Bread Launch

What better use for our catapult than by sending old bread soaring out over the back deck?  Mommy had a loaf of bread that was ready to toss, and we certainly did toss it.  The custom is for Madison to throw it overboard, off the back deck and for the birds to munch on.  However this time around, we had the catapult handy, and were ready to launch bread into the atmosphere.  The weather was actually not too bad outside when we did this - it was after school, and not quite as bitterly cold as it has been each morning this week.  Temperatures have been in the twenties, which is pretty unfair when you consider the amount of precipitation around = zilch.  That means no frozen precipitation.  No snow.  We still have a few weeks left, but the clock is ticking on that snow.

Madison had a lot of homework to do today.  She had spelling words to review - as noted, she already knows this week's list.  She also had some online work to do:  another overly simple math problem to write out, and a few other exercises.  She's in first place online with the amount done, although it didn't start that way to begin with, at least not in the Language Arts category.  Madison was in second place, and saw a boy named Ethan in first place on the top twenty list.

"Ethan is going down," she said.

And he did.  We have a little competitor, apparently!  And in her spare time, she likes to read books. She was behind on the reading for the week, but she made up for that this afternoon.  She actually didn't have to be reading for quite so long, but she actually found herself with a real page-turner.  She couldn't put it down.  And it was one of those deals where it was partly her homework, and of course the more time you spend reading, the better - right?  So an hour-and-a-half later, she finished the book entirely, quite proud of herself!  That's how she spent a lot of her down time this afternoon, actually.

We had piano practice for a bit, and then tacos for dinner.  Mommy is experimenting with various gluten-free combinations for the seasoning.  Madison scarfs it all down no matter what.  She's a big fan of Mexican food.

She got a bath afterwards, while Daddy got the dishes.  And then it was time for a bit of R&R.  Madison chose to go back to Narnia this time, via a toy box that someone set up to look like Narnia.  And this time, rather than Edmund, Lucy, Peter, and Susan - it was Iron Fist and Nick Fury going through the wardrobe.

We went to bed afterwards, after prayer and after reading the Bible a bit.  Mommy and Daddy watched another movie in bed, but soon we were off to sleep after a pretty full day.  Daddy had been working a lot from the computer.  He typed up a lot of different scripts, including this one very short script for an upcoming videos.  It uses this toy phone below, the one seen in "Toy Story 3."

GET RID OF THAT MONKEY

(CUT TO SHOT OF JAKE SITTING AT DESK)

JAKE plops down at desk, flustered.

JAKE:  "Unbelievable!  Absolutely nothing is going my way.  This is ridiculous!"

JAKE angrily throws a pen from his desk across the room, off camera.

CUE small crashing sound.  JAKE is unmoved, still flustered.  He puts his hand over his forehead in disgust.

TOY PHONE rolls into scene, on desk.

(CUT TO WIDER SCENE OF JAKE, TOY PHONE ON DESK)

JAKE looks down at it a moment, then looks around.

(CUT TO CLOSER SHOT OF JAKE, TOY PHONE on DESK)

TOY PHONE scoots just a little closer.

JAKE looks down, somewhat worried.

CUE SOUND EFFECT:  OLD PHONE RINGING

JAKE looks around.  Nobody is in the office.

PHONE CONTINUES TO RING

JAKE is slow on the draw, very carefully reaching down, hesitantly picking up the receiver on TOY PHONE.

TOY PHONE (filtered voice):  "Hey kid."

JAKE:  "Uh... hello.  Who is this?"

(CUT TO CLOSE UP OF TOY PHONE'S FACE)

TOY PHONE:  "That's not important.  You ever hear the expression, ya got a monkey on your back?'"

(CUT TO WIDER SHOT OF JAKE)

JAKE:  "Uh... yeah.  Sure."

TOY PHONE:  "It means you got a bad habit.  And yours is complaining."

JAKE:  "Excuse me?"

TOY PHONE:  "You heard me.  Your real problem's the monkey.  You wanna have some success in your life?"

JAKE:  "Umm... okay.  Sure.  Why not."

(CUT TO CLOSE UP OF TOY PHONE'S FACE)

TOY PHONE:  "Then get rid of that monkey!  You can go to church.  You can sing.  You can pray.  But if don't stop complaining, you ain't going nowhere!"

(CUT TO WIDER SHOT OF JAKE AND PHONE)

JAKE:  "Wha?"

TOY PHONE:  "You wanna get out of here?"

JAKE looks around.

TOY PHONE:  "Then get rid of that monkey!  God has already given you the victory.  So stop worrying.  And stop complaining."

(CUT TO CLOSE UP OF JAKE'S FACE, holding receiver)

JAKE:  "Uh... okay.  Is this Cheryl from Accounting?"

JAKE is waiting for a moment.  There is nothing.

After this pause, JAKE appears as if about to say something.

TOY PHONE:  "Get rid of that monkey!"

CUE SOUND EFFECT:  DIAL TONE

(CUT TO WIDER SHOT OF DESK, JAKE, and TOY PHONE)

JAKE:  "Hello?  Hello?"

JAKE realizes the conversation is over, and nervously puts the receiver down on TOY PHONE, which immediately starts to roll backwards and away.

JAKE looks around office.  There is nobody else there.