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Yay, another post card from Ireland!  It's a virtual post card, of course, because this whole walk is virtual.  But it's been fun, and today the actual walk was at the Gainesville College track where I did another 5K there.  

Maddie had taekwondo tonight, although a bit more briefly because it's Thursday night.  She helps out as an instructor for the first class, helping out smaller kids, and then off to leadership class, a quicker night but still a good one for experience.  

we'll have updates in a bit...

BravesVision and Spring Training, Easter table settings, taekwondo, cool weather...

Shamrockin' Cookies

Say hello to this year's St. Patrick's Day batch of cookies!  Mom made the shapes for us all, and the three of us had some fun decorating shamrocks and pots of gold tonight, and for a special added touch, we watched "The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold" as we were putting down all those green sprinkles.  Maddie was happy when I brought down the eyeballs, and Mom was wondering what was up with that - but that's just one of those things we have to do:  make odd faces on sugar cookies. You can see a few of those below, and other designs too.  A wee bit of fun tonight!

Afterwards we were watching the mixed teams wheelchair curling match where the US team did pretty well and got their groove back, defeating South Korea in a must-win scenario.  Good game!

We had an active day today - we went over to a Greek restaurant called "The Greek Tavern" for a chance to hang out together as a team, and that was a lot of fun - plus a good meal, with lots of leftovers!

Meanwhile, Maddie was having a nice lunch with Nate's Mom, and earlier than that, Maddie was out doing another driving lesson with Nana and Ye-Ye, which made for a pretty full schedule today.

It was a great day.  There are storms coming tonight, and colder weather too.  Tonight we read from our book again, moving along with our story from Ankh-Morpork from the past.  After that, it was time for prayers, and a little sleep!

Leveling Up Again

Okay we finished the booklets today, and we're ready for our next series.  Here's the cover for "Level Up," a series we've done a few times and now are repeating once again with some completely different Bible messages that are sort of tied to video games the best we could do.

One thing that we do at KidPak is head over to an elementary school nearby for an afterschool Bible Blast session.  We have worship, videos, games, and of course a message.  We do this on Tuesdays - here's just a few pictures from today's meeting.

Later tonight we were pretty close to finishing off another box of Lucky Charms while we watched the US sled hockey team dismantle another opponent.  It was a closer game with a final score of 7-1, which is still not that close in terms of hockey, unless there's a ginormous momentum shift that I can't imagine.  Bottom line, we're looking really good on the ice out there, and it's a fun team to watch.  We'll be following them into the semi-finals for certain!

So today the grass got mown, and that's a sign that spring is on the way.  The birds are all out there looking for food and shelter.  We have a few bird houses available, and certainly a lot of food.  The subscription for food has more being dropped off each month to keep with the demand.  And these sparrows are really demanding!  Just kidding.  

It was a good day though.  We closed it out with prayers, and of course we were reading from our book.  I've been walking pretty well again, averaging about 2.75 miles or so a day either outside or on the treadmill.  The virtual walk through Dublin has been interesting - I got a little update with a visit to Merrion Square Park there, a pleasant place for a walk with statues and greenery.  Of course there's greenery.  It's Ireland.

Okay, time to get some sleep.  We have a lot to do before a little trip this weekend!

Taekwondo Mondays

Maddie was at taekwondo tonight, because it's Monday night and that's what happens on Monday nights.  The group was there training, and doing quite a bit of sparring, which was fun.  Maddie was also squeezing in a bit of training with Master Edge, who was giving her tips on her form demonstration.  I was there watching it all, also getting in some reading and catching up at "my office" there on the counter.

We were watching a few games today, suddenly sports people in a way.  Tonight's game was a massive upset, a wheelchair curling victory for the US team as we beat China at the very last end of the game with a great strategic move.  Knowing their strengths are take-outs, the US team set up a shot where their opponents would have to draw in the stone to a target area, and it seemed like it was highly doable... until it wasn't.  Such a topsy-turvy game too, with momentum changes and a huge comeback.  

The other game we watched earlier - just in the background as we were working - was the Braves game down in Florida for Spring Training.  We've now been pretty regular viewers of Spring Training, and the Braves are doing really really well with these games.  They beat the Twins today 9-8, with eight of those runs scored in one inning, the first.  The crazy thing is that they were all pretty much scored on singles.  Everyone scored on the team except for poor Matt Olson.  These have been fun games to watch.

Nate didn't make it to taekwondo, so Maddie dropped by to visit with him for a short while.  She had a quiet day today, part of her Spring Break, and basically a week off.  I got my walking in, logging in another few miles in a virtual walk around Dublin - on the treadmill.  This time I was actually watching an old television special, "A Little Bit of Irish - Bing Crosby in Dublin."  It's just a collection of musical numbers - and poetry recitals - in different locations around Dublin, but it's nostalgic and pleasant.  Good background stuff as you're exercising!

Tonight we read before bed, more from the Discworld and this time reading about a young Vetinari, who just might have a larger part to play in this time-traveling story.  We said our prayers after this, and everyone got to sleep, knowing we can sleep in tomorrow!

