Run Home Jack

We're doing this baseball series in March, and moving along with the booklet rather quickly here.  One maze that I sort of drew up was this one you see above, which combines baseball with another beloved theme:  pirates!  If you get this reference above, you're a bigger fan of the movie "Hook."  I'm amazed at what AI does perpetually, but this one was a lot of fun the way it created these coloring sheet images of Jack Banning up to bat and Smee ready to pitch a baseball in Neverland.  And of course, the two celebrating together at the end.  The maze I drew up.  It's a little squished there, but it works.  Speaking of AI, here are a few more things we did:

 

This was a matching game I created for a booklet for "Better Together," but this weekend we'll do a larger scale version of this on stage, a game of "Concentration" where contestants have to make the right matches.

One amusing things was a graphic idea we were discussing for "BOOT CAMP," a series we plan on doing in May. 

It's a simple design that Camille came up with, and not too bad, still Josh was asking if there was anything we could do to make it more exciting.  That's when I suggested, "Fireworks, a Abrams tank, a soaring American eagle, gold medals, the Statue of Liberty looking aggressive, Abraham Lincoln with a machine gun, large exploding foreign buildings in the background, and Lee Greenwood on the side part there."

And so here we go with AI again - Camille thought it would be funny to plug all that into AI, along with the original image to see what would come out:

'Merica!  

This can be a pretty fun tool!  In fact, we were working on a song today for the stage.  I wrote the lyrics up, and plugged it into our favorite AI song generator to see what would come up, and I think we may have something useful for the weekend.

We haven't heard anything at all from Maddie, nor are there any pictures.  Bailee was up there though, and she said that Maddie was with a group of friends there and seemed to be settled in and having a good time, so that was great to hear.

We got this really good cake today, a wheat-free torte from a bakery in Braselton especially made for one of our coworkers at the church.  It was so rich that she gave us this fairly substantial section of it to try out tonight, and oh my goodness.  It was so good.  It reminded me of pretty much my favorite desert from the Disney Cruise last year.  So delicious.  Mom and I were sharing some of that tonight, and we have plenty leftover for tomorrow night too!

I just have to stop eating these conversation hearts.  Valentine's Day brings these tempting treats along, and I keep eating them.  Why?  Because they're there!

Tonight, Mom and I were of course watching the Olympics tonight, the half-pipe qualifiers, freestyle ski moguls, and the entire men's team curling match between the US and Czechia.  That's so hard to get used to, the new name of an entire country.  I'm so old I remember calling it Czechoslovakia, and that took a while to stop saying.  In fact, I still call it that from time to time.  But now it's "Czechia."  The world is fluid place.  We beat Czechia, by the way.  It was a close game with a lot of misses on both sides, but our curlers came out on top at the end with a victory in their first team game.

Time for bed now. 

"End of the Story"

Maddie is off to Woodlands Camp with the other college students, a retreat that was scheduled for a month ago only to be postponed due to all that winter weather.  She left around noon today to head up there, and we'll probably hear back from her in a couple days when all is said and done.  

Oh look - we finished the puzzle!  This is that "Odd Pieces" puzzle that we started recently.  It's a unique puzzle in that the starting image on the box (and posters inside the box) show a landscape with some problems for the people, like a potential wedding cake disaster, electricity going out, lost mail, or trouble with cats or dogs.  The short comic you read to start out with shows today being the day of the big wedding - but of course that's when the trouble starts.  Fortunately, these little ghost characters come to the rescue, fixing all the problems.  Here's some close-ups of the finished puzzle:

After finishing the puzzle, there's a checklist that you can do, looking for various items within the puzzle, and then after that there's one final envelope that shows the "end of the story."  I won't spoil that, but I will say that this puzzle was a lot of fun to put together!

