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Our May 22 in Joplin

2011-05-25T21:45:00.033-05:00

Almost a week has passed since my family, Jaime and I found ourselves stuck on the literal edge of the deadly Joplin tornado. Jaime's ready to stop talking about it, and suppose I am too. But I decided that I wanted to gather all the pictures and video from that day and to create an archive of what happened, exactly, while I still remember. (Though I'm sure it'll be hard to forget.)

I'm hoping it'll serve as a record of the event for me, as an explanation for those who might be interested and as something that Lexi can look back on once she's old enough to understand what actually happened. At the moment, she doesn't appear to, and for that I'm grateful.

May 22 got off to a stressful start. Mom, my sister Annie and I rushed the kids the 25 miles from Carthage, where my parents live, to Springhouse Gardens, where my cousin on my mom's side, Taylor Anne, was supposed to get married at 6 p.m. Lexi, 6, was the flower girl. My nephews Joe, 7, and Jack, 5, were the ring bearers.

But when we arrived, Taylor and Annie started looking at the weather forecast, and it wasn't good.

Storms were due to arrive exactly when the wedding was starting. Taylor made the bold decision to move the wedding forward four hours to 2 p.m., which sent those of us at the rehearsal scrambling.

Mom and I rushed back to Carthage to change and to get the kids fed and in their wedding clothes. Annie, Joe and Jack's mom, stayed at the venue to help put the wedding together quickly.

The wedding was awesome. Jaime had agreed to be the photographer, and she arrived in town just in time. Taylor and Steve were married by 3:30 p.m., and she and her friends danced and danced.

At 5-ish, Lexi overheard my dad say that Joplin was under a tornado watch. Ever since hail broke the windows out of our house a couple of years ago, Lexi has had a lot of weather anxiety. She got pretty upset and begged to go back to Grammy's house, which was 25 miles northeast of the wedding venue.

I decided we would go. Jaime, who'd just shot the newlyweds loading into their getaway car, said she'd follow me back to Carthage.

We left the venue and it was only sprinkling. The sky didn't look bad, so I figured we'd make it back without a problem. Then, Travis, who was watching radar back in Wichita, started sending me text messages.

In my frenzy to get out of there, I hadn't noticed the tornado warning text. I'd only seen the one about hail. We'd driven about five miles toward Joplin, and thinking the only threat was hail (and reliving images of smashed Delano cars and windows) I decided I'd better find something to park underneath and wait it out. At that same moment, I heard a loud clunk on the top of my car which I thought was hail but now realize was probably debris.

I turned onto McLelland and found a carport in a cluster of medical offices. Jaime pulled up beside me and I explained my plan. She drove around the corner and found another carport.

Not long after, I realized we were in trouble. Travis was frantically demanding that I head south, but I was in an unfamiliar place, and I had no idea which way south was. I hung up and called Jaime, telling her we needed to get out of there

But it was too late. The sirens began to wail and I noticed the rain moving completely horizontally in a way I'd never seen before. Panicked, I left my carport, pulled up behind Jaime, got out, grabbed Lexi in her flower girl dress from the back seat, and told Jaime that we couldn't stay in our cars during a tornado. That's a tornado rule hammered into Kansans' brains from birth. I now realize getting out of the cars was probably not a great idea. But I also now realize that, stuck in that moment with no time to act, there were no good ideas left.

The wind started to blow so violently, it almost knocked us over, thwarting a brief idea Jaime and I had to throw a metal bench through the glass at the medical office so we could get inside. We dropped down in a spot along some rocky landscaping against the building and wrapped our arms around each other with Lexi completely covered in between us.

We were being pelted with rain. The spot we sat was just under the B in the picture above. I remember thinking that we shouldn't stay between the building and Jaime's car in case the wind blew the car against us. I now realize that if the wind had blown the car against us, that would have been the least of our problems.

It didn't take long for me to realize that we were in the tornado. As we huddled together, I watched two giant power poles fall over into the parking lot just in front of us. I watched the roof of the carport I had been under just minutes before lift up and blow away. A blue dumpster started skittering across the parking lot toward us as though it were on wheels.

Lexi wasn't crying, just asking a million frantic questions a minute. "What's happening mommy?" "Is this a tornado?" "When will this be over?" "Are we going to die?" I can't remember what if anything I said to her. I remember Jaime saying she was scared, over and over. I remember thinking, "This cannot be happening right now." It was all so surreal, like watching a movie. I wondered a couple of times if we were going to make it. Jaime told me later that she did, too.

After about a minute, I could feel the intensity lessening. The wind calmed and the rain picked up. A bolt of lighting struck so closely, we felt the electricity. We sat there, shivering against the building, for probably another 10 minutes, trying to decide what to do. We were freezing and confused but also incredibly relieved. Maybe even oddly giddy. At one point, I remember, I ridiculously tried to dial 911 on my soaking wet iPhone. Of course there was no service. And even if there had been, 911 had much bigger problems than three wet and scared Kansans who'd survived without a scratch.

Finally, we decided to get back in the car. Afraid that the power lines would have filled the water in the parking lot with electricity, Jaime stretched her long legs from the rocks to her car door then pulled it closer to us. I put the soaking wet flower girl in the backseat, then got in the passenger's seat.

From where we sat, we could see the top of St. John's hospital, and we could see that it was shredded. Things were silent around us for 10 or 15 minutes. Then, we started noticing headlights of cars driving around and around the edge of the hospital. People started driving into the parking lot where we were sitting, ignoring us and desperately searching for an alternative route into the hospital. Several just drove over the grass and curbs in their trucks, making their own path. At one point, we saw three young people in hospital gowns walk in front of our car. We later realized they were walking from St. John's, which was in front of us, to Freeman Hospital, which was directly behind us and hadn't been hit. But at the moment, it was very confusing.

After we got in the car, Jaime's phone rang. It was Travis. It'd been 15 minutes since I'd hung up on him, and he was sitting in his apartment, helplessly watching the destruction on television, not being able to reach us. While we were on the phone with him, my mom got through to Jaime's phone. She insisted that we stay put. She and dad were on their way to save us from the power lines. We lost her before we could tell her exactly where we were.

For the next hour, we stayed put, partially because mom had been so insistent and partially because we had no idea what we should do and were still in too much shock to make any decisions. Plus, a young man in a pickup truck who drove past us told us that the highway between Joplin and Carthage was covered in overturned semis and warned us we'd never make it back.

Cell phone service was in and out. When the water went down, Jaime got out and changed clothes and got her cameras out. We started getting text messages from Brian Corn, the Eagle's photo editor. He let us know where we were and what had happened and he urged Jaime to get whatever pictures she could. She and I talked and realized we were fine, the threat was gone and that she was on the very edge of a huge news event that likely no other media would be able to get to for a while. She hiked down a ways and shot the picture of St. John's that media outlets around the world used for much of the evening, until more dramatic and awful pictures started streaming out of Joplin.

Here's a montage Jaime put together of moments before and after our experience. In the first clip, my headlights are visible under the carport in the distance. The roof of that carport, as you'll see in later before and after shots, is the one I watched blow away five minutes later. The powerlines I drive under are the ones I watched fall. The flashes of light in the background are transformers exploding.

It was getting close to 7 p.m. and Jaime and I knew there wasn't a whole lot of daylight left. We were still trying to obey my mother, who we couldn't reach, but we knew we needed to start moving. We decided Jaime would take 30 minutes and walk down into the thick of it to take some pictures. She was getting out of the car to go when Brian texted and said the hospital might explode and that we should get out of there. That's all we needed to hear. I got Lexi in my car and Jaime and I both backed out and headed back for 32nd street, which borders Freeman hospital.

As we pulled out, a lady in a pickup truck pulled in beside us crying. I asked her if she was okay and she said that her husband was a patient at St. John's and she was trying to get to him.

