Got a scary text from Ashley this morning saying that Miles had contracted COVID. This is especially concerning since we just had the grandgirls over for an extended period of time. Father, protect us from this virus. Amen!

Studied Spanish.

OYB!

Brain training.

Cleaned and filled bird feeders and baths.

Went to Stone Mountain to record an episode of Verbal Surgery called, “The First Time.”

Good talk with my Mom today.

Because of the Covid situation in our family, K, Jess and I will go for testing early tomorrow morning just to make sure we’re negative for the virus.

The pollen has been especially bad for me this year and I’d rather know it’s allergies rather than if I possibly have Covid. I’ve had a lot of headaches the last couple of weeks.

Watered my plants.

I was looking at 23 and Me our genetic test and read this.

How to have more creative children.

Who’s the happiest in the world?

Funny. Seeing that I just dealt with a septic tank issue!

Proof positive!

The grandgirls spent the night Friday night, so the blog contains both days!

Beautiful sunrise on Friday.

Spanish!

Back to cold weather.

Love my girls!

Septic guys came over to clean out my tank. What I thought was going to be a $300 charge turned out to be $1,500! They had to completely drain the tank and septic field to get everything back in order. Life is more important than toilets. But toilets are pretty damn critical.

I was astonished and grossed out that he just stuck his hand down into that fecal matter WITH NO GLOVES ON!

Covered it back up.

The glass on our table outside cracked. I broke it up into smaller pieces so I could carry it to the garbage.


Spent a long time cleaning up the tiny shards of glass.

Cleaned the driveway after the septic truck was there. It leaked some oil.

Nearly .5″ of rain.

Cleaned the front door glass.

Cleaned and refilled my hummingbird feeders for the first time this year. Looking forward to having my little friends back soon. I hope!

I bought this little blue guitar for Penelope several years ago. It was really getting beat up which made me sad because it sounds great. I cleaned it, worked on the tuning pegs, and put new strings on it.

I played some songs for them from what we listen to during our drives. They were dancing and having so much fun! I look forward to teaching them how to play if they take an interest in it. I only have six guitars at my house.

Azaleas have started to bloom!

We had a fun day and a pretty good night’s sleep.

Cold morning!

OYB!

That’s different! I sure understand why.

The girls and I had a fun time at Stone Mountain today. We have an annual pass so we get to do everything! Most of the stuff is only open on the weekend.
Mini-golf!

We pretty much played by our own rules. Didn’t do the course in order, just went to whatever one wasn’t being used. Kicked, threw or whatever to the ball to get it in the hole. It was pretty funny.

They liked the movie, but it kind of scared Everly. She sat on my lap most of the time.


Train ride is always fun.

We are so lucky to live so close to this!

Dinosaurs!

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery “Keep the Change” 2 today!

Took the girls to the other grandparents around 5:30 PM. I took a nap before taking them over. I was exhausted. But happy!

Last night about 3:00 AM, I read a text from my tax guy that I thought said that he had NOT received my and Ashley’s taxes! Of course I went into freak out mode thinking all those documents had been lost. I sent it certified mail with a signature confirmation. Over about half an hour I did the tracking and verified that it had been delivered properly. I sent pictures of all that info to both Ashley and my tax guy. Eventually, I reread the text and was stunned to see that he had said that he HAD received the documents! That’s what you get for looking at something half asleep. Sure was a relief!

I liked this from Seth Godin’s blog this morning.

Picked up the girls in really rainy weather. Driving home felt like we were in a hurricane!

We had fun looking through things from the trunk of my car.

OYB!

Studied Spanish.

Everly said she had a sausage coming from her nose! Pretty funny.

The girls will spend the night on Friday and we’ll enjoy doing some of the attractions at Stone Mountain that are open on Saturday. Then I’ll take them to the other grandparents.

Helped the kids at the mission. It was super windy! Almost blew one of the laptops off the table!

The girls had fun playing under a little bike protector.

It was so windy I decided to get my little kite out.

Very mild day.

I gave more toys to kids at the mission and took others over to St. Vincent de Pauls.

Went to my office to pick up the mail, process checks, and water my ficus.

To the bank to deposit the checks. PTL!

Crazy day. Started my car and the low tire light came on. Never good. Fortunately, one of my absolutely critical pieces of car gear is a small compressor. I HIGHLY recommend you getting one! It’s way easier to pump up a tire and take it to the tire guys with their power tools than trying to get lug nuts off and put on a spare!

