New Year's Eve

We got to check out one of our Christmas toys today, a bird feeder/camera that took a moment or two to set up, but already we're getting some visits and some fun little pictures of our usual visitors.  Some of these aren't the sort of pictures you'd publish in an ornithology book, but they are still fun nonetheless.  What's interesting is that the camera senses when something interesting is there at the feeder and then records that visit, and then lets you know either as it is happening or perhaps later.  So the app on the phone tells you this or that bird arrived, and in some cases correctly identifies it too.

Pretty fun!  Today was the last day of the year, and we had an unexpected visitor for a good bit - Nate came by to visit, and stayed here for a good bit with Maddie.  They were playing Mario games and Battlefront as well.  

I'm walking down the virtual path and am at another place I remember visiting in reality.  There was a virtual post card for me (above), and some pictures from a temple I remember visiting with Mom and Nana and Ye-Ye back in 2008, just before going forward and into the Forbidden City.  

But ultimately, we all got engaged in a Dominoes countdown!  

We went through twelve rounds of this as the clock counted down to midnight.  We had on the television a couple of live feeds from people down at the Magic Kingdom's New Year's party - they were riding rides, listening to concerts, and of course there was the big fireworks celebration at midnight.

Yes, there was the sparkling apple cider too!  Maddie loves this so much.  We each had a glass, and basically Maddie had the rest of the bottle!  We gave a little toast for the new year before Nate had to get going.

If you're wondering what this is, it's a possum in a glowing sphere.  Each year in Tallapoosa, Georgia, they lower a possum, just like they lower that ball at Times Square in New York City.  And of course there's a big list of other odd things that are lowered from great heights at midnight, like giant fish, a beach ball, a lobster, a giant pickle and more.  But this one is something my sister and her kids had to go and see for themselves:

This was pretty much exactly everything they thought it would be, which wasn't a spectacular event by any means.  In fact, in this case they made it sound like I was glad not to go.  Which is one of those I seem to be okay with - going off to stand around in the freezing cold for hours to watch a ball or any other random object drop doesn't sound like a huge amount of fun, no matter how much loud music is playing!

We were not out and about tonight, but we were together at home to kick off 2026.  It was a nice quiet way to finish a really great year together.  So much happened in 2025, and it's amazing to look back on - this blog helps.  It was a good year, but I hear that 2026 is going to be even better.

Happy New Year!

David and the Mellow Mushroom

It sure is cold outside!  We woke up with a pretty solid reminder that it is still in fact winter out there, yesterday's cold front pushing some rather dramatic changes into the region.  In other words, "Baby it's Cold Outside."  We stayed indoors for the most part today, although we did go out at one point for dinner and a movie.  The dinner?

Mellow Mushroom!  This is the last time I'm going there this year, by gum.  We picked up Nate and drove over first to Matthews Printing to pick up our new booklets, and then go get some lunch/dinner at Mellow Mushroom.  That was nice, of course.  Maddie and Nate got wings, while Mom and I shared our gluten free Pacific Rim (minus the jalapeño peppers!).  

Afterwards, we went over to the theater to see the animated motion picture, "David," a new movie for this season.  It was pretty good, covering a lot of ground from the Bible over the course of a short movie.  We enjoyed it!

We got some work done today with the service on Sunday, getting some keynote slides made.  Mom was working on bills and we were both cleaning up a little bit inside.  I walked another three miles or so on the treadmill, all while finishing up with the latest movie from the Rocky-verse, "Creed."  I really, really enjoyed that one.  Can't wait to start on "Creed II" next, and hopefully finish up with "Creed III" right after, finally finishing up the Rocky marathon.  It's been a great visit in the boxing ring.  It's the characters that keep you coming back, and these are so good.  Speaking of "so good," Mom got me some new sneakers for the treadmill and these are so comfortable and really add some bounce to my steps.  They were a great Christmas preset that I got to try out today.

Tonight Maddie and I read from our "Monk" book another couple chapters, and after that it was time for prayers.  Mom and I saw a version of "A Christmas Carol" that we'd never seen before, a musical one from 2004 with some great songs.  But it's late now, and time for some sleep.  Tomorrow's a big day, the last day of 2025!

