Author Archives: wfeatherston

The Doctors Lounge – New Sunroom Addition

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This past month found the addition of a sunroom to our backyard.  We have tried our best to combat the mosquito problem we have in our yard – seven years of candles and repellants came to no avail.  We even put up a bathouse in hopes of attracting bats that eat thousands of mosquitos per hour.  Since none of this was working, it was decided that a screened-in porch was the answer.

The contract was signed in late December and then we waited for 10 weeks while our room and windows were custom built.  About a week before we were to leave on our trip to the Bahamas, we were informed that the crew was ready to build our room.

First , we had to deconstruct the small privacy fence that surrounded the patio.  This was done by a good friend, Jamie.  We also had to remove half of the brick patio that we painstaking placed about 4 years ago.

About 2 days before our trip, the old concrete patio was removed.  It was necessary to place a new pad that was level and had appropriate footings and foundation.  Unfortunately, I was working night shift during these few days – sleeping through jackhammers can be tricky.  Ear plugs and moving to the guest bed helped.

Upon returning from our trip, the new concrete pad had been poured.  The crew arrived the Monday morning and by Wednesday it was completed.

I celebrated the completion with a cigar from a new box of BOTL (Brother of the Leaf) cigars that had arrived.  The room was promptly named “The Doctors Lounge” and a buddy came over to test out the ability to withstand cigar smoke from two seasoned cigar aficionados.  However, the installed ceiling fan didn’t quite cut it.

Linda found an awesome patio furniture set at Costco.  She brought it all home and placed it in the room prior to my even knowing she got it – what a surprise when I got home from work.  The furniture is comfortable; the room is even more comfortable when the windows are open and the breeze is gently coming through.

I’ve figured out the ventilation and have fans that face outwards.  Any cigar smoke quickly exits the room with the breeze from the fan.  The Doctors Lounge is open!

Another month gone by already? New bike, though!

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Work has been incredibly hectic for the past few weeks;  in fact, it’s been quite hectic with lots of problems.  What free time there has been has been occupied with getting miles in the saddle – that’s right – sitting on the bike and pedaling for hours.

I purchased a new road bike in early March and have already put several hundred miles on it.  Linda and I have been riding 20-30 miles on each ride.  We have just over a month before we ride all the way across the great state of Kansas.  Gotta keep riding until we are comfortable with 60-80 miles in a day (should be there soon).

I’m going to work harder over the next few weeks to have more regular content added to the blog.  I know that the girls have been doing activities – I’ve just not been able to make a lot of them.

By the way – may your Holy Weekend be blessed.

Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas

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Spring Break came this last week – and we escaped the cool March to the warm waters of the Caribbean.  The girls have been asking to go on a cruise for several years.  After going on a Disney cruise eight years ago, they’ve wanted to experience the ship life again.

Linda worked diligently to create a fantastic 4-day getaway.  We first arrived in Orlando and drove to Cape Canaveral to stay the night.  The next morning we drove up to the Kennedy Space Center and did a quick tour.  What a massive and interesting place.  The space shuttle was on the pad and being readied for launch in April.

We then drove to the dock to catch our boat, the Carnival Sensation (pictured above).  We were on the lowest deck, but we did have a window.  The first thing Linda did was find a chair in the sun.  See if you can find her in the picture below.

I found time to sit in some shade and really relax – no phones, no emails, no work!

Our destination was Nassau, Bahamas.  We spent about 6 hours on shore at the Atlantis resort.  We went swimming at the beach and toured the Atlantis grounds, including the massive aquarium that is made to look like the ruins of Atlantis.  Very cool, indeed.

 

Just like any vacation – it was too short.  But we had a good time.  Be sure to ask the girls about staying up past midnight each night with the Circle C club (group of 12-14 year olds on the ship).

 

 

Enjoyed the K-State Run

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You may remember my post in late January when I was down about how the Wildcats had dropped out of the polls and had tumbled all the way to tenth in the Big XII.  Shortly after that, the team found itself down a couple players (Freddy Asprilla and Wally Judge) and a second loss to Colorado stung all the more.  Changes were made and the boys won 6 games – including wins against Kansas, Texas, and Missouri.

