Linda's Sunflower

I read 6 books in September... 1) Rose Harbor in Bloom - Debbie Macomber (Kindle) 2) The Hero (Thunder Point) - Robyn Carr (Kindle) 3) Exclusive - Sandra Brown (Kindle) 4) Blackbird Lake (Lonesome Way #3) - Jill Gregory (Kindle) 5) Hard Eight - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 6) Every Breath She Takes - Norah Wilson (Kindle) The only new author I read this month was Norah Wilson. All 5 of the others are favorites of mine. I really get a kick out of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I always do a lot of laughing out loud at her books! Carr remains a favorite, and Brown continues to write good mystery/romances. I still enjoy Macomber, though her books are kind of running all together for me. Gregory is a recent find, and enjoyable. I will definitely look to read more books by Wilson.

Tested out a new app called "Photo Collage Maker" on my phone with this collage of Mikey...

We had a great weekend in KC! Picked Kaleb up in Manhattan on Saturday, then checked into the Marriott in Overland Park before heading to the Royals game. It was fan appreciation night, and we all got a Royals blanket! Unfortunately the Royals lost. Boo hoo! Sunday we had lunch with Kaitlin's friend, Lydia at IHOP; and then went to Macy's at Oak Park Mall where Kaleb bought a suit (for the K-State Career Fair). Doesn't he look handsome? Even though it's a "selfie" picture in the mirror?

Relaxed...enough said!

The Chiefs beat the Dallas Cowboys at Arrowhead today - 17-16! They are 2-0 to start the season!!!! So nice to see them win their second game already, seeing as how they only won 2 games all last season! I've been burning pumpkin apple cider candles all day. I'm ready for fall!

I used to like going to the state fair in Hutchinson, when there was a concert I wanted to see. Nowadays, there's not much reason to go, unless you want to try all the weird food, i.e. deep fried Snickers, etc. That's what Kaitlin and Corby like to do. So, today I went along...spent about 3 hours there and I had ONE fried green tomato, TWO bites of corn on the cob, about a third of a funnel cake, and a pronto pup. That was enough for me! The pronto pup (corn dog) was pretty tasteless, so I only ate about half of it. Traffic was a mess getting in, I guess because it was a nice day. Thank goodness it wasn't super hot, though we all got a little sunburned.

Typical busy day for me. It's getting to the time of year where we have bigger & crazier papers! YAY! Picked out our new front door yesterday, so we're hoping to have it installed in the next week or two. They will also be putting up the new guttering, so that will complete our home renovations for this year. Other than possibly replacing the fence across the back of our yard. Corby had some sad news last night. One of the newer employees at Foley had been in a car accident about a week ago, and he passed away yesterday from his injuries. So sad. He was only 31!

Moved Brandon from his 3 level, 2 bedroom townhome, 202 N. Rock Rd., Douglas & Rock, to his new apartment at Fox Run, Harry & Webb today. Suffice it to say I'm not fond of stairs!

Over the last 3 or 4 months, I bought all ten seasons of NCIS. I didn't watch the show when it began, because the kids were younger and we were on the run a lot. But after catching a couple of episodes from one of the middle seasons while laying in bed one morning, I decided I needed to start from the beginning. I didn't think I would get through season 10 before season 11 premieres on September 24th, but I did! I finished watching the last 5 episodes today. Since Corby gets up at 4am, if I can't go back to sleep, I watch a few episodes before I have to get up. I've really enjoyed the ensemble cast and the story lines of each episode. Sasha Alexander was only on the first two season, and then her character, Kate, was killed off (she wanted out of the show). Cote dePablo, who plays Ziva David, announced she would not be back for season 11. Her character will appear in the first two episodes to finalize her story. I will miss her, but the show will survive just fine...

Met most of the family at Olive Garden this afternoon to celebrate Marilyn's birthday (actually ON her birthday) and Nick's birthday, which was Aug. 31. Mike & Diana were not able to make it as he is still recovering from his hernia surgery and is having a few complications. Melody joined us and we had a good time. Didn't think to take any pictures, darn it! Terry & Sandy told us they are moving to Indiana to be closer to her parents. It will take them a while to get their house cleared out and ready to sell, but they're planning to be gone within a year. I'll be sorry to see them go, but I understand Sandy's desire to be closer to her parents, as they are both in their 80's.

