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For the Love of Old Spice - Illini's Shave Journal

Once again, I've found myself with a prolonged absence from the journals and TSC, and it makes me sad. Unfortunately life just got crazy busy over the holidays and only now is everything seemingly returning to a more normal day-to-day.

On the home front, the holidays were very nice and thankfully Covid-free, although there was a bit of a scare that turned out to be nothing more than a head cold. Spent Christmas Eve at my parents house and saw some family we hadn't seen in a year which was nice. Christmas Day we went to extended family Christmas on my wife's side for the first time since 2019 (around 60 people) and I was reminded how chaotic it is, especially now that we have two kids of our own in tow!

We had a wedding for an old colleague out in Philly on December 30th, so my wife and I took it as an opportunity to have a little anniversary trip sans kids (our 5th wedding anniversary was in September but with a 4 week old baby we didn't exactly do much) and had a great time. I had been to Philly once before but only for a couple of hours, so this time we did all the touristy things you should (Independence Hall/Liberty Bell, Reading Market, cheese steaks, etc.) and had a lovely romantic dinner at a little Italian place recommended by my friend. Second day was the wedding which was beautiful and allowed me to see a lot of my old friends who I hadn't seen in 3+ years. Flew home VERY early on New Years Eve to make sure we were here to ring in the new year with the kiddos.

Continue to truck along on the work front, have a couple of things still potentially on the horizon so hoping one of them comes to fruition in the not-too-distant future.

Thanks for stopping by and catching up with me friends!
 
So glad you posted Ryan and sounds like you had a busy but wonderful holiday!

And Philly rules! (I miss Reading Terminal which is one of my favorite places to go)
 
Fightingillini22 said:
Once again, I've found myself with a prolonged absence from the journals and TSC, and it makes me sad. Unfortunately life just got crazy busy over the holidays and only now is everything seemingly returning to a more normal day-to-day.

On the home front, the holidays were very nice and thankfully Covid-free, although there was a bit of a scare that turned out to be nothing more than a head cold. Spent Christmas Eve at my parents house and saw some family we hadn't seen in a year which was nice. Christmas Day we went to extended family Christmas on my wife's side for the first time since 2019 (around 60 people) and I was reminded how chaotic it is, especially now that we have two kids of our own in tow!

We had a wedding for an old colleague out in Philly on December 30th, so my wife and I took it as an opportunity to have a little anniversary trip sans kids (our 5th wedding anniversary was in September but with a 4 week old baby we didn't exactly do much) and had a great time. I had been to Philly once before but only for a couple of hours, so this time we did all the touristy things you should (Independence Hall/Liberty Bell, Reading Market, cheese steaks, etc.) and had a lovely romantic dinner at a little Italian place recommended by my friend. Second day was the wedding which was beautiful and allowed me to see a lot of my old friends who I hadn't seen in 3+ years. Flew home VERY early on New Years Eve to make sure we were here to ring in the new year with the kiddos.

Continue to truck along on the work front, have a couple of things still potentially on the horizon so hoping one of them comes to fruition in the not-too-distant future.

Thanks for stopping by and catching up with me friends!
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Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Cheese steaks...


homer-simpson-drooling-food.jpg​
 
Scuttlesoap said:
(I miss Reading Terminal which is one of my favorite places to go)
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I think I've been there. Took a train from Hartford - Philly, and switched trains at this really cool underground shopping plaza-like place. Pretty sure it was Reading - there was a lot of great train memorabilia and artwork on display everywhere. I had time to kill between trains, so I walked around the place to take it all in. I hope we get a high speed train between Pgh - Philly in my lifetime. We are so long overdue. I like train travel in general.
 
Graybeard57 said:
I think I've been there. Took a train from Hartford - Philly, and switched trains at this really cool underground shopping plaza-like place. Pretty sure it was Reading - there was a lot of great train memorabilia and artwork on display everywhere. I had time to kill between trains, so I walked around the place to take it all in. I hope we get a high speed train between Pgh - Philly in my lifetime. We are so long overdue. I like train travel in general.
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I agree - I love trains and wish there was one connecting the two cities. Reading Terminal had trains through 1984……now it it full of neat little shops, bookshops, multigenerational family delis, little groceries, bakeries, coffee shops (not Starbucks - but places that Nurse Dave would go to….etc. My favorite places to go were this family run deli and then off to this Amish family bakery who made the best soft pretzels……and of course - Bassetts Ice Cream - the best ever! (I may be a little biased 😂 Sometimes I stop by this old book store - where you had to rummage through the books (there wasn’t a rhyme or reason to the order) - then grab some fresh deli and some fresh bread and head over to this gazebo by the Art Museum near Boat House Row…..Good times!
 
