A Busy Week in Review from Dinner with Cousins, Meetings, Chiefs Football, Dinner, Tailgating, and Volleyball… What’s Next?

What a week! It was a busy week at work and at home. We went to Kansas City for dinner, I attended meetings downtown on Wednesday and Thursday, Kansas City Chiefs played Thursday night, Friday we met with family at Shirrons’, and then Saturday was Washburn football with Washburn volleyball in the evening. Busy and fun weekend…

Tuesday night Carrie and I traveled into Kansas City to meet up with some of my siblings and cousins. I know my sister, Betsy, has many more pictures, but I was able to take a few pictures of others at the dinner. We met at YaYa’s Euro Bistro in Kansas City. This was the first time for non-Kansas City cousins to attend. We had a fun time and it was great to see everyone. Catch up and hear stories. Our cousin, Mike, had reserved a private dining space for us which worked out great! I hope we are able to do this again in the future and maybe on a weekend.

On Wednesday, I attended meetings in downtown Topeka for the Kansas Board of Regents. Other CIO’s at the regent institutions were attending the meeting to be available for discussion and comment on funding from the state. Happy to report that the funding was approved. I attended to show support and show that Washburn University is involved and needs support. On Thursday, I went back to the Kansas Board of Regents full board meeting where the proposal was approved. Happy to report that Washburn was approved to get funding, so we will be working over the next few weeks to develop a plan for allocation of funds.

This was my first time attending a Kansas Board of Regents meeting and I found it very interesting. It was good to catch up with fellow CIO’s from other institutions. We went out to lunch on Wednesday following the meeting and made plans for Thursday on who would return and how we would proceed. I have been meeting with other CIO’s the past year and this was only our second time to meet in-person as our regular monthly meetings are on-line. It was good to see everyone and share stories over lunch.

Thursday night was Kansas City Chiefs football. We were invited to watch the game at our friend Chris’s house. It was our “lucky” place to watch last year, so he invited us back to watch the game. The Kansas City Chiefs did not look great to start the game, but came to live and we were able to win the game 27 - 24. The Chiefs are 2 - 0 to start the season, so sitting good so far. 

Friday night, Carrie and I went to her parents to have dinner and visit with friends from Arkansas. Nancy and Jack were up for a golf tournament Jack was playing in with Eddie. Such a fun couple! We at dinner and then sat around listening to stories, some of which we have heard a few times, but some new stories too. I love sitting around and hearing stories be told. I will see Nancy and Jack in early October when I am down in Helena, AR for King Biscuit Blues Festival. 

Saturday took us out to Washburn University for tailgating and football. It was a hot Saturday with the sun beating down for most of the first half. I saw a number of friends and it was good to catch up with them. I saw some friends we had not seen in a few years, so it was good to talk to them. One has their daughter attending Washburn, so it sounds like our friends will be out for more games in the future. 

Washburn football did not start off well and could never recover against University of Nebraska at Kearney. We lost the game 21 - 13, so that was disappointing to lose a game and to lose at home. We play at Missouri Western State University on September 24.

Saturday evening, Carrie, Greg, Erin, and I attended Washburn volleyball. We lost against Northwest Missouri State 3 - 1. We got behind to start 2 - 0, won the third set, and then could not get it going in the fourth set. A rare loss for Washburn volleyball.

A busy week also means that I did not eat too great. Football, tailgating, and seeing family and friends had me eating well over my points for the week. So, at my weigh-in Sunday morning, I gained two pounds over last week. Disappointed, but I am not surprised based on how I ate this past week. 

This week will likely not be much better with our first Royals game of the season on Friday and then Saturday a fancy dinner to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. I will continue to stay focused and hope to get back to working out too. That was the other part I did not get in this past week with everything happening was that I only worked out twice. So, a lot of room for improvement for this week. 

Posting this update mid-day on Sunday as I did not have a chance to write or think about a post during the week. Hoping to get back on target this next week. Have a great week and I hope the weather stays cool.

Fun Weekend with Sports, Nice Weather, and More Sports

We started off the weekend by attending a Washburn volleyball game Friday night. Washburn volleyball team is ranked #1 in the country and has a seven game winning streak. The first two sets were fast winning by a huge margin. The third set we lost a bit of focus and lost but came right back and won the last set to win the match. Carrie and I went to the game and had a great time. Only six home games remain on the regular season, so hoping we can make it to a few more before the regular season ends. Washburn volleyball plays again this evening, but we are headed to the Washburn football game, so likely will not make it to the volleyball game tonight.

Saturday, we had talked about a few of us going to the tailgate and game. When it came time to leave for the tailgate (around 11 am) others decided they were going to skip as it was going to be hot. I took a few chairs and a tent earlier in the day as I took the car for work. So, when I went at 11, I only took a cooler. I saw fellow fans and hung out at the spot. The game started and I got a notice on my phone of activity at our front door. I also got a notice that Carrie was leaving the house, so I checked our Ring app and I could see Carrie leaving with a cooler. I thought, well, that is kind of odd. I could then see her heading my way on Find My app and eventually Carrie and Greg came walking up. It was pretty cool! They came and joined me for the game. 

It was supposed to be hot (low 90s) but it turned out to be really nice. A breeze that was blowing and overcast, so it helped with the heat. We had a good time and talked with our neighbor, John, about combining our tailgate spots in the future as both of us are struggling to get others to join our spots. I told him I was certainly open to doing so. Washburn won 23-20 in overtime. It was a strolling end to the game.  We hung out a while after the game before eventually cleaning up and heading home. 

Carrie and I thought about going to another volleyball as they were playing at 6 again Saturday night, but we both decided we were tired after doing the tailgate and game. We had a fun day and I am looking forward to Chiefs playing tonight. 

Normally at this time of year, I would be on the road back from Helena, Arkansas from the King Biscuit Blues Festival, but with it being canceled this year, missing out on the festival, seeing friends, and the travel to/from Helena. I miss seeing all of our family and friends for the King Biscuit Blues Festival, but hopefully we will be back in a year. It has been fun seeing family and friends post memories from past festivals, but I cannot wait to get down there again. 

Until next time, have a great week and I will talk to you later…