Saturday is our day for errand running, and today was no different. We always start at Quik Trip, filling up my car w/gas. From there we headed west to Walmart on N. Maize Rd. Time to shop for my sister's birthday (tomorrow) and my nephew's birthday (Aug. 31), as the family is meeting at Olive Garden for lunch tomorrow to celebrate. From there we went to Dillons Super Store, not our normal Dillons, but since we were out west...I'm really not a fan of their super stores. I prefer our normal store at 37th & Woodlawn, but we did manage to get out of there without spending $100! Brandon called when we were on the way home and wanted us to meet him at HuHot for lunch. So after bringing the groceries home we headed to HuHot, at 21st & Rock. We had a very nice lunch AND visit, and then Brandon went home to continue packing for his move on Wednesday. Corby & I watched a couple of episodes of NCIS from season 10. I'm down to 5 episodes left in order to be read...

Well, I tried to keep the sun out this morning...

I read 9 books in August: 1) Perfect Fling - Carly Phillips (Kindle) 2) Daddy's Gone A Hunting - Mary Higgins Clark (hardback) 3) Castaway Cove (Shelter Bay) - JoAnn Ross (Kindle) 4) A Tap on the Window - Linwood Barclay (Kindle) 5) Almost Summer (Fool's Gold) - Susan Mallery (Kindle) 6) Halfway There (Fool's Gold) - Susan Mallery (Kindle) 7) The Second Chance Cafe - Allison Kent (Kindle) 8) Seven Up - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 9) Three Little Words - Susan Mallery (Kindle) The only new author in this bunch is Kent, and I really enjoyed The Second Chance Cafe. Barclay continues to amaze me - he's one of my favorites! Love Mallery's stuff, and Mary Higgins Clark stepped up her game again with a better book than she's written in a while. I'm ahead in my goal of reading 105 books. I'm at 79...8% ahead of schedule. I'm gonna keep on reading, reading, reading - along with finishing season 10 of NCIS, in preparation to watch the S...

Sneak peek of the new colors!

Loved the colors I picked out. The first ones. Didn't have to change either color. They power-washed the house tonight & will start painting tomorrow. It's becoming reality! This is the first big-update we've done of the house since we moved here in May of 2000. Yay! Pictures to come...

The new siding is finally complete. They hauled off the dumpster today, and are going to paint our "test" colors tomorrow. Anxious to see if I like what I picked out. If not, we can change it. Our dear, dear friends and neighbors, Paul and Tokeah, are moving to Rochester, New York. Tokeah got a great promotion with Cargill. I am so excited for them, but also, so sad to lose our best neighbors! July 4th will never be the same without them.

Another wild day at work...no explanation necessary. Got home around 5:30 & they have started putting our new siding up, at least on the north side of the house. Waiting to hear from our contractor about the guy who is going to treat our termites, and the guy who is going to "build" our new front door. Excited about the changes going on. Maybe we'll see some big progress by this weekend!

What a crazy week at work...enough said. They started working on the new siding on our house on Wednesday. Lots of craziness going on. Big dumpster on the driveway, and lots of trash going into it. They were out here at 7am this morning. We left around 11:30 for our Saturday running, and they were gone by the time we got home around 3:15. I met Melody and Diane for pedicures (FUN!) and then we went to Target and Dillons before heading home. Had tacos/taco salad for dinner and now we're watching the Royals, who are tied at 5 against the Detroit Tigers. GO ROYALS!

Our new siding is being installed... Busy day. Unfortunately they found termites. It's gonna be costly folks! Pictures to come...

Back to work today after a week of furlough (furcation). Talked to our sister-in-law Debbie tonight about some of Corby's family members. Can't post the conversation here! Hope is on vacation until Wednesday, so it's me against the world at work. All is fine though. Royals are ahead 2-0 right now. They are kicking some booty over the last month or so. GO ROYALS!