This high on the hardest leaderboard in Duolingo is really a challenge. You have to do a lot of work and get almost everything correct.

OYB!

Gorgeous day!

I took a picture of every page of the tax return for my records then taped the package together for security. I sent it certified mail. Should get there in a couple of days. Really no big hurry.

Mileage log.

Deposited a check.

Gassed up my car and checked the fluids. Added a bit of oil.

Recorded a terrific episode of Verbal Surgery called “Stay Focused.” A great effort. Downloaded it to my Mac.

Talked with my Mom. Always a blessing.

Listened to Harry. My brain seems to be really translating much more rapidly these days. I guess it’s all the extra work I’ve been putting in.

I recorded at Stone Mountain. It’s always so beautiful.

Rode my bike 5.93 miles. I could have gone farther but I started getting cold.

I worked out on light weights this morning. Getting back in shape. Slowly!

Produced my newsletter.

This month is my “Sheep and Goat” edition. The people who haven’t donated all last year receive a special paper that says “Stay on the Team!” If they don’t send that page back, they are removed from the list and don’t get any more newsletters from us. Keeps the postage cost down.

Saw this on my bike ride. Weird to me.

The Pink Magnolias are magnificent this year.

Did the labels for the newsletters. Everly and I will work on sticking them on the envelopes tomorrow. I’ll drop off the letter to be copied tomorrow as well when I go into Chamblee.

New words I’m learning in Español.

Rainy day.

Adelante!

OYB!

I let my carnivorous plants enjoy the rain.

Kathy got her new CPAP machine in. I cleaned and repacked the machine that Dr. Pat let us use in the meantime.

Got the new machine unpacked and connected. It also comes with an app that we installed on Kathy’s phone.

Went to Stone Mountain to record a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Erased Stump.”

I had a short chat with my Mom. I’ll call her again tomorrow when she’s not so busy. She was having the family come over for lunch.

I took the CPAP machine back to Dr. Pat. Always great to see friends! We’ve taken mission trips together in Niger and India. I sure miss Carl. Her husband died two years ago.

I liked this.

Watered my plants.

Worked on my taxes. I’ll send them off tomorrow after I make pictures of each page. Last year I got scared that they might have been lost!

Downloaded the new episode onto my Mac.

Released episode Verbal Surgery -922- “Uncovery.”

Enjoying playing Forbidden West. Such a great game.

The cost of war.

Español!

Spent time this morning writing notes to the kids at FBC Prattville who had sent me pictures and prayed for me. I sent little gifts too.

I discovered, to my dismay, that Canon has stopped making their ELPH cameras. That has been my workhorse device for shooting pictures for our ministry. I reckon that is because so many people just use their phones and were no longer buying separate cameras. I use my iPhone for about half of the pictures I shoot. The iPhone just doesn’t compare to a real camera mainly because it doesn’t have an optical zoom. Ashley still had her old camera so I got that, cleaned it up, recharged the battery and got a SD card for it. Mine is still working fine, but I believe in back ups. There are still some of them available on Amazon, but they are all used and refurbished.

OYB!

Ordered groceries and picked them up this evening.

Went to the Post Office to get stamps for the newsletter and sent the package to FBC Prattville.

Put most of the stuff for the grandgirls in my trunk.

Beautiful day!

I used the coordinates to get an exact location on the wind map.

I find this fascinating. The colors and the animation really helps me understand what’s going on better.

The warm most air was being sent high into the atmosphere which creates really interesting cloud formations.

The cherry blossom trees along Hwy 78 near Stone Mountain are so beautiful. This is a perfect example of a shot that the Canon ELPH can get and the iPhone just can’t.

Went to Stone Mountain to record a new episode of Verbal Surgery. “Ridiculously Easy” is a winner for sure.

I also wrote my newsletter for this month. I’ll produce the final pages sometime this weekend. Ashley and I usually get our letters to FBCD to print on Wednesdays. I did the hard part today.

Ate Thai food for lunch. So good. I got it Thai hot. It was almost too much for me.

I’m enjoying listening to Harry. My ear continues to improve picking out more and more words at a faster pace. I’ve spent hundreds of hours practicing. It’s still hard to understand everything the folks at the mission are saying although I continue to improve!

I have three Pink Magnolia trees in my yard that are just starting to bloom. They are so beautiful, although they’re small because they don’t get a lot of light. I live in a forest of big trees. These are at Stone Mountain right in front of where I park my car to record.

