Gnome Building

First off, today is 9-11, which was remembered by many of us today who were alive at the time.  Which there are a lot of people who were not alive at the time, including Maddie.  The news today was still mostly about the Queen's passing, with 9-11 tributes here or there, but it's a story that's gotten archived in a way like Pearl Harbor or JFK's assassination.  Which is to say it's a immensely tragic event in our history, but many people today were not personally affected by it as much, simply because they weren't alive at the time.  It's a painful day to relive, of course.  It's important to remember, like the Holocaust or the sacrifice of our soldiers on D-Day.  It's just not something you want to actively relive.  And yet, you can see how easily things slip into the past, as this was not just an isolated terrorism incident, but a darkness manifest that transformed the world.  We did remember today, and those of us who were alive at the time shared memories of that awful day, of course praying that it wouldn't happen again.

We were at church this morning, and the service went really well.  Maddie and the other cast members did a great job with a short skit that brought laughs and groans too, and of course the bottom line about confidence.  It was a solid morning throughout.

After getting home, we were delighted to have some shepherd's pie waiting for us, and some of those delicious Red Lobster cheese biscuits too.  I got a mix for Mom that had a gluten-free recipe to it, so we had ourselves a pretty nice meal there at lunch. 

Nana was restless as usual, so we had the television.  I tried taking a nap, but she wasn't having that, wandering upstairs and downstairs and upstairs and downstairs.  She'll spend more time announcing that she's taking a nap than actually taking a nap.  We've had a British news agency on the television, broadcasting updates about the transition in the monarchy, and that occasionally holds her interest.  Yesterday we had this super full day, but she doesn't remember things from day to day so well.  For example, this morning she arose and was surprised to learn that the Queen had passed away.  She's been surprised about this several times so far.

Mom was spending her time working on the gnome scarecrow tonight, and it's nearly finished.  It looks pretty good, actually, fitting the mandate and really fitting in with the natural theme that she was going for.  Those little woodland creatures we picked up from Michael's some time ago really work well with this creation.  

Maddie was with her headphones on, studying a good bit today.  Later on, we were watching the next installment of "Rings of Power" which was again really good.  We're actually enjoying this one quite a bit right now.  We usually have to watch a few extra programs afterwards on social media in order to see the details we missed or learn about the lore and actual background from the books of Middle Earth.  On the surface, the storylines have been intriguing to follow.  Particularly in this episode, the cinematography has been outstanding - we really feel like we're in Middle Earth again.  Anyway, it's been a good show thus far, just three episodes in.

I finished the new "Cars on the Road" series too, and was delighted to see the return of Cruz for the last episode.  This series is made of eleven-minute episodes, and each one was super fun.  I am apparently a big kid at heart, because I'd much rather watch this sort of thing than many other types of programs out there.  I just love the "Cars" characters and was glad to see so many come back, even if it was for just one episode or two.  The only one I missed seeing this series was Miss Fritter, the monster truck bus.  I guess they already had one monster truck in this series, so that might have been too much.  Anyway, I loved it, and will probably watch it again.  Because I'm just a kid inside when Cars is on.  Speaking of which, I just bought a "Cars" video game - maybe Maddie and I can do some racing later on!

Anyway, tonight we got to bed earlier.  But then we spent more time reading from this latest exciting chapter of "The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of the Ages."  It featured skydiving, ground-diving, traps, telepathy, Nomanisan Island, and a lot more - there was no place to put the book down, so we just kept reading and reading until this longer chapter ended.  We're moving through the book pretty fast now, and it's another great story.

We said our prayers together tonight, and after tucking in Maddie, it was time for comments about how bad each other smells, and then a good night's rest.