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 ... more 35mm, Turboman, AI Christmas songs, turkey skit, Santa frame, new Christmas remote... 

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 ...mashing pumpkins, Santa pics, back on schedule, Deuteronomy, developing 35mm film, math homework, warmer, gastro appointment, taekwondo, clean-up... updates coming soon... 

Foggy Morning

Foggy morning this morning, but just in Hall County.  We came from Forsyth County where it was bright and sunny, and right there at the county line at that bridge crossing Lake Lanier, the fog was so strong, rising up from the water in such a way that you couldn't actually see any of the water, as if we were crossing a bridge over a bottomless chasm.  The fog blended in through the trees, as shafts of morning sunlight beamed through the woods as we rode by.  It was a very nice drive in this morning!  We hopped out and there was still a good deal of fog at the church, and again, there was no fog at all in our county.  It was so interesting that we snapped a few pictures before going in to church.

KidPak this morning was really nice, a great service with lots of fun and laughter, plus really good worship sets, a great message, and fun skits.  Maddie took some really nice pictures again, and we posted them on the church site.  But here below are just a few from this really great morning.

We had a super brief rehearsal for principal actors in our only Christmas production this season, a preschool play that was written by our good friend Clint.  Dawn and I wrote some additional parts for a Narrator, but it's cool to use material written here locally.  Afterwards, we picked up some Chinese food for home, the three of us chowing down on lemon chicken, snow peas and chicken, and Maddie's favorite Chinese meal, General T'so.  We also got some dumplings and egg rolls, so we had ourselves quite a feast.  We'll be eating Chinese food tomorrow too, that much is certain.

The rest of the day was pretty low key.  We had a bit of that key lime pie from yesterday, and we also sat to watch "The Grinch," but afterwards, we watched our very own production from last year of that story, "How the Grinch Found Christmas."  It was so impressive that we were able to do all that.  It was so much work, but it turned out very well.  Happy memories.  

Tonight we continued our reading "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," and after that, it was time for prayers and bed.  It was a good day today, the best parts being at church.  Mom is doing well, and of course everyone was asking about her.  It's been a good day though.

Edge Friendsgiving

We had Friendsgiving at Team Edge today at noon, which was something the parents help put together after practice this morning.  It's now a yearly tradition, one where everyone brings food and video games and a few presents for some of the leaders too, and it's just a nice occasion to spend some time together without all the training.  Maddie brought some key lime pie, as that's the new thing to bring from us lately. Plus, Maddie really likes key lime pie now.  There was plenty of food, and later on there was a lot of time for games.  Maddie had a great time, and even won a few rounds of both Super Smash Brothers and Mario Kart, these large scale video games with multiple players.

It was a more laid back sort of day.  The practice and time together afterwards was roughly four hours or so, plus traveling time - so that was a pretty good part of the day.  The rest of the day was spent at home continuing our clean-up and decorating.  The hospital visit got us off track somewhat, so we were picking up from there.

Maddie was doing some homework here and there, and playing Stardew Valley as well.  Tonight we watched "Free Birds," just because it's a Thanksgiving movie.  I was studying my lines for tomorrow and tonight we started a new book, a short one:  "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  Mom is there to hear this one, the three of us joining together for story time just before sleep.  We know the story of course, but none of us have ever read the book until now.  It's a great story.

We said our prayers after that, and after that, it was time for sleep.  We've got a big day tomorrow at church!

The Greatest Gift

Finally wrapped up proofing our new series for December.  Actually, it's an older series idea, but we were pretty rushed back in the day and it was good to revisit this idea.  The concept is that we focus on different Nativity set pieces, doing messages based upon each one as we place them in the stable.  It's a shorter time frame, so we're cutting out the message on Joseph and the one on the angels.  But there are messages based on Mary, the Wise Men, Shepherds, and of course Jesus.  On top of that, the big work was the 25-day devotional that I wrote up, a sort of advent devotional that leads up to Christmas Day.  It should be pretty good this month - we're working on other things to get this series going too!  The artwork was created by our intern Ansley, who drew this stained glass window, which looks just fantastic.

Tonight Maddie did not have taekwondo, but she wanted to shop for Friendsgiving that's coming up.  So we all went to Sam's Club together, and wound up buying a lot of groceries there anyway.  Plus some extra things here or there too.  Maddie got some key lime pie because of Loki.  Or now really because she likes key lime pie.  

Mom is doing okay, but just a little tired.  Her stamina isn't quite as big as it was, but from what we're hearing this is natural given what just happened.  We'll give this time.  She's making all kinds of modifications to her diet, and soon enough she may be on that treadmill too.  I was on it today, and I did a 5k on it - I ran the last mile and a half pretty effortlessly, and was super happy with that.  Maybe I can find a real 5k to sign up for.  Who knows!

It was a good day today, one big reason being we weren't in the hospital.  Tonight we said our prayers, and got to sleep at a reasonable hour.  Everyone's a bit tired today, and we're looking forward to sleeping in somewhat tomorrow.

