Nativities and Giant Spiders

Somewhat busy day today.  You can see where I started - with Pocahontas on the treadmill, continuing my Thanksgiving-themed virtual run.  It's been fun!  Each time you post a distance, there's an option to share something you're thankful for, and of course there's little surprises here and there.  I just got a recipe, in fact, for cranberries from this virtual path - and I'm thinking of trying it out!  

I was at the office today for a short spell, doing some work - and spotting this guy on the floor.  We're always looking for faces in places, and this one was pretty good!  It seems upset at something, does it not?  This is the shadow of a light fixture hanging down, framed by the sunlight incoming through the window.  A few of the others in our church sort of look for these things when they pop up, and I thought this one was fun.

Okay, so we have a couple Nativity sets put up today, which is great.  This one above is one of my favorites, a heavily stylized item from the sixties, and I just love it.  We have to replace the lightbulb on this one, but it's a beautiful simple design.

And of course, we put out the Nativity Empire today - it looks fantastic.  Maddie helped place things on this one, as it spreads out across the room in different areas.  There's a manger scene, the Wise Men's travel tent, and a more urban area where a proclamation is being read and a high priest is wandering out of the Temple.  It's a great vast Nativity set that we've had for so long.  So much sentiment behind each piece.

Maddie's been working on her puzzle a bit today, this 1,000-piece picture of the Hong Kong Disney castle.  We'll share a picture when it's done.  

But tonight we traveled to Acworth, because tomorrow's a competition over there.  We got a hotel tonight, the thinking being that Maddie could get a good night's rest before heading out to compete.

On the way, we got to see the giant spider in Acworth.  It's massive, this advertisement for an extermination company.  I spotted this on Roadside America, and am always quick to veer off the beaten path to see some odd things here or there.

The hotel is nice.  The rainy weather was tough.  Earlier, the weather wasn't so bad, so Maddie and I went out so she could do some practice driving.  She drove around the Mundy Mill neighborhood quite a bit, and did very well there, getting more comfortable behind the wheel.  But tonight the weather was dark and rainy and not ideal at all.  We made it though, driving through rush hour traffic in Atlanta, which is the worst kind of traffic to drive in.  It's just so awful.  

We went to a Cracker Barrel over in Kennesaw, and had a pleasant meal there.  Mom used her points to get us a free meal.  The place was packed.  It was also a new location, one of those with the walls painted white and the new decor ideas in place.  These were resoundingly rejected by a lot of folks - I think we have mixed reviews in our family.  I don't mind the new look that much, as the cluttered rustic decor is still there dangling from ceilings and hanging on walls.  The food is good too.  I'm okay with it.  I think the others prefer the old-school look. 

After driving back to the hotel, we watched an apparently extended version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and can you believe we've never seen some of this material before?  There were all these extended scenes and each one was just so surprising.  I think we prefer it shorter, but it was pretty awesome seeing these new segments of the movie, long ones too.  

We went to bed after prayers, although I wasn't sleeping much tonight.  The stuffy nose made that unlikely.  Got to get up early tomorrow though - Maddie wants to head over by 8am to cheer her teammates on as they test and compete!