they’re only going to start growing on this side.” I complained.

“Sure, and when they do, the weeds on the bottom will be dead and you can just flip it over again.”

I looked over at Alex who shrugged his shoulders. “Looks like it might work.”

I looked back at the hay bale with the grass now peeking out from under the bottom. “I guess I could do that.” I began scooping up the weeds I’d already pulled out.

Steven pointed to my handful of weeds before picking up his filing box. “Make sure those don’t get in the grass. We have enough weeds growing in our lawn already. We don’t need any extra.”

I nodded as I looked over at one of my pumpkins. “Oh, come on!” I cried.

Alex looked to where I was pointing. “That doesn’t look good.”

I tipped the pumpkin and could see the bottom had already rotted out. “I was hoping to have these around until Thanksgiving and it’s not even Halloween yet!”

“So throw that one away and go buy another one.” Steven called over his shoulder as he headed for his truck.

I looked over at Alex. “These were already the second ones I bought when the first ones rotted out.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Looks like you’re going to be keeping the garden center busy.”

“Ah, rats!” I cried as lost the game of Solitaire I’d been playing. I’d been sitting on the couch playing on my phone when my son Alex came into the room.

“What are we doing for lunch?” he asked.

“What?” I looked confused as I looked over at the clock. “Are you kidding me?” I cried. “How’d it get to be 12:30!” I reached over to my tea cup, that was sitting on the coffee table, and realized as I took a sip that it was cold. “Where’d the morning go?” I said shaking my head, getting up and adjusting my bathrobe. “I better get in the shower, I have a lot to get done today.” I slipped my phone in my bathrobe pocket and walked into the kitchen to pour the remainder of my tea in the sink and put the cup in the dishwasher.

“What time did you get up this morning?” Alex asked as he began going through the refrigerator looking for something to eat.

“I think around 7 o’clock.” I went to get a glass to fill with water.

“You’ve been on the couch playing Solitaire all this time?” He’d pulled some cold cuts from the drawer and placed them on the counter-top.

“Not the whole time.” I said feeling a bit of shame. “I was also watching some videos and scanning Facebook.”

“That’s a lot of time on your phone.” Alex said as he pulled a package of rolls from the cabinet and held them up. “You want me to make you a sandwich?”

“No thanks.” I sighed looking at the rolls. “But maybe you’re right. I did just waste the entire morning playing on my phone.”

Alex tossed the rolls on the counter-top and held out his hand. “Here. Give it to me.”

“What?” I protectively put my hand over the pocket my phone was in. “Why?”

“I’ll hold on to it while you take a shower.”

“But I might need it.” I took a step back.

Alex started to laugh. “Seriously?” His hand was still held out. “Are you taking it in the shower with you?”

“Well, no.” I took another step back. “But I like to have it on the vanity in case someone calls me.”

Alex stood there with his hand held out not saying another word, but the look in his eyes said everything.

I took a deep breath as I reached in my pocket and took out my phone. “Wow! This is so much harder then I thought it would be.”

“It’s for your own good.” Alex extended his hand further.

I placed my phone in his hand. “Okay fine. But I get it back when I get out of the shower, right?”

Alex slipped my phone in his jeans pocket. “Let’s see how it goes when you get out.” He went over to the sink to wash his hands.

“What?” I could feel myself getting anxious. “But I need my phone!” I cried. “I promise I’ll use it less tomorrow!”

Alex reached over to get a paper towel to dry his hands. “That’s exactly what everyone addicted to their phones say.”

It’s hard to argue with him when he was right.

“Fine.” I went to the linen closet to get a towel. “I’ll be out of the shower soon and we’ll discuss it then.” I called.

“I’m not doing it!” I said shaking my head. “Nope. I’m not calling an antipasti a charcuterie board.” Still shaking my head. “Nope. Not happening.”

Alex looked over at the advertisement I was holding, that had come in the mail, from a local farmers market I loved to shop at.

Alex started to laugh. “I can see you feel pretty strongly about that.”

“It’s ridiculous.” I pointed to the picture of the antipasti. “It’s clearly an antipasti. So now they put together the exact same ingredients and now it’s French?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “It’s doesn’t really matter what they call it. You know it’s antipasti.”

I tossed the flier onto the table. “Why do we have to keep renaming everything?” I said with a sigh.