We drove away, and I could see Jaime behind me with her camera out the window shooting images of the awful things we were seeing -- mass confusion, citizens directing traffic, people violently honking at each other trying to get through, twisted and broken signs and buildings. We were still on the edge of the damage. The worst thing we saw were pickup trucks driving past with feet sticking out of the ends of the beds.

Once we got moving, we found that our path back to Carthage was fairly clear. We pulled over on the highway once so that Jaime could shoot a picture of one of the several overturned semis along the side of the road.

As we got further away from Joplin, our cell service improved. I finally reached my mom, who told me she and my dad had spent the last hour looking for us everywhere. They were headed back to Carthage, too.

Mom and dad had left the wedding about 10 or 15 minutes after we had (the wedding venue was untouched.) They drove into Joplin just as everything had ended and encountered downed power lines everywhere. My sister and her boys were following my parents in her car, but when my sister saw the power lines, she turned around and went the other way. I later learned that her cell phone was in my purse the whole time. Annie later told us she took shelter in a stranger's house, but we couldn't reach her. My mom was panicked when she and dad arrived back at the house. "I just turned around and she was gone," she kept saying, over and over. After about 20 minutes, though, Annie's car came around the corner. We had a very happy reunion in the driveway, and Annie informed us she was getting the hell out of town. She left to go back to Kansas City about a half hour later.

The next few hours were insane. Jaime sent her pictures back to the Eagle in from my mom's kitchen table. Travis tweeted a link to one as soon as it went on Kansas.com, and in no time, the Eagle was getting calls from major news networks requesting interviews with Jaime. She was on the phone with CNN Sunday night, as they showed her pictures. She did a live on-air interview with CNN on Monday morning when she returned to Joplin to take some more pictures. She also was on FOX News.

I called Nick, who was on vacation in England (and asleep) and left him a message telling him what happened and that Lexi was okay. I then returned a call to my colleague Beccy Tanner back at the Eagle, and she wrote a story about our experience. In the following hours, we found out that everyone from the wedding was fine, amazingly, even though everyone was leaving the wedding when the storm hit. The groom's 15 or so relatives visiting from Seattle, no doubt, are still traumatized.

My cousin Kendra, who is my dad's brother's daughter, was at home, and her house in Joplin was in the path of the tornado. She and her husband and two children rode out the storm in their laundry room. They are all fine, but the roof of her house is gone, as are all her windows. She has an amazing collection of pictures, including one of a blue X on her front door (apparently, that's the color X you want) and of two-by-fours stabbed through her siding. She and her husband have rented an apartment back in Joplin while the insurance company decides what to do about her house.

When we got back home on Monday evening, I sat down and tried to figure out exactly where we'd been, how close we'd been.

Jaime, who at this point was completely emotionally fried, reluctantly agreed to send me these before and after shots of the view from where we sat. In the first one, you see my headlights, the carport over my head, the powerlines, the dumpster. In the second shot, you see that all those things are gone.

The map below shows where we were in relationship to the path of the storm. When the sirens sounded, it was already on top of us. We were at McLelland and 32nd street, which
appears to be about where the storm formed and, mercifully, moved away from us.

The days since the storm have been surreal. I think about it all the time, and I have to stop myself from reading constantly about the aftermath.

I have so many feelings. I'm overcome with what ifs. I see the horrible things that happened to people in Joplin during the exact moments that the three of us sat against that building, soaking wet and so happy we'd survived. I feel stupid that I didn't turn the radio on and that I didn't get us into a building when we still had a chance. I drove right past a McDonald's that survived the storm fine, but I thought I was just hiding from hail. I also feel guilty that I got Lexi out of the car and in the elements during a tornado. And I feel even guiltier thinking so much about my experience, when compared to what other people in Joplin went through, my experience was absolutely nothing.

I also feel sad for Joplin, the town where my mother was born and raised and where I spent a good portion of my childhood holidays and summers. Amazingly, so far, mom hasn't personally known any of the victims. My cousin, Taylor, called me on Monday and said that she's devastated that she's lost the town she grew up in. The anniversary of her beautiful wedding in Joplin, May 22, 2011, will also go down on record as the most horrible day in Joplin history.

I was encouraged by a friend who's a counselor to have Lexi draw a picture of our experience, from her perspective. Lexi's quite an artist, and I think her interpretation sums it all up perfectly.

Lil'Ro

2010-02-24T19:05:00.001-06:00

Jaime the showoff is not the only one who can take good pics of Lil'Ro. This one's mine-all-mine.

The photo editor liked this one

2010-02-15T16:41:00.002-06:00

I've been toying with the idea of doing a photo-a-day, sorta like Jaime and Lori, but I do so hate to be a follower. I'll keep toying, probably, until it becomes only a six-month commitment (sometime in June?) then get started.

But in the meantime, I thought I'd post this one, which I was sort of proud of and even prouder of when photo ed Brian Corn said he was proud of it. It's for a story I'm doing Friday about some new frozen yogurt shops in town. It will run in black and white in the paper, which is a culinary crime.

Big fun on the Ferris Wheel

2009-09-22T13:41:00.001-05:00

The highlight of our trip to the fair on Sunday.

Goin' back to Cali

2009-09-13T15:25:00.012-05:00

I'd like to. Soon. Here are some photos from our recent trip, a bachelorette party of sorts for Jaime.

We started the trip off right with some proseco by the pool. I'm in favor of any state where it's 78 and sunny all the time.

Jaime and I on our hotel balcony.

Walking on the beach, which was not nearly as swimming friendly as our hotel pool.

Finally realized my lifelong (or monthslong, anyway) dream of sampling some Pinkberry. Jaime and I only drove about an hour through traffic to get it.

Jaime's California cuisine, healthy and fresh.

My California cuisine, carby and bacon loaded.

Mmmmm. Fish tacos poolside.

Crepe stuffed with banana and Nutella. Went back to this place two mornings in a row.

In front of the Chinese Theatre on what would become the longest night of our lives. Our flight left at 6 a.m., so we decided to roam the streets of L.A. all night rather than check out of our
expensive hotel at 3 a.m.

Sustenance for the long night ahead.

The Cabin

2009-08-13T11:52:00.003-05:00

My mom's family has a cabin in Ozark-land, out in the middle of nowhere, overlooking a crik (as they call it in Missoura.) I used to go there all the time as a kid but haven't been in probably ten years.

Last weekend, Lexi and I went with my parents for the afternoon. That's the cabin up on the ledge. It's hardly fancy, but it's cozy. And has a great view. And, ya know, a crick.

Mom and Lexi in the crick, under the cabin.

Crick swimmin' hole.

Susan Peters roast

2009-07-22T11:05:00.002-05:00

Was pleasantly surprised after stepping off stage to find that Lori had taped most of my roast of Susan Peters. (Thanks, LAL.) I think I could have slowed it down in a few spots. But thanks to a little Bombay Sapphire, I survived.

It was fun, but I'm glad it's over.

Fish in training

2009-06-08T10:53:00.001-05:00

We spent a few pre-storm hours on Sunday at our friends' backyard pool, and you will not BELIEVE what Lexi did. It's particularly amazing considering that when we first got in, she wouldn't let me let go of her. An hour later -- this.

Of course, the life jacket is a bit of an issue because she does not understand now that she can sink without it. When I told her we'd better get her in swimming lessons, she said, "Mom, I don't need them. I already know how to swim."

Jitterbug

2009-06-02T10:28:00.010-05:00

Lexi had a big moment in her life on Sunday. It was her first (but as you'll soon see, clearly not her last) time performing on a stage.

The show was put on by Jitterbugs, a little dance class they offer at pre-school. I was a little worried she'd be too shy and refuse to go on, but it was quite the opposite. Lex was the front-n-center star of the show.

