Linda's Sunflower

GOODBYE 92 CHEVY SUBURBAN... HELLO 97 HYUNDAI ACCENT... Goodbye 12mpg gas hog with no air... Hello 27 city/36 highway mpg gas saver with air! I think Corby will miss the Suburban. We bought it from his work 3 years ago when we were the highest bidder on their auction. It was a very good vehicle for us - especially for Corby and the kids (NOT ME!) to take camping. But with gas prices continuing to rise, we decided to downsize our vehicle fleet. We sold the van several months ago, and that was the last of the vehicle payments for us for a while. We have had a car payment all 20 years we have been married. We felt like with 3 small kids we needed to have a very reliable vehicle. Now that the kids all have their own cars, we decided to go for a while without car payments. So watch for me in the little red Accent. I might not pass you going 80mph, but I'll tool along listening to the killer stereo and saving money with no car payment and less stops at QT for gas! By the way - here's...

Most of you know about my obsession with Styx. I saw them numerous times back in the late 70's and 80's. I saw their "reunion" show in 1996 at the Coliseum - in 5th row seats, no less! Of course, that was before the blow-up between Dennis DeYoung and the rest of the band. We saw Styx at the fair a couple years later, when Dennis was no longer part of the band. I remember hearing on the way to the fair that Dennis wouldn't be there, and I was SO disappointed. However, they still sounded great! Granted, there are Styx songs they can no longer perform without Dennis; but there are still a lot of great songs they can perform (Come Sail Away remains one of my favorite songs of all time!) Tommy Shaw and JY can still rock! So needless to say, I was excited to hear that they will be performing at this year's Kansas State Fair on opening night. And then I heard this week that Kansas will be opening for them. I have no idea if Steve Walsh is still the lead singer (I don...

Happy Easter to all! We had a bit different Easter this year. Due to my sister's health, we met at her apartment and had Hog Wild BBQ! Had to pick up the food yesterday, as they were closed today. We also celebrated Kaleb & Kaitlin's birthday, as well as their aunt Sandy, whose birthday is on St. Patty's Day! Brandon headed back to K-State early this evening. He only has about 8 weeks of school left. His last final is on his birthday - May 16th. We will head to Manhattan sometime in April for a day trip to visit him. It's been a weekend of basketball. KU moves on, K-State goes home. Looks like the zoo will continue at work... And today's Easter quote: "The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice." ~Henry Knox Sherrill

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There are good weeks and bad weeks when you work at a newspaper, much like every job I'm sure. This has been a CRAZY week! Laying out a newspaper, and various special sections, becomes quite challenging this time of year. With Kansas State and KU in the NCAA Tournament, things are hopping. And it will only get worse as either one or both of the teams keep winning. Of course, in my heart I want both teams to go as far as possible, but in my "work" heart I could care less if they both lose. DON'T SHOOT ME! On top of all that craziness, this week has been one of major upheaval on our floor. They've been moving the advertising department completely out of the other side of the hall - the lucky department is getting new carpet and furniture. People, furniture, copy machines, fax machines, printers, and boxes full of "stuff" are stacked everywhere. It's pretty much a maze getting around on my side of the hall. I think it will be a few weeks before everythi...

March is a big birthday month for our family. First off - on March 15 - is the twins birthday. I've already noted they turned 17 last Saturday. Then on the 17th - we have our sister-in-law's - or is that sister's-in-law? - Sandy, my brother Terry's wife, and Debbie, Corby's brother Doug's wife. On the 19th we have Doug's birthday (Happy Birthday Doug!) and this Friday the 21st is our niece Megan's 22nd birthday! Happy Birthday Megan! We also have our nephew Cory's 18th birthday on the 25th! Now you see why I call it a big birthday month? I have several friend's birthdays this month too - so all in all - March is not only St. Patrick's Day month for us, but "wild birthday" month! Are you all ready for the NCAA Tournament? Today we pressed the NCAA Big Dance section that is going to be in the paper on Thursday. I was pretty darn thrilled that the front page was a big photo of Michael Beasley with a purple headline! GO K-STATE! I have ...

After 1 week at St. Francis, and 2 weeks at a rehab facility, my sister is finally home! It was a long haul, but she is doing much better! We got her settled this afternoon in her apartment. I picked up her prescriptions at Walmart, got her a salad for dinner, and investigated purchasing a lift chair. I saw a notice posted at Leeker's on Saturday, so I will be looking at the chair on Wednesday and will decide then if it will work for her. Home health care will be visiting her tomorrow to do an assessment on her needs. I will be picking up a couple more prescriptions tomorrow and taking her some of Corby's yummy potato soup for dinner. GLAD YOU'RE HOME SIS! I know your kitty cats, Allie & Rascal, are glad to see you!