“Maybe things get renamed because people don’t want something that sounds old and tired and so they rename it and it seems new again and everyone wants it.”

I thought about that for a second. “Maybe you’re right.” I began nodding my head. “I remember when my great Aunt decided to rename hot dogs.”

Alex looked confused. “She renamed hot dogs?”

“Yup.” I had to laugh. “When I was little, we were over at her house, she said she was serving tube steaks for lunch.”

Alex started to laugh. “Tube steaks?”

I nodded my head. “I’d never heard of it so I couldn’t wait for lunch. Then she served us hot dogs. But…” I held up my finger pausing for a second. “There was no bun. She served them on a plate and used a knife and fork, cutting them in little pieces to eat.”

Alex shook his head, still laughing. “Did anyone say anything to her?”

“No one wanted to hurt her feelings.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Clearly she was trying to make it a fancier lunch then it was. So, we all just played along.”

“So that’s what you do now.” Alex said pointing to the flier. “You order a antipasti, call it a charcuterie board and pretend it’s brand new and delicious!”

“Antipasti are delicious!”

“See!” Alex patted me on the shoulder. “You’re halfway there already!”

“Okay, fine.” I sighed as I shook my head.

“Hey, maybe next summer you can have a barbeque and serve hamburgers and tube steaks! You could start a whole new trend!” Alex laughed.

“Nope, not going to happen!” I said.

“We’ll see.” Alex said as he headed back to his room. “I got you to rethink the charcuterie board didn’t I?” he called over his shoulder.

“Not really!” I called back. “We all know it’s an antipasti!”

“Oh, good they’re here.” My husband Steve said as he walked to the front door.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I looked out my living room window early on a beautiful Saturday morning.

A pick-up truck had just pulled up to our house towing a flatbed that had a backhoe chained down to it.

I followed him but didn’t want to go outside with him because I was still in my pajamas.

“Why do we need a backhoe?” I asked.

“We talked about this.” Steven looked confused. “We’re putting a garden in the backyard.”

“Yes, we talked about a garden.” I looked out the front door watching two workers unchaining the backhoe and getting ready to back it off the flatbed. “But didn’t you say it was going to be a container garden?” I shook my head as I pointed to the backhoe that was now driving over my front yard headed around the house. “I wasn’t picturing needing heavy equipment for that.”

“Well, we have to get the ground level or my automatic watering system won’t work.”

“Automatic watering system?” Now I was really confused. “I was picturing using the garden hose that’s attached to the back of the house.”

He was out the front door trotting around the side of the house wanting to catch up with the workers. “Wait till you see the garden I’m planning!” he called over his shoulder before I lost sight of him as he went around the side of the house.

“Oh, boy.” I sighed as I shut the front door and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

By the time I was showered and dressed a half hour had passed. I went to the kitchen door to see what kind of progress they’d made.

Stepping out on the back porch I was blown away by what I was seeing. A huge part of our back yard was scraped away, with a dirt pile almost as tall as me pushed into the front of the woods.

Steven saw me and, with a huge smile on his face, walked over to me. “It’s it going to be great!” He pointed to the plot of land. “By next summer you’ll be able to walk right outside your back door and pick everything you’ll need for the salad we’ll be having for dinner!”

I could hear the excitement in his voice so I didn’t want to put too much of a damper on it. “Exactly how big is this garden going to be?”

“Don’t you remember we were out here the other day and I showed you how big it would be with a tape measure?”

“Yes.” I nodded my head. “ But I guess the dirt being scraped away is making me realize exactly how big it’s really going to be.”

Steven was still smiling. “The fencing guys are coming tomorrow.”

“We’re getting a fence too?”

“Of course. I’m thinking it should be a six foot chain link.”

“Six feet?” It was starting to be too much for me to take in.

“Well, yeah.” Steven looked confused. “We have to keep the deer out.”

“Steven I can barely keep my geraniums watered.” I looked over at my herb pots where my basil was looking a little weepy. “How are we going to manage a garden this size?”

“We’ll do it together.” He was smiling again. “It’ll be fun!” He turned around and headed back to the garden site.

I sighed again as I headed for the back door. “I’m pretty sure when you’re talking about planting that much land you’re not a gardener anymore.” I said under my breath. “You’re a farmer.”

My son Alex and I were in one of our favorite parks, taking an early morning walk, when he stopped and pointed to a slug inching its way across the blacktop path in front of us.