After this lethal Kung-Fu fighting kick, I'm not sure whether to enroll her in ballet or karate.

Mommy will be talking to Lexi soon about her feelings on cheerleading.

Emma, Lexi's B.F.F. and co-star, offering her customary tackle hug after the show.

At least someone had a good race

2009-05-13T20:38:00.004-05:00

My 10k time was abysmal at this year's River Run. But enough about me. Lexi was a racing star, completing her first ever Tot Trot.

Run, Lexi, run!! Run those 20 meters!!

I was actually surprised she did it because she can be pretty shy in unfamiliar situations. I think her running partner Harrison was the secret ingredient.

And look! They won medals!! Nothing abysmal about that.

Disturbing... yet adorably so

2009-05-04T11:41:00.006-05:00

I asked Lexi to pose for a pic this weekend and found out with great surprise that her Jitterbugs dance class has taught her how to pose for real. A tad JonBenet for my taste, but...

SupermodelWURK!

...WURK IT GIRL!

Carrot nose, Twizzler mouth

2009-03-29T10:31:00.003-05:00

Lexi really, really wanted to build a snowman yesterday. Or so she said. As it turns out, what she really wanted to do was throw snowballs at my head while I built her a snowman.

A spring snowman is an unusual creature because his mouth can be made out of Twizzlers colored for Easter.

The weekend's snow also brought an opportunity for me impart an important life lesson: Never eat yellow snow.

Yes, I know. She's a snow angel.

"Dream girl"

2009-03-25T21:30:00.003-05:00

Of course, on days when Miss Jessica sends home notes with words like "no listening ears" and "rough day," I tend to think she is uninformed and impatient.

But when I get notes like this one, well, that's what I realize just how smart and intuitive Miss Jessica actually is.

Three months of parties

2009-03-24T21:04:00.008-05:00

You wanna know why I haven't been blogging lately? It's not laziness or hecticness or utter depression. No. It's because I've been hauling Lexi all over town to birthday parties for the past three months.

The most exciting, naturally, was her own. And who wouldn't be excited with a gem of a cake like that?

Lexi's birthday was on March 5, but the celebration went on for weeks. Above is a shot from her party at our house, at which she received Bendaroos and a whole stable of My Little Ponies.

The most recent party was Saturday at Lauryn's and included rosy cupcakes, little sammiches, dress-up and general girliness.

The previous party was the previous Saturday at McDonald's in honor of Lexi's B.F.F., Emma. It included cheeseburgers, sock feet and more Bendaroos.

Back in January, it was Kyle's birthday, which included a dog shape caked, dog bone shaped sammiches and a rockin' game of hot potato with a dog bone.

Brian's party had bowling. 'Nuff said.

And way back at the beginning of January was a party for Coop, who turned 4 first and with the greatest style. Cha cha cha.

The party tour is over now. I think. Time to get back to blogging.

Gindi grub

2009-02-09T11:04:00.003-06:00

We took Lexi along with us on Sunday to review Gindi Thai & Japanese diner, a new place at 7010 W. 21st St., where Backyard Burger used to be. (It was delicious -- look for details in Friday's paper.)

I'm always a little hesitant to take Lexi to an Asian place because well, ya know, there aren't usually cheeseburgers on the menu. But she'd recently discovered a book about a little kitten who loved sushi and was pretty excited about going to a "sushi place."

She ended up burying her sushi deep in a bed of chicken fried rice (do you see it there, sorta in the middle??) But she could not scarf down the rice and Pad Thai fast enough. She loved it so much, in fact, that double-fisted eating became necessary.

Kid bowling

2009-01-18T20:21:00.003-06:00

Lexi fell a little bit in love on Saturday night when we attended Brian Buselt's 31st bowling birthday.

Lexi had never bowled before, but Brian sacrificed his score to show her how it's done (even though I didn't see a whole lot of evidence that he knows exactly how it's done.)

Nevermind that. When the ball started rolling, Lexi was so excited she caught a little air.

This is the joy that can be felt only by two kids who managed to knock down one pin with a ball that was barely moving.

Grateful, grateful girl

2009-01-02T22:36:00.004-06:00

This Christmas was the first one where Lexi seemed fully aware of what the proceedings meant. Santa brought her presents because she was good (mostly) and because she'd had the forethought to tell him exactly what she wanted. Or get her mom to, anyway.

One of the main items on her list was a "big-girl' kitchen. She was beyond thrilled. "How did Santa know EVERYTHING I wanted???" Um, because I told him for you when we saw him at the Eagle open house and you were too shy to speak REMEMBER???

Parent tip of the week: Don't let your kids' watch commercials. If you do, they'll decide that they simply can't go on living with out the Swimming Water Baby™.

She said her most favorite gift, however, was this easel complete with dry erase board. It was a cast-off from the Tobias family storage unit, emptied just before the big move. We cleaned it up a little and made it good as new. I predict hours of fun -- and dry erase marker clothing stains -- are in our future.

Bad mommy

2008-12-27T22:50:00.003-06:00

It's one thing to lie, gently, about Santa to help promote and preserve the magic of childhood.

But it's another thing entirely to fabricate photographic "proof" of that lie, just because you have a friend with Mad Photoshop Skillz. Many thanks to Jaime for the assist.

I do not rule

2008-12-24T12:03:00.012-06:00

I do not blame the four readers I may or may not have left if they do not believe what I'm about to say.

My plan for 2009 is to rediscover my blog mojo. I could list a gazillion excuses for why I've been so derelict lately, but we all know that the real reason is Twitter. DAMN TWITTER!!

So I'm gonna finish out 2009 with one more roundup of all the stuff I shoulda coulda woulda been blogging about if Twitter were not such a time suck.

When I last bothered to get my camera out of my purse, it was Open House night at the Eagle -- a little event my team and I organized that included cookies, music, good will and a Santa with a very forgiving lap.

Joe was, ahem, persuaded to provide some of the music. What a guy won't do for a free round of bowling.

Last weekend, Maddy and Harrison joined us for some cookie decorating while their mom went for a run in the freezing temps.

Lexi's artistry was fully realized on this Mickey Mouse palette.

Sadly, more frosting went in the mouths than on the cookies. And more food coloring went on the floor than in the frosting.

Last weekend also was the long-awaited trip to "The Nutcracker," during which Lexi loudly asked such probing questions as "Why did that big mouse do that?" and "Is that all? Is that all?"

Next installment: Christmas.

Coming soon.

Been busy

2008-12-07T21:43:00.009-06:00

I'm feeling bad for being such a delinquent blogger, but I've been busy folks. This weekend, it was getting the &%*# Christmas decorations up.

Usually, getting the house ready for the holidays feels like a burden -- a chore that has to be done. But this year, Lexi is seriously in to decorating. She probably decorated, undecorated and re-decorated my mom's tree 12 times over Thanksgiving.

Here's the finished product in the front room -- the artificial, pre-lighted tree that didn't stay pre-lighted for more than one season -- that's visible from the street.

We also put one up in the back room, where we do most of our hanging out. It's a real tree that I decorate with the far-superior colored lights.

As for my excuses for why I have not been blogging... Well, for a few weeks I was recovering from my stint with the nephews.

Then there was my birthday (and Mike's)...

Then Gingerbread Village with Grandma Wendy, the Lovings and the Welches...

Then Thanksgiving dinner...

Then my cousin's butt-kicking ninth place finish in the Galena half-marathon...

And then the Pad Thai cookoff: Carrie v. Nick. Fortunately for the loser, I'll stop here -- but promise to be a better blogger from now on.

Four down, two to go

2008-11-18T06:51:00.007-06:00

The nephews -- Jack, age 4 and Joe age 3 -- are staying with us this week while their poor parents vacation in Cabo San Lucas. We've had them since Saturday morning, and they leave on Friday morning.