I went to a surprise birthday get-together at Sumo Japanese Grill last night for a good friend of mine. Vickie is not only celebrating her birthday this coming Wednesday, but Monday is her last day working at the Eagle. She is off to greener pastures starting Tuesday morning. I wish her the best, but am certainly going to miss her! Here's a pic of Darci, who planned the evening, and Vickie. We started the evening off in the bar. Some wild concoctions were imbibed. I stuck with my trusty margarita, which by the way was delicious! Okay, maybe I had more than one. That's all I'll say. Here's a pic of Robyn, Jaci and Becky. I think they are enjoying their drinks also. Hope and Vickie are excited about ordering. Our waitress Our cook did a great job. How about their garlic fried rice? Oh my gosh, it's DE-LISH! He was quite a showman. Had to set the veggies on fire twice because I wasn't ready with my camera the first time! Top: Robyn, Vickie, Jaci, Darci and Becky. B...

17 years ago this morning, I was at St. Francis having a C-section. Kaleb John Charles was born at 7:30am, and weighed 6 lbs. Kaitlin Melody was born at 7:33am and weighed 5 lbs. 3 oz. They were 5 weeks early, and were in the hospital for 8 days. No major problems, just premie issues. We were blessed then, and we are blessed now. We have great kids! We took them to dinner this evening to celebrate. They chose Cheddar's, and we had a great time. Corby had to watch the second half of the KU game on the TV at the bar while we waited for a table. And as luck would have it, we got our table with a little over 3 minutes left in the game, so he didn't get to see the very end. Kaitlin, who was in the chair at the end of our booth, made several trips to the bar to find out the score for her daddy! He was a happy camper when they finally won. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KALEB & KAITLIN! WE LOVE YOU!

Watch for the post coming this weekend from my wild night at Sumo Japanese Grill with a bunch of friends. WE HAD A GREAT TIME! Pics to come...

I've never hidden my obsession with the Osmonds. Donny and his oldest performing brother, Alan, were my favorites. While "flipping" channels tonight around 7pm, Corby came across the Osmonds 50th Anniversary concert in Las Vegas on PBS. It was filmed last August. Can you believe the oldest brothers have been performing for 50 years? I can tell you exactly how old every Osmond brother is. They are all 2 years apart, Alan is 58, Wayne is 56, Merrill is 54, Jay is 52 and Donny is a year younger than me. He turned 50 in December. (Guess that tells everybody how old I am, huh?). Marie is 48, and oops, I'm not sure how old "baby" Jimmy is. I was jamming to all those 70's songs: Double Lovin', One Bad Apple, Puppy Love, Down by the Lazy River, Yo-Yo, Love Me For a Reason, Crazy Horses, The Proud One, Let Me In, and the very best harmony ever - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother! What a performance! Alan has MS now, so doesn't perform much, but he w...

Money, money, money... here's a conversation tonight with Brandon who called about 6:30pm: "Hi, mom, I've got a couple of things I need to talk to you about." "What's up, son?" "You know the apartment we filled out the application for - for next school year? "Yes." "We got it." "That's great son!" "But there's a small problem. We have to pay the deposit by this Friday." "And how much is that?" "....uhhhhh, $350!" So, $350 later, he has an apartment at Jardine, which is owned by the college and is right across the street. He and 3 of his buddies, including his roommate from this year, are going to live together. They are renting a 4 bedroom, 2 bath apartment that includes a washer & dryer. Of course, now we have to come up with furniture! I told him that they need to talk about someone providing a couch, someone else a chair, someone else a dining room table, etc. So it looks lik...

I went mattress shopping today for my sister. She will be getting out of the rehab hospital soon, and she desperately needed a new mattress and box springs. Because we have had a waterbed since we got married, the only bedding we've bought were twin beds for the kids years ago. Wow - mattresses can be VERY expensive. I saw some mattress sets that were $3000! I don't know who in their right mind would pay that much, but somebody must since they're on the showroom floor. I shopped around a bit, but settled on a set at Slumberland - partly because they are an advertiser in the Eagle. I always want to support our advertisers! They will call on Wednesday with a delivery time on Friday, and they will haul off the old set. Bed shopping was sure an eye opener. Corby has talked about getting new bedroom furniture, including a "regular" bed. But I just can't give up my waterbed! I love it! It's hard for me to sleep on a normal bed when we are on vacation. Since we p...

You might ask why I'm posting scrapbook pages of a Rascal Flatts concert from 2 years ago. I've written many times on my blog about Kaitlin's passion for RF. She checks their website every day to see where their tour is taking them. When I heard a scream this morning, I wasn't sure what was going on - but Kaitlin soon informed me that Rascal was going to be in Dallas in June, and "MOM, WE JUST HAVE TO GO!" She had not renewed her fan club membership, so of course, that was the first thing we had to do. VIP (fan club) tickets go on sale tomorrow morning. Am I going to indulge her? Of course I am. Do I wish they were performing closer to home? Of course I do. But I know how much this means to her, so we're going - if she gets VIP tickets. We're going to make it a mini family vacation, even if Corby and the boys don't go to the concert. There are also a couple of concerts coming to the fair that I will be going to. STYX is opening night, and I will d...

