Monday morning I headed to Manhattan. It was a beautiful drive - beautiful weather and beautiful scenery. Fall is alive and blooming in Kansas! When I got to the kids' house, they were all there. Kaleb had to leave for a class, so I took Kaitlin and Brandon to lunch at Arby's (big whoop!). We had a nice visit. After dropping Brandon back off at their house, Kaitlin and I headed to Topeka. We wanted to get there early for the Daughtry concert. I've only been to Topeka a few times, most of them a long time ago. We found the Kansas Expocentre fairly easily (after a stop at Dairy Queen for a blizzard!). Since we had allowed ourselves plenty of extra time, we drove around the area a bit to find the easiest and quickest way out of the arena. We still ended up waiting about 45 minutes before standing in line another 20 minutes for the doors to open. The first act was Cavo. Kaitlin nor I had ever head of them. Apparently they are from St. Louis. Second act was Theory of a Deadman. I've listened to their music because Brandon and Kaitlin both like them, but I had no clue what they looked like. They were okay. Daughtry finally made it onstage about 9:40pm. Let me say first of all that I have been to dozens of rock concerts over the years. Yes, I know they are loud. I expect them to be. However, I was truly disappointed in Daughtry because the music was so loud it overshadowed the vocals. When I go to a concert, I want to hear the vocals - lyrics are what it's all about. There were two highlights: the acoustic set about midway through the concert, and a wonderful rendition of "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. Other than that, the concert was mediocre, and Kaitlin and I left before the encore. At least I got to spend some time with the kids and we had a nice visit.
The capitol building (in the distance):
The Kansas Expocentre
Daughtry (my camera doesn't take very good pics from a distance)
I cleaned their kitchen, took out the trash and started the dishwasher this morning before I left for home. Kaitlin complains that she's always the one left to clean the kitchen, and I believe it. It wasn't in terrible shape, but they use a LOT of glasses. In fact, I kept finding them all over the house after I started the dishwasher. I ended up washing those by hand since the dishwasher was full! I had a safe, uneventful trip home. One note, I rented a car for this trip because my car is still acting up. In fact, Corby and our two neighbors are working on my car right at this minute. Anyway, the rental was a Honda Accord, and it was really nice. I took it back late this afternoon, and Corby picked me up on his way home from work.
It's back to work tomorrow after a week and a half off. Am I looking forward to it? No! If I could afford to retire now I would. But with 3 kids in college it's definitely NOT feasible. It doesn't mean I don't like my job because I do - I just like being home better!
The capitol building (in the distance):
The Kansas Expocentre
Daughtry (my camera doesn't take very good pics from a distance)
I cleaned their kitchen, took out the trash and started the dishwasher this morning before I left for home. Kaitlin complains that she's always the one left to clean the kitchen, and I believe it. It wasn't in terrible shape, but they use a LOT of glasses. In fact, I kept finding them all over the house after I started the dishwasher. I ended up washing those by hand since the dishwasher was full! I had a safe, uneventful trip home. One note, I rented a car for this trip because my car is still acting up. In fact, Corby and our two neighbors are working on my car right at this minute. Anyway, the rental was a Honda Accord, and it was really nice. I took it back late this afternoon, and Corby picked me up on his way home from work.
It's back to work tomorrow after a week and a half off. Am I looking forward to it? No! If I could afford to retire now I would. But with 3 kids in college it's definitely NOT feasible. It doesn't mean I don't like my job because I do - I just like being home better!
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