Linda's Sunflower

The Wichita State Shockers ended the season with 35 wins and one loss. Unbelievable! Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that they would go through the season, through the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and on to the NCAA tournament with NO losses? No one! And no other team in history has done this. Then, the powers that be who determine the brackets, sent the Shockers to the toughest bracket in the tournament. I am so, so proud of the way the Shockers played their second game against Kentucky, a powerhouse with six players destined to be NBA players in the next year or two. The game went down to the wire, and we lost by 2 points when our three point shot at the end of the game went wide. The Shockers should not hang their heads. They should be proud of the amazing season that invigorated the community. The season that brought Wichitans together. The season that will live forever in history. BE PROUD, SHOCKERS! Because the state of Kansas is so proud of...

Finished "The Chance" by Robyn Carr today. Really enjoyed it. Now on to a new Susan Mallery book. Back to work tomorrow after a vacation day spent with Kaleb.

Took the day off to spend with Kaleb while he's home on spring break. We made a trip to Kansas Star Casino. I lost, he won. We had fun!

It's hard to keep up with a blog when you're on Facebook and Twitter, but I'm going to try... As an avid book reader, I'm a bit behind on my goal for the year. JANUARY 2014: Miracle Road - Emily March (Kindle) A Change of Heart - Barbara Longley (Kindle) Doctor Sleep - Stephen King (hardback) Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich (paperback) A Cold Creek Christmas Surprise - RaeAnne Thayne (Kindle) Finger Lickin' Fifteen - Janet Evanovich (paperback) Seaview Inn - Sheryyl Woods (Kindle) FEBRUARY 2014: Home to Seaview Key - Sheryyl Woods (Kindle) Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich (Kindle) Fear Nothing - Lisa Gardner (Kindle) Come Home to Me - Brenda Novak (Kindle-ARC) Single by Saturday - Catherine Bybee (Kindle) Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich (Kindle) Perfect Together - Carly Phillips (Kindle) Loved the Sheryyl Woods books, and Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner was one of her best! Love Brenda Novak, and enjoyed reading the ARC of her new bo...

from Country Living magazine

and the dog doesn't care...

Total books read in 2013: 106 Female authors: 91 Male authors: 15 FAVORITES (in no particular order): Sycamore Row by John Grisham Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay BIOS: Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin The Key is Love by Marie Osmond Hardbacks: 17 Paperbacks: 16 Kindle: 73 Most read authors: Janet Evanovich - 13 Brenda Novak - 9 books Susan Mallery - 8 books James Patterson and Sheryyl Woods - 4 books

Here are the books I read in October, November and December... OCTOBER 2013: 1) Starry Night - Debbie Macomber (kindle) 2) Take Me Home for Christmas - Brenda Novak (kindle) 3) Christmas on 4th Street - Susan Mallery (kindle) 4) Gone - James Patterson w/Michael Ledwidge (kindle) 5) Cowboy Dad - Cathy McDavid (kindle) 6) To The Nines - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 7) Ten Big Ones - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 8) Not Quite Enough - Catherine Bybee (kindle) 9) Johnny Carson - Harry Bushkin (kindle) 10) Through the Smoke - Brenda Novak (kindle) NOVEMBER 2013: 1) The Shining - Stephen King (kindle) 2) A Seaside Christmas - Sherryl Woods (kindle) 3) Christmas in Snowflake Canyon - Rae Anne Thayne (kindle) 4) No Exchanges, No Returns - Laurie Kellogg (kindle) 5) Sycamore Row - John Grisham (kindle) 6) Christmas Wishes - Danica Winters (kindle) 7) Dare to Love - Carly Phillips (kindle) DECEMBER 2013: 1) Eleven On Top - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 2) Time For Me To Come ...

Yesterday was a busy day. Before our wonderful evening with Blake Shelton; Corby, Kaitlin, Kaleb, Melody and I headed to Hesston and our first ever Kansas Barn Sale. It was a chilly morning, but we had a lot of fun - along with several thousand other folks!

ONE OF THE BEST CONCERTS I'VE EVER BEEN TO! He's such a crack-up! Opening acts were Jana Kramer and Eastin Corbin. But Blake was definitely the star, and he had some surprise guests: Danielle Bradbury, last season's winner of The Voice (with Blake as her coach of course) and the AWESOME MIRANDA LAMBERT! They each sang a song. Great evening with Kaleb! Corby & Kaitlin sat up in the upper level, while Kaleb and I were on the floor, not far from the middle part of the stage that came out into the crowd.

This was my deck buddy tonight...

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...