Got it pumped up then headed to pick up the girls. On the way there, two series of lights were completely dead at intersections. I called 911 twice to alert them of the problems.

I thought this article on grandparents was really interesting.

Foggy morning.

My azaleas are blooming.

Studied Spanish.

My goal today was to clear out the hallway by my bedroom. The girls always enjoy looking through the bags of old toys. I decided to take the stuff they no longer use to St. Vincent de Pauls. It’s like Goodwill, but right near the mission.

I gave some of the toys to our neighbors at Azalea!

Ashley got a tattoo yesterday. The girls wanted one, too! I have lots!

Helped the kids at the mission. I just found out today that one of my main students will be leaving the mission the end of next month. Their family is buying a house. Exciting for them, but I always miss my kids when they leave. It’s the hardest part of apartment ministry.

Took my car to my tire guy. He fixed it in a jiffy.

Checked the mail at the office.

Dropped off the toys.

Deposited checks.

Went to Walmart to pick up my groceries. Got this message as I pulled in. Didn’t take them too long to get it ready, about an extra fifteen minutes. There’s always Spanish to study.

Gassed up my car.

I always find the stains beautiful.

Had right at 1″ of rain today.

I’m enjoying reading my dream book.

I’ve found this quote to be true. I recorded three dreams last night. I don’t write anything down. I just record and let an app transcribe it.

Studied Spanish.

OYB!

The girls and I made brownies. SO good!

I spent about an hour and a half cleaning off cluttered surfaces in the kitchen and living room. Clutter really drives me crazy. Mountains of stuff.

I put a new glass protector on Ann’s phone. I try to help her as much as I can, especially with stuff I’m good at, like fixing things.

I decided on a septic service company. Called the other two I’m not using to cancel them coming over.

I’ve started having some headaches. Wasn’t surprised to see this pollen on the ground. Some years it doesn’t bother me. Others it’s like a few weeks with a headache. Rain helps clear it a lot.

The girls and I watched Ralph Wrecked the Internet this afternoon. I really liked it.

Went to the mission to check on the kids. It was really crappy weather. We decided to do what needed to be done tomorrow.

Went to the church to get the mail. I’ll deposit it tomorrow. I don’t like standing at the ATM and getting rained on.

This represents completing 800 Spanish lessons! It doesn’t count what I did in Portuguese, Hebrew or Swahili.

I woke up last night thinking about the Israelites making a golden calf when Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments. I had no idea why they chose a calf.

Rereading a book on dreams.

I stuck my toe back in Facebook a couple of days ago. I was glad I saw this post from my neighbor.

Brain training.

Paid some bills.

Uploaded the episode of Verbal Surgery I recorded yesterday to my Mac.

One of the projects I’d like to do with Facebook Live is sharing the Story Tim accounts.

Looking into getting our septic tank serviced. I like going with a Mom and Pop organization.

Scrubbed my shoes with Comet this morning. I’ve found that really cleaning them thoroughly regularly really does keep them looking good. Duh, right?

Went to Stone Mountain to talk to my buddy Anthony. I had planned to record and do something live on Facebook, but the pharmacy said the new shipment of vaccines had just arrived and that was a priority.

After seeing the Covid post by my neighbor, I went into overdrive about getting a shot. March 15th was the first day that Kathy and I were able to get it. You have to be at least 55. K is way more at risk than me so I was really glad she was able to get it, too. Total procedure took me less than 45 minutes and that includes the mandatory 15 minute wait after the shot to make sure I didn’t have some kind of reaction. Got to say it hurt a bit more than the regular flu shot which I also get every year.

Went to the Post Office to mail a small package to one of our supporters in Montana.

Drove by T&G to give our mechanic a report on the continuing over heating saga in the PT Cruiser. It’s so bizarre. If it starts to overheat, I just restart the car and that seems to fix it.

I’m always reminded of HL Menckin’s remark, “No one every went broke underestimating the taste of Americans” when I see something like this.

Watered my indoor garden. Soon, I’ll be taking the large plants outside.

This is a tiny Nepenthes of a different species that is growing in my plant’s pot.

Time change! It can be hard getting up, but I LOVE it staying light longer!

I watched a bit of CodeMiko. Very interesting mix of digital and real. This is from Kevin Kelly’s newsletter. He’s one of my heroes.

I think this is a big deal. More big stars will want to work with Netflix.

I’ve subscribed to a Poem a Day. This is my favorite so far.

Spanish!

Brain training.

Gorgeous day!

I’ve been impressed by how well the grandgirls can memorize things. I created an ABC song for them to learn.

