Sun, Sand, Surf...

How come Kansas City doesn’t have a beach?

And no…Longview Lake’s beach doesn’t count.

I’ve been feeling the itch to pack my bikini, sunglasses and floppy hat and hit the sand for some rest and relaxation. I’d live on the beach if I had the chance. Over the years there’s been discussion of buying islands (gotta win the lottery first. Oh wait…I gotta play the lottery to win!), opening crab shacks, joining theatre troops at Mexican resorts, or (the original idea) making puka shell necklaces to sell to tourists. So far…I’m still living in the middle of a beach-free zone.

These pics are from Ryan and I’s trip to Hawaii a few years back. We went to visit my sister while she was stationed out there with the Marines. I was just sitting here today wishing that I was there…..

Anyone leaving on a beach trip soon? Wanna pack me in your suitcase? I know that Misti and Blaine are leaving for a beach trip soon. Mis, can I ride in your pretty pick suitcase?

Put on Your Party Hat!

My sister moved back to Kansas City this week!

This week my little sister packed-up up her VW Jetta, grabbed her dog Freddy and drove 1/2 way across the country. She wasn’t a huge fan of Washington DC (it’s a nice place to visit) and decided that KC was where she wanted to be.

Tuesday night she checked into Casa de Lanclos where she’s staying until the house-hunting adventure is over. Her fiancé, Justin is flying home from Iraq on Monday. We’re hanging out the “No Vacancy” sign at the Casa! Its going to be so much fun not only having them back in the city, but to have them crash with us for awhile! Although I did warn Amanda…I know that Justin is going to want to eat everything delicious when he rolls back in from Iraq but he needs to keep it all away from me! I’m going to have a kitchen full of sinful treats!

I’m so happy to have my sister back in KC. We’re close (and always have been) and its been a long time since we lived in the same place. First, I went away to college, then she joined the Marines, then I moved back to KC … just in time for her to leave for DC. Its been since 1995 that we lived in the same place! That’s a long time! Its going to be great being able to have her and Justin over for BBQs or going shopping (not so much Justin LOL), or random pop-in visits.
WELCOME BACK TO KC AMANDA & JUSTIN!

The End of Winter!

Wow! So for any of you that didn’t already know…I can be a real slacker! I can’t believe that I went all winter long without posting anything on this blog! Good grief! I hate the winter months – its cold, windy, dark when you get up and dark when you get home. I tend to hibernate during the winter months, and not do much of anything.

But now spring has sprung! And with it… comes sunny days and the end of hibernation! There should be a lot more to blog about :-) I promise to try to be better!

The Animal Capers of Kamryn Drive

There was one little hiccup in our Mizzou game day. We got a phone call from Brinks Security Systems Saturday afternoon. Our alarm had been triggered and "if we were concerned" we were suppose to call them back. Yes...I think my alarm going off when I'm not home might be cause for concern!

Brinks sent the police. I sent my parents. I had horrible visions of Pinky being scared or getting out of the house in the cold or getting hurt (people can be mean). Mom and dad ran to the rescue.

Mom called back and told me that my basement window screen was torn all to shreds. What?!? Great! The funny thing was that it wasn't the basement alarm that went off. Other than that...all was well inside my house and there wasn't any sign that anything out of the ordinary had happened in the living room (where the alarm had been triggered).

The next day we headed home - and I had a feeling of dread in my stomach. I didn't like the idea of someone ripping my screen off or being anyway close to breaking in. Ugh! As soon as we pulled into the driveway we headed straight to the back yard to check out the damage.

The screen was trashed. Broken out of the bottom channel and snapped on the left side. It seemed odd to us that someone would destroy a screen and then not bother breaking the window. Then Ryan says "are those paw prints on our window". I jumped into the window well (and its deep - chest high on me) to investigate. Sure enough ... there were little 5-fingered prints on the glass. The more we looked the more signs we found of a raccoon trying to get out of the window well. There were paw prints, snags in the screen, scratch marks on the window frame, even some course black/grey fur.

Huh.

We know that a possum got stuck in our neighbor's window well. Can you imagine what that sounded like? That raccoon trying to climb out? Good grief!

And we're pretty sure that Miss Pinky Lee the cat set off the living room alarm. The Brinks man told us that if she jumped right in front of it she could set it off. We've got a wine bar about 2 1/2 feet away from the sensor. And there was a new scratch on top of the wine bar and possibly a few kitty prints on the top.

Was there an animal party at our place while we were out of town? My friend Misti seems to think that Pinky might have thought she found a way to bring us home. Set off the alarm! Good try Pinks!

Mizzou Football!

