... National Doughnut Day

INSERT DONUT PICS

 It's National Doughnut Day!  We actually made a special stop for some of these gluten-free doughnuts at a grocery store in Cumming, waiting until everyone was together tonight to get that tasty snack.  I still spell the word "doughnut," but it seems as if "donut" is acceptable too.  I think that's society getting lazy!  Nevertheless, these chocolate donuts are pretty delicious!

INSERT CHIROPRACTOR PICTURES

Earlier today we had an appointment with Doc Williams, our chiropractor, and that's always a pleasant trip.  We got right in and did some catching up and of course got our adjustments too.  We've been visiting Doc Williams for quite some time now, haven't we?

INSERT TEXAS ROADHOUSE PICTURE

And after that, it was off to Texas Roadhouse for some lunch!  Maddie loves - loves - the rolls they have there.  She moves so fast on those I literally didn't notice that she had already eaten two essentially the moment we all sat down.  It was a good visit, with all three of us really enjoying that meal.  Mom and Maddie got their usual six-ounce sirloin, although Mom goes for medium rare while Maddie has hers well done.  I get a steak salad, medium rare, which is really good.

INSERT PICTURES OF KPLIVE

Tonight we had a big event at KidPak, an occasion where entire families could enjoy a fun Friday night service at KidPak.  We set up a standard sort of service with a skit and everything - I did a mad-lib that involved parents, and some "mighty men" dads doing some goofy things on the stage.  All in all it was a good night!

INSERT PICTURES OF CLASSICAL GREEK BUSTS

So we've had these pillars in the hallway, and not quite sure what to do with them.  Someone was trying to remove them, and then we started to think about our "Hall of Faith" series in June.  That's when Mom came up with an idea to put images up on top of the pillars, images of various Bible heroes.  So I went to AI of course, and we got with a local printer (who is amazing) and we made these busts on pedestals.  I think the only thing we need now is perhaps a label so the audience will know who is who up there.  But this was a great idea from Mom!

INSERT DUBON PICTURE

And that leads us to baseball of course.  The Braves won yet again, still the best record in baseball and still powering forward.  Tonight's hero was Mauricio Dubon, who homered yet again and has just made a huge statement to us in Atlanta that this guy needs to be voted in for the All-Star Game, no question.  I'm very opinionated about this, but his defense on the field and his clutch hits behind the plate have made him literally an "all" star, as he plays various positions on the field and still hits behind the plate so well. 

We read from our book tonight, and said our prayers.  Mom and I do these puzzles each day for fun before bed, just some challenging word games:  there's Wordle, of course.  And there's a game called "Connections" that gives you sixteen words and a goal of finding groups of four that are connected in some way.  There's a mini-word search that's often a bit of a challenge, and then finally there's "Strands," somewhat of a word search where letters don't exactly go along in horizontal or vertical lines, but in fact twist and wind about.  Anyway, we've been doing that each day, and it's a pleasant diversion.  That and reading each night too. 

Oh, and speaking of daily things, I'm still marching up Mt. Everest.  Virtually, of course.  The virtual walk has been all about getting to base camp, but the stuff I'm watching online right is a little further along, a lot of acclimatizing to the elevation.  It takes a good bit to get used to that extremely high altitude.  It's been pretty awesome.

Okay, it's time for some sleep now.  We've got a quiet day tomorrow.  There's things to do, but nothing demanding.  We'll get a good night's rest.

Semiquincentennial Snack

Here it is, a semiquincentennial brownie with ice cream on top that's just one perfect way to celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary!  Today Mom and I were over at Cracker Barrel in Braselton, all part of our journey down there to the campus to get some props ready for this weekend. 

Of course, they're doing the same thing down in Braselton's KidPak too, so things are lining up for a great weekend with "Heroes of the Bible."

Here's a post-card I got from the journey up Mt. Everest, starting down at the Namche Bazaar.  It's quite a distance to go just to get to base camp, but it's an amazing journey.  I've been watching a few different ongoing documentaries about the journey, all while I walk along at an inclined walk.  It's a shorter journey than that virtual moonwalk, but it's been pretty fun.