The Ethiopian Catholic church recently put up a new steeple.

Turned cloudy as the low pressure system moved in.

I worked out on light weights this morning.

This afternoon I went for my first bike ride in months. I’m pleased to say that all my injuries have healed up. I rode 6.8 miles. I cleaned my bike, oiled the chains and wheels and pumped up the tires.

So much beauty on the road.

As I listen to Harry, I look up new words to learn.

This evening I went through all my tax documents and put them in order. Tomorrow, I’ll work on my housing allowance expenses. That is one of the perks of being a minister.

Really enjoying playing Horizon Forbidden West. So much fun!

Drizzly this morning but mild.

Gas prices jumped more than .20 here in the ATL.

Good one.

Adelante!

One Year Bible!

Never too much Ashley.

Looks like the freezing weather may let up for a couple of weeks. It’s just barely missing us by maybe a hundred miles north.

I got the girls some burettes. I also gave both of them a trim of the bangs too.

Español.

Everly enjoyed building things.

Cutting pizza.

Kathy’s new CPAP came in. Great news.

Miles has a pull up bar set up in his house. Penelope showed me some new tricks.

She liked her new burettes. I still gave her a bang trim. Not much.

Took the girls for lunch at Taco Veloz. Fun with cutlery while we waited. We balanced the spoons.

Churros for dessert. They have the best!

High pressure blew all the clouds out. Temperature dropped and very windy.

It got chilly this afternoon with the wind.

Very high level moisture.

Everly’s dinosaur.

The kids at the mission signed a drawing for one of the churches I work with. I was supposed to go to their missions conference this month but couldn’t because of being exposed to COVID.

Started book six.

Went by my office to check the mail. I had the girls with me. Next stop was to go to my house to see Kathy and Jesse and to pick up the “Polly Pocket” dolls I had ordered for them. Then over to the other grandparent’s house to spend the night. The Kendalls will be going to S. Carolina to do another missions conference.

I’m really tired. Looking forward to a restful weekend.

My goals are to get my taxes sent in by Monday. Write the newsletter and do some recording.

I’d love to see this!

Ah CHOO!

OYB!

Another incredibly mild day.

Adelante!

Beautiful morning.

Love my girls!

With the mild weather, I took my carnivorous plants outside to get some sun and maybe catch a few bugs.

Always learning.

Had a fun lunch with Everly. She had to go to the doctor today for her checkup and vaccinations before school. I went over and over what the doctor was going to do and how to approach getting the shot: Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Exhale as you count slowly to five. Think about unicorns! The strategy worked perfectly as I expected. We also had plenty of treats for her afterwards for her reward.

We went to the Dollar Trees to pick up some supplies for the mission. It’s been super bright so I picked up about another ten pairs of sunglasses for them to borrow during our tutor time.

After picking up the glasses and some goodies, we went to the fish store for a few minutes.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of my original youth group soon. Jouvens just got back into the country from Haiti.

Always great to hang out with Penelope!

Harry! I finished Book 5 today and started Book 6.

Helped the kids at the mission. LOT of work today. I didn’t leave Azalea to around 7:30 PM.

Went to my office to check the mail and my ficus tree.

Gas prices jumped about 20 cents. Damn Russians.

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery “Friction Fiction.” Really practical.

Been there, although I’m actually pretty tidy.

Español!

OYB!

Drizzly, although the day turned out beautiful and warm.

Most of this rain missed us just to the north.

I’ve really enjoyed looking at these animated wind maps, especially with the temperature gradient turned on.

The colors were so beautiful today. I like seeing the sunrise and the sunset.

Love my girls!

Adelante!

Cleaned out birdbaths and refilled my water jugs with tap water. Most of my plants do not require distilled water.

Since it was raining, Everly and I went to Goodwill. She found a couple of cool things to play with. Penelope enjoyed them too.

They’re called “Polly Pocket.” Super small dolls. I just ordered a small set of them for the grandgirls.

Worked with the kids at the mission. It was very bright, so I brought out all the sunglasses I had to help. I had probably eight pairs in all. I have back ups on my back ups and lots for the grandgirls.

Most of the kids are pretty shy, but they’ll let me take pictures of their hands.

Calm after the storm. It was pretty wild today. Kathy tells me, “You can handle chaos more than anyone I know.”