This past weekend Ryan and I packed up the car and headed to Columbia, MO to watch the MU Tigers take on Kansas State. I'd try to explain the excitement that was buzzing around our house all week....but words really can't describe it.

We've been planning this trip / game / tailgate for months. Our friend Veronica (a fellow black-and-gold-bleeder) and I started talking Mizzou football this past summer. When we'd finally settled on a game (OSU) we called to get tickets. Gone. Sold out. Zilch. Panic set in and we grabbed the first conference game we could get our hands on that still had seats available. K-State it was! And actually...its a good thing we didn't go to the OSU game. The Tigers had a rough game that weekend - the first loss this season. It would have been a sad game to watch.

The down-side to the K-State game? The cold!! Oh. My. Gosh! It was cloudy, windy and only about 43 for the high. But we pushed onward! By 11:30 Ryan, Veronica and I had secured a tailgating spot and were ready to get on with the festivities! We were joined by Chrissy, Brent, Brock, and Joy a short time later. And then Misti and Blaine joined the party. The game wasn't until 6pm (great for tailgating.....not so great for the cold) so we had all afternoon to hang out.

It was cold....but we had plenty of drinks and food, and a canopy with a windscreen (the best $$ I've ever spent). The group next to us supplied music all day and we were pretty content :-)

The game was great! Mizzou won 41 - 24 (and it shouldn't have been that close - Mizzou let K-State score twice in the last few minutes of the game. I hate when they do that!!!). I had a chance to sing all the old Mizzou songs, scream "-ZOU" a thousand times, and see Chase Daniel on Senior Day play his last home game as a Tiger. It was a great day!!!

I wish that I had some pics of the gang from Saturday to post in all our cold weather gear. But it was cold enough that I never actually got my camera out. Here's a pic of Chase leading the Tigers to victory!

Election Day Is Here!

Finally! I love the fact that we as Americans can vote. I love the freedom we enjoy. I love that every person has a voice. What I do not love....campaign ads. Ugh! I think that we need to vote in a law saying that only 25% of campaign ads can be mud-slinging ads. Stop telling me what your opponent did or didn't do, and start telling me what YOU ARE going to do!

Sorry....got off on a tangent for a minute!

Everyone get off their butts and vote today! Don't let one of our greatest freedoms go to waste! Let your voice be heard!

Feliz Cuplianos!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!

What happened in 1976?

-1976: Chinese year of the Dragon
-Cambodia is renamed Democratic Campuchea.
-The first commercial service Concorde flight took off.
-1976 Winter Olympics open in Innsbruck, Austria.
-The 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal Canada July 17 - August 1.
-Darryl Sittler sets NHL record with ten points in one game.
-Rock group KISS releases the legendary album Destroyer.
-Patty Hearst is found guilty of the armed robbery of a San Francisco, California bank.
-The first 4.6 miles of the Washington, DC subway system is opened.
-Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
-The Gong Show debuts on NBC.
-NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, taken by Viking 1
-Tom Brokaw becomes news anchor of the Today Show.
-The Meadowlands racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey opens.
-The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, was unveiled by NASA
-R&B singer Stevie Wonder releases the classic double album Songs in the Key of Life.
-The Eagles release one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, Hotel California.
-The US celebrates its bicentennial, marking the 200th anniversary of its independence
-Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.13
-Median Household Income (current dollars): $12,686
-Cost of a gallon of Gas 59 cents
-The $2.00 bill Issued
-Super Bowl: Pittsburgh defeats Dallas (21-17)
-World Series: Cincinnati defeats NY Yankees (4-0)
-Kentucky Derby Champion: Bold Forbes
-George W. Bush is arrested and fined for driving under the influence of alcohol
-Freddie Prinze Jr., Reese Witherspoon, Colin Farrell, 50 Cent, Fred Savage, and Shannon Elizabeth are born
-Charlie's Angels and The Muppet Show premiere
-The first megamouth shark is discovered off Oahu in Hawaii.
-First laser printer introduced by IBM - the IBM 3800
-Matsushita introduces the VHS home video cassette recorder to compete with Sony's Beta max system.
-Top movies: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, All the President’s Men, The Omen, Taxi Driver, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Rocky
-Billboard Top Hits: 1976
1. Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John & Kiki Dee 2. Dream Weaver - Gary Wright 3. Love Machine - Pt. 1 - The Miracles 4. Let Your Love Flow - The Bellamy Brothers 5. Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry 6. Saturday Night - Bay City Rollers 7. Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop 8. I'd Really Love To See You Tonight - England Dan & John Ford Coley 9. All By Myself - Eric Carmen 10. Theme From S.W.A.T. - Rhythm Heritage