So tonight we were watching the Olympics again, and that'll be the theme for the next few weeks.  The Men's figure skating was a big moment, and the mixed team curlers did well, getting silver medal.  We've enjoyed watching these curling matches, but I love the other sports too, including some speed skating, short track racing, and some freestyle jumps too.  Oh, and that team ski jump was fun, the one with the siblings winning the gold medal.  Great stuff!

Hopefully Maddie's having a good time up there in White County.  That's not too far from where I grew up.  The weather outside was nice today.  We'll get rain in the morning, but it should clear up and be a good retreat, we hope.  

That's a Stretch

Back to taekwondo tonight, and it was a fun night for the gang as they did a few great rounds of sparring with combat weapons, as you can see below:

We were watching that, but then there were all the other usual things I do as watching Maddie and the others train.  For example, there was reading to get done:  I'm still plugging away at this Perry Stone commentary Bible, reading through Isaiah right now.  And I'm also working on this new book from Pastor Franklin, "The Power of Short Prayers."  It's really good.  Also, I'm still plugging away at setting all these Psalms to music with an AI program - tonight was this rollicking Irish themed version of Psalm 35.  All the while, Maddie and the team were working hard - Maddie is training up for her competition soon.  We registered her for that, and it's going to take place in March.  We got the same hotel as last year, so all that is lined up.

I am officially finished with the Elvis virtual marathon, having walked from Tupelo to Graceland here, and I wrapped up the journey on the treadmill while taking a POV virtual tour of Graceland for about a half-hour.  Short walk, but it was the final one, and I'll be excited to get that medal in a few weeks.  This was a fun theme to march along to.  I'm weighing options for the next virtual walk, and I might just go overseas to Ireland.

The Winter Games are continuing:  we were thrilled to see the US Mixed Doubles team win their game in the playoffs and earn the right to go to the gold medal round.  They've been playing very well, and we've been investing a lot of our time watching this event, not just highlights but the full games to really capture the strategy, tension, and just incredible moments when a perfect shot slides right where it's supposed to land.  We're also watching the figure skating.  While at taekwondo, Mrs. Edge and I were talking about getting all caught up in it - while there we were literally watching some games on my laptop - the snowboarding big air finals, and even the men's luge races. 

We read tonight from the Discworld, of course, although we'll put a pause on that for a few nights as Maddie is going on a retreat tomorrow.  We said our prayers before sleeping.  It was a good day today.

Snow Break's Over

Fun morning at KidPak!  We had a great service and it was wonderful to be back.  Here are a few pictures Maddie took of our skit, one that featured a lot of cootie catchers.  The cast did a fantastic job with this one, adding a lot of zany behavior as we told the story of Abram leaving his home of Ur.  

This morning was pretty neat in the back yard - there were three deer there!  We don't usually see deer in our back yard, so that was kind of neat.  On the other hand, tonight we saw another guest visit our back porch, one that came right up to the window to say hello.

Yeah, we'll have to bring some of that bird seed and so forth inside now, as we don't want the region's population of possums on our back deck.  I remember one time seeing about four.  I'm sure once the word spreads that there's leftover bird seed or something back there, the whole possum clan will head on over to our place for a possum jamboree!

Anyway, moving on, today was Super Bowl Sunday.  Maddie went over to Nate's place, because his family has a big Super Bowl party.  She had a great time - they had the traditional All-American Super Bowl food and snacks - the game was somewhat of a bust, as the Seattle Seahawks were pretty dominant.  At least that is what I hear!  Mom and I were literally watching the US team against Sweden in curling at that time.  In fact, we had all kinds of Olympic events playing throughout the day, starting with the skiing event, where we picked up our first gold medal.  Seeing Breezy Johnson get so emotional as it sunk in that she won - that was amazing.  And the deathly quiet atmosphere as the injured Lindsey Vonn was taken away by helicopter was such a powerful moment. 

We watched the American figure skating team win gold today too, but the Japanese figure skaters are so incredibly good.  So many stories and backgrounds and histories - it's so compelling.  Later on tonight I was watching the snowboard slalom as well, the knock-out round races - intense and thrilling finishes!