Thank goodness mom and Bowzer the Schnauzer are here to assist.

Lessons learned: Boys are different from girls, and three kids are much more difficult to tame than one.

They're lucky they're so cute.

What we've done since election day

2008-11-16T21:37:00.010-06:00

Played dressup with big bag of crowns and tutus generously provided by Bon.

Ate a chicken fried steak at Stroud's, for research purposes...

...with Molly, Lori and Joe, the head researcher.

Attended nephew Jack's 3rd birthday party in Lenexa...

...which had a blue theme for kids and grownups both.

Took pictures of mom's squirmy new puppy, Bowzer the Schnauzer.

At a country fried steak, this one at Fat Ernie's, with Lori, Bonnie, and head researcher Joe, who declared we'd have to do Fat Ernie's over after learning that country fried steak is not exactly the same thing as chicken fried steak. No More. White. Gravy.

And, at Fat Ernie's, met a guy named Nunie who wears a Fun Meter...

...dialed to high, every day.

Lunch at Fat Ernie's

2008-11-13T14:04:00.001-06:00

I'm so sorry. My attention just wandered away from what Lori was saying.

Well, he DID ask

2008-11-12T16:44:00.004-06:00

Because talking about myself is one of my favorite pastimes and all, at least according to some jerkwad sports columnists, and because Bobby Rozzell is such a swell fellow (unrelated), I am participating in this blog tag game that has developed over the past couple of days.

Bobby, the creator of the very cool Douglas and Main blog, is the one who tagged me.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write 6 random things about yourself.
Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
Let each person know he/she has been tagged.
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six random things about me:

1. I was adopted. Most people who know me very well at all know this, and it's not a topic I'm particularly sensitive about. In fact, amazingly, I rarely think about it and have never been seriously tempted to go looking for my birth parents. Maybe it's because my actual parents are all the parents anyone could ever want and more. I do, however, wish I had my medical history. Especially now that I'm getting old and falling apart.

2. I'm left handed, but I think I was supposed to be right-handed because I do everything with my right hand except write and bat, not that I bat often or well. Many of the coolest people I've known also are lefties.

3. I was on "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire." Well, sort of. My husband, Nick, was a contestant the month after we got married six years ago. They showed me in the audience, and Meredith, that bitch, asked me some sort of embarrassing/awkward question. Nick ended up winning $125,000 (you'd be amazed how far that does NOT go after taxes.) Our all-expenses paid five-day visit to NYC felt like an even bigger prize.

4. My over-publicized pug, Norton, is named after county commissioner Tim Norton. He was a stray in our neighborhood (the dog, not the commissioner) and he followed Tim Norton into our house during a Gridiron scriptwriter's meeting on a freezing cold January night.

5. I worked from my sophomore year in high school until my sophomore year in college as a "teammate" at the Brass Buckle in Dodge City and then in Lawrence, hawking Pepe Jeans and Z. Cavaricci's on commission. I still occasionally have nightmares about working retail. And about Z Cavaricci's.

6. My journalism career started in earnest in high school in Dodge City, when I won lots of awards and scholarships for reporting the story about my principal being arrested on charges of lewd and lascivious conduct in an adult theater in Wichita. Thank you, Mr. Fox, wherever you are.

I tag:

Suzanne

Lori B.

Lori L.

Kathryn

Travis

Viva La Vida

2008-11-02T16:06:00.002-06:00

Joe and Ben do a darn decent version of "Viva La Vida," in my opinion, and I captured a bit of it on video at Oeno on Friday night. Carrie says the hotness of it is diminished by Joe's arm scratching, but I say it just adds to it.

Junk in a box

2008-11-02T15:34:00.006-06:00

After I got Cinderella tucked in bed, I headed out to Oeno to meet up with Carrie and Brenda, who was in town from K.C. for a visit.

We ran into friends Ryan, Caroline and Linda the sexy cop.

I, um, also ran into my city councilman Paul Gray.

The three of us served as judges for Oeno's costume contest, and the competition was fierce. This "Reno 911" couple really played the part.

This couple won a prize just for the effort alone. Apparently, they are some sort of Disney World characters.

In retrospect, though, I really think we should have given this guy first prize.

Cinderella recovered

2008-11-02T15:14:00.014-06:00

...just in time to get in a little Halloween fun.

Lexi was diagnosed with strep throat on Thursday morning, bummer timing for Halloween. She got started on antibiotics and felt okay enough on Friday afternoon to carve a Jack-O-Lantern...

And to go to the annual newsroom Trick-or-treat party.

There were fewer kids there this year, it seemed. Probably a byproduct of having fewer parents there.

Among the friends we saw were Spider Man Kyle

Baby Noah in his freshly knitted Halloween cap

Dan the Man

Rachel, the mermaid and Lexi's wardrobe consultant

Casey, the only Loving child still willing to pose for pics

Hannah and Jack the Very Serious Iron Man

Blake and Coop, who were looking tough on purpose

And Gabby girl!

When we got home, Lexi mustered the energy to go door-to-door for a few blocks in our neighborhood, and I'm not sure she's ever had so much fun.

Norton, on the other hand, I'm sure has...

B.F.F.

2008-10-28T21:47:00.004-05:00

Lexi's class went on a trip to the pumpkin patch on Monday morning, which turned out to be a very, very bad idea. It was so freezing cold in that freezing field, some of the kids were crying in misery. Here's Lexi before the pain set in.

Here is Lexi's best friend, Emma, who was my responsibility on the trip. I love this little girl. Wish she could come live with us, but I think her mom likes her pretty well.

B.F.F. Or at least till kindergarten.

My mom texted me this picture

2008-10-27T22:17:00.001-05:00

Six months ago, she didn't even know what texting was. Now she's zipping me pics of her new fireplace like it's no big woop. THIS is technological progress.

Halloweeeeeeeeeeen Bwa ha ha ha haaaaa

2008-10-26T10:01:00.008-05:00

AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!

AWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Last night, we took the kids to Night of the Living Zoo, an event at the SCZ that involves gazillions of little Wichitans in costumes scurrying around a dark zoo while all the animals sleep. Um. GREAT fun.

Amy, who's finally feeling better, and a cute Power Ranger joined us.

Amy, Nancy Drew and a Transformer were there, too, as were Nick and Aunt Jaime, who pushed baby Noah's stroller.

OH, and there were firefighters, too.

Big house, no furniture

2008-10-20T21:48:00.007-05:00

Molly and Mike closed on their schmancy new house this afternoon, and they had a few of us over this evening to check it out.

The grownups had a good time exploring and noshing. But one guest had more fun than any other.

Remember what it's like to be a tiny kid in a big house with no furniture? Lexi ran and flopped and flailed around, with no danger of breaking anything.

Even more fun than a big house with no furniture?

Being in a big house with no furniture, no other kids, and no shortage of grownups with nothing to do but tickle you...

Model your sunglasses...

And chase you around.

Fun Saturday, Fun Sunday

2008-10-19T21:35:00.006-05:00

We had a good weekend with some good times.

It all started Saturday morning, when I persuaded Lexi to get a haircut by promising her a sprinkle donut if she was good. She was.

We then headed to the Wellington Fall Festival, where we decorated pumpkins and...

...watched the Mudbugs play and...

...caught a glimpse of CRG in his natural habitat.

Today was Book Club at the Arb. Great weather. Smoky fire. Good times.

Naughty day

2008-10-15T20:49:00.002-05:00

Doesn't she look sorry????

Sicky Lou

2008-10-14T22:04:00.002-05:00

Today, I stayed home with my ill little Lexi Lou. She was NOT feeling well. Temperature. Headache. As you can see, Norton was extremely concerned.

