Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Favorite Eats


Bec tagged me again.
Here are the rules

1.Link to the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Include the state and country you’re in.
3. List your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location (locally).
4. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged

I'm in Kansas City, Kansas, US of A

1. Fire station #10 (the food really is that good and the company is hysterical)
2. Chipolte (probably horrible for me but sometimes I can't resist)
3. Margarita's (Monday-2 for 1 chicken tacos!)
4. Jerusalem Bakery (that Lemon Chicken is soooo good)
5. That weird little place on Merriam Drive that sells those yummy tamales with the green sauce.

I tag...well, Odat and again Bec tagged everyone I know who blogs...but those of you who lurk can post in the comments...

I Give My Wonderful Sister Kimmy All The Credit

Yes, I swiped the pictures. Kim took them all. I have a crappy camera and was too busy "sitting on my tush and drinking adult beverages" to take any pictures.

Kimmy did all the work.

(there, does that help?)

ps...thanks for the ride home, sis.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

How Was Your Weekend? Ours Was A Little Rainy But As You Can See It Didn't Slow Us Down Much

Steve broke his pole but note that he is in much deeper in his waders.
My best boy.
Nephew feeding the ducks...
Gina and Stevie on the jet ski.

Great hair and blue lips.
Cousins... AJ is twice as big but Stevie runs the show...
Austin sailing.
Pawpaw and the grandsons.
Tex and his big fish...notice he won't touch it.



Thursday, May 24, 2007

13 Things I've Learned From My Grandmother


  1. If someone offers you a mint...take it.
  2. God has a plan for me. It's my job not to get in the way.
  3. There is nothing greater than the love of children and critters.
  4. Never give up on true love.
  5. If a kid gets hungry enough...he'll eat.
  6. Your family is THE most important thing...after God.
  7. With a cold beer and a comfy chair on the porch, you can go a long way towards solving almost any problem.
  8. Lipton Green Tea is fab.
  9. Go to church if you can...it never hurts.
  10. Cinnamon is NOT good in chili.
  11. On a curvy road accelerate out of the curve...and ask your passenger to just close their eyes and be quiet.
  12. You are never too old to get married.
  13. Live, laugh, love, believe in God, pay attention to politics but don't get hung up in it, learn things and be nice to people.
I love you Grandma.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

He Thinks I'm Beautiful

We were in the car waiting for traffic to clear. We'd been to the park and I was focused on getting us home. From the back seat in a small , sweet little voice he said "you're beautiful".

I hope he always knows how very much I love him.

(I wanted to drive him straight to Toy's R Us and buy everything.)

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Why Do We Call It The Finish?

(if my rowing stuff bores you, this post is a skip!)

In this month's rowing news 'Dr Rowing' answers a letter about the finish. Why is it called the finish...it is neither the end of something or the beginning of something but just the change in direction of body weight and body parts. It's good. Read it if you can get your hands on an issue (Thanks Steve, for mine!).

Speaking of Steve, we did some work in the single today and were talking a lot about the finish. He always makes me stretch as a coach. He's so crazy smart and thinks about rowing...way more than I do...our conversations always help me to clarify what I'd like to teach.

So, today we worked on the finish and I was trying to get him to change direction with his body weight more efficiently, not settle into the seat at the 'finish' (which I'm no longer going to call the finish). And the way we figured it out is that you're not moving your shoulders or torso 'quicker' at the change in direction but that you need to anticipate the change in direction by engaging the core muscles as you snap the handles into the body. This supports the last part of the drive, giving more power to the blade all the way in.

Don't mistakenly rush the shoulders and torso out just make the change in direction more smooth by being ready.

Anyhow...just what I did today. Followed by a killer nap!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Major Ed Is Home!!!


Well, not exactly home quite yet but on US soil and will be sleeping in his own bed very soon.
WELCOME HOME ED!!!!!!!

Friday, May 18, 2007

A Shout Out To All My Lurkers


In the world of computers, people who visit and read but never comment are called "Lurkers".
I lurk occasionally. I regularly lurk around
Notes From The Trenches and Zeno Mueller.
What cracks me up though, is my peeps who read and even talk to each other about what they read here.
I try to write (mostly but my life tends to invade) with everyone in mind.
So today is just a quick "HI!" to those who lurk: Donna, Ed S, June, Mike, Jeff B, Mom (yes, even my mother is a lurker!), Sharon, Steven...and I'm sure there are others...
You know, you can say hi by posting 'anonymous'. You don't have to sign in or anything!
And today...I'm not going to lurk either.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Thursday Thirteen

Here are thirteen of my favorite photos in no particular order. Would you guess that I love my crew, my critters and my crazy family...

