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Our Front Yard Tree - 2012 Edition

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Sure, it is after Christmas.  But that doesn't mean we shouldn't document our annual Front Yard Christmas tree, right? Here's the post showing last year's .   Here's 2010's version with snow !

My FitBit Year in Review - 2012

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I started wearing my FitBit on April 27th, 2012.  Since then, FitBit tells me that I've traveled 1350 miles - or as they say "more than length of the Tigris River"! The fine folks at FitBit sent out this 2012 summary note yesterday and they included a few little data points that are interesting.  Some of them I understand like Tuesday is my most active day.  That makes sense because for all of 2012, I've been going to Cardio-Tennis on Tuesday mornings. The month of May was my most-active month and that kind of makes sense in that I had just started to track my activity, so I'm guessing I was motivated to get in those extra stair climbs or a few more steps each day.    Looking back at my calendar I can't quite figure out if there were any other dynamics at play that caused me to move a little bit more in the month.  Nothing jumps out. Also, the June 7th date - as my most active - puzzles me.  That was a few days before the Bird was born so maybe I was r

Equation Boy/Man's Ice Rink

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Take a look at that backyard rink.  Pretty awesome.  Equation Boy/Man really stepped it up this year - his second as a rink owner/operator - by adding some length to the ice and building boards for behind the goal at one end.   He even (with the help of his daughter) painted on the Elmhurst Chiefs Hockey logo (see it there on the boards) and hung a cute banner (which is cut off from this picture because it has their last name on it!). I walked down there one day last week and they weren't home and the ice was so clear that I was afraid to go on it, so I didn't even do a 'boot skate'.  Last year, Nat gave me a nice pair of skates and I played down there a bunch of times with very few injuries.  Hopefully the weather stays on the cold side so I get an invite to come down and play over the weekend.  I'll be padding up a bit more than I did last year, I think.

Meeder Industries Elmhurst - Renovation

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Just north of the train tracks on the west side of York Street, there's a storefront for a contractor/builder named Meeder Industries.  They have had a sort of mock kitchen - with cabinets - set up in their storefront for as long as we've lived in town.  Seemed like nice stuff and I've seen their sign in a few yards around town on jobs they were doing. They've recently begun to renovate/remodel their storefront (or as they call it a 'showroom' and have a cute marketing campaign out front that really calls some attention to them:  they've put up big bright signage and placed a construction marker and yellow caution tape out front.  Or, at least, I think it is a marketing move because there really is no apparent danger/need to avoid the area. Pretty clever and I'm looking forward to seeing what they have in store.  For the Emhurst City Centre to succeed, we need a healthy mix of retail, restaurant, governmental and office/service uses.    Hopefully t

Boston Pencil Sharpener - Found At Estate Sale

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Yesterday, we swung by an Estate Sale near the old hospital in our neighborhood.  After walking around the first floor and nosing around the basement and garage, we didn't find much that we liked.  As we were walking out, I spotted this Boston wall-mounted pencil sharpener.  I asked the homeowner if it was for sale and after considering it, she said it was. After locating a screw driver and giving her a buck, I pryed this thing off the wall and took it home. It really reminds me of my dad.  Growing up, we had one of these things mounted on the wall in his work room in the basement.  Doing math homework always required pencils and we didn't have the luxury of having mechanical pencils back in 1988.  So, everytime I needed a sharp point, down I went to the basement to sharpen up. At some point, when the Babe and the Bird head to school, they'll be using pencils.  Instead of a fancy electric sharpener, they're going to have to do what I did:  go downstairs and grin

Treehopper Toys Yo-Yo's and More from Chicago

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The Babe gave me this classic wooden yo-yo from Treehopper Toys for Christmas and she couldn't have been more proud of herself for picking it out.   This was the first year where the Babe nosed around the Christmas Renegade Fair with her momma and they came home with this yo-yo, a bear HopperJalopy for the Bird and also a set of transportation MatchStacks which she's taken to playing with at the dinner table most days. Both of the products are wood and really well made.  I'll quibble a little bit with the finger loop on the yo-yo as my pudgy digits have a hard time wiggling through there.  (Those hipsters in their skinny jeans at Renegade all have tiny fingers, I guess?!?)  I haven't picked up a yo-yo since probably junior high but I've had a lot of fun playing around with it the past few weeks. The site says that Treehopper is located 'outside Chicago' but they don't quite say where.  If you're in the market for a clever, US-made kid toy yo

Final Vintage Christmas: Twin Choir Boys

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The last of our finds at the Great Lakes Antique Market on New Year's Day are these two matching choirboys.  Their price was just too good to pass them up.  Will they end up a gift next year?  Or in our decorations along with the other carol singers on the piano?

Vintage Christmas Deer Bookends

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We didn't stop at just the Mrs. Claus ornament at the Christmas sale.  We also picked up these deer bookends.    They were in the Christmas section (marked half off) and are stamped Japan on the bottom, so they fit in with our other Christmas stuff.  Nat tells me that deer are 'hot' in home decor trends these days, so it appears that these might not be destined to our Christmas collection, rather for either the Babe or the Bird's room for everyday use.

Vintage Mrs. Claus Ornament - From Great Lakes Antique Mall

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As I said yesterday, while we didn't pull in any of the items from the 'motherload', we did pick up three different things.  The first of which is this Mrs. Claus ornament.  The light catches the inside really well and it brightens up and looks pretty neat.  She was just $0.75 but she won't see the light of day until next November because we are taking down our tree today.  And...by saying "we", I really mean "me".  Nat hates that I take our stuff down so soon after New Year's Day, but I can't stand to have it around and need to move on with a clean slate.

Vintage Christmas Motherload

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While we were up in Michigan today for our annual NYE/NYDay trip, we stopped at the Great Lakes Antique Mall to try to snap up a few vintage Christmas pieces.  Last year, we bought a few little Christmas treats, but this year, we happened upon this display of what must be 100+ little porcelain Christmas figures.   This person clearly is focusing on carolers and angels, but there was one little spaghetti trim Santa (that's him on the very far left, second shelf from the top). Unfortunately (for us), the prices were on these were a bit too high, but we did come across a few other Christmas pieces that we snatched up at 50% off their list prices.