National Pickle Day

Well, today is National Pickle Day.  And as you can see here, there was much rejoicing when I got home with this package of "Oh Snap" pickles for Maddie, as she is a big fan of pickles.  And I myself celebrated mightily at the cafeteria, enjoying a bag of potato chips with dill pickle flavoring.  Honestly, I've been enjoying the dill flavor lately.  So National Pickle Day was a good time to sample some of that.  However, this wasn't necessarily the biggest reason for Maddie being happy when I got home.  The thing is, we were getting home from the hospital.  Mom spent all day at the hospital, largely waiting with blood being drawn frequently, and small naps here and there.  We were in room C26 of the emergency section of Northeast Georgia for most of the day, and Mom was doing fine there, just resting mostly.  Or as much as you can with the vampires coming in for plenty of blood tests.  Or are they blood tests?  I mean, it could be that this entire place is a front for that sort of vampiric activity.  Sure, there are legitimate tests and medical procedures there, but there are certain patients where a little blood could just so happen to go missing, and perhaps doctors target these patients early on, and sure enough, there are real vampires coming in, ready to draw samples and give vague answers about what kind of testing needs to be done.  We're on to you, vampires!

Anyway, it was that sort day.  We were there at the hospital all night.  Mom was in her gurney and I was on the floor with a wadded up blanket as a pillow.  Mom was giving blood left and right and the doctors were trying to figure out what had caused the trouble that brought her here in the first pace.  Eventually they came to the conclusion that they didn't know, but along the way did all kinds of tests to determine what wasn't wrong, and believe it or not, every single one of those tests that came out okay were super encouraging to us, because we were finding out that there is a lot with Mom that is perfectly healthy.  So that left the heart stress test, which is done chemically now, rather than the old treadmill and wires stuff of the past.  Mom was in another tube with her arms raised and her heart rate going up - that's the test.  It took a long wait to get to that test, with us sitting in this room in the ER.  Again, gurneys with people all lining up the hallways, just waiting for a room.  Each person in a gurney a story, and alongside that person an ambulance driver waiting to get out of there to go get the next person.  We were anxious to move on to the next test and hopefully home.  Once Mom had the test, I took the LONG walk to the cafeteria at the North Tower, and then made my way back to the South Tower and up the elevator to the third floor - it's an epic journey.  I timed it and it took five minutes!  Anyway, I was able to eat and then attend a virtual KidPak Meeting from the waiting area, where everyone was praying for Mom as she underwent her tests.

God is good.  The tests showed more good signs:  she's all clear.  We were waiting for that result a while though, and this time in a much nicer room.  The heart observation rooms are pretty big and nice.  We sat there watching "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas" as we waited for the doctor to come in, and sure enough, she said everything was good.  Might as well go home, right?

We got home tonight, and I was so happy for Mom.  Maddie was too.  Mom sat on the couch as we watched another Christmas movie, and meanwhile I was finishing up the fourth and final Christmas tree.  

I got it all done tonight! Hard to believe we started the day out in the hospital.  Anyway, it was a long, long day.  We were ready for some sleep, as neither Mom or I slept much at all at the hospital.  You don't sleep too much in hospitals.  But we were glad to get home.  We read tonight, and we prayed too.  And then it was time for some wonderful sleep.

Back to the Hospital

Tonight was a busy night, for reasons we'll explain shortly.  For one, Maddie had her Team Edge practice at 6pm, and that went well.  After she did that, we were heading over to the church for FCY, which you can see above.  Maddie is her on the opposite side of the sanctuary, enjoying the service.

We got home and we watched something short, and we read a bit as well.  And said our prayers.  And that's about when the trouble started with Mom.  Given that we just went to the hospital three weeks ago with a mini-stroke, anything unusual like she was feeling tonight was kind of scary.  Mom ended up going to the hospital by ambulance.  For context, she's only ridden in an ambulance for herself twice, and both times are within the last month's time.  The team went to work quickly with her, and got her situated in a room at the ER.  I was there too, of course.  We let Maddie know that Mom was fine, and that this was more of a precautionary trip than last time.  But of course, there was some alarm.  I know that Mom will be fine, but this was still a bit harrowing.  

Tonight we didn't really sleep.  Not much.  We were in the ER, and at least we got our own room.  And at least I could be with Mom too.  We were watching a few little things on the computer to pass the time, although people were coming in frequently for blood tests and things like that.  Mom was hooked up to all kinds of wires and so on, and the doctors were visiting to see what the possibilities were for Mom's condition.  Given they all knew she had a mini-stroke a few weeks ago, they were all taking it seriously.  But ultimately, it seems as if everything is okay currently.  Just to be sure, Mom agreed to a heart stress test tomorrow, and so we're spending the night here in the ER, room C-26.  

I'll head back home in time to get Maddie to school, and then head to the hospital once more.  No sleeping tonight, but the good news is that Mom is going to be okay!