Here we are at the end of June already. Pausing to reflect on the blessings of the week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story helps slow time just a bit–or at least it helps us enjoy the good things a bit longer.
1. A fairly quiet week after two busy ones.
2. A routine dentist’s visit. Though the dentist’s office is not my favorite place to be, even just for a cleaning, this appointment was about as non-problematic as it could be.
3. Rain has been much needed around here, and we got a bit this week, with more forecast for the weekend.
4. Visiting with CA relatives. All of my husband’s extended family lives on the west side of the country. We learned that the husband and son of his niece in CA were going to be about two hours away from us here in TN last week. Both our nephew-in-law and great nephew have been involved with the high school robotics team for several years and were going to be in TN for a MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) ROV competition. The teams built their own robots and had them perform underwater tasks based on real-life scenarios.
I had thought we’d only have a brief time with our family members, since they’d be busy with the competition. But as it turned out, only six members of the team could be on the floor during the competition, minus their coach. So not only were we able to visit, but Mike, our nephew-in-law and also the coach, was able to give us a play-by-play commentary during the team’s turn–which was very helpful, as I did not know what was going on. 🙂
None of these is my great nephew’s team, but it gives you an idea of the setting. The robot had to go in and out of the water from the white square.
Split screens in the bleachers showed the activity from a live feed from underwater cameras. Again, these were not for the team we were rooting for, but it showed two teams at a time, side by side.
My great-nephew’s team was one of only a couple of high school teams: the rest were college teams from all over the world. And his team had one the last three years! They came in second this year, but that’s still a record to be proud of.
Jason, Mittu, and Timothy came as well. I think Timothy had a different kind of robot in mind before we went. He asked if they were going to do battle bots. 🙂 But I think he enjoyed the experience, especially some little dolphins our great nephew made for his team’s display table.
5. Baby birds in my front flower arrangement.
Happy Friday!
Stray Thoughts 
We finally received some rain yesterday. The heat and humidity have been awful. The rain wasn’t enough to fill the ponds, but we’re thankful that God sent some rain. Have a blessed weekend! 🙂
Sweet baby birds! They look very hungry!
I’m glad that Timothy enjoyed the robotic competition at least a bit even if he was disappointed.
Quiet weeks are always enjoyed!
Next time you get rain, send it my way!
Have a great weekend.
What a lot of fun stuff! I have a dentist cleaning in August. I switched dentists last year due to pricing (no dental insurance) and was … surprised? when the new place finished a cleaning in 20 minutes. My old place took around an hour. I’m noticing a bunch more buildup on my teeth though so I’m going to suck up the cost and return to my original. I have a piano student heavily involved in robotics. It’s such a big thing now! That’s interesting with one underwater. The baby birds are SO CUTE!
I’m so glad that you were able to have some time with Jim’s family…even if it was at the robotics meet. I was not aware of there being one that is especially designed for the water but it has to be a challenge ! Our oldest granddaughter, who is now studying mechanical engineering in Boston, found her love for engineering through her local Maine neighborhood robotics team. So fun! Have a wonderful weekend, Barbara!
That robot competition would be something my husband would totally get into! And I’m glad your grandson enjoyed it!! Does he do any kind of robotics at his school? We have a huge team here in our public district and I think one of the Christian schools has a small team as well.
I love quiet weeks. this last half of ours has been super quiet and restful…just what we needed.
YAY for non eventful Dental appointments. I have my next one in Sept and am really hoping it’s just routine cleaning. hahah
ENJOY the weekend!
Hi Barbara, nice that you could meet up with family! I got familiar with robotics when I worked for the postal service. I retired from that in 2011. I think robotics can really help, but they miss the fines things that are caught by a human person. I need to get myself to the dentist for a cleaning. The little birds look so cute peeking out of their nest. Have a great weekend!
That robotics competition sure looks interesting. It’s good that your nephew-in-law could explain everything to you as you watched. It’s always good to have a routine dental visit over with. Quiet, relaxing weeks are good for body, mind and soul. Have a good weekend. See you again soon!
What a lovely thing to have a quiet week with an easy appointment and some rain. And then robots! Well, I think of the kind Timothy thinks of, too, but glad you had a guide to help you know what to even root for.