She's feeling better, I think. Though I'm sure that will all change when I inform her in the morning that she has a dentist appointment.

Future ballerinas

2008-10-12T19:41:00.003-05:00

Stan was passing out tickets to the Friends' Fall Ballet this afternoon, so Amy and I decided to take the kids on a theater test drive.

Lexi and Maddy loved it. When the show was over, they took a few spins on the stage to imitate the tu-tu twilrling they'd just witnessed.

Now, Lexi is wondering when she can be a ballerina.

And both girls are VERY excited about "The Nutcracker." Christmas is too far away, they say.

This one's for the Grandmas

2008-10-12T07:21:00.016-05:00

I've been sort of a lazy blogger lately, and I've let a half dozen or so adorable Lexi pictures go to waste. I figured Mary Anne and Wendy -- my most devoted readers -- might enjoy a little catch-up.

Incidentally, I hope to get my blogging mojo back with an assist from my new pink Canon Elph, seen here.

Lexi has learned to write her name recently. So the "x" is a little crooked, but I think it's a good effort.

She loves the new playground at the park, especially this crazy swing.

She's also coming to appreciate her doggy more. These days, he's more a friend than an snorty problem who licks her face and sheds all over her clothes.

Here, she prepares to write a term paper on the effects of global warming. Actually, she's just watching Wow Wow Wubzy on my laptop.

Now, wasn't all that cuteness worth the wait?

Robin at Botanica

2008-10-09T22:00:00.007-05:00

Tonight was Robin's much-awaited concert at Botanica, and about 20 of us gathered to hear the tunes and have a fried chicken picnic.

My sister, Annie, who is in from Lenexa for a conference, joined in the fun along with Carter (Robin's album producer) and Jaime.

Dave and Tess brought the comfortable chairs. And a kick-arse pasta salad.

Bon and Dick stayed till the END this year.

Sisters...

Spec wearers...

... and Bonnie's new friend, Aurora, who picked her out of the crowd and became her new best friend in about five minutes. Lexi is jealous.

Doing what it takes

2008-10-04T22:12:00.002-05:00

Helped Jaime at the Eagle's Woofstock photo booth today. I got there at 9 to help her set up and left at 2:45. During those nearly six hours, she shot pet photos nonstop. Don't even think she took a bathroom break.

Toward the end of the day, the whole Eagle contingent -- including Michael, Sherry, Pam, Ron's daugher and Ron -- were barking, yelping and clapping to get those mangy mutts to smile. I know Jaime looks happy. She's really just delirious.

In the video below, Ron is not delirious. Just dedicated.

This is Joe

2008-10-02T22:14:00.003-05:00

And Joe does not like to follow the rules.

So if you were to, say, tell Joe that he was now required to wear his security badge in the building, Joe would find some subtle way to let you know what he thought of your rule.

This is why I like Joe.

He's watching us

2008-09-24T21:24:00.003-05:00

And he's mocking us, ever-so-kindly.

Wichita bloggers: If you update with any regularity, you probably have been the focus of Douglas and Main at least once. It's a blog run by a guy named Bobby Rozzell, who maintains links to as many Wichita blogs as he can find, along with a running commentary on said blogs.

We Three, Tess, Business Casual, 366 Images, Pens and Needles, Outdoor Dog, Finger on the Weather... we've ALL been spotlighted.

It's fun. And fascinating. Check it out.

Quick recap of the past five days

2008-09-21T15:05:00.007-05:00

My week of vacation has come to a tragic, tragic end. I offer this quick recap:

After a couple of days of staycation relaxation, we hit the road for Arkansas, where we hung around scenic Eureka Springs for a while. The strangest thing we saw, besides Branson on the way back to Carthage, was Quigley's Castle.

Then spent a little time back at my parents' house, petting Bowzer the baby schnauzer and hanging with the cousins.

Got a glimpse of mom at work in the quilt shop.

Then, upon our return, caught a glimpse of Jaime drummin' and Mudbuggin' on the packed patio at Oeno. Below, you will find a video of the Mudbugs performing one of my favorites, "Jambalaya."

Kansas State Fair

2008-09-14T21:32:00.011-05:00

We took Lexi to the Fair today, and she had so much fun she passed out.

She started the day feeding a baby goat.

Then moved on to feeding herself a Pronto Pup -- basically her dream food.

She's becoming quite the photographer and captured a lengthy fowl series today. I'll spare you the results.

Except this one. Photography by Lexi J.

After a couple of rides...

And a little ice cream...

And a Mudbugs headwear purchase...

And a Dora balloon purchase...

It was lights out for Lexi.

Whoppety whop

2008-09-09T22:20:00.008-05:00

That's how Chuck Shreiber, the owner of Kansas Copters, describes the sound a helicopter makes. Pretty accurate, I thought.

Today, Travis and I took a helicopter ride over the Kansas State fairgrounds. That's the big thrill ride this year, so we decided to do a story. This was my first helicopter ride, but not my first opportunity. I'm petrified of flying and have declined all invites in the past to go flying over natural disasters for the paper. (Self portrait by moi.)

Somehow I found the courage, though, and it was actually very fun. Beautiful day, cool view of the Fairgrounds, smooth ride. Travis shot a video that will be on Kansas.com tomorrow.

Downtown Hutch from the sky.

Mudbuggin'

2008-09-08T20:32:00.001-05:00

Got a little video of the Mudbugs in action at Zoobilee on Saturday night. Emphasis on little. But you can get a feeling for the Cajun flavor.

Norton is a star

2008-09-05T22:48:00.002-05:00

You simply must visit kansas.com this weekend and check out my little pug, the face of the Eagle's new pet site

Labor Day weekend

2008-09-01T22:58:00.007-05:00

We spent the three-day weekend south of the city, starting in Alva and ending in Belle Plaine. Do you know I still have to look up how to spell Belle Plaine? Every time?

I do not, however, have to look up how old Nick's dad, Fred, is because the proof is on top of this German chocolate cake Nick's mom made to celebrate his birthday next week.

All of the siblings, minus one, gathered in Alva for the occasion, and we did a whole lot of sitting, eating and watching HGTV. That's how we roll in Alva.

Lexi learned the joys of headphones. She's watching one of her favorite cartoons and is as thrilled at how well she can hear it as we are at how well we can't.

A campaign sign in my in-laws' yard. I don't care what Bowdy Peach stands for. With that name, he HAS to be elected.

When we returned on Monday afternoon, we headed over to the Arb for a little Labor Day BBQ. Here, Robin holds court while describing her trip to pick up her big Markham prize.

Lexi demanded some after-dinner music, and the pre-Winfielders were kind enough to oblige.

Tomorrow, back to real life. Blech.

Watercolor me impressed

2008-08-26T22:53:00.004-05:00

Tonight, Lexi told me that she wanted to paint. She was pretty insistent. So I got out the watercolors, got on the phone with Jaime and stopped paying attention.

A few minutes later, I realized she was actually creating something pretty coherent.

I'm no artist, but I think this is pretty good for a 3-year-old.

Think I'm gonna have to frame this one.

By popular demand

2008-08-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

...the drunkest clown ever. Happy Birthday, Suzanne

Bowzer

2008-08-15T22:57:00.004-05:00

...or is it Bauzer?

I'm in Carthage, and my parents are trying to pick a puppy. Tonight, Lexi and I tagged along while they checked out some Schnauzers. We met this one, which my dad quickly nicknamed Bowzer.

Please take me home.

Please?

How can you resist me?

Wesley Friends

2008-08-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

I gave a talk tonight to about 100 members of a retirees group called Wesley Friends. I give several of these talks a year, usually about restaurant reviewing, and it always leaves me hungry for retirement. These people have a good time.

Look what they gave me! Mmmmmm. Turkey and taters. (I think it was turkey.) Hospital food, but not too bad.

