First Time Voter

Maddie voted for the first time today!  Can you believe she's old enough to do this?  We registered her some time ago, submitting the form, and although we hadn't heard back in mail or email, we were able to check online and saw that her status was active.  So we went over to the library for early voting, and I think this was the first day for that.  Election Day is a few weeks away.  Anyway, there were quite a few people there today, and from what I hear, there was a new record set with the amount of people to show up and vote.  This ballot we were able to look at early, and things were relatively easy to vote on, except for this one position, which was the "Upper Chattahoochee Soil & Water Conservation Supervisor."  Great teachable moment here.  I mean, we can't just go in and pick a name, right?  So using my expertise on soil and water conservation, I looked up both these candidates and managed to find some pages from both, and from there we had a small family gathering to discuss the merits of both.  I won't say which candidate, but I will say we unanimously chose one over the other.  As for all the amendments that we have to vote on, I read these aloud and was actually pretty grateful that I didn't have to do so much research on those.  You see, this Saturday we were at a booth that had a guy talking about these amendments, and from that visit to the Cumming Fair, I sort of knew what direction to vote in there.  So the three of us were armed with information in our heads, and we went off to vote.  Maddie was a little nervous, but she did just fine filling out her form and going in to the library to perform her civic duty.  And it was quick too, very efficient!  A few of the volunteers congratulated Maddie on her first time voting, and soon enough we were out in the lobby again, collecting our voter stickers.  Maddie has hers in the room right now.

Okay, so as for the rest of the day, I was home sick.  Sort of.  It was a blood pressure thing.  I'm feeling a little bit better now, although there's still something giving me slight pain in a specific spot on my upper torso, and it's concerning.  Maddie spent the night studying for her AP Calculus test, and meanwhile Mom and I were watching a few movies.  First, we saw "Cadet Kelly."  We did this for research, as we're doing this military series and I've never seen this movie before.

It was fun, and I got a few joke ideas from it.  But mostly it was just me getting into the spirit of the thing. We miss these old harmless movies.  But after that, we continued our classic horror Universal movie fest with a first-time viewing of the 1931film, "Dracula." 

For all my fears and built up anxiety about this horror movie, it was pretty tame.  It is also pretty historic, I suppose, and the grandfather of all horror movies.  I think.  But it wasn't terribly exciting, and there were no twists at all, plus a super abrupt ending.  But I finally saw it, and I'm glad we saw it to say we did.  Bela Lugosi was in his prime here, not to be messed with.  And although you assume he was killed, of course it didn't happen on screen.  Which means he's still lurking somewhere, ready to show up for Abbott and Costello at the museum.  That will be the last one in our classic movie marathon, the reunion of all these classic characters.  First though, we have to watch "Frankenstein."  Maybe tomorrow!

So Maddie finished studying and we watched the KidPak Costume Party special together, laughing at that, and just loving the memories there.  Putnam has a big creepy role in that movie, and so when Maddie was ready to go upstairs, it was a big funny moment when he was suddenly there, halfway up the stairway, looking down on us.  How'd he get there?

We did spend some time reading tonight, starting off the novel "Wyrd Sisters."  Maddie's ready for this next book in the Discworld series.  It's seasonal fun too!  We said our prayers afterwards, and the Plush Entourage - including Putnam - made it's way down to Maddie's room to get tucked in.  Big day.  Maddie's first time voting.  I'm pretty sure I know who she voted for, but I'm not going to say that here!

Oh, Snap!

We got our Sam's Club membership today, which seems like a terribly mundane thing to talk about, except for the fact that we haven't been members in literally years.  I mean, Maddie's never stepped foot in one of these locations.  So with great fanfare, we swung by there after a few other stops, and sure enough we did all kinds of grocery shopping.  It wound up being cheaper than Aldi's for a few items, although of course you have to purchase more of it, meaning we've got enough garbage bags to last a long time.  It's the unusual stuff that gets you - we saw some of those coconuts from Costa Rica where you can put a bamboo straw in them and drink the juice straight out of the coconut.  Yeah, I had to get those.  And they had a better bulk price on those green tea drinks that Maddie loves.  It was fun just sort of walking around and exploring some place new for the first time, and of course we're all stocked up in certain areas.  Oh, snap!  Maddie was happy to get a box of her favorite pickles.

We were having fun looking through their seasonal stuff too.  And, maybe putting some of it on as well!  For some odd reason, my first memory of a Sam's Club was in Athens where I picked up "The Lion King" soundtrack.  I have no idea why that sticks in my memory, but I do remember in the 90's when these places first started opening up all around, and I remember the people giving out food samples with the running joke about going there for lunch, just eating all the free food samples.

So today was a big doctor's appointment for me, and the end result is a scheduled blood test, endoscopy and colonoscopy.  I got a flu shot and a pneumonia shot, and I'm celebrating the fact that I can finally spell pneumonia without having to look it up.  Anyway, those are buggers and my arm is still smarting from the pneumonia shot.  But worst of all, my heart rate was super high tonight for some odd reason.  I attribute it to either the shots or the salty potato chips I had before bed.  I'm not sure.  Whatever it was, it was scary in the middle of the night.  Mom takes good care of me though, adding potassium to a drink, and other tablets to help with the surge in the pulse.  It would be later the next day when the pulse went down.  As for the endoscopy and colonoscopy, those things are to explore what the actual heck is going on with my stomach and esophagus, which have been enjoying a reign of terror the past few months.  Things have improved slightly because I've avoided all kinds of previously dangerous foods.  But I'm trying to figure out what the new diet should be, or whatever.  Anyway, it was a productive doctor's visit, at least.