Great stuff.  Tonight Maddie got home a lot later because of the game, so we said our prayers and got to bed.  Got to get up early tomorrow!

Valentine's Day Gingerbread

Nate came over to join us for another Valentine's Day tradition, something we do each year:  create a Valentine's Day gingerbread house!

Here it is, their final product together.  There just might be a lot more decorations eaten this time around.  Just saying!

This morning Maddie had taekwondo with Team Edge, and it was a day for some flips and tumbles.  There was a good it of training, and Maddie was helping as an instructor.  But those additional mats came out, and that's when all the students go one by one down towards the cushion area and try their hand at some tumbles and flips.  Maddie did fairly well, but the entire group was just getting back into the swing of things.

Meanwhile, I was back on that trail outside in the colder temperatures, walking from the martial arts studio all the way to the campus at what was Gainesville College, all that it is now North Georgia.

Graffiti art at the underpass along the way.

I plugged in the milage for the virtual journey to Graceland - and got the post card for that today!

Almost there!  One more day of walking, and I'll be right there - virtually - on the front steps.  It's been a fun journey.  As I've been walking on the treadmill, I've seen ten Elvis movies, the '68 special, and that concert in Hawaii in '73.  It's been fun!  They show you where you are on the map as you walk through Memphis, send clips of musical performances, plus all kinds of slide shows from Elvis' history and various areas where he lived, raised horses, and of course big life events.  It's been great, and it won't be long before I get that Elvis medal. 

Nate was here all day - he and Maddie watched quite a few of the episodes of "Wonder Man" together, as Nate hasn't seen the rest of that show yet.  They nearly got through all of them, arriving at episode six.  I think they'll revisit the series tomorrow, and meanwhile I was puzzling on that 1,000 piece puzzle that I've been working on all by myself lately, but it's been a lot of fun.  Maybe next one I can get some help from the rest of the family, right?  Mom and I do puzzles - all the usual online ones each day like Wordle, Connections, Strands and a mini-crossword.  We're pretty faithful to do these each day.

Anyway, it was a decent day.  Mom's been struggling with the detox a bit, but things are going okay later on.  Time for some sleep, as we're getting up early for church tomorrow!

Opening Ceremonies

Busy night tonight!  I was over at the church helping with the movie night we had planned.  We didn't have much time to promote this one that was on the schedule, mainly because the last two Sundays we haven't had church.  But we were pushing it online and a decent amount of kids were there.  Over time, we've come to the decision that the newer movies are actually not the ones that hold the most interest of the kids, mainly because in most cases they've already seen the movies.  That being said, we're in this interesting season where we're going to older movies that are legendary in our own minds, but these kids haven't seen them yet.  In fact, these kids were born years after these movies were released.  So movies like "The Emperor's New Groove," "Epic," or in the case of tonight, "Meet the Robinsons."  Such a classic movie!  All the feels, and one of the greatest villains in Disney canon.  It's one of our favorites.

So today the 2026 Winter Games officially started, and we were watching the Opening Ceremonies as they were happening live, somewhere around 1:45 pm or so Eastern Time.  

This ceremony was really well done.  It had the feel of a traditional Opening Ceremony with some really amazing visuals and stunning epic moments.  Listening to Nessun Dorma never gets old, Andrea Bocelli's version tonight was just magical.  It's a song I remember from so long ago, from somewhere in the 90's when I had season tickets to the opera.  Those were some of the first dates Mom and I went on, dressing up and heading out to the opera.  Good times!

We read tonight as Commander Vimes continues fleeing for his life from a pack of werewolves - a nightmare, but one exciting ride.  This part of "The Fifth Elephant" has been a fun adventure, including an inevitable visit from DEATH, who always brings some unexpected laughs.