Here's an update on the small garden outside - I was watering that this afternoon.  The weather is drying out somewhat, and the temperature is rising in the afternoons, although it's still kind of cool in the mornings and evenings.  Really nice porch weather!  Here's some pictures of some blooming roses in our back yard:

Maddie drove to taekwondo tonight, and that was a good class of course.  She's helping a lot of the other students and is really kind to the little ones.  She's somewhat of a hero with a "good aura."  She's also legendary because she "cut her neck off," which is how things sort of got translated from the accident a few years ago.  Funny how kids talk!

We got home to watch the Braves fall to the Blue Jays, but even in defeat there is a lot of fun at the games.  For one, we did score a few runs.  And then there was this moment here:

It's this weird shirtless movement that's going on all across MLB, which started out in St. Louis I think.  One of the commentators was out there in this massive section in the upper deck area, dressed as a patriot right in the middle of them when Dubon hit a home run, which is about when this image was captured. 

We continued reading tonight, and the adventure is clearly on this runaway steamboat vessel.  Things are going crazy down river, with plenty of danger sweeping in from behind, plus all kinds of danger onboard.  It's been a fun read, one we'll continue tomorrow night.  Okay, time to get some sleep. It's been a good day!

Angry Chocolate Pudding

 

Mom made us some great chocolate pudding with bananas in it, and of course I saw a face in there.  It looks like that scrunched up facial expression of Vigo the Carpathian in "Ghostbusters II."  He never stood a chance, because I ate him.  

Speaking of not standing a chance, the Blue Jays lost to the Braves tonight, thanks to some big home runs from Dubon and Harris II.  One of our favorite things to see after the game - mainly because it happens when they win - is the little dance motion the outfielders do as they gather together.

There is a fun energy to this team that we find really addictive!  We have only missed a few games this year, and those were while we were on the Disney Cruise earlier.  But we've even watched all those Spring Training games, and we've just loved watching this team roll on.  They beat the Blue Jays 7-3 tonight, winning yet another series and keeping ahead of the nearest division rival by a whopping nine games - already.  We've been nine games ahead since early in the season, winning and winning and winning.

Okay, so today was a quiet day.  We had a big Summer Xtreme meeting, and I've been doing voice work for an animated movie we're doing that week.  We didn't do much outside of work today - Mom's been cleaning up the house, getting some gardening in and doing a lot around the house, as always.  

Tonight we read from our book, still moving towards that big end there.  Commander Vimes has jumped on a steamboat and there's a big storm on the river, and there's bad guys and there's goblins to rescue... it's quite an adventure to wrap up his last story.  We said our prayers after this, and yep, it was time for the Plush Entourage to get tucked in and get everyone to sleep.

BravesVision Hat Shuffle Game

It's Number One!  Again!

Okay, if there is one flaw with BravesVision, it's this game right here.  First of all, I usually love this game.  We all do.  When we see this game on the screens at the stadium, everyone screams and cheers for whatever answer they think it may be.  The hats shuffle around, and the question is which one has the baseball under it after they've all mixed themselves up?  

Well, if you have BravesVision, you already know the answer:  it's hat number one!  It's always hat number one.  We've seen about four times total this season where it isn't hat number one.  But it's funny: the moment this game shows up on our screens, Maddie and I scream out, "It's under hat number one!"  And sure enough, it always is, pretty much 99% of the time.  In fact, I actually don't remember the last time it was under any other hat.  Again, this is my sole complaint right now, because the games have been a blast to watch this year.

Case in point:  tonight's defeat of the Toronto Blue Jays.  Of course, we're sort of kicking a team while it's down, but given that this team kicked us when we were down in 1992, and that little bit about adjusting air currents in the dome while the game was being played... well, it was almost therapeutic beating the Blue Jays tonight.  I cheer for the Blue Jays from time to time, unless they are facing the Braves of course, but last year when Canadians were booing the American flag, I was a little stirred up!  Canada lost all the gold medal games for the Olympics and Paralympics - to the USA - and I think that sort of made up for things a bit.  I think I can let go of my "Boo Canada" phase.  Well, I think I'll let go of it after the Blue Jays leave town.  For now, it was great seeing Matt Olson send a moonshot home run into the stratosphere, and just great watching the team get shut down.  Go Braves!  Hopefully we can win again tomorrow and win yet another series.