Gainesville Glows: Lights and Lanterns

We went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in Gainesville tonight, visiting their Christmas light display for the first time.  This year is their first time doing the lights, as they usually do a Christmas tree trail where different people and groups decorate trees in a certain way along the path.  We've done that in the past, of course, but this year they're doing the lights, and it actually looks pretty good.  One new thing is the parking lot - we're suddenly turning a different way, and now having to pay five dollars to park.  Hopefully that won't continue, as it would put somewhat of a damper on the ol' season pass.

One thing about tonight:  it was so cold.  We had a plunge in temperatures overnight, and a lot of wind blowing in too.  We layered up anyway, picking up Nate and heading over there for a quick visit.  It is a quick visit.  There's the one trail, and there are plenty of decorations along the way.  There's also the grassy lawn area where the hummingbirds hang out in the summer, and that's where you can make s'mores and have hot chocolate.  I got hot chocolate for the four of us, and Maddie and Nate roasted some marshmallows by the fire.  There are some light displays there that are pretty cool, but soon enough, we were on our way off onto the trail.

There were plenty of things to see along the trail, including the usual light tunnel that you see at these sort of things.  It's still pretty neat, and it wasn't so crowded tonight so I could snap a picture of Mom in the tunnel.  There was a large light tree, and a lot of snowflakes hanging very high up in the trees.  There were orbs of light hovering over the descending waterfall, and large insects like bees and grasshoppers made from the lights as well.  Our favorite was the one labeled Santa Mantis early on.  

There was plenty to see along the way, and we really did enjoy it.  The weather was pretty chilly, but we were dressed appropriately and besides, all this warm weather just doesn't feel like the sort of weather to go out and see Christmas lights in.  Nate and Maddie were off walking along on their own for a bit, but we all met up by the end of the trail, just in time to get back inside.  We looked around the shop for a bit again, warmed up, and were on our way home soon after that.  Here are some more pictures I took tonight of Gainesville Glows:  Lights and Lanterns

It was a good day.  Once again, this blog has devoured all the words that I wrote about this day - you spend all this time writing and this blog decides to erase all of it for no apparent reason.  Just imagine the most wonderful creative writing you can, all wiped away.

Let's try again.  Obviously shorter, and in more frustrated tones.  Let's see, we woke up.  It was windy.  Yep, lots of wind.  How's that?  I had a bit written in there about powerful arctic gales, but we'll leave it at:  it was super super windy today.  Our little front porch trees toppled a few times, but I got them righted.  Can't imagine all the other Christmas decorations out there.  It probably looks like that opening scene from the animated "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" with stuff blowing around.

Maddie learned to make her own dang quesadillas this morning.  Mom gave her a lesson, and sure enough, later on tonight she was cooking them up.  

She was wanting to have some of that hot sauce with those quesadillas, those bottles of fire she got for Christmas from Nate and from us as well.  Hot sauce is a quick and easy gift for Maddie.  Also one that's quickly consumed!

Here's some more imagery I'm uploading a second time:  our amaryllis!  It's in full bloom now, looking perfect for the holidays.  I'm glad we were able to find this one.

Today I was on that treadmill a good bit more, continuing with "Creed," the next movie in the Rocky-verse.  I'm not sure if I can get to all of them by the end of the year, but "Creed" is the seventh movie of nine, I think.  They've been good!  

The virtual journey I'm on with the latest medallion on the way is one that goes to the Forbidden City.  It's been okay - not too many post cards on this one, and the map is an actual street map, so it's not much to look at.  The distance is something that is real, as you're moving from one point to another along that actual map.  The post card above is of a place we actually were a few years ago, and now we're walking pretty quickly towards that endpoint, the Forbidden City itself.  

It was a quiet day today, and a cold one!  We got a few things done.  Mom did bills all day, largely, and I was moving books off the shelves.  I had a thought about reselling them, but these online services only give you about twenty eight cents for a big book, and that might not be worth the effort.  I did make an appointment for our car to get looked at - we're down to one car at the moment, and it'll be good to have two.  We're packing up things and all at a relaxed pace, and we're also still getting things set up for this weekend's KidPak service.  Yes, that's still on, of course, where we're starting our new "bug themed" series, "World of Wonder."  I finished the script today, and I think it'll be fun.

We closed out tonight with our usual reading.  We're basically reading an episode of a "Monk" show, a novel that revisits the characters, and it's not too bad.  Maddie and I are enjoying it so far.  We'll see how things go as we continue reading.  We said our prayers after that, and then it was time to get under a huge pile of blankets.  Baby it's cold outside!