Typical Saturday for our household. Kaleb had Saturday Academy, so he didn't get home from class until 10:30. Leeker's called him in to work early due to employees being ill. Corby had to work, so Kaitlin and I were off and running. We hit the Dollar Store first to pick up a couple of things that mom needed. After a stop at QT for hot chocolate, we headed to mom's. She showed us the remodeling they had done to her room, and then we took her to visit Rhonda. She's doing good in her physical therapy and there is a chance she will be released in the next few days. Since mom missed lunch at Presbyterian Manor, we took her to Long John Silver's - one of her favorite places. She got a piece of fish and 2 hushpuppies - her usual. After Kaitlin and I took her home, we stopped at the library to pick up a book I had on hold (Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwall) and then did our grocery shopping at Leeker's. Corby got home before we did - and helped the neighbor finish t...

One might ask why I am posting at midnight. There's no way I can go to bed yet. We just got home from the Keith Urban concert. (No this isn't a picture I took!) Oh my gosh, that boy can play the guitar! Oh my gosh, that boy is hot! Oh my gosh, that boy puts on an AWESOME concert! (I know he's 39, but that's a boy to me!) Here's the ticket stub to prove I went. It also shows we sat in row FF - which is the very top row at the Coliseum. Yes, the nosebleed section! Believe me, next time Keith comes to town I will be buying tickets the first day, and not several weeks after they go on sale. Keith did all of his hits, played killer guitar, wandered into the crowd (I wasn't sure he'd make it back out) and kicked ass! Has to be one of the best concerts I've ever been to - and that says a lot! You know how some folks don't sound the same in concert as they do on their CD's? I have to say that Keith does - maybe even better! There was one other singer th...

I went to work early this morning, to cover the pressroom since our production manager had to work last night. I left work about 5:30, just to get home and get called back in to work. Now Heather, IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT! How could we know that so many people would pass away? It's always sad to lose a loved one, but wow - so many people passed away that our obits tomorrow will be over 2 1/3 pages! That has never happened on a Wednesday before. And, of course, it had to happen when we were maxed out on press! 40 pages is the maximum we can run until we get our web cut-down completed. One press down, one to go! Anyway, news had to lose about 8 columns of space. Thanks guys...though you really didn't have any choice! And Heather, I'm relaxing now by having my second margarita, so things are cool! Here's a picture of our neighbor dog, Sadie, who is sharing the yard with Cinnamon since we are replacing the fence in between our yards. She sits on our deck most of the time...

A trip to the vet and $105 later, we find out that Cinnamon has allergies - that's what causes her ear infections...this is going to be a 3-4 times a year problem. The vet will hopefully just prescribe her medicine from now on, and we can save the $45 office call, etc. Poor baby. She has to take pills and ear drops for the next 10 days. Rhonda was moved to a Specialty Hospital tonight. She will have strength-building physical therapy before being released to go home. She wasn't very happy with her transportation (a very old EMT ambulance) but she made it there safely. Brandon made it back to Manhattan last night in the terrible thunderstorms. I was a bit worried about him (always a mama, you know?). He said the rain turned to sleet east of Salina, but it didn't get slick, probably because it had been so warm on Saturday. He'll be back home on the 15th for the week of spring break. Corby is enjoying the thrashing that KU is giving Texas Tech tonight. Right now they'r...

Well, at least we had a beautiful, but windy Saturday! We even slept with the upstairs windows open last night. Now it's rainy, windy, cold and they're talking snow after midnight. What's up with our weather this winter? I can't remember a winter in recent history that's been so snow/sleet/ice-filled. I know we haven't had a blizzard, and we haven't really had a ton of snow, it's just that it's been so often, I'm sick of it. I don't mind cold weather, it's the rest of it I could do without. Brandon left about 30 minutes ago. I hope he doesn't encounter any slick roads on the way back to Manhattan. Looks like we're going to have to take Cinnamon to the vet. I think she has an ear infection. She had one about 6 months ago, and her symptoms are the same. We are going to try to get her in tomorrow if we can get an appointment after the twins get home from school. They are both off work and could take her. I visited Rhonda in the hosp...

We had a typical busy Saturday. Corby worked this morning, and then spent the afternoon with the neighbor tearing down the south fence and putting new posts in. They will hopefully get the new boards put up tomorrow, but with the forecast for thunderstorms, who knows. For now, our neighbor's dog, Sadie, who is part Irish Setter-part red lab, is sharing the yard with Cinnamon. They also have two Lhasa Apso's - Oreo and Missy, who are in the yard every now and then, but they are mostly house dogs, so the big dogs don't have to mess with them. If they don't get the fence up tomorrow, they'll be sharing the yard until next weekend. At least the dogs get along! The boys spent the day with me. Kaitlin had to work 12-8. We went to my mom's, where we saw my brother and his miniature Schnauzer, Silke. They were visiting mom after a vet's appointment. We took mom up to St. Francis to see Rhonda, who is doing better. They are hoping to release her to a rehab facility e...