We were out doing a few other things too, a few chores like going to the bank and also heading to a thrift shop, where we found the last few missing pieces of Maddie's costume this year.  That yellow Jubilee jacket is pretty unique, but we found an oversized jacket for guys, I think, one that's bright yellow, and it hangs low enough to look like a rain jacket.  We got the red shirt too, so the look should be pretty close to Jubilee's look.  Crucial were the sunglasses and the earrings.  They actually say "Jubilee" on them.  We were at the thrift shop for a bit looking around - I also picked up an unopened Christmas puzzle.  It was all half-price too, so the entire bit was like $7.00 for the yellow jacket, the red shirt, the puzzle, and one other item.  Not bad!

It was a decent day.  The weather is cooler outside, and it's not too bad.  We read tonight, and said our prayers.  I'm honestly a little worried, but ours is not a spirit of fear.  Also, we have pickles.  So there's that!

COD 2

Back to church this morning!  We're answering the "Call of Duty," and you can see how we - the toy soldiers - are training for engagement in a life-and-death battle with... squirrels!  Here's a few of the pictures Maddie took this morning of our service, which went very well!
 

Cadet Emma looks ready for duty!

Mark was our special guest speaker this morning.

Doing our military cadence!

Getting the squad ready with drills!

Full Armor of God game!

It was a super morning, and it all went very well both services.  The kids had a great time, and together we learned about discipline, which is always a great thing to have.  Of course, there's plenty of that in basic training.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet.  We got home, and got some rest - last night was a long night at the fair.  We watched "Edward Scissorhands" tonight, a near and dear movie to me, one of my favorites.  I've been doing my walking on the iFit, and we were out on the front porch for a short while in the cooler weather, reading and surfing.  I've been pressing forward in the book of Psalms and am nearly done with that, while also reading these short stories from this last "Goosebumps" book, which are really fun.  

Speaking of reading, we finished "Equal Rites" tonight, and so we're off to the next book in the series, which is "Wyrd Sisters."  These get progressively better, so I know Maddie will be enjoying the next few months of reading.  Here we are to stay in the Discworld a good bit.  No worries - I was her age when I was first reading them on my own.  

Tonight we got to bed early.  Back to school tomorrow, but it's a shorter week.  It's going to be a good one too.

Cumming Fair

We went to the Cumming Fair tonight, which was nice to squeeze in the county fair this fall.  We hadn't done a fair in some time, and Maddie wanted to revisit this, especially because she could go back with some friends.  So we went, and I think the highlight for me was the chair lift, which is such a serene journey across the entire landscape, particularly at night with all the lights and activity all around.  Maddie and I rode that across the grounds, and really liked it.

The long line up the hill, just to get to the parking lot.

The Parking Lot merry-go-round.

I think the lowlight would be getting there.  That would be my least favorite part.  There is extremely limited parking there, and by extremely limited, I mean I was circling the parking lot for at least forty minutes.  I dropped Maddie and her friend Chris off so they could wander around, but I was believing I'd be stuck in the parking lot merry-go-round for a good bit.  I was very blessed to get a spot eventually, but I was definitely not in an idea situation.  

From there on, it was nice.  I went to the Indian village and things were timed in such a way that I could see the Indian dance demonstration, which was roughly a half hour long, and pretty interesting.  I toured around there for a good bit, and even timed my departure and arrival there with the golf cart that was giving folks rides to and from the village area.  

I got up to the top, and got there just in time for the pig races, which was super fun.  

I caught up with Maddie and her friends, who were standing in line, one of many incredibly long lines tonight, and there they remained for a good bit.  I got something to drink for Maddie, but passed by a dinosaur show on the way there, with those pretty fun dinosaur costumes!

Meanwhile, Maddie got to see a human cannonball, which is worth the price of admission to me!

So we were seeing a good bit there.  I got Maddie a Dr. Pepper, her favorite soda, and it was right next to the Republican tents down there, where I had Maddie pose with the former President a bit later on.

Maddie got in line for the sidewinder ride, and she enjoyed that one with a friend.  The line for that one was only about twenty minutes long, but again, the other lines were ginormous.  It was not worth it at all to get a "unlimited rides" stamp, because the lines were so long that "unlimited" meant four or five!

But they had a great time on that ride there, and afterwards, we got some snacks.  Yes, I got a corndog.  Maddie got fries, and her friend got a pretty pricy cheesesteak.  Prices have really gone up lately.  

Anyway, after that, Maddie and I got in the super long line for the skyline, but that line was moving along pretty well.  And it wasn't too much later that we were soaring across the fairgrounds, enjoying the wonderful sights and serene atmosphere above the fair.

We were close to done after that.  We saw the seals swimming around and scooting across the stage, and we passed by the creepy characters at the haunted barn there.  We visited the petting zoo area too.

Oh, and there was that really cool musical calliope that was actually playing a version of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5."  Pretty cool!  

But soon it was time to get home.  Maddie was using her camera to take pictures of the fair that almost appear to be vintage, and those came out pretty cool!

It was an easy time getting to the car and getting home.  It was chilly, but everyone had a great time together.  Maddie loved it!