Blobfish Drawings

Tonight's feature was "The Great Race," which of course pits the Great Leslie and his sidekick Hezekiah against Professor Fate and Max.  Maggie Dubois is along for the ride, and of course there are a few other racers we see nothing of ever again rather quickly, thanks to the efforts of Professor Fate.  It's a long race, otherwise it wouldn't be a "great" one, and it's a super fun journey.  Mom was wanting to see this one again, so we all plopped on the couch after a long day, and got that fireplace roaring too.

The De-Santafication process continued in earnest today, and I'm sad to report that the ornaments on the piano room's tree are now down.  We stayed at home today, and did a lot of chores like that.  Mom cut my hair, as she's done for many years now.  I don't think I mentioned that here before, but I've only paid for about three hair cuts in the last twenty or so years.  Two of those were in the Magic Kingdom.

Nana and I were watching "The Cocoanuts" this morning, the first of the Marx Brothers movies.  This was from that DVD set I got yesterday for $4.  It's a really nice set, one that includes five movies and some bonus features - we started with the first one, a movie from 1929.  Mom doesn't quite get Harpo Marx, but I love the guy.  I remember cracking up at Harpo's scenes when I was a kid, so perhaps its the nostalgia.  But the wordplay is great too.  The movie's a bit dated, so the quality was a bit lower, but it was still a nice little morning viewing.

Madison was doing some art today, creating these comic pictures of blobfish, and then coloring them in.  We'll have to share them here, really!  She has a good idea for drawing freehand, looking at something and then sketching it down as she sees it.  

She's been doing a good bit of Minecraft lately, including today, but the other thing was the small group that she got involved in tonight, the one that she hasn't missed each Wednesday since the spring.  They were talking about the year 2020 tonight, which is a pretty interesting topic.  I think it may go down in history as something like 1929, which does not bode well of course for the following years.  So let us instead focus on the positive, and remind ourselves Who is with us, Who is for us, and not against us.

Along those lines, Madison, Mom and I have been starting a Bible study each night, one based on the the book of Judges.  I've been reading ahead to prepare somewhat, but each night we've been studying the stories of the Judges - we're just getting started, of course.  But it's been interesting to do back studies on Othniel, or study battle campaigns of Deborah and Barak, or try and figure out who's side Heber is actually on.  Tonight we read about Ehud, and I prepared Madison by letting her know, "this part is gross."  She was not disappointed!

I am doing better.  I think.  I did have to get away from everyone at one point - I took a bath, and just sat there in the tub, relaxing.  We had some peppermint bubblebath, which has just a hint of Christmas in it.  Actually, Mom has a few of those Christmas scents around the house, with diffusers blowing out a wonderfully fresh seasonal fragrance, and some hand soap in the bathroom downstairs that reminds you of a pine tree in snow.  

Madison is starting on her next recital piece.  I got a copy of a music sheet for "Married Life," and she was trying it out today.  I think this one might work for her, so she's going to look at it and see if it will be the right level of challenge - but not overwhelming - for her.  She really likes this piece of music from the movie "Up."  We all want to see it again, but with Nana in the house, we have to be super careful about our selections of movies.  The first five minutes of "Up" are notoriously "down," if you know what I mean.  

After our Bible study, we were back in Narnia again for "The Last Battle," which is such a somber book in places.  It's so intriguing that we read two chapters straight, and it appears as if we'll be blazing through this one rather quickly.  Madison wants to see what happens to the Friends of Narnia, and it's been a while for me, so I need a bit of a refresher too.  

The interesting thing about Narnia is the expanse of time that is not written about in between.  There are so many adventures that could be written about.  Even adventures with the four Pevensie children, as they actually grow up in Narnia, ruling there in peace for many years.  We read about their hunt of the white stag, which leads them to the lantern and the return to our earth, but before then are many years in which things happen, and many years that we don't know much about.  Only once do we get a glimpse of that, within the pages of "The Horse and His Boy," but certainly there is much that is left to the imagination.  

Anyway, it's great to be in Narnia, at least while things last.  And it's great to be here on earth, while it lasts.  The deceptions and destruction are similar.  The parallels to this story and ours here on earth are deliberate, of course.  This led to further discussion just before prayers tonight, about what is destined to come, and the importance of staying true to our beliefs.  That is yet another reason why we are so immensely grateful for the small group meetings for Madison each Wednesday night.  Camille and her co-host Lauren have been guides holding up lanterns of light amidst a very dark year, leading our children on and forward.  It is very comforting.

Okay, off to bed now.  We got so caught up in reading, it was midnight when we went to bed.  Ah, such is Christmas break.  And now it is officially the last day of 2020.  But we'll sleep some before we enjoy that final day.  And just to spite the reputation of this year, we'll do our very best to make it another good one.