Can you, like me, usually determine the approximate age and gender of people based on their handwriting?

Only 15 years till I can join.

Piano

2008-08-13T21:45:00.002-05:00

Found the piano I'd been looking for last week on Craigslist. Two days and $75 later, it was in my living room, exactly where I'd imagined it. I hope Lexi will want to learn.

Nasty onion breath

2008-08-12T21:31:00.004-05:00

I did NOT know that sweet little 3-year-olds with angel breath could ever smell so stanky. But tonight, after Lexi finished her cheeseburger, she smelled kinda like a sailor, minus the whiskey.

Don't let your child do this.

Forgot to pay

2008-08-05T21:05:00.001-05:00

...for that cute little grocery item in the middle.

Mudbuggin', ride ridin'

2008-08-02T00:11:00.008-05:00

My sister and her two boys are in town. So after work, we loaded the kids in the car and drove to Winfield (Wellington?) NO, definitely Winfield for the Cowley County Fair.

The reason we went was to hear The Mudbugs perform, but we'll get to that in a second. See that giant Ferris wheel in the background? LEXI RODE THAT!!!!

Fueled by a little Joe bravery, Lexi actually agreed to get on board. She was reluctant at first -- she's hesistant about new things, especially potentially scary new things. But once she was up there, she had a blast. Jack sat beside me. Annie stayed on the ground, which is where she prefers to be.

Earlier, the trio took a little car ride...

... and Joe and Lexi tried out this flying dragon while Jack utilized to Porta-facilities. That was the extent of the rides, though. Even at the CCF, it costs $3 a ride. What a racket.

Of course, the real point of the evening was to support the Mugbugs in their Cajun jammin'. Here's Jaime in her new stage ensemble.

Look just below Carter's fiddle and you'll see her banging away.

Robin, Kenny and Randy also showed up. Robin was so excited about her recent discovery that the Arb won it's $25,000 grant, she did a little dance in front of the whole audience. Make that three or four little dances.

Didn't get the kids to bed until close to 11 p.m. It was worth it, no matter how much they make us suffer tomorrow.

Vegas, Days 2 and 3

2008-07-28T22:25:00.006-05:00

I won't repeat the details of my incredible wine-fueled Vegas bravery detailed on LAL's blog. Instead, I will post a few more pictures from our whirlwind trip.

Our favorite activities included drinking poolside before noon...

Drinking in the Rum Jungle after noon...

Dressing up...

Going out...

And cheesing for the camera.

It was a fun trip. Can't wait to go back.

Vegas, Day 1

2008-07-24T23:39:00.009-05:00

Bonnie, Lori, Molly, Carrie and I are on a very quick trip to Las Vegas. We arrived this afternoon and leave early Sunday morning.

We decided to go after we competed in the Genesis Fitness Challenge earlier this spring. Top prize in the challenge was a trip to Vegas. We didn't win, but decided we'd better have the trip anyway. (Coincidentally, one of the owners of Genesis was on our plane today in the seat right in front of us.)

Molly arranged for a limo to pick us up at the airport and transport us to the hotel in the manner we all hope but don't expect to some day become accustomed.

Haven't been in one of these since Prom '91.

You'll be happy to hear that we aren't just staying in ANY hotel.

Had dinner at the restaurant on the top of The hotel tonight. To say it was pricey would be an understatement. Half my garage sale earnings wiped out in one meal.

Here's my curried lobster, which just might have been worth it. Still calculating. Will get back to you.

At the moment, two of the above pictured women are tucked into The beds in The hotel. One is downstairs tossing money around at a poker table.

This one, too. And Molly.

Random Lexi cuteness

2008-07-22T22:19:00.006-05:00

Thought I'd post this collection of Alexis adorableness I've captured over the last week.

Here, she models the latest in preschooler sunglasses fashion.

Like any good model, Lexi can find fresh motivation with just seconds' notice.

Her first experience with chocolate milk. Didn't like it.

Cinderelly!

Garage sale from hell

2008-07-20T10:20:00.003-05:00

Well, it wasn't that bad. But pretty close.

I had a garage sale this weekend, which went okay overall except for the fact that it was totally rained out on Friday. Soggy stuff. No customers. No $$$$.

I rebounded a little on Saturday. We had a steady stream of customers, who bought a lot of my junk. Still hauled three vanloads to the DAV at the end of the day.

My mom came to town to help and was a lifesaver. She was my cashier and did a whole lot of suggestive saleswomanship. She's good at that kind of thing. In raised $250, which I plan to spend (probably in one day) when the girls and I go to Vega$ this weekend.

Here's mom reading to Lexi on the eve of Soggy Friday.

How we spent our Sunday

2008-07-13T23:11:00.003-05:00

One of us (whose mommy forgot about the sprinkler ban till it was too late) did this...

While the other one did this...

We're having the garage sale of the century this weekend, which is why my back is killing me and my living room looks like I'm moving out. Mom, having second thoughts??

The Lady and me. And Joe.

2008-07-11T11:49:00.003-05:00

My talented friend Jaime put together a video of me interviewing my favorite Southern lady, Paula Deen. This was on Thursday at the casino meeting in Belle Plaine.

Joe claims I'm hogging his time, but listen, ya'll, he got a lot of questions in. Jaime just didn't find them video-worthy.

Bye, Brenda

2008-07-09T23:17:00.003-05:00

The worst part about Wednesday's martini night at Yia Yia's was saying goodbye to good pal Brenda T.

The best part???

Swimmin' pool sux

2008-07-07T22:14:00.005-05:00

Shoulda just bought the $7 plastic tub. But no, I had to get the fancy inflatable pool with the showering roof.

Back in the pool tonight, but the roof will no longer stay on. The arms can't support it and it totally collapses. This is in addition to the first problem, when the hose that was supposed to make the shower wouldn't fit correctly and wound up spraying wildly and completely soaking me.

She still likes it.

Swimmin' pool

2008-07-06T21:01:00.004-05:00

Lexi is the owner of a brand new swimmin' pool. Not as good as Lori and Dale's, but still fairly awesome. And not too deep.

I assembled and filled it while she was napping. And even though she helped pick it out at the store, she wasn't too sure she wanted to get in.

She quickly changed her mind.

I'm now afraid this is all she's ever going to want to do.

Bluebird

2008-07-04T23:10:00.011-05:00

Robin was kind enough to invite us to spend the Fourth at her parents' farm, Bluebird, which is.... well, all I know is it's in Oklahoma somewhere off the Stillwater exit and it takes a very long time to get there.

This place is really more of a well-manicured indoor/outdoor palace of fun than a farm. What else would you expect from Macys?

Lexi and I started the day taking a ride on a Gator. This warning on the Gator struck me as sort of abrupt.

... and our driver struck me as kind of, well, YOUNG! (No death occurred, though we did get stuck once.)

Around lunch time, I impressed the hungry with my mad pizza grilling skillz.

Please note the professional-grade gill marks on the crust.

Sister Stella whosit whatsit a million gazillion names takes a nap.

Lexi and Jaime enjoyed the pool, though Lexi declared that it was far too deep. "WHY IS THAT POOL SO DEEP???" she demanded to know, shortly before falling asleep tonight.

She also enjoyed a little Badminton with her new friend, Emma.

It was down to two teams in the old-fashioned egg toss. This is me just as yolk exploded all over my hands, leg and shoes. Randy, I'll need to see those negs.

We left in the early evening, just as the pickin' commenced.

No more T.V.

2008-06-30T22:04:00.001-05:00

A conversation between Lexi and me when she was in the bathtub tonight.

"Mom, is this soap scum?"

Soap scum? Lexi, where did you learn that word?

"On the T.V."