Watching Pullen, Kelly, McGruder, Samuels, Spradling, Henriquez-Roberts, Peterson, and the other guys through the month of February was a blast.  It brought back memories of last year during the NCAA tournament and how tough the players were.  It was yet another “us vs. the world” scenario that has become so familiar to Kansas State fans.

Impressively, the Cats clawed their way back into the polls at #19 and was the #4 team in the Big XII.  Although far from the preseason #3 national ranking and favored #1 in the Big XII, it was a lot better than where we were just a month ago.

Unfortunately, our run came to an end – against Colorado.  After a first round bye, the Cats entered the game favored to win, but were trampled by the Buffaloes.  They sure had our number this year – sweep of all 3 games.  Oh well, at least we’re likely to go to the NCAA tournament (something unlikely just 4 weeks ago).

Mardi Gras – Mardi Paw

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Today is Mardi Gras – or Fat Tuesday.  It’s the day before Ash Wednesday; a day to enjoy feasts and frivolity before the seriousness of the Lenten season.

We actually celebrated Mardi Gras a little early at our favorite restaurant, Cafe Roux, where they hosted “Mardi Paw” with a local boutique pet store & bakery.  Sunday morning found us outside the store with about 30 other dogs dressed in their best costumes for a parade led by a dixieland jazz quartet.

Sally picked up Third Place for her costume.  This included some expensive dog treats and a gift card to Cafe Roux.  Sally seemed to have a great time – and the cold weather didn’t seem to bother us that much because we were having fun, too.

Brunch with mimosas and Bloody Mary’s completed the morning.  Despite the plan to attend church later in the day, it seemed completely wrong to be enjoying parades, good food, and alcoholic drinks on Sunday morning.  Regardless, we had a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday, Emily

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Emily celebrates another birthday.  The celebration started several nights ago with dinner for her friends at Buca di Beppo, an Italian restaurant that serves family style platters of awesome pasta.  The following morning found us at Cafe Roux for the Mardi Paws parade with Sally entered among many other dogs.  Dressed in a tutu, angel wings, and Mardi Gras beads, she took 3rd place among the large dog competitors.  We had brunch at the Cafe Roux with Grandma & Grandpa Maag.

Sunday afternoon found Emily at the store picking out a new phone – much to her surprise.  Because of the restrictions on who she is allowed to text, she’s not reached the astronomic numbers that Anna achieved when she got her phone.

Happy Birthday, Emily.  We love you so very much!!!

My trip to the Dominican Republic

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Once again, the blog has been silent.  However, this time I have a good excuse.  I took a trip to the Dominican Republic with a group of friends from the on-line cigar community.  I hooked up with CigarTourism.com to be guided through many cigar factories and fields and be taught about the production of premium handmade cigars.

This was technically a birthday gift from Linda for my 40th birthday – a great gift, indeed.

The weather was warm (80 degrees) and I didn’t need any sunscreen because we were mostly inside or in shade.  It was a great getaway from work.  More importantly, I missed the snow blizzard of the season that crippled much of the country.

To read about my visit – click on “D.R. Trip Pics” at the top of the page.  This will take you to a collection of albums that are individually annotated.

Enjoy.

Wishing the Cats could play better basketball

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So the Kansas State Wildcats started out ranked preseason nationally at number 3 and picked to win the Big XII.  There’s been stumbling and bumbling and now they are out of the polls and 10th in the Big XII.  Ouch.

We’ve never been huge basketball fans, but the improvement under Frank Martin over the past few years interested us and we’ve been hooked.

Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelley had some off-court issues with some impermissible benefits at a Manhattan Dillards.  In fact, their first suspended game was the game we attended here in Kansas City – a game we lost.  We’ve lost several more since then.  Unfortunately, there were many that doubted we deserved such high preseason rankings – seems like they may have been right.

Here’s hoping we can get better and start winning more games.

image from www.kstatessports.com