Big Butterfly

Look at this beauty!  I spotted him from the deck, and went down to visit with it while it was going from flower to flower in our garden.  We've had all kinds of bees down there, and hummingbirds too!  We have at least two hummingbirds, maybe more, that come along on a consistent basis.  Sadly, we haven't had any evidence of fruit from those pumpkins down there, despite all the blooming flowers and rapidly spreading vines.  It's a fast-growing pumpkin patch... minus the pumpkins.  

We had taekwondo this morning, Team Edge practicing and running through drills.  It wasn't the full class, just like the last Saturday practice.  That time, it was because of Forward.  This time, there are just a lot of people going off for summer vacations.  Once again, we don't get a summer vacation this year, as we have an anchor that keeps us weighted down here to the house.  But again, we're looking for different day trips to get us out and about and at least having a bit of fun elsewhere.  

Speaking of which, Mom and I were getting ready to go out this morning, when a note slid underneath the door.  It read:  DAD SMELLS BAD.  I CAN SMELL HIM ALL THE WAY OUT HERE.

Thank you Maddie.  Today she and I were at the Death Star in a game of LEGO Star Wars, playing that for a bit before a little later on, we headed out together for some shopping.  Our destination was Target, which is a store we used to go to all the time.  We were there for Camille's and Chris's wedding shower registry, and guess who we ran into there?  Camille and Chris!  Yeah, we met them at the entrance inside and talked for a good long while until... the power went out.  Yeah, a transformer blew out and shut down power in the whole store.  There was no evidence of any storms or bad weather outside.  Emergency lights came on, and it didn't take long for management to decide that perhaps the best thing to do is get everyone out of there, slowly.  There really wasn't any reason to panic, of course.  But we had our conversation with our friends anyway, and they were on their way out the door.  We were on our way in... but the power situation changed our plans this afternoon.  We drove down to the Flowery Branch location, and ran into even more Free Chapel friends there, and finally did our shopping for the registry there.  Again, Mom and I don't like Target that much anymore.  We did pick up what we needed, along with some nice wrapping paper from their limited selection, and soon enough, we were on our way back home.

I grilled some burgers, and made cheeseburgers for Nana and myself, always a great thing to do on the back deck there in the summer time.  We were chasing off those annoying squirrels too, the ones that want to empty our bird feeders.  Squirrels ruin everything.  Although these squirrels do not have the chance to ruin everything, given that when we are gone, we take in the bird feeders, removing that temptation.  However, while here, Maddie is happy to dish out the consequences if they try to get to the feeders.  It's such a long journey for them up the back deck, and Maddie gleefully sneaks out there with a glass full of water, ready to drop it right on top of them from above as they try to escape her watery judgment.

We had some thunderstorms early today, and then late at night, so we're thankful for the free watering of the plants today.  In fact, I haven't had to go out and do that in quite some time.  I do enjoy it though it takes some time to do.

Tonight's movie feature was "Guys and Dolls."  We saw the play last week, of course, and so some of the songs and moments and lines were stuck in our minds.  It's a longer movie, and I was surprised that Frank Sinatra doesn't actually sing "Luck Be a Lady" in the movie, when that's one of his signature songs.  My favorite song in there is still "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat."  It's a fun musical, and although not my favorite, it has a fun story and some great songs.  

We said our prayers tonight, and after that, it was time for reading a bit and an early night.  We have a pretty full day tomorrow, and it's going to be memorable.