Happy Tuesday friends, or in my case, Tuesday that is my work week Monday since we had yesterday off! It's 2023 final budget crunch season in finance manager world, so work was hectic last week and will likely be so through the end of the month. So it goes for those of us on calendar annual operating plans!

On the bright side, I didn't have to work over the 3 day weekend which is always welcomed. Although this winter has not been snowy or especially cold yet, it HAS been extremely dreary and the lack of sun is starting to get to people I think. I'd still take dreary over feet of snow or polar vortex cold any day. Saturday morning my wife went to brunch with her friends so I was solo dad for our 5 month old and toddler - it's those times that hammer home how tough my wife's job is as a SAHM. Sure there are times I wish I was doing it instead of the rat race, but I have NO doubt she has the tougher of our two jobs!

Sunday and Monday were both relaxing family days with some board games for mom & dad sprinkled in during naps and evenings. We're heading to Florida in mid-February so we're transitioning my daughter out of her Snoo basinet and into a regular crib and it's not going as smoothly as my son's transition. While she still sleeps from around 9pm to 5am, naps have been a huge struggle. Bought the "Magic Merlin" sleep suit and hopefully that gets her back to her normal sleep schedule since she was a great sleeper prior to us trying to transition.

Shavedom is keeping on keeping on. Using my Soap Commander Old Spice inspired soap and balm exclusively right now, and chasing with either MJ Legend EdC or Penguin Ice Blue EdC depending on the day. When I head into the office, I spring for something a little more upscale, right now Polo Blue Parfum and YSL L'Homme getting the call most often. Haven't purchased anything shaving or frag related since November and it feels good!

Thanks again for stopping by and reading!
 
Graybeard57 said:
Now you're catching on! Yessiree Bob!
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I've gone through various spouts of extended 3017 mentality and purchase sabbaticals and while it's been a couple years since my last razor, soap, or brush acquisition, definitely fell down a bit of a frag rabbit hole in 2021 into 2022. Now even that has fallen off and it's been good enjoying what I do have!
 
Happy Monday Friends, hopefully everyone had a nice weekend. It's been busy around here, but my daughter has taken VERY well to the Magic Merlin sleep sack so we've all been sleeping a whole lot better. That in itself makes such a world of difference. Work was a bit chaotic last week but hoping that a new opportunity materializes here soon. We spent Saturday at my in-laws celebrating my MIL's 60th birthday which was nice. Yesterday was spend around the house cleaning and cooking a bunch of food for the upcoming week.

Just a quick update for me this morning but thanks for reading!
 
Fightingillini22 said:
It's been busy around here, but my daughter has taken VERY well to the Magic Merlin sleep sack so we've all been sleeping a whole lot better. That in itself makes such a world of difference.
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SO great when they start settling into a normal sleep routine. Hoping this continues to hold for you!
Scuttlesoap said:
Should I be worried that I am closer in age to your mother but I act more closely to your son’s age?
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Yes.
 
Another week another dollar over here for me - was cautiously optimistic that a new role might pan out but have yet to hear anything so beginning to think that it's not happening. Ah well, won't lie and say I'm not a little let down but that's how these things go sometimes. On the home front, my wife is taking our daughter to the "cranial" specialists for a helmet fitting as she had torticollis when she was born and there's a flat spot on her skull that hasn't gone away. Despite the pediatrician saying we did everything right and sometimes these things just happen, it's definitely a "blow" to my wife. After the many terrible things we've seen our friends go through in the past year or so w/r/t infertility and miscarriages/loss, it seems like an insignificant drop in the bucket - heck, I'd chose this 10 times out of 10 even compared to the 3 week NICU stay we had with my son back in 2020. Regardless of the situations we've seen or been in, at the end of the day she's still got a ton of mom guilt. I know that's something I'll never truly understand as a dad so just being as supportive as possible.

In shavedom still trucking on with Soap Commander Endurance as well as MJ Legend and Original Penguin Ice Blue depending on the day. It's getting a little harder to get my brushes into the SC tub, so might transplant it into an old Stirling tub for ease of loading.

Thanks for checking in friends!
 
So good to hear from the shaver from the MidWest! Bummer on the job front - but sometimes these things end up working out in the long run. Keep the faith!

And nothing beats the guilt mothers put on themselves, they can’t see the wonderful people they are - She’s lucky to have a supportive husband as you!
 
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