Moving on, here's Maddie making herself a dang quesidilla.  Actually, she usually makes a few of these when she's so inclined!  Oh, and here's an update on our Chia pets, both doing well!

They're doing great!  I suck up the water in the plate and put it back in the hole at the top, then add more water to keep it all full and hydrated.  The plants are doing just fine.  And so is our garden outside, actually.  We've got some great things growing outside, and soon enough we'll have that hydroponics set going inside too.

So tonight we read some from the Discworld, moving along with our story.  Commander Vimes is chasing down a riverboat, and that's where the we finally see some of the imagery that's on the cover of this book.  It's been a good read though!  We read that a bit, and then said our prayers - and then it was time for some sleep.

Spider-Noir

We finished "Spider-Noir" tonight, wrapping up that old school adventure with the final two episodes.  Not too bad, and certainly a little different.  No ball game tonight, so it was on to Spider-Man.  The interpretations of certain villains was kind of fun, namely Tombstone, Electro and of course Sandman.  The noir dialogue was great too, but the highlight was definitely the cinematography.  This was a fun series! 

So Maddie did have taekwondo tonight, and she drove there of course.  Nate was there too, and this Monday night class is a bit longer than the others, given that there are a few classes tied together.  I was there reading and writing a bit while Maddie was kicking and twirling around that staff.  She's doing well with that - I think there's a new competition coming up this summer, though obviously not the Battle of Atlanta.  I think the team may be done with that one for a season.

Today I had a good bit of cleaning done with the teeth, as did Mom.  Nothing terribly eventful there, except the fact that both Mom and I have some procedures coming up soon.  Mom has to have the final bits done on her teeth, and I have to have one completely removed.  I've been dealing with an ongoing head infection for the past two years now, and me and this tooth just aren't working out.  The idea is to get rid of the tooth, and wait for four months to allow the whole area to heal up.  It'll be a bit of an ongoing story - I've been sort of suffering with this for a good bit.  And it'll be good to have this done for Mom too, as she has some final bits to get finished up with her teeth.  Still... all the $$$.... it's a lot.

Walking up Mt. Everest - virtually of course.  That's the latest virtual walk here, incline walking on that treadmill.  I've been watching episodes of this one reality show that follows a team up the mountain, and it's been great seeing some of these challenging locations that I've only read about, starting with the Khumbu Icefall and the Lhotse Face.  These are insane challenges, and just the start of the ascent up Mt. Everest, but the most challenging parts involve acclimatizing and staying healthy.  And, of course, the sudden changes in climate.  It's always fascinated me ever since I read that book "Into Thin Air" some time ago.

Okay, moving on!  Tonight we read more from our book "Snuff," the latest Discworld book.  We're following another Nac Mac Feegle named Wee Mad Arthur, and it's refreshing to read about one of these guys again.  This tiny angry leprechaun character just took down several bad guys that underestimated him, which is generally what happens when you encounter a Nac Mac Feegle.  We're moving along with our story, and it's been fun.

We said our prayers afterwards, and then it was time for a good night's rest!

National Macaroon Day

 

It's National Macaroon Day!  And we're not ones to miss out on such an important holiday, I tell you!  Mom had these ordered earlier in the week in anticipation of this sacred day, and when we got home from church, of course there was the rotisserie chicken that I brought home - but Mom had these set out on the table, and boy were they delicious!

We had a fairly active day today.  After getting a nice meal, it was time to continue the ascent up Mt. Everest.  I even got this post card!