“He’s got quite a slime trail going.” I said as I noticed about a foot long silver trail behind him.

We both bent over to take a closer look.

“They are interesting looking.” Alex remarked.

I looked over at him and shrugged my shoulders. “I guess.” I looked back at the slug.

“Hey, do you remember in the movie ‘A Christmas Story’ when Ralphie and Randy were running away from the bullies and Randy fell down in the snow?”

“Yeah.”

“The narrator says, ‘Randy just laid there like a slug. It was his only defense.’” I started to laugh and looked back at Alex. “That line cracks me up every time I hear it!”

Alex started to laugh too.

I looked back at the slug. “So exactly how do slugs defend themselves?”

“Maybe it’s the slime they’re covered in?” Alex suggested.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Only one way to find out.” I started a Google search. After a few moments I looked back at Alex. “You’re right!” I held the phone out for him to see.

“Slugs have a very thick slime which protects them against drying out and has a disgusting taste that helps protect them against predators.” Alex read.

“How did you know that?” I asked as I slipped the phone back in my pocket.

Alex pointed back at the slug that had almost made it off the path and into the grass for a little more protection. “What else does he have?”

“True.”

We started to walk again when we noticed another slug on the path. “There’s another one.” I said.

A few steps further and we spotted another one. I looked over at Alex. “Why are there so many slugs out?”

“Well, we’ve been in a drought for most of the summer and it just rained last night.” He looked over at me and shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they’re out to soak up some moisture from the grass?”

I was ready to reach for my phone again when I shook my head and tucked it back in my pocket. “You know I’m not even going to bother to look that up.”

“Really?” Alex laughed. “I could have made that up!”

“Nope.” I said as we began to walk again. “It sounds reasonable and I’m going to say you’re right.”

We were walking for a few minutes enjoying the beautiful day when Alex looked over at me and smiled. “You’re going to look it up later, when you get home, aren’t you?”

I had to laugh as I shook my head. “You know me so well.”

Alex patted me on the shoulder as we got closer to the car. “Let me know if I’m wrong.”

“Oh, you know I will.” I said with a laugh as I unlocked the car.

I paused as I looked over the roof of the car at him as he reached to open the passenger door. “But I’ll be fair.” I reminded him. “I’ll also let you know if you’re right.”

“That’s it, I’m decorating for fall.” I said as I pulled the attic stairs down.

My son Alex watched me climb up into the attic. “But it’s 80 degrees out.”

“Doesn’t matter.” I said as I crawled over to the bins marked fall decorations. “The calendar says it’s fall so I’m going to decorate.” I pulled the first bin over to the stairs and began lowering it down to Alex. “Be careful, this one is heavy.”

Once he had it I let go.

“Why’s it so heavy?” he asked as he maneuvered it through the hallway and out to the living room.

“No clue.” I called as I dragged another bin over to the ladder and began lowering it. “This one’s a lot lighter.”

Once I was sure he had it I crawled over to get the fall wreath that I always hung outside and handed it down to him. “This is the last of it.”

Once I was sure he had it, I clicked off the light and began climbing down. “Wow, it’s hot up there!” I said as I folded up the ladder and closed the hatch.

“That’s because it’s 80 degrees outside.” Alex reminded me.

“It was more like 100 degrees up there.” I pointed to the ceiling before using the sleeve of my short sleeved shirt to wipe the sweat off my forehead. “I have to say I’m usually not a big fan of the air conditioning cranked up in here but right now it feels pretty good.” I went over to the first bin and opened the lid. “Ah, it’s my scarecrows and pumpkins.” I pulled them out and began laying them on the floor.

I picked up the wreath and headed for the front door. “Once I get all of this stuff up I’m going to take a quick run to the garden center and pick up our pumpkins and mums.”

I left the front door open and went over to the hook on the wall by our garage. Reaching over the railing I took the summer wreath down and placed the fall wreath in its place.

Coming back inside I put the summer wreath on top of the empty bin and grabbed a scarecrow and pumpkin and headed for the stairs. “You want to go to the garden center with me?”

“No, I’ll pass.” Alex said as he followed me. “It doesn’t feel like fall to me yet.”

“Well, this might help.” I put the scarecrow at the top of the stairs placing the pumpkin next to its feet.

I stood back and looked. “It might not feel like fall outside but it sure feels like fall in here!”