I enjoyed playing with my drone today. It flew great! I’m still learning this controller. Just takes practice. It uses my iPhone as it’s brain.

I had a friend of mine in Italy challenge me to get with Zoom and start teaching on line classes. First step is to get back into Facebook, which is where most of my contacts hang out. I did a live shot.

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery. I always love that!

Came home and ate lunch.

Vacuumed the house.

I’ve been wanting to rake the leaves in my yard for weeks. It’s been raining consistently which makes the leaves WAY heavier. This last spell of dry weather motivated me to start working on it. I did my best not to overdo it so I don’t hurt myself.

I raked and hauled the leaves on a big tarp to an area in my front yard.

I decided that this stiff rake actually did a better job. They each have their place.

I also used my blower a lot more than I have in the past. It seemed to be a good combo. Then I used it to clean off the driveway.

Cleaned out the little garden in front of our house.

It was a massive job. No biking today! Too tired. I worked really hard.

I got it looking really nice.

I cleaned out my bird baths and refilled feeders. Also checked on my wisteria plants. They all have little buds on them! Woot!

We’ve been having trouble with our TV audio. I’ve rewired it but it needs to be set on AV3 and not channel 3. Just in case you needed to know.

A friend sent this little pop up book to the grandgirls. I think it’s so cute.

Stone Mountain is so beautiful!

OYB!

I’ve been thinking about Hawaii a lot. The girls and I watched Moana twice this week. I saw this car near our house. This sort of stuff happens to me all the time.

Had a great talk with my Mom. She’s always a blessing to me.

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Overheating.” I usually talk about whatever I’m going through at the time. My car has really stressed me out with, you guessed it, overheating.

Rode my bike 10.27 miles. I pushed myself today and rode quite a bit faster. This was only my third ride since my winter break from vigorous exercise.

When I got home, I checked my air pressure in my tires. It’s supposed to be a maximum of 65 lbs of pressure. It was only 20 lbs!

This is good news. I’ll set up a time for K and I soon.

I helped a friend get some information. A couple of missionaries to Vietnam are coming into town. I help people get on the right track!

Studied Spanish. Surprised?

I’m so glad it’s getting warmer. I reckon we’ll have at least one more cold snap before April. I usually wait until Easter to put the plants outside.

Huh.

I’m sure there’s a lot of this.

Brain training.

I see coyotes from time to time.

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Seize it and Squeeze it.” So tasty!

My buddy in Houston is doing an art exhibit on Covid. Should be really interesting.

Have you noticed this on your iPhone?

Studied Spanish. Every day, JACK!

Gorgeous weather!

This is one of our favorite songs in the car. We heard it when we watched the movie “Wreck It Ralph.”

I thought this looked cool.

And this.

OYB!

Ten year anniversary of meeting my best friend, Anthony Jacquin. We’ve traveled the world together since then!

Love them!

I’ve studied a LOT of Spanish on my porch.

Today, I first noticed that the Sharp Shinned Hawks had built a nest in the tree across from our house. Thrilling!

Braided the girl’s hair. It’s a gigantic help against tangles!

We had fun using my stamp pads!

My Pink Magnolias are blooming! The girls and I look for them on our drives.

We went to our favorite picnic spot by the lake (We call this one “Splashy Lake”) for pizza, orange crush and some powdered doughnuts. Yumbo.

I had a great talk with my buddy Anthony Jacquin while we were at the lake. It was fun to talk about our 10 year anniversary! The One Year Bible is great for tracking fun events!

After our lake outing, I gave them a bath and we watched Moana.

Miles came and picked them up today and I went for a 10.60 mile bike ride. Gorgeous. I cut the ride short because it started getting dark.

These Bartlett Pear Trees are so beautiful, although they kind of stink.

Soon, we’ll start seeing banana plants!

Delightful evening.

After I got home, I cleaned all the bird baths, refilled them and the feeders.

Good news!

Love the girls!

Gorgeous day!

Studied Spanish.

OYB!

I worked on repairing a drawer from the girl’s room.

Finished project.

Trimmed Penelope’s bangs.

Made the grocery order. They were late getting it together today. I’ve probably gotten curbside service a hundred times. That has only happened twice.

We had a fun picnic.

I sewed up a couple of holes in my jacket and a hole in Everly’s pants.

They enjoy playing with dolls.

I studied Spanish and listened to them play.

Penelope and her mayo moustache.

Helped the kids at the mission. Some of them start in-person learning next week. It’s not mandatory.

The girls enjoy their neighborhood.