It was fun to see what was new in toys and games

The contest was running at and during this show.  We were there with thousands of kids and their parents. 

Illinois state kendama contest

We headed to Chicago this past weekend.  This might be the smallest contest in the biggest venue we’ll ever do haha.  It was at the Rosemont convention center which is where we used to do a lot of trade shows when I was at Invotec.  At least I knew my way around.  Andy was impressed by the size of the place until I told him it was the small one in Chicago hahaha.

One minute in Chicago…

…and Andy is already in pipe heaven. Even more interesting was the next one down where the long sweep elbow was covered in duct tape???

Tropical dials? AND I think I got it running…?!

Have you ever heard of “tropical dials”? The sun ages the paint. This one used to be dark blue, faded to black and now this deep purple when in direct sunlight. Pretty awesome. From 1979. My childhood watch. 

Bonus, after working on the case, movement, hands, lubrication, and stem, I think I have it running and telling the right time and date.  Starting a second 24 hour test now… 😃

Naps are better with a buddy…❤️

I like Stinger, the Blue Jackets mascot.

Julie says she likes Puck Chop better (one of the Cyclone’s mascots)/

Andy managed to catch this cool pic at just the right time.

Here is both the still and the Live Photo 

But first we had to take the kids to hockey!

We managed to get all four to their first majors hockey game by snagging some BOGO seats.  Tuesday was John and Savannah, Thursday was Andy and Sophie.  They won 7-2 on Tuesday and went to a shoot out Thursday and won 1-2.  Two great games made even better with family.  We even all got t-shirts on Thursday. 

Andy and I have been practicing up…

…We headed to this competition over the past weekend.  I liked their graphic too.  

More thoughts on quiet time…

I’ve read through the bible several times us in various translations and methods over the years.  I like to highlight things that resonate or hit me different each time through.  Most recently, I’ve been doing it using this book from Nancy Guthrie.  I read the passages, her notes, then journal what stands out to me.  I usually hit a highlight from the day before too. Here was one example from late last year that I liked.  

A couple friends have been asking me about ideas for their own studies lately.  Reach out if you have questions about how it’s worked for me or whatever.  

Processing the fall leaves…

Left to right: the process of “mowing” the leaves, the results, and then the next day…

You have to do it a few times to keep up with it hahaha.

PSA to blow your mower off when you’re done

Here’s how mine looked when I finished mowing leaves, and also after I hit it with my leaf blower. Big improvement.  Also, the grass and leaves hold moisture against the steel and cause rust and other issues.  Even the pulley bearings get jammed up with stuff!

What is attacking our trees…

This will be the third young locust that something has destroyed… The first two got pushed over and uprooted when there were pretty young… But this one is pretty firmly established and has been clawed all to pieces almost all the way around the base! Bobcat? Badger? Something else? Just a regular neighborhood cat? Who knows?! 

I forgot about my Bible word studies over the years

A friend was asking for my advice and experience on deeper Bible studies or devotions.  I talked over how’d I had picked some books and worked through them using this deep dive word study process.  It reminded me of my colors, icons, questions, and methods I had used.  Hit me up if you want to talk further about how it worked for me?

Waiting for the next adventure

The dogs can sense when I’m about to get up off the couch they start gathering around, waiting.  Then they sometimes get bored and fall back asleep. Haha.  they were right, we went on a walk shortly after this. :)