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... rain-out, sutures out, Third Man on the Mountain, ...

... Twenty

Maddie turned twenty today, and this sort of thing would have been a complete surprise except for the fact that she turned nineteen last year and eighteen the year before.  I think it would have been more of a shock if she turned twelve.

Anyway, Nate got here this morning, and we had a little mini-celebration.  Maddie got some cards and presents, and I loved the card Mom and I got - it was a Spider-man card for six-year old with the number six crossed out and the number 20 scribbled in beside it:  Happy Birthday to a 6 20 Year old!

We sang Happy Birthday and surprised Maddie with a big loaf of sourdough bread, which she loves - one that had two candles stuck in the top, showing the number 20.  We had key lime pie, and a birthday cake flavored ice cream as well.  And then Maddie opened up another one of her gifts, a Spider-man LEGO creation, which should be pretty fun to put together.  It's big!  

But first, it was time to put together the Razor Crest.  Maddie and Nate spent a good bit of time putting that one together, although not as long as they anticipated.  It came out looking really good!  

We had some Margherita pizza, which is now one of Maddie's favorite types of pizza.  We had some on the Disney Fantasy, and before that too.  But now it's been a more consistent choice, particularly because Mom orders that kind of pizza from Factor.  Anyway, they enjoyed some pizza, and then given that the weather was so nice outside, Nate and Maddie went over to the Oaks for some mini-golf.

Maddie had a great time, getting a hole in one on that long, uphill hole towards the end there.  She wound up winning today, but the two of them actually did really well on the course, and the temperature and weather were just perfect outside.  

Afterwards, they were back at Nate's for a bit, working on a puzzle for a while and then eventually coming back home.  Mom and I were finishing up "Obi-Wan," and starting on "The Clone Wars."  The goal is to watch all the episodes in chronological order, rather than the order they were released.  Purist nerds is what we are!

Maddie had a great birthday weekend.  Yesterday was nice, and today was a really good day too.  We closed it out starting a new book, "Unseen Academicals," a book parodying the popularity of soccer, which is appropriate given that there's a World Cup game here in Georgia today.  It was late - after prayers, we got to sleep tonight, and slept very well.  It was a good birthday!

 ...birthday, LEGO Razor Crest, mini-golf at the Oaks, hanging out at Nate's, 

...Feliz Cumpleaños

A Nice Wedding

Our hibiscus plant is flowering, blooms popping up here or there, just always with at least one bloom benign with an explosion of color.  We'll have to move this to the front and let the hummingbirds enjoy it.

Today was a busy, busy day.  First, Maddie was over at Team Edge practice for a few hours, and that was good of course.  One of the highlights was the traditional birthday celebrations, where the entire class does a push-up for each year of a birthday person.  Maddie and two others were there, so the three of them stood there laughing as the rest of the class got down and counted all the push-ups for their fellow students.

After practice, we had some Chick-Fil-A and then got home to get dressed up, hopping back in the car to go down to Alpharetta, where there was a wedding to attend!

Mom was a nanny for a family right about the time she and I got married, and the kids were just toddlers - and there was a big family, one after the other, two sets of twins, in fact.  Mom got to reunite with the family as one of the girls was getting married.  It was a really happy reunion for Mom, who was delighted to see everyone again.

This is Bryan, who was pretty small the last time we saw him.  That's obviously changed quite a bit!  We attended the wedding, and afterwards posed for a few pictures around the church, a really nice place to visit.

We had some time to fill before the reception that night, so what to do?  How about going to get some shawarma?

Yeah, that happened!  Mom and I didn't get any food, but Maddie got her traditional large serving of shawarma, and she really enjoyed it.  And then, it was time for the reception!

There were polaroids to take, something Maddie was super happy to see.  And there was really good food here and just a great atmosphere.  The band was talented and the wedding cake was one of the best I've ever tasted.  Here's Mom with her old employers, the parents of the bride - there was so much catching up to do.

