Starlings

Look who's dropped by!  We've got a few starlings now, a very tentative pair, but the draw to the ol' water hole is strong when you find frozen water surfaces everywhere.  Mom and I have been boiling water and pouring that water over and into the bird bath outside, which has been frozen solid.  It will freeze right over again eventually as the temperature is below freezing.  But the water cools down and stays liquid enough for our back yard friends to get a thirsty drink.  Many of them do, including these starlings.

Nana says the starlings are a nuisance bird, a sort of bullying type.  We'll see how that works out - we've got a robin that is overly territorial sometimes, and of course the mourning dove patrol is a mass of fat birds that plops down wherever they want - the strength comes in size, and quantity.  The bluebirds find their way around, as do all the other birds.  Ironically, the biggest visitor to the back deck - a yellow-bellied woodpecker - is the shyest.  You have to be quiet and without any sudden movements to observe that one much.

It was a busy day at the office with a lot more moving, a lot more cleaning and a lot more purging of unused items, donating them to Goodwill.  We're moving forward and it's tough, but it'll be fine.  Meanwhile, Maddie's been at Chestatee Elementary where she'll be visiting for a good while now.  She's getting more comfortable, and she and Mrs. Garrett are getting along well in the school.  Maddie let out a smile and a sigh as one excited student was leaving with a lot of noise, a sort of "what can you do" sigh that got an audible response from Mrs. Garrett:  "I know, right?" 

We had taekwondo tonight and it was a thrilling night for Maddie because she was landing aerials in front of her instructors.  The thing is, these are standing aerials, and not the ones that use momentum.  So these are technically more difficult.  She hasn't even tried an aerial with momentum yet, but apparently that will be a lot easier.  This has been a long time coming, and she was so happy about this that she talked a lot about it on the way home, and even at home when we met Mom.

It was a decent day.  We're watching our usual programming, but we've been watching social media videos too, checking out other people's video logs of their cruise experience on the Disney Wish.  There's one family in particular that we've been enjoying and learning from - we just like to be prepared!  We're seeing all the food items, the room, the pools... it's been great fun getting tips while seeing all that's in store in about a month.

We read tonight, and we prayed together.  It's cold out there still, and believe it or not, it's about to get colder!