 

Big Burrito

Okay, so today after college we dropped by a place called Big Burrito.  With a name like that, it was inevitable that we drop by.  Maddie likes the Mexican food, and of course any opportunity to add hot sauce to her meals.  I made a vow some time last year that I would have to drop by here some time soon and, and yes, I wouldn't get a taco because if you're going to a place called Big Burrito, you need to get a burrito, right?

And yes, it was in fact a big burrito.  I was not able to finish it.  I think I got a little over halfway through it, in fact.  I think that if Mom and I split a big burrito, we still wouldn't have finished the whole thing.  Anyway, it was a nice visit.  The place was very busy - it took us a second swing around the parking lot to get a parking space.  

We got home and I've been doing a lot of work today with a KidPak event tomorrow night.  But I did get to marching towards Memphis, virtually at least.  While walking along, rather than do another Elvis movie, I got to see the Elvis 1968 Comeback Special for the first time.  It was great - it's been a great theme to walk to.  I think there are only a few more days left until I get to Graceland.

Maddie had taekwondo tonight, and I was sneaking off to get a Valentine's Day card I spotted a few weeks ago, something picked up from Cracker Barrel of all places.  I saw they had some cards there, something a little different.

I got to see Maddie helping out with the younger kids, and then training some more with leadership afterwards.  It's Master Edge's birthday today, and that was fun for everyone.  

Happy birthday!  There were all kinds of gifts and balloons and celebrations tonight.  We went straight home after this to get to Mom, who's been feeling a little rough with this detox thing lately.  On the way home, I had this CD playing with this didgeridoo - we got this music back in 2015 when we saw a guy performing at what was Downtown Disney.  It was such a unique performance with a didgeridoo.  Maddie recalled getting a guitar pick from this performer, and we neither Mom or I remember that at all.  And yet, sure enough, when we opened up the CD package, out fell a guitar pick with the performer's name on it.  Pretty fun!  

Today is Day Negative One of the Winter Olympics, and we watched the Big Air competition, watching these thirty or so athletes compete to see who can be in the top twelve for the final on Saturday.  We were happy at least one American made it in - and disappointed two others fell short.  The one Australian guy that came out of nowhere with a huge jump was the big moment of the day for sure.  Tonight we watched Norway versus the United States in curling's and I thought for sure at the end the Norwegians would get the win, as they had the "hammer" and we had left an opening for them to win.  But their stone fell just short, and after such a long game, it was awesome to see the United States win.  We're watching the US women's ice hockey team later here - the camera is showing the Vice President and Secretary of State watching from the audience, which is cool.  The Olympics are here, and it's going to be a fun two weeks!

We closed up the night with a different sort of winter event - Commander Vimes running for his life in the cold and snow, trying to escape some treacherous villains in Überwald.  

It's an exciting little segment and we're wondering how Vimes will make his escape!  The Plush Entourage was on hand as always to hear this latest development, and I'm sure everyone will be excited to see what will happen next!

We said our prayers after this, and yeah, it was time for some sleep!

Worth Melting For

Maddie's working on her Marcom project, the advertisement for an Easter production that we're not doing this year, but may be doing a year from now.  One big bit of news is that we are certainly doing a Christmas production this year.  Or at least that's the current plan, okay?

The temperature has been warmer, but our snowman is hanging in there.  The seeds all over him keep the bird visitors coming.  We've ordered so many seeds lately because we have such a huge bird population on our back deck.  It's an impressive collection of visitors!

Today is Day Negative Two of the Milan Winter Olympic Games, meaning the Opening Ceremonies and official start is in two days.  Nevertheless, the schedule is such that there are a few events and games already starting there in Italy because there's so many teams and competitions to squeeze in a set time.  Any reader of this blog knows how much of a fan we are of the Olympic Games, so that said, you know what we were watching tonight:  curling!  Yes, we watched the entire match between Great Britain and Norway.  

Both teams were really solid, and the score seemed close, although Great Britain had the hammer at the end and it was sort of theirs to lose.  But it was great fun to watch, and after that we watched the premiere of something really great:  The Muppet Show.  That's right, it's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights!  

