February 3 – “Phil or Armand?”

I understand the groundhog didn’t see his shadow yesterday.  Doesn’t that mean Spring is coming sooner?  Or is it the other way around?  I have never been able to get that right.  I’m just wondering if Armand the Armadillo saw his shadow.  I’m pretty sure he’s the one who speaks for Texas, not that Yankee Rodent …

We were once again blessed by an onslaught of LaMarque Vaughan children last Saturday evening.  Mom and Dad went on a date.  The kiddos had pizza and played video games, mainly.  Except for the hour or so where they introduced me to some tiny little dollish action figures they called Heroclix.  That is apparently the hottest new gaming thing.  They go to tournaments on the weekends to play whatever it is you play using the figures.  Each one has some sort of ability that helps him in the games. 

Now, I assumed that meant the little people were superheros.  Silly me.  Not so much.  Most of them I couldn’t even figure out WHAT they were, much less who.  One of them was a huge (in the realm of Heroclix anyway) brown whale-looking creature with sharp teeth that could walk.  It kind of had the look of meatloaf that has been left out on the counter … for three days.  I naturally assumed it was Moby Dick’s cousin Albert.  I was, however, mistaken.  Strange.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, they handed me one that they insisted was Spiderman.  What I saw was a guy stuck to a wall, Spiderman-y, sure enough, but he looked older than me.  That’s just not right.

Oh, and we did engage in a night of learning as well.  We asked Siri about all sorts of historical figures and learned some fun facts about Abraham Lincoln.  Siri assured us that when old Honest Abe saw the large size of his son’s head, and noted the way the child constantly wriggled and squirmed around, he started calling him Tadpole, Tad for short.  Gotta love those nicknames. 

Psalms 138:8 says, “The Lord will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever — do not abandon the works of your hands.”

Father, thank you for groundhogs and armadillos and grandchildren.  They all make the world a little more interesting.  Amen.