Chiefs v. Chargers

Since we were already in KC for Kinley's 2nd birthday party, we bought tickets to meet Jaime and Brett to watch our KC Chiefs play the San Diego Chargers.  The Chiefs are having a great year and were 9-1 coming into this game... the best record the Chiefs have had in a very long time.  Unfortunately, the gameday forecast called for a kickoff temperature of 12 degrees.  That's not a typo -- TWELVE.  So we decided not to bring the kids, eventhough we had tickets for them.  Oma and Doodah kindly offered to bring them home with them instead.  The game was great and we especially enjoyed watching it with Jaime and Brett.  There were multiple lead-changes and in the end, the Chargers pulled off a last minute touchdown to defeat our Chiefs.  Boo.  And Brrrrrr....

Kinley turns 2!!

The day after the Timberlake concert, Emily and I drove from Tulsa back to Kansas City to spend the weekend celebrating Kinley's 2nd birthday.  Chris rode with Oma and Doodah and met us in KC for the birthday party.  The theme was "painting" and Emily planned painting for all of the kids plus really neat paint-themed treats.  So fun!!

Grandma paparazzi

Timberlake -- A Dream Come True

For years, I've been saying that if Justin Timberlake comes anywhere near here, I was going to be there.  So when he announced Tulsa, OK as a stop on his 20/20 tour, I couldn't wait to buy tickets.  But they sold fast and Emily and I were obligated to buy $175 VIP floor tickets for the show.  Since I'm a total cheapskate, this was really hard for me.  But as the concert date neared, my apprehension disappeared and excitement started to build.

So Emily and I met in Tulsa on the day of the concert and were ready to party.  I even enjoyed a pre-show margarita... the first alcoholic drink I've had in years.  Our VIP section was standing-room only, so we wanted to get in as soon as possible to claim good spots.  A DJ played music while we waited 2 hours for the show to start.  We had to defend our spots as more people crammed into our section and since Emily is 4 months pregnant, I was particularly protective of her.

When the show finally started, Timberlake put on an amazing party of a show.  After a 10 minute intermission, the second half really started to rock.  AND THEN... his large plexiglass stage lifted up and carried him over the entire floor section and to the back of the arena.  Right over our heads.  When his mobile stage moved to the back of the arena, a stairway lifted up and connected the raised stage directly to the platform that I was leaning on.  THAT'S RIGHT.  So Justin Timberlake came down the stairs, turned our way and shook our hands.  We made eye contact.  We may have had a moment.  And then he performed the next set of songs only about 10 feet away from where we were standing.  It was amazing.  Unfortunately, my camera battery AND my phone battery were too low to get any video and the pictures just don't show how CLOSE we were.

Oh, and Justin's wife, Jessica Biel, was in the other VIP section right near where we were watching the show like any other fan.  It was cool to see her there cheering on her husband with the rest of us.  Emily was particularly starstruck by seeing Jessica Biel.  We couldn't get a good picture of her, but we do catch her on grainy cell phone video a little bit.

Setlist -- published by JT

November -- Early Start to Christmas

The end of November is shaping up to be crazy busy, so we are trying to prepare by getting ready for Christmas a little earlier than normal.  I really love our house, but I especially love it during the holidays.

Roller Derby Update: From Newbie to MVP

This weekend was the last bout of the 2013 season.  I started skating with the Salina Sirens in February of 2013 and despite having some experience skating as a teen, I was in a whole new world of aches, pain, and a steep learning curve.  Our November bout was themed "Spanksgiving" and we played against the Capitol City Crushers from Topeka.  We lost, but I am so proud of the way our team played and I'm particularly proud of my own performance -- I left it all on the floor and hit hard.  No mercy!  I was honored when the CCC voted me as the MVP blocker for my team.  I can't believe how much fun Derby has been and I'm so proud of my improvement!!

My reward for MVP?  A bubble bath to wind down -- still have the kinesiotape on my knee.