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...Artemis II, Braves A's, little ducks, cooking dang quesadillas, Thud!, Easter plans, Braselton... updates coming soon...

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Eggs and Soldiers

 

Almost done with my virtual walk!  Today I was virtually strolling by a pretty impressive library that would be pretty cool to visit some day.  I even got the post card for it!  

Maddie was at taekwondo tonight, of course, about two hours of training and let's face it, fun.  She enjoys the class very much, and with Nate being there it's been great.  This week we'll be doing the Easter egg dye thing again, and Nate should be there, marking a one-year anniversary of sorts.  He was with us last year when we were doing this, such a random first-time over sort of thing, but fun nevertheless.

Ah, and here's another anniversary.  Mom had an appointment today with the oncologist, and things are normal here, so no worries.  There's a follow-up routine testing, but this building here is historic to us at least, a place we went to a few times a week for chemotherapy.  That was twenty years ago now, and Mom's been in remission ever since.  Today's appointment was super brief, but each time we wander into this building the memories flood back in.

Ah, look here!  British soldiers for breakfast!  In honor of the late Sgt. John Keel, I had the perfect egg breakfast with some slices of toast for dipping.  I mention Sgt. John Keel, as he's the figure in Discworld history that did the right thing.  All he ever wanted was hard-boiled egg and soldiers, and to commemorate the battle that took place, members of the City Watch wear lilacs, and respectfully put an egg on John Keel's grave.  We finished "Night Watch" tonight, another book down in the Discworld series.  We've read so many, but there are so many to go really.  "Thud!" is next, along with "Where's My Cow?" of course.  

Maddie was dancing today, and fortunately there were other novices with her trying to learn in her electives class.  It was fun, but it's a lot of work and certainly a challenge.  She's getting a good work out in the morning - and then one later on tonight.

Speaking of tonight, our viewing tonight was more BravesVision, watching the Atlanta Braves defeat the Las Vegas A's by a score of 4-0, another shutout.  It's just a neat thing getting to see these Braves games on television.

My blood pressure is down somewhat, although not enough.  I got those steps in, and I've been taking it easy with what I eat.  Hopefully things will calm down more so.  In the meantime, we said our prayers after reading tonight, and then it was time for some sleep.

Palm Sunday 2026

Happy Palm Sunday!  This was easily the most rewarding service for me in many years, the most fun I had watching kids learn and watching volunteers teach.  I had created this really great game with singing rocks, and we used the illustration about the Luray Caverns Organ and how the rocks play music - we were playing "Amazing Grace," as performed on that organ.  The kids had their palms and the instructions on how to fold them, although by day's end, all of the volunteers became experts at folding a palm cross for many, many children.  The first service was a little quieter, and that's where Maddie was taking pictures, which you can see below.  The second service had many more kids, and I was just so elated to see so many children that into our message of the day.  There were many highlights, like one boy answering the question what Jesus told the disciples to say to anyone when they were taking the donkey.  The boy confidently blurted out, "The Lord needs it!"  It was a tight game going back and forth with who would win, and it had a lot of fun variations throughout, challenges, trivia, and moments where an entire team sang the "Hallelujah" chorus, so the rocks wouldn't need to shout out praise.  It was a really wonderful, unforgettable morning.  One of my favorites ever!  Again, these images are from the first service, which was a little lower with our numbers, but still fun!

 We dropped Maddie off at Nate's place, and then got home for lunch, and the Braves game today.  They lost to the Royals, but at least won the series.  The National League East teams are going to be battling this year, that much is certain.  We even tuned in for a tiny bit of the Stripers game too, just because we can.

I'm almost done with my walking in Dublin, virtually of course.  I got a bit of that done, with a little less than four miles to go there.  The finish line here is opening up all kinds of new videos and places to see, and it's been a fun journey.  Mom and I took a nap today while watching the game, but I still got those steps in.

I had a bad day with the blood pressure.  Hard to say why, but it was pretty high.  My biggest theory is poor eating choices for the last few days. Sorry, but it was opening day for the Braves and I wanted a hot dog from Race Trac.  That and a few other items - I think - did me in.  Blood pressure soared, and it made for a challenging evening tonight.  Mom was taking care of me with therapeutic items that helped me rest and indeed, the pressure started to descend.  I just left the cardiologist, and after tests and so forth, everything was fine - so I'm not 100% sure of the issue.  I do think it's food choices, so I'll be much, much better in the coming weeks.

Moving on, tonight's movie was "August Rush," which we kind of forgot about, and that made seeing it again really enjoyable.  Mom and I saw that before bedtime, and Maddie arrived about that time so that we could read together, say our prayers and then I could get some much-needed rest.  

C.F.A.

Went for a walk this morning, all the while Maddie was doing stuff with Team Edge - lots of flips! 

So I was getting in my walking, and it was a perfect morning for that sort of thing.  Got another few miles in and got a bit closer to the end of this Dublin virtual walk.  

Afterwards, we picked up some Chick-Fil-A (initials C.F.A.) and drove down to see a new play, "Come From Away" (also with the initial C.F.A.).  

This was a very moving production, a musical version of the events that unfolded after 9-11 with stranded airline passengers forced to stay a few days in Gander, Newfoundland.  Some of these folks above are passengers being initiated so they can become official Newfoundlanders.  Or Newfoundlandinians.  Or Newfoundladites?  

Anyway, the production was great.  There were really fun moments like those above, and then of course the subject matter was moving and emotional at times.  

We all enjoyed it very much.  We had our seats at the center of the first row of the balcony there, just perfect for these productions.  By the way, we got our tickets in the mail today, season tickets for all next year's productions too.  Those look fantastic, but in the meantime, here are some images from today's production, from their site of course (you can't take pictures during the play, of course!).

Ah, and here are a few pictures of Maddie in the lobby afterwards.  

We enjoyed it as always.  We have one more play for this season, and that'll come n May, I think.  And a recent tradition is dropping by a shawarma place on the way home.  Maddie's quick to bring that up as we're leaving, and yes, we're up for a visit!

A little tired getting home.  The Braves game was actually a black-out for us, as another network has the rights for this evening's match-up.  But I watched a good bit of another Brave's affiliate team, the Gwinnett Stripers!  Yes, using BravesVision you can watch those games on your television too!  

The day is still ongoing, so we'll have more updates soon - I think Spider-man is on the horizon...