Spacestation Flyover

It was a clear night tonight, and that was perfect viewing for the International Space Station, which you can see above.  It's the star there, the light in the midst of the evening sky.  We were on the phone with Nana and Ye-Ye, who hadn't seen it before, so from our own houses, we were looking upwards to see if we can spot it.  It wasn't hard to see at all, a silent star in orbit around the earth.  

Our snowman did okay today, although by day's end, the harsh sunlight certainly took its toll, which you can see in this picture above.

Still, I remember making this Sunday morning, and there's a substantial core of solid ice there.  You can see the squirrel coming by for a visit, as the plate of seeds has finally succumbed to heat and gravity.

Maddie was back at school today, and kind of disappointed about it, but who wouldn't be?  Well, I suppose early Maddie would be disappointed, as she couldn't wait to get back to school.  Other counties like Hall County are off today, more or less as a precaution.  Granted, they did get some more snow in certain areas northeast of here.  Still, any day off for snow - whether it's there or not - is a better one than having to go in.  At least that was my thinking going to school.  Maddie may be thinking the same thing!

It was a good day today.  We had some figure skating championships on the television throughout the day, and we started a new jigsaw puzzle with cats singing Christmas carols.  Mom found this one at a thrift store and decided that's the one we were going to do.  I was finishing up the escape room idea for St. Patrick's Day - all that's needed are a few tweaks and we're good to go.  I finished the book on President Grant, and learned a lot more about the election of 1876 with President Hayes too.  Inspired by this, I finally picked the new ornaments to get from the White House Historical Association's January sale - Grant and Hayes certainly.  I also picked up Eisenhower's and one that was really cut down in price, McKinley's.  I currently have ornaments for Lyndon Johnson, Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, John F. Kennedy, Teddy Roosevelt, and Benjamin Harrison too.  Obviously, there are plenty more Presidents to go to get the full set.  I believe Nixon is the new one for this year.  Each year I'll pick up five or six, so it might take a few years to get caught up.

Mom has had some incredible creative cooking lately.  Some of the soups she's put together have been so delicious, and the salads have been great too.  Maddie's diet has been a particular frozen pizza (cooked, of course), tater tots, ramen noodles, chicken nuggets, tacos, and gallons and gallons of green tea.  She goes through so many bottles of those things.

We read tonight, moving forward in this latest Kingdom Keepers book, and then we said our prayers afterwards.  It was a decent day today.