The pretty tulips that got nailed by the late freeze...

Our mixed Eight from Wichita a few years ago

My great big spotted trout, caught fishing with Charlie, Dad and Uncle Bob in Louisiana.

A cool house fire.

Most of the people I love the most.

Grandma and Mattie Jean...too cool gals!

While the rest of the grownups are on the porch, Luis is in the garden with the kidlets.

5

My love.

My other love.

(Stupid Blogger...wouldn't let me type where I wanted...)

Pic above is my brother Steve trying out his waders...he didn't realize he could go in above the ankles...

The one above that is my dad...The old man and the sea. One of the best days of my life!

GiGi, AJ and Aunt Jenn.


Monday, May 14, 2007

KCRC Is Going To The Youth National Championships!!!!

One of my kids (Paula) earned a bid for the National Championship regatta on Saturday!
I have never seen a kid more excited. she finished second in the Girls Varsity Single racing tough, as always, against a very fast field. Very fun!!

We will be going to Cincinnati in June to see how she stacks up against the rest of the Nation.

All of our boats advanced to the finals.

The girls earned a bronze in the quad, finishing 18 seconds behind Austin (who I think may win a National Championship in a few weeks) and 11 seconds behind Episcopal. They raced a perfect race, 33 spm up to 35 spm for the last 200 meters...they were very pleased.

Both doubles (light and open) finished sixth. We decided on the way home that when asked where they finshed the answer would be "1st...in reverse order". These kids have such great spirit. We thought we might do better in the open but after a grueling quad race they were a little out of gas. The light double raced about to their potential. They are young and will get faster.

The novice eight rocked! They raced neck and neck down the course with St Louis B matching stroke for stroke and ending up fifth but just by a hair. It was an exciting race and they had a blast. For such a young crew I couldn't have asked for a better experience. It was fun to watch.

The KCRC parents, as always, were such a blessing. Keeping us fed and watered and sunscreened and encouraged. Fetching oars, shoes, water bottles, making sandwiches and cheering 'till their voices were raspy. Never under estimate the impact an involved parent has on a young athlete.

The trip home was fun but long. A flat tire on the trailer and some trouble with the lights added a hour or so but we all got home in one piece.

These kids are the most amazing people I know.

I'll have pictures later this week.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Sheesh...Where To Start...

Well...I could not blog for the next few days, lord knows I'm busy enough. But the thoughts and feelings are spinning. Filling up the nooks and crannies of my brain.

This Saturday is our Central District regatta. It's the big one, the one we start talking about in September. The kids are keyed up, nervous, excited, freaking out. Me too...

Here are some things we've learned as a team this week.

  • we cannot control mother nature.
  • 15 + inches of rain in Oklahoma puts a regatta there in serious jeopardy.
  • mono is a crummy thing to come down with the week before your biggest race.
  • there is nothing sweeter than a young girl giving up her seat in a boat so her teammate gets to race. (she did this with no prompting from me, floored me!)
  • commitment and responsibility are sometime lessons learned as a group. And it can be a painful lesson.
  • no matter what the out come of an important race, you need to judge your season on the accomplishments of the entire year.
  • when it's hot, we can load a trailer in under 45 minutes.
  • after loading said trailer it's nice to sit on the dock with your feet in the water.

And here are some things I've learned this week:

  • the arrogance of some high school coaches is mind boggling.
  • information gathered from a group can never be totally confidential, some of it is just too dang funny not to share.
  • if you talk on a cell phone all day you end up with a cell phone imprint on your face.
  • hummingbird watching is a great stress reliever (even better paired with a cold beer and a comfy chair).
  • the Kansas City Rowing Foundation is apparently planning to hold a rowing camp for the Kansas City Missouri School district the first three weeks of August...news to me. (this will generate some phone calls, I'm sure)
  • Shawnee Mission Ford now has a vehicle we can rent to tow our trailer...and it has a DVD player for the kids!
  • when I forget to put sunscreen on I get sunburned...duh!
  • at 11 years old, Rescue can still get over the fence in one leap at the first sound of thunder.
  • WIN for KC rocks!

I'm hitting the road. You can check results at Powerhouse Timing.

We are entered in:

Girls Lightweight Double

Girls Quad

Girls Novice Eight

Girls Double

Girls Single

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Just for Comparison

This picture was taken yesterday. I'd estimate the river level at about 40 feet. Note the little bit of tre sticking out of the water and our dock floating...between the trees and the top of the levee. The dock usually sits on the other side of the trees and about 25 feet lower.

This picture was taken on Monday about 3pm. The river level was in the mid 30's.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

They're Back!!!!

My beloved Hummingbirds are back!!!!!!