I looked over at Alex and smiled. “So what do you think?”

“Still not feeling it.”

“Well, what if I said that after I’m done decorating and getting my real pumpkins and mums from the garden center, I swing by the store and pick up some pumpkin muffin mix and come home and make a batch?”

Alex smiled and nodded. “Yup, that would definitely get me feeling like it was fall.”

I laughed. “I thought that might help.” I went back to the bin and pulled out another scarecrow and pumpkin and handed them to Alex. “Why don’t you take these and put them at the end of the hallway by our bedrooms?”

“But I thought you liked to do all the decorating yourself?”

I looked over at him. “I usually do, but the quicker we get this done the sooner you’re going to be smelling pumpkin muffins baking in the oven.”

“Good point.” He took the scarecrow and pumpkin from my hands.

“It’s feeling more and more like fall in here!” I called to him as he headed down the hallway.

I walked into the house and dropped a giant bag, from a local department store, onto the chair by the front door.

My husband Steven came into the room. “You went shopping after work?” He asked as he peeked into the top of the bag.

“Yup.” I dropped my purse next to the bag. “I had to.”

Steven looked confused. “You had to?”

“We have a dress code at work now.” I pointed down to my pants. “No more blue jeans.”

“Wow!” Steven looked surprised. “But that’s all you ever wear.”

“Tell me about it.” I laughed. “Jeans were my uniform. I must have a dozen pairs of jeans hanging in my closet.” I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. “But now that we have a new boss there’s going to be new rules.” I pointed to my pants again. “And these are out.”

“Well, you could always look on the bright side.”

“What’s that?” I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Steven followed me. “Now you can get all new outfits.”

I held the glass under the tap, filling it with water. “You know I hate clothes shopping!”

Steven pointed to the living room. “But it looks like you already started.”

“Oh, I’m actually finished.” Turning off the tap I took a sip of water, put the glass on the counter top, and headed back to the living room. I pulled several pairs of pants from the bag. “Eight pairs of pants.” I tossed them on the back of the chair. “Done!”

Steven looked at the pants draped over the chair. “But they’re all black.”

“I know.” I smiled. “Wait, I think I got one pair that’s kind of blue.” I sorted through the pile and pulled out a pair of pants. “See, dark blue.”

“It almost looks black.” Steven corrected me.

“Perfect!” I tossed the pants back on the pile. “I have to admit, when we were first told about the dress code I was upset.”

“I bet.”

“Not because we were given a dress code but because of the shopping.” I waved my hand over the pants. “But now that I have all of these, I’m all set.”

Our son Alex came into the room and looked at the chair. “Wow! That’s a lot of pants.”

“They have a dress code at work and I can’t wear blue jeans anymore.”

Alex looked confused. “So the dress code is black pants only?”

I had to laugh. “No, but my blue jeans were so easy. It was like a uniform. I didn’t have to think about putting together outfits. So…” I waved my hand across the pile of pants. “Meet my new uniform!”

Alex looked over at Steven.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, as long as she’s happy we’re happy. Right?”

Alex nodded his head. “I’m glad you like your new uniform.”

“Thanks.” I scooped the pants up into my arms. “Now I need to go hang these babies up and get ready for a new school year!”

“Here we go again.” I sighed as I paused the show I was watching, placed the remote on the coffee table and got up from the couch.

My son Alex was walking by and heard me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Well, now that I’m back to school I notice that after dinner, as soon as I sit down to relax, I remember another thing that I have to do before work tomorrow.” I went into the kitchen and pulled the crock pot out of the cabinet, put it on the counter, and went back to the cabinet to get all the ingredients for the dinner I was planning for the next night. “Are you in the mood for chicken burritos tomorrow night?”

Alex nodded. “That sounds good.”

“Great.” I stacked the ingredients next to the crock pot. “Now I’ll remember to put it all together before I leave for work.”

I went back to the couch and picked up the remote. “Oh, man!” I dropped the remote on the couch and headed for my work bag. “Did I remember to put those files back?”

I grabbed my bag that was next to the front door and began going through it. “Nope. I must have left them on my desk.” I went down to my office and sure enough the files were on my desk. I scooped them up and went back to my bag to put them in.

Alex was watching me as I raced past him to put the files back in my bag.