Deanna is a goddess

2008-06-29T22:37:00.004-05:00

Tonight, I attended a painstakingly planned, very fun party at the Arb, where I did several things I would not normally do.

Drinking with Carrie was not one of them.

Nor was cheesing with Jaime.

But I did: Make my own Girl Scout sash, help construct a ikibana arrangement, invent a tai chi move, eat a vegetarian bordering on vegan meal and ride around in a golf cart piloted by Robin Macy.

Colors

2008-06-28T16:07:00.003-05:00

I was just admiring the colors in some of the pictures I've taken over the past 24 hours.

Pinks and greens in this shot of a rainy morning with friends on the porch.

Shady reds in this impromptu jam session that broke out at a Friday night dinner party.

Yellow and green in this shrimp dish prepared at said dinner party by former soup kitchen chef Tanya.

Two L's

2008-06-22T08:36:00.002-05:00

The cute blog child known as "L" was kind enough to invite Lexi for a play date in the park on Saturday morning. Lexi loves a good play date, a good park and all her fellow L's.

These two girls hadn't seen each other in a while but held hands all morning and gazed at each other in mutual awe. Some days, I wish I was a 3-year-old girl.

Thanks for the play date, L.

Fudge

2008-06-18T21:50:00.002-05:00

Sorry for all the pics of Lexi slurping on ice cream, but isn't she cute doing it? This is her first ever fudge-cicle. She lost interest partway through and started using it to paint on the table.

Grandma's house

2008-06-16T21:50:00.005-05:00

We spent Father's Day weekend in Alva making a long-overdue visit to Grandma Wendy's house.

As usual, we did lots of eating. Here, Lexi feasts on her favorite food -- strawberry ice cream.

Uncle Marc volunteered to sit with Lexi at the little kids' table during dinner. Frankly, that's where he belongs. Am I wrong?

A little coloring with Uncle Tim and Grandma Wendy aids digestion.

Weirdness and grossness

2008-06-12T21:54:00.006-05:00

I encountered all kinds of weirdness and grossness today.

First, there was my tomato-free house salad at Il Vicino. Although it was far from gross, it was weird without the red.

Next there was this: The little toy Bonnie gave Lexi, which starts as an egg, soaks for a couple of days in water, then hatches the creepiest sponge baby you've ever seen. Weird and gross. But also great. Thanks, Bon!

Finally, and you should be grateful that this is the best picture my Elph could capture, I was walking through my living room and couldn't help but notice that my next door #$*%$& neighbor was watching nasty porn on his giant big screen TV. He has no curtains, and the window looks directly into my house. I'm no prude, but ew.

Happy Birthday, mom!

2008-06-11T22:36:00.000-05:00

If I was there, I'd buy you a latte. Love you!

Croquet Party 2008

2008-06-07T22:37:00.008-05:00

Tonight was Robin's annual croquet party at the Arb, and my date was Jaime. I swear we did speak to men while we were there, but you wouldn't know from this post. It was kind of a girl party, in retrospect.

Here's me with my date and our drinks.

K-Ry was there. She'd done a lot of graphics work for Robin and broke the news that she might just move out of Wichita if she finds the right job. NOOOOO!!!!!

Bonnie filled in as emcee for Carrie, who's out of town. We missed Carrie, but Bon was certainly an adequate fill-in.

The glasses are Kerri's, the camera is mine, the talent with the beer is Jaime.

Mmmmmmm. Fried chicken.

You know it's a party when Suzanne and Tara show up.

Self portrait.

Dinner and a baby

2008-06-06T21:43:00.003-05:00

When I first brought Lexi home, a very nice friend brought us dinner one night, all ready to go, and left. I very much appreciated it and vowed to return the favor for a friend some day.

Tonight, I took enchiladas over to the DeVault house, where Noah is very new. (And so is the house.) Lexi and I stayed to eat, and to help Kyle work off a little energy.

Noah did not eat enchiladas.

New dress

2008-06-04T22:02:00.001-05:00

...and she's very pleased with herself.

Delano al fresco

2008-06-01T22:22:00.002-05:00

Lexi worked up an appetite pedaling up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down the sidewalk while I did some yard work late this afternoon. So we decided to relax with a little dinner on the back patio.

Not even the view of all our weeds and all our neighbors' back yard junk could spoil our cookout.

Battling the bunnies, etc...

2008-05-28T22:19:00.004-05:00

I got my tomato contraption put up last night. It was designed and conceptualized by Dennis Neil.

It'd better work, Dennis.

Here are a few other random pics I like from the last few days, including this one of Jaime and Lexi's pretend sleepover tonight.

Here we are coming home from Carthage. Norton has really become a cooperative passenger. Lexi, not so much.

Lexi, Joe and a big ole bowl of noodles.

The calm after the storm

2008-05-26T08:56:00.006-05:00

Annie and the boys just drove away, and already, things are 1,362 percent calmer. Note to self: Never have boys.

Annie asked me to take some pictures of the three of them in their white shirts. I did my very best, though it's absolutely impossible to get them all to smile properly at the same moment.

And sadly, Aunt Jaime, we were working with high-noon light.

Got one of mom, Annie and Aunt Margaret while I was at it.

Photography by Alexis A. Jungman.

Fighting back

2008-05-25T16:27:00.002-05:00

We're in Carthage, and mom and dad just took me to a very cool nursery that sells big, healthy, rabbit-proof tomato plants at 1/3 the price of the Evil Lowes Home Improvement Center in Wichita.

I bought four new tomato plants, a pepper plant and three very healthy huge herbs for a mere $15. Dad helped me get the materials for some sort of chicken wire/stake contraption he's dreamed up, so if I can pull it off, I'll have a new garden -- with security -- by tomorrow night.

Bad bunnies

2008-05-22T22:48:00.002-05:00

The extension agent told Annie it was either deer or bunnies.

And since Delano isn't home to a lot of deer, I think I have my culprit.

On Mother's Day, I planted four tomato and one yellow pepper plant. They were all growing nicely, bulking up and starting to fill out.

Then, a couple of days ago, I noticed that my fat plants had suddenly become bare twigs. SOMETHING devoured every leaf on every plant.

This happened to me one other year, and it was infuriating. I'm bummed that I have to start all over, that I'm now three weeks behind AND that I have to devise some complicated method for keeping those friggin rabbits away.

Heinous hares!!!!!

Go fly a kite

2008-05-18T22:17:00.003-05:00

Maddy and Harrison spent the afternoon with us while their insane mother ran up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs at Cessna Stadium in the name of "training."

Instead of eliminating calories like Amy, we opted to add them on with a picnic lunch in the park.

Afterward, we decided to try out the kite Lexi's grandma gave her for Easter. We didn't have a lot of hope since it wasn't too windy.

But we got that thing way up there, and all the kids were all able to handle it on their own. Here, Lexi demonstrates that it's all in the wrist.

That's CRG, Steve and me

2008-05-17T08:13:00.001-05:00

Yes, I know this photo is a week old. But it only recently came to my attention that Jaime had captured me selling a button to my most enthusiastic customer of the day.

Zoo Day

2008-05-14T22:15:00.004-05:00

I'm not easily exhausted. But then, I had never before today tried to herd eleven 3-year-olds at the zoo. This morning was Lexi's school field trip, and I went along as a parent helper.

Here was my view most of the morning. A bunch of 3-year-olds running away, as fast as they could. Yes, Ames, that is Capt. Harrison leading the charge.

Here, Lexi and her two boyfriends, Cameron and Jack, (she choose them to ride in our car) see how they measure up against the penguins.

Group pic at the beginning of the day, lots of energy and fight left

Group pic at the end of the day, exhausted into submission

The rest of the weekend

2008-05-06T22:18:00.006-05:00

Well, I'd planned these pics to go into several posts, but let's just wrap it up, shall we?

