It's Groundhog Day. Again.

This morning started out, appropriately enough, at 6:00am, which is when I actually woke up.  We all stirred a bit, and as you can see here, Mom had put these Groundhog Day doughnuts together for the big day, putting them alongside our two resident groundhogs.  

 All of us were up for this, the fire in the fireplace, with Mom and I watching the virtual ceremony from Gobbler's Knob.  Madison was getting ready for school, of course, and came down in time for the important part, where Punxsutawney Phil came out of his new stump and let everyone know that he did see his shadow.  The folks up north are getting six more weeks of winter.  We looked over for the video of General Lee down here just south of Atlanta, and discovered that he did not see his shadow, and therefore spring is on its way.  Of course, we'll have to see how long it takes for spring to get here, but it is on the way.  To quote Phil Conners, "I'd say about March 21st."

I walked a bit in the Norris Geyser Basin during a heavy snowfall - all virtually, of course.  I got out the door a little late, but at work we were filming a Valentine's Day chocolate sculpting battle, and it was super fun!

At one point today, Mom called on the computer, and we were talking with one another when a gift arrived in the mail for her.  She opened it as we were talking, and was happy to get a groundhog cookie cutter!  Next year we may make groundhog cookies, because why not!

Madison went off to school this morning, and had a good day today, one that included a bit of high school preparations.  She was invited to join some honors classes in high school, ones that she'll probably register or sign up for.  Whatever you want to call it.  She got a 95 on her Spanish quiz, and is doing well with her classes right now, working and studying hard.  She was doing a bit of that homework tonight, although taekwondo was just before that.  And look who was there to watch her at taekwondo:

That's right, Chuck the Groundhog was with us at taekwondo, to the delight of many of the students.  They kept looking back to the window, and occasionally he was moving around, waving.

Few people realize how into martial arts the groundhogs are.  They have to be, certainly this time of year.  You just never know with these stalkers out there that like to hound celebrities.  He actually sits in the car with us and - no joke - Madison puts the seatbelt on as he rides to taekwondo with us!

Like I said, a lot of the students were happy to see the groundhog there today, and many were like, "Oh yeah, it's Groundhog Day!"

He sat there for the entire class, watching on as Madison did her form, did some sparring, and worked with nunchucks.  Here's a picture of her doing her form, or at least a kick that is a part of that form:

Only one month to go until the belt ceremony, and this is the big one, the black belt.  Madison has been super focused on this finish line, and yes, she could have gotten here a little earlier if she went to this one rank camp or perhaps didn't do the church production last year.  But really this is perfect timing.  It's about the journey there as much as it is the destination.

There was some sparring tonight as well, of course, and Madison was right there in front of us, throwing kicks out and occasional punches.  She's more a kick person!

We all went home after this, including Chuck, and after a bit of homework, we all sat down on the couch and watched "Groundhog Day."  Again.  I never get tired of this movie.  It's one of my favorite movies ever, and I notice something new each time I see it.  It's Madison's second time watching it - she didn't want to miss it this time around. 

We read tonight from Matthew, and after that we read some more about this heist of Villachar's vault in "Scoundrels."  We should be wrapping up both of these in a week or so.  After that, prayers, and after that, a good night's rest.  This was one of those days that was good enough to do again!