And here are two of the youngest siblings on the happy day.  Before we went in to the reception, we got to go around meeting everyone and doing a bit of catching up.  They were so surprised and a little emotional getting to see Mom again after so long!

We waited outside on the deck for the official dinner, enjoying the view of the golf course there.  We were at the Golf Club, and the location was just perfect, or to quote the father of the bride, "a little slice of heaven." 

And here's Mom with Annie, who was so small the last time I saw her.  She had so many fond memories of Mom, and that was all very sweet.  Mom had a great time tonight and was so happy to see everyone.

We got home pretty late though.  We pretty much got home, said our prayers, and then it was lights out.  Full day, but a very nice one!

National Eat Your Jell-O Day

Today is National Eat Your Jell-O Day!  What a day to celebrate - also, it seems this week is filled with some fun obscure holidays!  As you can see above, Mom had some Jell-O made for us when we got home from taekwondo tonight.  It was delicious, of course.  

Today was a busy day for Mom and I.  She started out at the DANG doctor, where we parked in the DANG parking spot and spoke with the DANG physicians and assistants there.  And fortunately, Mom got a DANG good report about her skin.  For those of you not familiar, DANG is an acronym for Dermatology Associates of North Georgia.  I love going up to the counter to see what their DANG wi-fi password is.

From there, Mom and I did a few things - we shopped for an outfit for Mom for the upcoming wedding visit.  We were at Kohl's first, and then over to Burlington Coat Factory just because it was nearby - and lo!  That's where Mom found some success.  She was happy about that one.  Incidentally, did you know there's a K-Pop Demon Hunters slime that you can "beautify?"

I'm not sure what to say about this product.  I mean, the nature of slime is that it is slimy, and when I was a kid we had slime with fake eyeballs and worms and bugs in it.  But this slime needs to be beautified, apparently, and there are different products here to go with each of the three main characters, so in the end you can have - in fact - beautiful slime.  That's what the world needs more of, right?  Beautiful slime!  That would actually be a great rock band name, wouldn't it?

Moving on, we celebrated our successful outing at Chicken Salad Chick, this restaurant nearby that features chicken salad, of course, and has decor that sort of reminds me of the Front Porch restaurant in Dollywood, just this brightly colored Southern style.  The food isn't bad either - the peach tea is really good there.

Maddie drove us over to taekwondo tonight, and that was one of the longer sessions, but she really enjoys it.  Nate was there too, and Maddie was nailing a few aerials, which always makes her happy.  No rain the last two days, so when we got home I was watering everything outside, including our garden.  The chia pets are still thriving, and our hydroponic garden is sprouting up.  Also, the sea monkeys are doing well in their underwater Martian landscape - it's part of that daily routine to take care of all that, and myself too:  we have this regiment of pills to take, lately more because of the tooth extraction, which is still sore.  But all is well, except perhaps for the Braves, who lost again, this time to the Mets who are fifteen games back from us.  Spencer Strider had a bad game - one just missed catch led to a grand slam moments later, otherwise we'd be out of the inning and victorious.  There's always tomorrow, and hopefully this will get us out of what is now the longest skid of the season - three losses in a row.  That hasn't happened since last year.  

We watched another episode of Obi Wan tonight, and we're remembering how much we don't like the character Reva.  Not because of any good writing, but other than her character the show is fun.  We have that Lola droid set up by Mom's nightstand, watching over her as she sleeps!

In the Discworld tonight, we're almost at the end, I think one more reading to go.  The evil Stratford has been dispatched by the butler Willikins, who alongside Alfred, are easily the greatest butler characters ever written.  No, it's been fun.  Things seem to be wrapping up for this story though, although we may have to meet up with Lord Vetinari one more time, which is always fun.  

We said our prayers after this, and then... it was time for some sleep!

National Corn on the Cob Day

It's National Corn on the Cob Day, and of course this is a day worth celebrating, right?  I mean, wow!  Mom put these out on the table today and Maddie and I were ready to duel with those corn holders just to get first dibs!

