Day 51

Church at the Auditorium Theatre 

     I am pretty involved at our church in Lisle and have been for over 18 years.  We are a small church which means that people that are involved get to do multiple jobs for very long times.  When I knew for sure that we were going to be living in Chicago for two months I told our pastor that I would be taking a leave from those jobs for the times that we were gone because I wasn't sure which days we would have free and which days we would have plans.  He was fine with it and it has worked out so that we have been able to go to some church services at places that I have heard about for a long time but never got to experience first hand.  Sunday was one of those days when we were able to attend a satellite church of Willow Creek called Willow Chicago.  It was held in the Auditorium Theatre on Congress and they pretty much filled the place.  It was entertaining.  They had a simulcast sermon on their big screen and the speaker was very funny.  Their band was excellent, but I was a little shocked by a prelude that included a cover of Depeche Mode's "Your Own Personal Jesus".

Loco Moco

     After church we went to the only Hawaiian restaurant that we've come across in Chicago, "Aloha Eats".  It's been two years since our trip to Hawaii and I would go back in a heartbeat.  So we weren't looking for a Hawaiian restaurant, but when we found one we put it on the list of places to try.  Now I won't lie and say that we fell in love with Hawaiian food while we were there, but I will tell you that I ate more fresh fish in a week than I usually eat in a year.  They have a strange obsession with Spam and macaroni salad is ubiquitous in their restaurants.  But I did become fond of something called "Loco Moco".  It is a combination of rice, brown gravy, hamburger patties, and fried eggs.  It's comfort food.  As for "Aloha Eats" I would give it a 3 out of 5 bricks.  It was great for the nostalgia, but the food was only okay.

     Monday I walked 10 miles during the heat of the day and then we came back to Lisle so that we could get ready for the move back.  We decluttered the apartment a bit.  TWIK had some chores to do and I needed to mow the weeds, I mean grass.  It rained last night so that mowing didn't get done, maybe today.  But everything was leading up to the White Sox game last night.  Ty had such a good baseball season his senior year that he was named All-Conference, All-Area, All-State, and played on the Coaches Association All-Star Team for the West.  It was such fun being the guy on the side taking pride in all of his accomplishments.  Last night was probably the culminating event when he was recognized in a pre-game ceremony at U.S. Cellular Field.  It was pretty cool.

Coming out of the dugout

Being introduced

The Jumbotron shot

     I hope he realizes what he accomplished this year, it was stellar!  If he had aspirations to continue with baseball I have no doubt that he could play in college at a pretty high level, but the kid has a good head on his shoulders as well and wants to make his education his priority.  What kind of a father would I be if I didn't support that?