The old-school Muppet Show is back, and it was a half-hour of nostalgic fun with some genuinely hilarious moments.  There was such creativity and such wonderful magic.  We loved it so much.  We'll probably be watching more Muppet stuff in the coming days, mainly because I'm just a big kid I guess.  We actually set aside a half-hour today at the office to sit and watch this, that's how much we're big fans, folks!

Anyway, it was a fun day today.  I'm still marching along towards Memphis with this virtual Elvis-themed walk - we should be done with that in a few days, and then I'll earn that medal.  Can't wait to get that one!  Tonight we read from the Discworld before bed, and we said our prayers.  Time to get some sleep.  Mom and I are doing this parasite cleansing thing with the detox program, and let's just say it's been a little too effective lately.  Let's try to get some sleep!

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It's Groundhog Day. Again.

Here we are at Groundhog Day once again, and this is a unique one because there's actually snow on the ground!  You can see our own groundhog here has seen his shadow in the snow, and yep, that means six more weeks of winter.  We've got his t-shirt turned to show six more weeks, but what did Phil see (or not see) up in Punxsutawney?

Mom and I watched the celebration this morning, just like we've been doing for many years now, and this year looked cold!  It also looked pretty packed up there, with everyone jumping up and down and having a great time.  The Inner Circle came in and the ceremony got going, and sure enough, Phil came outside into the cold air - although he looked a little sleepy this morning.  Did he see his shadow?  Yes, he did - and that means six more weeks.  But what about General Beau down in Jackson?

Not the greatest video quality there, but General Beau ... also saw his shadow.  Looks like we're in for a longer winter, folks!

Yes, it's cold out there, but not as frigid as this weekend.  Our snowman is melting somewhat, nevertheless.  But there is another polar vortex event heading our way, and perhaps these clever groundhogs have seen the forecast for February:  it's going to be a cold month!

Maddie was off to school this morning - the roads were fine, although the one area in front of our house in the shade is still a big long patch of completely-covered-with-ice road.  Once you get past that, you're okay.  While Maddie was at class, we were with our specialist who is helping us through the detox program.

Meanwhile, Maddie is making her own ad campaign for the Easter production (that isn't taking place!) at Free Chapel this year.  She's been doing some good material for marketing, and learning to use the programs. 

Tonight, Maddie was at taekwondo.  But look who else was here to watch the team practice and train!

It's a tradition for our groundhog Chuck to show up at taekwondo if it falls on Groundhog Day.  He was positioned at the window, and got some funny looks from the students.  He was enjoying his big day though, watching Maddie do some practice moves.

Meanwhile, I was getting my walking in for the day - outside.  It was in the low 40's, but I kept moving and it was all good, mainly because I was discovering more on this trail.  Usually I'm going off to the left, past the Chicopee Church there and into the woods.  I thought the trail dead-ended to the right, but in fact, it goes underneath the busy road via a tunnel.  And the tunnel is actually painted in places with a mural!

Not only that, the trail goes through the woods, over a stream and straight over to the college.  Pretty cool!  And yes, and speaking of that it was pretty cold outside.  I walked back to the martial arts place from that point, having been out in the cold about an hour.

But hey!  That added another couple miles to my virtual path I've been walking, and that put me over 80% done on my march towards Graceland, and it also got me another post card!

Just nine miles to go!  I've got to pick one more Elvis movie here for the virtual path, but thus far I've seen a lot of 'em along the way.  There's plenty more if I want to do this again next year - he made a lot of fun movies.  And speaking of movies, tonight's flick was obvious:

We ate some Groundhog Day cookies and watched "Groundhog Day" tonight before bed.  It's such a classic, one of my favorites ever. 

Tonight we got to sleep pretty quickly, after reading from our latest book and saying prayers.  It was a good day today, made sweeter by the time we get to spend together.