Resting

Maddie was over at Nate's church this morning, visiting with his family there, so no pics from KidPak this morning.  But we had fun with another baseball skit continuing our series, "Spring Training."  It's been fun, and perhaps occasionally a little chaotic, but ultimately the worship and the altar services were strong and that was what really matters on Sunday mornings.  It was good.  It was also Daylight Savings Time, so we're all somewhat off in our sleeping schedule, aren't we?

We got home and watched some Paralympic ski boarding, which was pretty cool as always.  USA took a silver - these were the races where four snowboarders were speeding down the hill competing against one another to the finish line, the top two advancing to the next round until there were just the winners left.  Thrilling stuff!  We also saw the last of the wheelchair curling game, where the US team dominated the Italians to stay alive in their hopes for a spot in the finals.  In order to get there though, they have to win against an undefeated China team.  Gulp!

Nice weather outside!  We're supposed to get really warm... and then get really cold.  Up and down, that's the nature of the spring weather this year.  I think it might be cold on us when we get down to Grovetown later.  We'll see.  

I got in some more virtual walking, and later on Mom and I were watching "Leap Year," a great flick that takes place mostly in Ireland with lots of great scenery.  After that, we read a bit and said our prayers.  Time to try and get some sleep.

Post Card from Dublin

Well, here's a nice view from Dublin!  I got another virtual post card as I'm doing the virtual walk around Ireland, and it's been a nice little journey thus far.  This morning I walked quite a bit, in fact.  I was over at the track at the college, and I did a 5K, running the last bit, getting better.

Maddie was at Team Edge practice, and Nate was there too.  Glad to see him back in the mix again, feeling strong enough to do some training.  Maddie spent the day over at his place, and the two had fun hanging out together.  Meanwhile, Mom and I were doing a lot for KidPak, including some Summer Xtreme stuff, believe it or not.  Here we go again with Summer Xtreme - we were making graphics for that.  I was also finalizing some stuff for tomorrow, and getting some advertising ready for the new t-shirts we have for our Spring Training series.  It's all going well at KidPak!

Mom is getting ready for Easter - she got this gorgeous new table runner for Easter dinner, and she ordered some new plates that should be wonderful.  We were fixing up one of our wall hangings that we got from China, and we actually hung up a new one that my parents got for me this past Christmas, one with Godzilla on it!

We had rainstorms today, but in Florida it was pretty nice - I know that because we were watching yet another Spring Training game with the Braves while doing a good bit of work.  I was vacuuming upstairs while Mom was cleaning up Maddie's room a bit.  We even had some more Paralympics on - we watched some biathlon races, and then the sled hockey game where USA absolutely crushed Italy.  Wow, talk about domination - it wasn't pretty.  Italy scored first, and we scored the next 14 goals.  Yikes.  

For  dinner, we had some heart-shaped pasta that was really good, and then it was time to wrap things up for the night.  We read of course, and after that it was time for prayers and a good night's rest.  Tomorrow is the dreaded one-hour-earlier day, so we'd best get to sleep earlier tonight to make up for it!

Double Rainbow

 

We had a big thunderstorm come from the south, and the way to taekwondo tonight was that mix of brilliant sunlight glaring at us from reflective surfaces - all while the windshield was on full strength.  Mom told us it was rainbow weather, and she wasn't wrong:  we saw one right away.  The weather was so odd you could see the end of the rainbow in the field across from the high school, or right there in front of you along the road.  The water was pooling up mightily, and the drive was a little slow-going.  But wow, check out that double rainbow above - in person, these can be such a thing of wonder.  We were chasing this rainbow, heading right beneath the arches for pretty much the length of Browns Bridge Road.

Maddie got dropped off at taekwondo, and I got over to drop a few things at Goodwill, and then it was time to do some grocery shopping.  I got pretty much everything on the list, and then a few things not on the list, like Lucky Charms - it's St. Patrick's Day, right?  Speaking of which, I got some of this delicious cheese.

Okay, this St. Patrick's Day themed cheese looks fantastic, and we had it right away tonight, sampling some at dinner time.  And after dinner, we watched the Opening Ceremonies to the Paralympics!

It was pretty cool!  There was one musical bit that featured a theremin, glasses full of water, and three of those long alpine horns... it was a pretty epic combination.  We loved it!  It is so inspiring to see these athletes, and coming into that stadium - or seen at other locations ready to compete - they're already winners.  We saw a curling match already, but over the next ten days we'll be sure to watch a few other events.  

Before the rain, Mom and I were out working on weeds and cutting back bushes, doing a bit of pruning.  It felt like spring today!  

We did some reading tonight, and we said our prayers afterwards.  Pretty decent day - I got my walking in, nearly 40% of the way done with this virtual path around Dublin.  But one of my favorite things of the day is the gift that Mom gave me:

It's a LEGO kit where you build the Tabernacle in the Wilderness!  Step by step, just as you read it in Exodus, you put together the Tabernacle... only with LEGO bricks.  It comes complete with the menorah, the Ark, and all the sacred furniture - it'll be super fun to put together.  Updates coming soon!

We had a little time to read tonight, which we did of course, and then prayers - more rain on the way tomorrow!