Sunday, April 29, 2012

Back home from more shooting

However I'm not the one shooting, it's Geoana.  She (and the rest of the team) just wrapped up their third out-of-town competition in eastern Kansas.  At least for our drive home this time the weather was benign, just some rain and nothing else.

We're all a bit tired and run-down as you might expect.  I have both extremes of thoughts/emotions right now, glad it's over but a bit dysphoric that our next venture won't happen until early July.  I'm sure a return to my routine beginning tomorrow will set things right.

One member of the team had something, not sure if it's the cold or the flu.  He didn't shoot as well as usual but the team still came in second place overall (there were 16 teams competing).  Then this morning we heard his father was up all night with an ailment I won't describe here.

This evening I don't feel all that great myself.  Just gotta keep convincing myself it is the result of fatigue and travel and nothing else.   Yeah, that's it.

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Starting about a week and a half ago our house (and our town, and our geographic area) was invaded by "miller" moths.  Same thing happened about this time last year.  Those creatures are everywhere.  And there's a whole lotta them.  Last weekend I could swear they were multiplying as fast as tribbles.

A week ago Sunday I got out my Shop-Vac and in the course of vacuuming up the dead ones I put on the extensions and sucked a few of the living ones in as well.  (All the while reminding myself I don't believe in the philosophy of ahimsa.)  Today it finally seems they are under control.  There were a few lingerers when we got home this afternoon and I turned the flyswatter on them, which wasn't a difficult task as they were obviously circling the drain anyway.  Nothing like keeping the house closed up for a few days to kill those little annoyances.   Still, I'd rather deal with them then cockroaches or scorpions.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Couple of quick sports items for a Friday morning

First off, the April 2012 edition of "I know there's an Aggie joke in here somewhere."

Second, I see Dwight Howard will be having surgery to repair his herniated disk.  I'm not an NBA fan and actually couldn't care less about the league or its players.  However I did see he suffers from the same ailment as I and I sure hope surgery isn't in my near future.

But I'm sorry to say that after nearly two weeks of physical therapy and daily exercises I am experiencing no relief from my pain.  In fact the last couple of days it's been hitting me as hard as anything.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th

No bad luck on either day!

Thanks to all the family and friends who expressed concern about our traveling yesterday.   The end result is simple enough:  We made it home in normal time with no problems in regard to the storms.  Also no tornado activity during that time of day.  The route we chose and the time we drove it worked out perfectly--just missed a heavy rain and passed through before the next cell hit.

Geoana also shot very well yesterday, she improved on her KSRA tourney aggregate score by several points.  We still haven't heard yet if the team's score was enough to put them over the top and secure a slot in the national competition, we hope to hear about it sometime today.  (That's what happens when you hit the road right after your kiddo is done shooting.)

Last night was spent in front of the tube watching the continuous coverage of all the storm cells throughout the state.  The Big 3 affiliated stations in Wichita carried no network programming during prime time, instead devoting the entire broadcast evening to weather.  Our town and county only got some rain with hail in small areas, nothing here at the house save for a few dirty raindrops.  You know, the kind that will make your vehicle look atrocious.

But it's raining steady now.  No thunder, no lightning.  Just a nice gentle rain.  However the precip is enough that it ruined my plans to cut the grass today.

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At the hotel yesterday morning, right after I posted the last entry the gal behind the front desk saw my shirt (I was wearing the BB Gun team shirt which features the town name on the back) and asked if I was indeed from this burg.  I responded in the affirmative.  She then asked if I knew a certain family.  Don't know them per se, but have a passing acquaintance as they attend our church and he dabbles in real estate and showed me a couple of houses back in April of 2008.  Turns out she's engaged to marry their grandson.

Yet again the world shows how small it can be.  You expect this type of thing throughout western Kansas but it can still surprise you when it occurs in a sizable city a 300-mile drive away.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Good morning from Tornado Alley

Here I am in Topeka.  We're here (spent the night last night) because of Geoana having a 4H BB Gun tournament in nearby Alma.  Normally we'd stay in either Junction City or Manhattan but due to a contingent of soldiers returning to Fort Riley a hotel room in those locales was hard to find and pricey to boot. 

I suffered through the drive out yesterday, a whole lotta sitting.  I did have a physical therapy appointment yesterday morning and the inversion traction always feels good but overall my pain level yesterday was more bothersome the the past few. 

It is possible I was carrying some tension about the upcoming road trip which translated into a higher pain level. 

We ended up eating supper later than usual yesterday evening.  Since we are where we are we decided to indulge in some suburban behavior, namely eating at Texas Roadhouse.  

(Two days ago I mentioned to Geogal that we should be thinking about where to eat Friday night.  I said we should consider a cuisine that is not available in our small town.  She and I laughed simultaneously and said, "Yeah, that really narrows it down.") 

Because of the late meal we weren't up for much afterward.  I did bring my mat and did my daily back exercises.  Then this morning, after a hot shower and getting dressed I walked down to the hotel breakfast.  Passed the pool area. 

Time for a figurative slap on the forehead.  Yes, I could have walked down to the spa and let the heat do its work.  I even packed my swimsuit which shows I was thinking ahead. 

But no excuses.  And I also will stop with the self-flagellation now. 

Time to concentrate on the day and making sure we get back home before evening hits, the forecast today for locales on and east of U.S. Highway 81 indicates thunderstorms with a likelihood of scattered tornadoes.  Geoana shoots at 12:30, should be no problem.  I hope. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Still around

And still largely doing the same stuff.

Where do I start?

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Easter was good.  Whole lotta people in church (always a good thing!), then came home to a wonderful ham dinner featuring garlic mashed potatoes on the side.

The long weekend was good (I got Friday off).  Nice to get some spring cleaning done.

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I didn't pay much attention to the NCAA championship game.  Sure, Kansas was one of the competitors but it seems at some point since moving here in '08 our household decided to root for the K-State Wildcats rather than chant "rock, chalk, Jayhawk!!"

I'd rather make a point of the women's championship game coming down to a contest between two church schools.  Howzabout that?

Of course now, with news reports surfacing of Baylor's numerous (alleged) recruiting infractions, who knows whether the undefeated Baylor season will be thrown out?

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And on the subject of college sports, noticed Bobby Petrino at Arkansas no longer has a job as of tonight. I'll sidestep the pile-on regarding how he couldn't have numerous midlife crises at once and expect to emerge intact.

Rather I will simply say that Texas A&M might just now have a chance to beat the Hogs this fall during their annual matchup in The House That Jerry Built.

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BB Gun competition is still in full force.  Our local team does indeed stand a chance to snag an invite to nationals (held in Rogers, Arkansas).  Who knows?  That just might be our big summer getaway.

We'll know more after this weekend.

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In one of my recent entries I exhorted spring to spring.

Power of the written word?  After posting that, sure enough the temps started to rise.  So much so that a couple of weekends ago we had to run the air conditioner.

But since it is spring and this is western Kansas the hot spell eventually broke.  I think we've again clicked the control over to "heat" for a day or two.  But still it's reassuring to know that we're through the snowstorms/road closures for another season.  

I've already planted onions in the garden.  Looking forward to those home-grown tomatoes as well (but those will have to wait until April turns into May).