Monday, May 07, 2007

Here's What She Looks Like At 36 Feet

My buddy Mike (KCRC's esteemed Boatman) took these pictures this evening before coming to our monthly bored meeting (and no, that is not a typo).






Up, Up, Up She Goes

She's now expected to get to 48.5 feet by 1am Thursday morning with rain forecast all week...this would be the 4th highest she's ever been.

Rivers are cool!

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Why I don't Miss Our Dock At The River

This is a graph showing how high the Kansas River is predicted to get in the next few days. The blue line is where it is at the current reading and the green dotted line is the prediction. The 10th highest crest EVER is 38 feet. In...like 1974. Highest ever is 61 in 1951 during the '51 floods that devastated Kansas City.



We used to row on the Kansas River as it flows through downtown Kansas City. Several years ago the constant river level began to drop and we are no longer able to row there year 'round. We've moved to a wonderful but occasionally windy lake about 10 miles to the west.

I have been listening to the rain all day today. Started about 7:30am. It's rained buckets. And buckets.

Used to be days like this I would worry...I'd have worried yesterday when the rain was forecast. Mike and I would send emails trying to get folks lined up to move the dock. Pull it in, pull it in and then...when the water starts to go down, we'd run down and try to push it out fast enough that it wouldn't get stuck on land.

And then we'd dig it out. The tons of river crap that had collected next to and often on top of the dock had to be cleared away and the dang thing had to be put back in the water.

Rain like this...2 weeks off the water. 1 week watching and feeling sick while the river roared by. Then another week cleaning it all up.

My Mom asked me yesterday, "Who takes care of your dock at the lake?".
Innocent enough. For the last 10 years she's been listening to me gripe and cry and curse. She knows.

My answer. "Well, no one. We show up. The dock is there. We walk out onto it, put our boats in the water, row, land, walk back across it and GO HOME."

No one takes care of the dock. It's a beautiful thing.

Tagged...again

This time by my cousin Bec...and this time I'm giving you seven random facts about the Kansas City Rowing Club.

Here are the rules as passed on - Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. (You need to choose seven people to tag and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog!) I'm glad this last part is optional because Bec tagged everyone I know...maybe I need to make some blogging friends.

Seven Random Things About The Kansas City Rowing Club

1. We have no permanent home. We are currently living off of our trailer in a parking lot at the lake.

2. Once upon a time we hosted a kick butt regatta on the Kansas River near Kemper Arena. Low water levels in the river have prevented us for hosting this regatta for many years now.

3. In the past 11 years we have had 11 coaches. Me and 10 others. I've been here the whole time.

4. At one annual club gathering we square danced. With a professional square dance caller. It was actually very fun...not to mention funny.

5. One year we considered adding the color purple to our green and blue club colors. Do not ask me why.

6. I don't miss our dock at the river...not one little bit.

7. We had an 85 year old lady attend a Learn To Row this season. She did just fine.

I don't tag anyone...so there!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

I've Been Tagged

If you are one of my rowing club folks who reads for interesting or important rowing thoughts...well, I don't have any right now. It's spring, I'm tired, freaked out about how this summer will go and a bit nervous about whether or not the girls are ready for Centrals.

I've been tagged for a meme by my lovely (your senior picture is drop dead!) 'niece'. (she's actually my cousin's daughter but they've always called me aunt Jenn and I consider them my nieces.)

10 things you might not know about me.

1. I have a BS from the University of Kansas in Photojournalism. Never used it. Still paying for it.

2. Until very recently (yesterday) I had a relatively large IRS issue that I had been dealing with for the last 13 years...since I divorced my ex husband who thought it was a good idea to file his taxes but not pay them. It's over now!!!!!

3. I don't have one piece of furniture in my house that I paid money for. Very early American garage sale.

4. I go to bed by 8:30-9:00 most nights...and will sleep until 7 or 8 if the dogs leave me alone.

5. I am TERRIFIED of the dentist...I've been known to break into tears even before he touches me. (but I will go into a burning building...odd)

6. I like to sew.

7. In the 1996 Olympic Trials I knew I was beaten about 800 meters into the race and I basically shut down. I came across the line at about a 26. I was so embarrassed that while everyone was at lunch I packed up my boat and left without saying goodbye to anyone.

8. I have chocolate in almost every room of my garage sale decorated house.

9. I dig bald men.

10. If I get the hiccups I will eventually throw up...every time.

Hmmm...I tag...Kimmy...everyone else who reads this and blogs has already been tagged.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

This One's For Snick

Actually this is the one Skittles has on her page.

For Donna

I found this on my friend Skittles blog.

Donna, can Snick play?

KCRC Has A New Website

Go by and take a look. KCRowing
Let me know what you think.