Earlier, we had stopped by Sprouts, a grocery store in Cumming with the purpose of getting some corn, but we also picked up some Brazilian nuts and some gluten-free bread for Mom.  While we were out today, we stopped by the library for a few things:

First of all, check out this community art project!  Each person puts in a color sticker on the grid there, a sort of 'paint-by-numbers' idea with stickers.  Pretty neat!  While we were at the library, we also voted!  Yep, the run-off for the primaries is next Tuesday, so we did some early voting today.  I printed out a cheat sheet for the girls, as there were about six run-offs for us this time around.  We'll know the results next Wednesday or so.

Another thing we did was get Maddie her very own library card!  Yep, she has one now.  I wish we thought of that before she got a book - right now the book she picked up is in our account, but next time she'll be able to get her own book on her account.  For now, she's borrowed a Star Wars book that she'll enjoy reading the next few weeks.

Oh, one more thing we did!  We donated puzzles.  We had about six puzzles we were ready to part with, so we dropped those off as well.  The library has a program where you can pick up puzzles almost like books, and just bring them back when you're done.  We've borrowed plenty of these over the years.

The biggest reason we were out was to get some new clothing for Maddie and Mom at Belk.  We're heading over to a wedding very soon, and these two were needing something to wear for the occasion.  Maddie came away with a dress that she was pleased with, and because we were in that same parking lot, we went over to the Hallmark store for a few cards for Father's Day and that wedding of course.  We also picked up our traditional chocolate from behind the glass - each of us getting a luxurious piece of delicious chocolate, different flavors and so much richness that you can careful finish one piece of chocolate.

Also, those Christmas ornaments from last time were still on sale - we picked up a Funko pop Ahsoka ornament for just $1.99.  Adding more to our Star Wars Christmas tree this year!  And speaking of Star Wars, let's do one more check on our Chia Pets!

Both are looking pretty big with growth.  Lots of greenery there - I've been keeping the water inside topped off, recycling that water that pools up in the plates below, just part of the daily routine.  These look great - it'll be a summer of Chia Pets, because we've got the Statue of Liberty one cued up next for the Semiquincetennial.  Let's check on the other indoor growing things:

These lettuce leaves are rapidly growing upwards!  We've removed the covers from two of pods already because the leaves have started to press into the clear plastic ceiling.  The growth is pretty fast.

So a routine night at taekwondo, of course.  Maddie drove us over there, and she first helped with instruction with the younger students. 

And after that, she was in her leadership class as well.  It's a shorter night, and incidentally, it's super hot out there, at least compared to recently.  The humidity is what you expect in summer in Georgia.  Translation:  not quite as fun.  But apparently it's worse up north - in Chicago the rain and threat of tornados was such that the Braves game was postponed.  That's okay, we had other things to do and watch.

Firstly, there was some more virtual walking.  I got further along the trail today, and got this post card too.  It's been great watching all this Mt. Everest programming while walking along with that incline setting upwards.  The last two days I've been watching a movie version of the "Into Thin Air" story, the retelling of the 1996 disaster.  I remember reading that book in the 90's, as were most of us really.  It's a harrowing sort of adventure, and I was surprised I still remembered so much of what happened as the movie unfolded.  It's a huge tragedy that changed the way the mountain is approached these days, a warning to all.  Turn around at 2pm.  

Okay, tonight we watched an episode of "Obi Wan," content to continue our Star Wars viewing.  Tonight I also buried a chipmunk in the back yard.  I love these friends dearly, and this was a big turning point in our relationship with a certain cat that we've endured.  Shadow, the other cat, is okay.  This new cat, however, is on my hit list right now.  Not to hit or anything violent.  This cat is just crossed a line, and now it is no longer welcome.

Moving on, Maddie got some early birthday presents from the extended family!  These were some really big, really nice and fun gifts!

She loved them!  She loved the little cupcake with the candle too!  Happy early birthday!

Tonight we read from "Snuff" a few more pages, and after that, we said our prayers.  The Plush Entourage was there to listen in on the story, and then get tucked in to close out our evening.  Got some other things to get done tomorrow - it's time to get some sleep!