I was watching a special on Disney Plus, "Lost on Everest," which was a fascinating trip up the mountain in search of what's left of George Mallory's climbing buddy Sandy Irvine.  It was a video that showed where he wasn't, and quite a bit of effort went into going to a place where he was thought to be.  After this video was made, a boot was found with Irvine's name on it, but the legendary camera  that he supposedly had on him has not been found yet.  It may or may not prove that he and Mallory made it to the top - we may never know.  Fascinating stuff.  And such a great documentary about the climb.  I'll be watching a few of these as we do this virtual march, and of course there's all kinds of info coming in periodically from the virtual walk too.  I've got that incline set too, so it's been a little more challenging.  It's shorter, but it's one of those things that have always fascinated me.

Maddie took some of these pictures from today's service at KidPak, which featured another great small groups morning.  We were doing games and lessons, and having a great time in service.  Mom was at home though, still taking care of the little downy woodpecker.  It spent a good bit of time on Mom's shirt, and eventually it was strong enough to hang on that suet feeder, where it ate heartily.  Eventually the bird's Mom came to this little one, and the two were vocalizing to one another - they were able to fly off together to a nearby tree where we're guessing the nest is, right next to the house, and yes, right next to where I first found the bird, face up on the soil in the garden.  So a happy ending for our bird friend, and a really bright spot in Mom's day.

We watched another game from Cincinnati, where the Reds defeated the Braves, although it was a good game.  It was close at the end, but you can't win them all.  Regardless, the Braves did win the series again, something they've been doing a lot of this year.  They ended May with 40 wins, the first team in baseball to reach forty wins.  They're doing great.

Tonight we enjoyed that new soundbar that took me forever to figure out, and wow, it sounded great as we watched the live-action "How to Train Your Dragon," and then the next two parts of "Spider-Noir."  We closed the night out with more reading from Ankh-Morpork.  A simultaneous story in the city is unfolding as Commander Vimes deals with a mystery of his own in the rural countryside.  Things are afoot, and it's been fun to read.  We said our prayers after that, and yep, it's time for sleep!

Downy in the Garden

Citronella!  It's supposed to be an unappealing smell to mosquitoes.  We'll see how it works because we'll be putting this on the porch, along with an infuser spouting out citronella as well.  We were at the garden shop, or the nursery today, getting a few plants...

We did get this one arrangement on the bottom, but we also picked up a hibiscus (also pictured above) for the hummingbirds, plus some things for our garden:  marigolds, tomatoes, and peppers.  Here they are, planted in our garden this evening.

One of the peppers we got - in addition to this Mammoth Jalepeño for Maddie - was a Mad Hatter Pepper Plant.  I didn't know about this one, so obviously had to get it.  But right when I was digging up some ground there in the garden plot, there was a tap above me, and plop!  A pretty young downy woodpecker landed right there in the soft soil next to me.  

Immediately I picked him up, and we did a few right things, although there were some that they officially don't recommend.  We gave him some water and food, and that's apparently not recommended.  But we did put the bird into a cardboard box, and that is recommended.  That helps the bird chill out and not stress so much.  After a bit, the bird was more alert and was eating and drinking some.  But it wouldn't fly anywhere.  In fact, it just wanted to hang around Mom a good bit!

Sweet!  Mom and I were out there on the back deck, watching over our new friend while listening to the ball game.  The Braves won again, sealing the series victory against the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ballpark.  Our sound bar is working well, and so our audio in the living room is sounding great.  I had "Fantasia 2000" playing on the television earlier, all while straightening up some of the interior cabinets and electronics.  Just some tidying long overdue, but it was indoor work we could do while the weather was a little too warm outside.  But that rain was coming again, and that was good again.

As for our woodpecker friend, that little bird is spending the night inside a cardboard box with holes poked in the top.  This little guy just didn't seem ready to fly yet, so we'll have to see how things work out tomorrow.  Hint:  it all works out okay!

Maddie's had a good day today.  Maddie had Team Edge practice this morning, and then went to see a movie with Nate's family, "The Breadwinner," a comedy that everyone seemed to like.  She spent the day with the family, and the rain came down quite a bit after that - they played it safe, driving home after the rain. 

We were able to read together tonight, with Commander Vimes putting one culprit in jail after hearing all kinds of confessions about a larger more vile plan - the game is afoot!  We read, and we got to sleep after that.  Time for some rest!