“What else have I forgotten?” I complained as I went back to the couch and picked up the remote only to drop it once again. “I forgot to take the laundry from the washer and put it in the dryer.” I sighed as I headed to the laundry room.

Minutes later when I came back to the couch Alex was already sitting there, the remote in his hand. “You ready to settle down for the night?” he laughed holding the remote out to me.

I shook my head as I took the remote from him. “Who knows!” I looked around before I sat down. “I feel like I have the zoomies!”

Alex laughed. “Isn’t that what dogs and cats get?”

“I’m pretty sure people can have them, too.” I heard the beep from the dishwasher letting me know the cycle was done. “Yup.” I dropped the remote and stood up again. “I need to unload that so I can get the rest of the dinner dishes that were left in the sink put in.”

As I headed for the kitchen I looked over my shoulder. “Do you want anything while I’m in the kitchen?”

Alex shook his head. “Nope.”

I began pulling glasses off the top rack and placed them in the cabinets. Once the dishwasher was unloaded and then reloaded I thought I was finally finished with the chores. “Oh, come on!” I cried as I looked over at my lunch bag that was sitting on the counter top.

“What?” Alex called.

“I forgot to make my lunch for tomorrow.”

I went to the refrigerator and looked inside. “Well, nothing was left over from dinner.” I pulled open the drawer we kept the lunch meats in. “Nope, we’re out of cold cuts.” I looked over at my car keys. “I guess I could run to the grocery store.”

Alex had walked into the kitchen. “Or you could always pick up a lunch on your way into work tomorrow.” He held out the television remote to me. “Now go sit and relax! Your zoomies are making me tired.”

I looked over at him and smiled as I took the remote. “You always have the best ideas!”

My husband Steven and I were sitting on the back deck eating our lunch, when I noticed a spotted lanternfly dart by.

“Quick, give me your shoe!” I said to Steven as I stood up from the table, my hand held out, never taking my eyes off of the bug.

“Sure.” Steven said as he slid out of his shower shoe and handed it to me.

The lanternfly had landed on the railing of the deck, I slowly began to sneak up on it. As I got closer I raised the shoe and smacked it down on the railing. “Darn it!” I cried as the bug leapt off of the railing and landed in the grass.

I raced off the deck, tip-toeing through the grass in my bare feet, trying to see where it landed. “Oh, my gosh!” I cried as I scanned the area with no luck. “They’re so fast!”

After a few moments I gave up and went back up the stairs, handing Steven his shoe.

“You gave it a good try.” Steven said and as he put his shoe back on and took a bite of his sandwich.

“I’ll be right back.” I said as I headed for the back door. “I just want to wash my hands before I pick up my sandwich.”

I walked into the kitchen where my son Alex was at the sink rinsing out a dish.

“Were you trying to kill a lanternfly?” he asked as he put the dish in the dishwasher.

“I was.” I said as I pumped some soap in my hand and turned on the water. “How did you know?”

Alex started to laugh. “Well, seeing you run around the back yard holding Dad’s shoe over your head gave me a hint.”

I had to laugh. “I guess that did look pretty funny.” Once my hands were rinsed off I went to dry them with a paper towel. “But I didn’t get it.”

Alex shook his head. “You can’t get all of them.”

My cell phone began to ring and I pulled it out of my back pocket. “Oh, it’s your Aunt Lizzy.” I said holding the phone up to him before answering it.

“So what are you up to today?” she asked me when I answered the phone.

“Well, I’m trying to help stop the spread of the lanternfly.” I looked over at Alex and shrugged my shoulders. “But I wasn’t very successful.”

“I don’t think we’ve had any here in North Carolina.”

“Not yet.” I warned. “But they’re coming!”

“Gee, thanks.” Liz sighed. “I’ll look forward to them.”

“Well, I’m doing my best to get rid of them before they get to you.”

Liz began to laugh. “Thanks!”

I looked back over to Alex. “Now that it’s getting near the end of summer we have to start looking for their egg clusters.”

Alex nodded his head.

“Where do you find those?” Liz asked.

“I think that might be tougher because they can be on trees, telephone poles, fences, cars, just about anything that has a flat surface.” I looked back over at Alex and smiled. “It’ll be like going on a Where’s Waldo hunt!”

“Sounds interesting.” Liz said. “Happy hunting!”

“Thanks.” I couldn’t help but smile again. “I’ve always liked a good challenge.”