So Monday, I went to my sister's optometry office in Lenexa to pick out some new glasses, which I hope will arrive soon. This is it, by the way, for all you JoCo.-ers who need an eye doc.

The doctor and her tools.

Later that morning, we took Jack, Lexi and Joe to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead, a place I highly recommend if you have kids to entertain in the K.C. area. It's fun, and it's FREE!

Lexi got to brush a calf. I think she got her second tick of the weekend at this very moment.

That evening, we were off to the concert, which was the point of our weekend. Took Jaime and birthday boy Carter to an Irish pub beforehand. Here is a 366 Image in the making.

It was a good show, though, as Jaime said, a little talky.

Now THIS is where I draw the line

2008-05-06T11:50:00.000-05:00

The maple bacon bar...

Ticked Part II

2008-05-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

Here's Lexi, avoiding the camera again, this time at the park.

Ticked

2008-05-04T21:14:00.004-05:00

We're in JoCo for the weekend, and today's activities included some fun in the park with cousins Joe and Jack. We came home from this outing with three tired kids, a few grass stains, and as Annie discovered at bathtime tonight, TICKS!

Here's Jack Cheeser.

Lexi warming up for her senior portraits.

Dis kid nuts.

Born to run

2008-05-01T22:04:00.004-05:00

Let Norton out this morning. Went back to check on him about 15 minutes later. Gate open. No Norton.

This was the SECOND time this had happened since we got our little runner (who came to us as a stray...runner.) The first time, a contractor left our gate open. This time, it was... well, it wasn't me or Lexi, if that narrows it down.

Thankfully, as soon as I realized Norton was gone and ran outside in a panic, he was running down the sidewalk back toward home. Who knows where he'd been or what he'd been doing.

I truly hate to think of a life without Norty. And so does Lexi. Here she is demonstrating how she would have felt had Norty not come back home.

Wisteria Lane it is not...

2008-04-27T22:44:00.003-05:00

... but there IS some pretty nice wisteria blooming in my hunk of the hood. This vine is in my front yard.

Hope it lasts a little longer.

This one's for you, Pete

2008-04-27T15:04:00.005-05:00

My brother-in-law, Pete, doesn't want his two boys in the vicinity of anything too girly. I'm surprised he lets them play with Lexi.

Pete did not join his family on its trip to Wichita this weekend, so when Joe agreed to put on Lexi's tutu, I took advantage of the situation.

That boy can twirl!

Pretty soon, he was INTO it. Lexi let him try on one of her new pretty dresses she got this weekend.

Sorry, dad.

Front-row seat

2008-04-23T23:45:00.004-05:00

Gridiron is back. I presume I will see all of you there. Right? RIGHT? If you're on the fence, just ask yourself if you really want to miss this:

Oh, yes. I'm sorry, but they did.

Lexi came with me to dress rehearsal tonight because she wanted to see Jaime and Bon on stage. Don't worry, she didn't get the jokes she wasn't supposed to get. In fact, when the toilet skit was over, she had just one question. Why didn't those boys use the toilet paper?

She enjoyed the Orpheum as much as she did the "dancing kids wearing dress-up" (her description of the cast.) I showed her a bunch of secret tunnels in the theater, and we took a gaze off the balcony.

We went home at intermission and had a serious talk about how she must never become a journalist -- certainly not a dancing one in dress-up.

12-legged love

2008-04-21T22:23:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I know I should not be putting this up. So I'm sorry.

But how many people are able to witness ant sex in their own homes? And how many of those have been trained on the macro setting on their camera by Jaime so they have some idea what to do when they witness ant sex in their own homes?

I'm just sayin.

Arb boogie

2008-04-20T22:26:00.001-05:00

Lexi does not like to be photographed, filmed or sometimes even looked at by her dear old mom. In this fine example, shot yesterday, she starts to boogie then moves out of the way and shoots me a "look" when she realizes what I'm up to.

Songs from the garden

2008-04-19T23:53:00.006-05:00

I took Lexi to hear Robin and Carter perform at the Arb today. Except getting a little sunburned (but only one one small part of one cheek) she had a great time.

Here's the band at work.

It was hot out there, but Lexi kept cool with the picnic her cool mom packed for her.

When she got bored, we went sniffing.

It takes flexibility to be a good sniffer.

I won't even try to guess what Lexi is thinking here.

Power outage

2008-04-15T22:46:00.006-05:00

BEER in the newsroom???

POKER in the newsroom?????

Generally uncontrolled frivolity in the newsroom?????????

It can only mean one thing. The power went out in the newsroom for about an hour and a half this afternoon, and work came to a standstill. That was a good thing. Everybody took a break, had some fun and learned a few things about their co-workers. Behind Dan and I, Suzannne is hearing several unpublishable stories about Aunt Bitchy.

Good times.

Dental drama averted

2008-04-15T22:40:00.003-05:00

Today was Lexi's first visit to the dentist's office, a day she has been dreading since that awful moment when she was 2 and I (and a Dora book that was supposed to make the dental process seem LESS scary) first made her aware of the existence of the dentist. For months she would cry and say, "I'LL GO WHEN I'M 3!!!!"

When she turned 3, she ran out of arguments. So this morning, it was just a bunch of tearful, "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE DENTIST!!!!"

But things went well when we got there. The dental assistant was funny and warm and made Lexi laugh with a monkey video and by squirting water across the room with a dental instrument. Getting the floor wet on purpose ALWAYS works on kids.

Lexi actually laughed during her appointment and voluntarily opened her mouth for the dentist to take a look.

I was... relieved.

Perks of the job

2008-04-12T23:06:00.007-05:00

Today, I judged a Hannah Montana look-alike contest at the Kidfest event at Century II. Why did I accept this job? I'm still not sure. But it was Hannah-larious.

There were 82 girls entered, but only about 60 of them showed. They ranged from about age 4 to 14. Last time I saw this many blond wigs, Gridiron was doing a Martha Stewart skit.

Here I am with my co-judges, Joe Sauer from the band 3 Ring Circus and John Spear, formerly of KEYN. We had philosophical differences.

The prize was a trip for four to Disney World, and I sort of wanted it to go to one of the adorable little kid entrants. Maybe not the one giving me the stinkeye.

They preferred the more grown-up Hannah, and I was outvoted. The 13-year-old girl on the right was the winner.

Not fun making little girls cry. But the winner was happy.

Vega$, baby

2008-04-12T22:58:00.003-05:00

The fitness challenge (and thank GOD the sugar ban) are over. Sadly, the sugar ban was a failure. I only lost a pound. But the rest of the ladies lost much more.

I won't say how much cuz that's there business, but I was impressed with my partners Lori, Bonnie and Carrie. (Molly didn't get to join because she has no pounds to lose.) Here we are right after our weigh-in, piling my pound back on at On The Border.

That's also where we discussed our plans to go to Vega$, even though we didn't win the challenge. If we can find a single day this year Bonnie's not booked, that is.

The three pointer

2008-04-08T15:56:00.000-05:00

Rock Chalk!

2008-04-08T00:14:00.004-05:00

... and I don't say that lightly because I'm STILL not clear what exactly it means, and if we're being honest, it's a kind of cheesy thing to say. Nonetheless, ROCK CHALK!!!! KU WINS THE FINAL FOUR. What a great night.

I blogged live from the Fox and Hound bar, where a bunch of KU fans were gathered. You can read my musings if you have absolutely nothing better to do.

LAL came along to help me and ended up getting most of the quotes and photos I used. Constant blogging requires butt to be glued to chair. Though my butt did a bunch of jumping around at the end. Here's LAL with our waitress, Burgandy, who also happens to be the kickass manager of the Riverside Perk who recently decided to make it smoke-free.

And a lovely sentiment sent to me by a lovely fellow Chalker midway though the game.

YAY!