Fair at Xmatkuil

Family photoWe went to the fair this afternoon. It is the state fair and lasts for 3+ weeks. We have been able to go to it every year since we have been here. That makes this our 4th time. While many of our friends despise the fair, we enjoy a few particular things there. This is the last week, so we had to get the 45 minute trip to the fairgrounds in today.

One of the things we like to do is ride some of the rides. Or, at least our children enjoy them. My wife and I are fans of big rides. These at the fair are quite tame for us. Our daughter is just three years old, so she is not into the thrill rides yet. She is perfectly happy on a merry go round or a train that just goes in circles. Our son’s tastes have matured over the years. This year he asked to be able to ride a roller coaster. He previously decided that he was not a roller coaster kind of person.

I like roaming around in the area where they sell trinkets. Not that we ever buy anything, but it is fun to see what kind of junk they are selling. We did get a cool “old time-y” picture done one year. I really wanted to do another one of those this year, but I never saw the man that does them.Coaster ride

We then wondered around in the hand crafts area along with the area for small animals. Our daughter was thrilled to see the chicks and ducks. Kids are so easy to entertain at this age.

We can remember each of our trips to the fair based on the mobility of our daughter. First trip she was just 6 months old. We carried her and pushed her in a stroller. The second trip she was still small enough to carry most of the time and she walked some. Last year she was on a leash, but walked on her own. This year she ran around like she owned the place. She was still bouncing of the walls when we left after 3.5 hours of playing around.

New Running Goals

I settled on a goal of 600 miles for the year which meant I only needed to do 15 miles a week. The first week went well and the second week did not. But, I am not going to fall short. In fact, I am upping the goal. How about 1000? No, not 1000 miles, but 1000 kilometers. That would be 621 miles.

Though I fell a bit behind, I have a new running partner. He is a new runner and is only able to run between 2 and 3 miles at a time right now. I run 1.6 miles to his house and then we run together. I return home for a total run of 5.5 to 6.5 miles each run. We are running 3 days a week right now which should give me at least 18 miles if I make sure to tack a little extra in when I can. According to my running log, if I can keep up this pace and mileage (all helped if I find an extra weekend race) I am right on track to hit 620 miles by the end of the year.

The goal of 600 was looking a bit too easy for me and I knew I would not have to push myself too hard. But this goal of 1000 kilometers will make the rest of the year just a bit more interesting.

Happy running!

Missionary Talks 38: Richard Edwards

When I was away on my trip last week I was able to get two interviews. The first was with Pastor Richard Edwards and the second was his wife Brenda. I enjoyed talking with each of them.

With Bro. Edwards I tried to focus the interview on what he as a pastor learned from being a missionary that now helps him treat missionaries differently. Though that is not the way the interview turned out, I still think he had some great insight into relationships between the pastor and missionary. My interview with his wife should be out in about a week. Whereas Richard’s interview was fairly easy to edit, Brenda’s will not be. We talked for well over 30 minutes, and while I enjoyed our conversation, we really rambled a lot. That means I will have a lot of editing to do. I think that comes from trying to do two interviews back to back. The first one I was focused but the second one I started to relax too much.

We were together for a special week of meetings in Tampico. They were a great couple to get to know and I look forward to possibly spending time with them in the future.

LED Christmas lights. Why bother?

I remember when the fiber optic Christmas trees became popular about 10 years ago. While they were neat, it was obviously a fad. Traditional looking Christmas lights are what people are used to seeing and want to see. However, traditional lights are really not that energy efficient. The beauty of LED mini lights is that you get a traditional look with the multiple benefits of LED.

Some of the benefits include:

  • More energy efficient
  • Last longer
  • Lower fire hazard
  • More durable
  • Less likely to fail

While the initial cost of the LED lights are more expensive, they cost an estimated 1/3 the price of incandescent lighting over the lifetime of the LEDs. This is because the need to replace the incandescent lights more often will out cost the LEDs in the long term. On top of the overall savings that you will see down the road, you will immediately see a savings in your electric bill. It only takes 10% as much electricity to run a string of LED lights as it does a string of traditional ones.

LEDs are also much more durable. The likelihood that you would damage an LED light just by dropping them is non existent, unlike traditional bulbs. LED lights are encased in an epoxy that is durable to the point of being able to withstand the weight of a tractor trailer rig driving over them!

One of the greatest benefits of LED Christmas lights is the fact that there is much less of a fire hazard with them. Because the lights put off almost no heat, there is little risk of burning yourself by touching the lights or having a dry tree ignited by the LEDs.

Look into LED mini lights this holiday season and see if they would be right for you and your family.

[This is a sponsored post]