I had a good talk with Stacy Hickle about bringing a team. It’s hard with all the COVID stuff still going around.
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Also chatted with Sam Ayala, a GBC director. He had just taken a team to Guatemala, and one of the team members came down with Covid!

Beautiful evening.

Deposited checks.

Put the amounts in our spread sheet of donations.

Good one!

I was talking to Everly about seeds this morning. Some seeds are on the outside of the fruit, like strawberries!

I’ve been in touch with the missions guys at the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Working on contacting the teams who have worked with us in the past.

OYB!

Español!

So mild.

I always think of Tuesday as the start of my work week. I get up early and don’t get home till around 7:30 PM.

Love my girls!

Everly and I played a number I Spy game. Look for the 4s.

I showed her this license plate from Mexico.

Picked up meds for J.

I liked this sticker.

Preach.

Adelante!

The Bible for all. The Bible for everything.

Went by the UPS store to send back some warm up pants for K that were too big.

I brought over the big unicorn that Penelope had picked out last week. Her whole bed has been taken over by stuffies. She never sleeps up there. She always sleeps with her sister on the lower bunk. Makes them both feel more secure.

We ate Vietnamese food.

Helped the kids at the mission with their homework. I’m working on taking non-photo photos. They are very camera shy these day.

Kids come and go as they finish their work.

One of the girls at the mission was doing a project on Israel. I told her this image of the Dome of the Rock and the flag of Israel are in my mind the two most important.

Harry!

Sunset!

Gassed up the car and checked the fluids.

Rained 1.6″ yesterday.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who also loves robots. I sent him this picture of me as a seven year old with my new robot. I thought I was the coolest kid ever.

One of my favorite robots.

Still true today.

I’m a big fan of Princess Bride.

I’ve been studying weather.

Good one.

Hard to finish this high on the leaderboard. Especially in the top league.

Really interesting article on stress.

Español!

Got a new night light for the bathroom.

OYB!

Milder and rainy.

Sunflower.

Great call with my buddy Dan Perez in Houston.

And with Anthony in the UK.

The pavement is getting pushed up by these big pine trees.

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called, “What Now?” Very good.

Almost to the end of this over 25 hour book.

New word for me. Interesting how it can mean grin and grimace. Pretty different!

Ordered groceries.

Sending a pair of pants back that I bought for Kathy. Too big.

A letter I sent my friend bounced. He’s living in Tennessee right now. Forwarded it on to him there.

Downloaded the new episode of Verbal Surgery onto my Mac.

Sent an email to the director of missions for the Georgia Baptist Convention about hosting teams. We’ll see what he says.

I’m really enjoying this game. And so beautiful!

This really cracked me up! So American!

Español!

Gorgeous!

Studied weather today.

OYB!

The Queen has Covid. I have a special relationship with her because of her becoming Queen in Kenya.

We have some COVID tests at my house that the Government went us. I decide to use one since I’ve been coughing and feeling sick. Fortunately, I don’t have COVID.

Great talk with my Mom.

Straightened out our Go Daddy account.

Harry!

Nice hike around Stone Mountain.

I love shooting nature.

He looks happy.

Milder night temperature means I could take my carnivorous plants outside for a while.

Not feeling great. Stopped up, headache and some coughing. Mainly just tired.

Duolingo has had such an influence on me that I recorded an episode of Verbal Surgery called “The Duolingo Effect.” Here’s how I did last week.

OYB!

Español!

My keep studying face.

Beautiful weather. But windy.

Had a good talk with my friend Barbara Hays. I’ve known her family for over 50 years!

Deposited checks. Amen.

Had a nice walk. Even though I’m not feeling well, getting some air seemed to help.

While I walked, I talked to my Mom. Always a blessing.

I always enjoy seeing geese. These were at Stone Mountain.

I planted a Cherry Blossom tree in my yard two years ago. I hope it has a few blooms. It doesn’t get much sun. I saw my Pink Magnolias were budding out. I hope it doesn’t freeze and kill the buds.

These trees are in Stone Mountain Park.

Harry! Nearly finished the book.

Released Verbal Surgery -920- “Drawbridge.” Excellent!

I’ve been trying to rest more to get over my cold.

Having fun playing the sequel of my favorite game “Forbidden West.”

Also watching “The Expanse.” Cool sci-fi series.