Ladybug Girl

This morning, Ladybug Girl woke up and got ready for her big day at school.  Mommy put together this simply amazing costume for Madison, pretty much matching everything exactly with the title character of the Ladybug Girl books.  Madison did a few assignments based on this book - there are several in the series, but she chose "Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy."  This one Daddy had to go and find at a bookstore, as all the libraries had this one checked out.  But he did find it, and Madison was greatly relieved - she was pretty stressed that I couldn't find it initially.  But that's what Daddy is for, going off on scavenger hunts for some pretty random items sometimes.  

So we're back to normal today, with the snow off the roads.  Our snowman hasn't even been fazed by the fact that all the other snow in the neighborhood has essentially melted.  Viky is convinced that he likes it in front of our house, and even into tonight was proudly standing there, our snow century with a Viking hat on.  

Madison had a great day at school, and Daddy had a big day of progress at church, where we finally nailed down those lingering issues with our upcoming Easter production.  This one has been more of a struggle to put together, as there are essentially three writers that have to sort of agree on a good general direction.  Three writers in retrospect might be too many, but Daddy is proud to be a part of the process, and proud to have a few solid ideas inserted in this latest script.

There have been a few big items today, one a sad note of passing, and another an interesting meme that has taken over the internet.  It's all about a dress.

Some people see a gold and white striped dress above, and others see a black and blue striped dress.  For the record, the first time we saw this, Madison, Mommy and Daddy all saw a gold and white striped dress.  Yet when Daddy went back to see it, the dress is blue and black.  It is an interesting visual thing, because one person is looking at the picture and sees something so dramatically different than the next.  Madison and Mommy have seen nothing more than gold and white.  And they think anyone who says otherwise is pulling a trick on all the others!

The other big event was the passing of Leonard Nimoy today.  This is a big deal, obviously one bigger for Mommy and Daddy, who are big fans of the original Star Trek cast.  Daddy used to be an amazingly big Trekkie - I love the dynamic of the "big three:"  the doctor, the first officer and the captain.  McCoy, Spock and Kirk.  Their relationship evolved in such a way over time, and deep into the movies.  The interplay with these three was fun, or to quote Spock, "fascinating."  Of course, everyone points to "Star Trek II" as the ultimate movie for fans of the series.  But Daddy loved all the movies, even "Star Trek V," which has some wonderful moments at the beginning - the three of these iconic characters out camping in the wilderness, and eating "marsh melons."

Spock is one of the greatest sci-fi characters ever, and despite the fact that we haven't seen him as much lately, there's still a sense of loss here.  He was a big part of my growing up.  In the weeks to come, I'm sure we'll all be going back to watch that movie series again to relive those moments growing up, to visit with our Vulcan friend just one more time.

LLAP.