Party in Overdrive

The Wichita River Festival was this past week. This year's theme was "Party in Overdrive". The only event I attended was Saturday night's grand finale. It's definitely the best thing about RiverFest. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on the banks of the Arkansas River downtown. The Wichita Symphony plays a pops concert culminating in the 1812 Overture with cannons shot off the Douglas Street bridge. And then there is the best fireworks display of the year.

The weather was perfect this year. A warm day that cooled down as the evening progressed, clear skies, slight breeze. It was gorgeous. I went with a group of friends that had some tarps staked out on the river bank east of Exploration Place in view of the Keeper of the Plains with a great view of the fireworks. We got there early enough to converge with the masses at the food court at Century II and run into several familiar faces.

Exploration Place

The Keeper of the Plains. There's a Rich Mullins song that has a line "where the sacred rivers meet beneath the Keeper of the Plains." This is what he's talking about. The Keeper is on the pedestal above the fires. The bridge is made to look like an airplane with a comtrail to note Wichita's #1 industry.

I finally got to try out the fireworks setting on my camera.

More of Phase 2

Here are some pictures of the landscaping work. The beautimus flower beds that are ready for plants (note that this is only about half of what needs to get planted!)

I did plant the bed next to the front door. Now it’d be great if I could get the neighborhood cat to stop pawing around in the mulch.

I transplanted these irises 2 years ago from the front to the back yard. This is the first time they’ve bloomed since transplanting.

And my big splurge – patio furniture. I assembled about half of it and Rob & Heather finished it up. Heather made me promise not to get rid of the swing for a few months.

mission: brown thumb

I really need to learn to take before pictures. I began phase 2 of the backyard plan last weekend. Phase 1 happened a few years ago – clear the overgrown weeds out of the flower beds. I’ve been out of the country the last 2 springs, so phase 2 was put on hold. This weekend, however, it was put into motion. Tons of thanks to Jim, Allen, Rob & Heather for their help. I couldn’t have done it without you guys! We got the flower beds roto-tilled and edged with new timbers. It looks great. Now I have to buy a bunch of plants. I’ve been meaning to take "after" pictures, but it hasn’t happened and now it's raining so I’ll just tell you about it so you don’t think I’ve fallen off the planet.

Are we done yet?

It took about 50 hours from start to finish but it’s done! And my body is happy for the rest from the scrapping and painting. I picked a color with a yellow tone so that it would pick up the light. Heather moves in on Saturday. I have decided that the kitchen stool can no longer reside in the kitchen after this job – it’s covered in paint & bits of wallpaper. It’s now the work stool that resides in the garage.


A poem my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Williams, would quote:
Spring has sprung, the grass is riz
I wonder where the birdies is?

Tennessee or bust

I went to visit Hannah & Jonathan and, mostly, Marshall last weekend. They moved to Martin, TN in January – it’s in the NW corner of TN. Weather in Atlanta wreaked havoc on flights but I managed to make it to Memphis about 2 hours later than scheduled.
Marshall is 21 months old now and looking more little boy than baby. Hannah’s been working on him saying “Aunt Jennifer” – it comes out “Jen-ser”. He’s an absolutely precious bundle of energy. We had tons of fun playing – cars, train, balls, running around the house & wrestling. And he’s quite the chatterbox. He’ll hold his hand up to his ear as a phone – the funny thing is when he listens & answers back. He’s a little ham (can’t imagine why since his mama was never like that – cough, cough).
Here are several pictures of him from the weekend.

On Saturday we drove 2.5 hours to SE Missouri to visit Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Tom. That whole corner of the world is still very flooded & we saw lots of water in places it’s not supposed to be. It was a great time to see family. My cousin’s son Eric & his girlfriend Amy were there for the weekend too. Marshall had a ball wandering around the shed with tractors to climb on & down to the pond. It was really nice to see them.
Jonathan, Marshall, Hannah, Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Tom & I:
Me, Eric, Hannah
Eric's self portrait (he is his father's son)

Marshall reading the tractor calendar - apparently it's very enthralling
And Monday Marshall & I sported our KU gear to cheer the Jayhawks on to victory.

Rock Chalk Championship!

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk! KU!!
The Kansas Jayhawks are the NCAA Basketball National Champions!! Wow! So exciting! I went to Tennessee this weekend to visit Hannah (more on that later when I have a chance to upload pictures) and made it home midway through the game. What a comeback – a win in overtime. Yeah, baby!
I flew out of Memphis and my KU t-shirt got a lot of looks and a few comments.
Dad called the second the game was over, “ROCK CHALK!”
Made me wish I was in Lawrence. I was in 8th grade 20 years ago when Danny & the Miracles won the championship vs. Oklahoma. Dad was working in Miami, so Mom took us girls to the Burkheads, who live right off campus, to watch the game. The town erupted with honking horns when the game ended. Would have been awesome to have been there last night.
How sweet it is!

A stripping good time

Do you like what I’ve done with the room? I don’t know about you but there are several times during home improvement projects that I’d like to ask my home’s previous owners “What the heck where you thinking?!”
Like gluing linoleum to the hardwood floor at the back door. Who does that??!! The walls in the “roommate” bedroom were in need of some attention after the last roommate. I’ve found out that there is wallpaper that’s been painted over in there. Before the next roommate moves in in May, I decided to do the right thing and strip the wallpaper before painting. The wallpaper has been painted over at least 3 times and ends up there are 3 layers of wallpaper. Ah the joy. It took about 10 hours to remove the painted layer from this wall. Once that’s off, the other layers come off relatively easy. See the lovely bits of paper. The bottom two layers are the exact same print – the green. Why?! I think it’s so that 20 years later I could be tortured. I admit I'm not a wallpaper fan - especially since I've had to remove so much of it.
So this is where you’ll find me feverishly trying to finish in time. Anyone willing to join in the fun is welcome.