A New Driver

Okay, here we go!  Maddie was off to her driver's test this morning, and she's all smiles here.  She was nervous, of course, but the instructor assigned to her was a really nice guy.  We got in, and it was actually a really quick process this morning.  Maddie drove over there, of course, and here's the view of the driver's course:

There it is!  Maddie was out there for a really short window though, driving around, parking well - maybe a slight slip-up there, but she ended up where she needed to be without hitting cones.  And then out onto the main road for a few moments, and back to the parking lot.  She came in, and here's her vibes after the test was wrapped up:

Yes, absolute success!  And most importantly, her driver's test score was better than Nate's.  She got a 90, and felt pretty good about that, understandably.  She posed for the traditional bad-quality driver's license photo, and then we were off and running, in a very, very, very good mood!

Our next stop was the library, oddly enough.  Maddie checked out her first book from the library here, a Star Wars book that she'll be tackling the next few weeks.  And here she is with her friends at the entrance once again:

It was a good day.  A busy day at the office, as Summer Xtreme is next week.  So much work left to do, but we're getting to it, one item at a time.  

We read tonight, and then we said our prayers after that.  Time to get some sleep!

Summer Lunch

 

Mom and I were down in Braselton this afternoon, and that meant a stop at Cracker Barrel.  It wasn't very crowded, but it was a nice lunch date after doing a whole lot of moving stuff at the Braselton campus.  

Check out the Semiquincentennial Peg Game!  I've got this one memorized, the peg game, so yeah, I do it each time we arrive, just to prove to everyone that I'm a real patriot, and not an ig-no-ra-moose!  

It's summer time, and that means that really good campfire stuff wrapped in aluminum foil.  The chicken is so good in all those juices.  We enjoyed our food here this afternoon, and got a lot done today at the office - lots of work going on with Summer Xtreme, lots of creating and writing and so on.

Oh, and look here - the Halloween stuff is here.  Oh boy.  I guess that's just three months away, huh?  Right.  Well, we are looking forward to fall.

Check out this sunset tonight!  We went to taekwondo this evening, and that was nice.  Maddie was driving here, so I snapped a picture of the sunset as she focused on the road ahead.

We had a good day today.  The Braves won in Pittsburgh and that was fun to see, but they're definitely struggling a lot more than they were at the beginning of the season.  These victories are fun to see though - we were able to rewatch because the game was earlier.

Continuing to read tonight, more from the Discworld.  And after that, time for prayers and some sleep!

....

 ...Twenty-six year anniversary, work at the office, Braves win... updates coming soon...

Moving On

It's been a challenge this year with writing, as certain actors have dropped out because of availability issue, the most recent one being a fatal blow to the entire previous series script, because one actor qualified for state championships in swimming - which is taking place during Summer Xtreme.  He was a vital character, so suddenly I'm starting all over again, which of course is a precarious place to be with just a little over a week to go.  I'm super stressed, and it's showing up with the ol' health issues.  But I'm getting things done.  Sort of.  That's one reason why there's not as much writing here going on.  

Maddie is signed up for a driver's test next week, and that's crazy.  She'll do the ol' driver's course thing, and hopefully there won't be errant monster trucks nearby (see picture above for reference).  I'll be there with her at the DDS, but it's just the instructor and the driver in the car, so I just have to sit there in the waiting area.

So we've got all kinds of anniversaries coming up, of course tomorrow being our marriage anniversary.  But we're remembering the flowers that I got Mom in China when we were there on our anniversary.  We have a picture of Maddie handing them to her at the White Swan Hotel there.  

And as we were talking about all that, we were thinking about that Going Home Barbie doll that we received while there, a rather exclusive doll for parents adopting children from China.  We've been reading - and laughing at - people's writings who apparently think this Barbie doll is a representation of a "white savior."  Which is to say, these writers are apparently unfamiliar with the adoption process, or the process of trying to have a child and cannot, or the fact that adopted children from Asia are in fact "Asian saviors," as yes, Maddie saved us, and not the other way around.  

I suppose some may think Barbie is just buying another accessory here, and that's the problem:  people thinking about it too much.  Because it's just as easy to assume she can't have children and is struggling to become a parent and then going through this tremendous amount of research, time and effort just to cross the world and finally meet the very one the invisible red thread is connected to on the other side of the world.  Or here's another way to look at it:

Moving on, it was a busy day.  I think that was mentioned earlier.  We've been still good to take care of the birds each morning, and as we do we sing that song "Feed the Birds," but you have to do that in a weird Mickey Mouse accent because of that cartoon:

The three of us saw this cartoon on the last Disney Cruise, and it was so funny that we've been repeating it ever since.  

Our hydroponics lettuce is really thriving, and we've got tomatoes on the vine out there, and a pepper in the works.  Won't be long until we have a nice salad!

Tonight the Braves got crushed, 12-4.  It was largely by one single player who got ten RBIs against them throughout the game.  Hey, take away that one guy and we won 4-2, right?  Anyway, we'll get 'em tomorrow.  Speaking of which it's bedtime.  We did our reading, and how great to hear about the Discworld's famous LUGGAGE in a cameo within this book, "Unseen Academicals."  We said our prayers after reading, and the it was time for sleep.

...

 ... taekwondo, Rincewind's return, new outdoor table, Summer Xtreme work at the office, Braves lose again, updates coming soon...

At the Minions

So you can see how our morning was going here with the Minion out there greeting!  It was the start of our series, "At the Movies!"  We had our small Minion out there, and she was very popular, posting with a lot of the kids and families.  Maddie took the usual group of good pictures this morning, and I'll share just a few here.

But that's not all she took pictures of - KP Discovery was wanting a few pictures too, so she went down there and had a great time taking pictures of kids in the rooms and in the auditorium.  I don't have those shared here, except this one above, but she took some great ones of the little ones, all of which are on the church site now.  

It was a sleepy sort of restful day - sort of.  There's a lot of work to do for KidPak.  We saw the Braves almost have an epic comeback, falling just one run short.  Exciting game, even with the disappointing ending.  

Maddie was at Nate's and they were celebrating a birthday with the family there.  Maddie was bowling again, and she does well.  Maybe not as well as some of the other family members, but certainly on the same level as Nate!

Mom and I were watching that really long movie "Hail Mary," which was actually pretty good.  By the time it was over though, I was ready for sleep.  Tired from last night.  Still, a decent day.  Maddie and I read from the latest Discworld book, and then we were saying our prayers - and getting some sleep.

Happy Semiquincentennial!

 

Fourth of July!  We were over at Nana and Ye-Ye's house this afternoon, there for a big feast with hot dogs, hamburgers, corn, salads, beans, watermelon, and of course that really awesome jello flag!

This time there was a blue layer at the bottom, so there was red, white and blue.  Oh, and speaking of which, here's our Statue of Liberty chia pet!

Nice day.  We caught the Braves game, and it was pretty epic with all the home runs the Braves scored.  Fun game to watch there.  Nate came over tonight and walked around the neighborhood with Maddie, the two of them checking out all the fireworks. 

We were watching fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, and the epic fireworks display at Washington DC.  Unbelievable display up there.  It was impossible to see all the fireworks displays and music today, so we'll be checking out other shows and locations throughout the week, seeing all the celebrations across the country.   

Those local fireworks went on until 1:30am or so though, and that was a big much.  And then the rain storm hit us - lots of heavy rain and thunder.  But it was a good day overall, a final chance to say "Happy Semiquincentennial!"

We said our prayers after reading, and then got to sleep... eventually.  It was pretty late/early in fact.  Tomorrow's going to be a sleepy sort of day of rest!