Linda's Sunflower

We headed out to Manhattan early this morning to visit Kaleb. We've been going to Manhattan for 5 years now (since Brandon started at K-State) and it never gets old. However, IT WAS FRICKIN' HOT today! We picked Kaleb up at  his apartment, and took him grocery shopping at Dillons. We finally got to see the new store. It's awesome! After we took his groceries home, we went to Aggieville. Started out at Varney's, where Brandon, Kaitlin and I all bought things. I got Kaleb and me T-shirts, and I also got some new coasters for us. We walked through Aggieville, and then went to Kite's (bar) for lunch and a pitcher of beer! Spent some time at the mall, where Corby bought a new pair of walking/running high-top shoes. Had ice cream at Freddy's before leaving town. Kaleb is going to come home for a few days before classes start! YAY!

Can you tell it snowed today? Ok, not really. Corby just brushed Mikey! And Sugar is really hot. This 105+ weather sucks!  

Crazy day at work. Kind of strange since I've been out of my office for most of the last 6 months...

Finished Criminal (by Karin Slaughter) last night. An amazing book! Kaitlin and I went to Kansas Star Casino this afternoon. I wish I could report that we won big bucks, but alas, that wouldn't be the truth. We both lost money. But not much, as we're both pretty frugal! Back to work tomorrow after a 3 day vacation. I think my batteries are recharged...

Enjoying a few days off work... Finished Hot Number by Carly Phillips this morning. Went right into Snatched - A Novella by Karin Slaughter, and then continued reading Criminal by Slaughter. Looks like this will be a reading vacation!  

Kaitlin started out with a twin bed, but when Mikey arrived, she decided that wasn't big enough. So, she put two twin beds together. I still don't think it's big enough.  

We had a fairly lazy day. * Went to The Beacon for breakfast this morning. My choice? A half order of biscuits & gravy w/hash browns. The Beacon has THE best hash browns in Wichita! * Grocery shopping at Dillons. Spent less than $80, and that's rare in this household! Even bought pork chops & ground chuck... * Corby is going to make chicken and noodles tomorrow - one of my favorite meals. Okay, it's not really a summertime meal, but it sounded good! * Sage Stallone, 36 year old son of Sylvester Stallone, was found dead yesterday. Rumor has it that it may have been an overdose, but that hasn't been confirmed. * Brandon and Kaitlin went to Starlite Drive-In tonight. They are seeing The Amazing Spiderman (loved it!) and The Avengers. Brandon has seen both of the movies before, and Kaitlin has seen the Avengers. I doubt they will stay for the third movie. I wouldn't even be able to make it through two! * The new Batman movie comes out in a few weeks. I...

Big news today! Steven Tyler is leaving American Idol to devote more time to Aerosmith. Ummmm, I have only watched American Idol a few times in all these years, and have not watched it once since he's been on. I have to say though, I know a LOT of people who are big American Idol fans. So maybe they are sad. Then again, maybe not. I do like some of the people who have gone on to make careers after appearing on Idol: Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry are my two favorites. I'm not a Carrie Underwood fan, though she's obviously beautiful and talented. Rumor has it that Jennifer Lopez is leaving Idol too. If that's true, I wonder who they will get to fill their shoes...    

It's seriously Wednesday? How did that happen? I took Monday off, though it was a busy day for the hubby and me. We bought a California King mattress at Mattress Hub. Waterbed finally bit the dust after 25 years. We were happy to get it delivered Monday night, and so far, we're enjoying the new sleep pattern! Back to work yesterday, with some strange news on the project at work. Waiting to hear the final decision sometime this week. Brandon got an award and a bonus at work on Monday, and promptly went out and bought a 55" 3D TV. He's buying some things he wants for his new apartment, is hoping to move out soon. NOOOOO!  

It was a busy Saturday... Started out the day doing our grocery shopping at Dillons... From there I dropped Kaitlin off for shopping at New Market Square, while Melody and I got mani-peds. First manicure I've ever had... Then we went out to dinner at Abuelo's, my favorite restaurant. Love their margaritas!  

Park City knows how to party on the 4th of July! In fact, we truly don't have to purchase ANY fireworks as we can watch them go off all around us. We had family and friends over on the 4th...my sister Rhonda, my sister Marilyn, my brother Mike and his wife Diana, her sister Laurie and Laurie's son Tyler (who loves the 4th in Park City!), my BFF Melody, her daughter Diane and Diane's boyfriend Collin, our neighbors Paul & Tokeah, their kids Jansen and Alex, and our neighbors Tom and Tiffany. Found out that Tiffany is expecting twins in late December/early January. So happy for them. My brother Terry and nephew Nick stopped by for a while. We celebrated Corby's birthday, which was June 22, had fried chicken from Dillons, potato salad, macaroni salad, and tons of other goodies. The kids had a great time shooting off fireworks. Fortunately, I took a few days off from work and don't go back until July 10th. Much needed after our late night on the 4th. Bra...

Unfortunately I didn't get much reading done in June. Still tremendously busy with the project at work. But I did manage to read 5 books and one Kindle Short: 1) Serendipity - Carly Phillips (Kindle) 2) Destiny - Carly Phillips (Kindle) 3) Kismet - Carly Phillips (Kindle short) 4) Karma - Carly Phillips (hardback) 5) Betrayal - Danielle Steel (hardback) 6) 11th Hour - James Patterson w/Maxine Paetro (hardback) As you may have surmised, Carly Phillips is a new author to me, and one I totally enjoyed. I had ordered Karma from the book club after my hairdresser told me about her (thanks Stacy!) However, Karma was the third book in a series, so I quickly downloaded the first two (and the single) from Amazon, and promptly began reading. I thoroughly enjoyed the series, and have since purchased more of her books. So you will definitely be seeing her name in future months! I like Danielle Steel, but actually took a break from her books a few years ago because they all seeme...