Omaha Zoo

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We have been planning to go to the Omaha Zoo for several years.  Each summer has come and gone and we kick ourselves in August for not having made the real effort to get to Omaha.  It’s only 3 hours away – but yet just far enough.

Friends from medical school, Neil and Elissa Hamill, have just moved to Omaha after just completing his final month of fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine.  Finally – a perfect reason to make a real effort to get to Omaha.

We drove into Omaha about 3:00 pm on yesterday (Sunday) and spent the evening with the Hamills.  We had dinner at a restaurant that brewed their own beer, went swimming at their gym, and then homemade brownies (from scratch), ice cream, and coffee at their new house.  What a lovely evening.

After a night sleeping in luxury at the Doubletree, we got up this morning and headed to the zoo.  Elissa and the two boys joined us and we spent the whole day walking around the wonderful exhibits.

Insanity

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I’m going to try a new workout – Insanity. This is a DVD workout program produced by the same company that doesP90X.  After completing P90X back in May, I started it once again and got through the 7th week before I hurt myself playing softball.  I took some time off to heal, but just didn’t have the desire to return to P90X as I had become somewhat bored with it and was wanting another real challenge.  You’ve probably noted that I’ve been riding my bike more often and enjoy that, but it doesn’t give me the same workout.

So, I decided to go with a much crazier workout, aptly named Insanity.  This workout was created to get results in just 60 days – and with only 35-45 minute workouts.  I must be crazy…

I’ll be starting on Monday – wish me luck.

Sleepwalking…

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This has been an eventful week in the Featherston household.  Anna took sleepwalking to the next level – on nights that I was working night shift, of course.

I got a frantic phone call while at work from Linda.  In fact, the nurse had to come get me from a patient room to take the phone call (the first time this has happened since beginning work as a physician).  Linda had panic in her voice as she explained to me that Anna was up and running through the house and pulling blankets out of the storage, pulling videos out of the entertainment center, throwing the dog’s ball, and talking crazy.  Obviously, there wasn’t much I could do from work, but it finally ended after about 45 minutes.  Linda said it was like the sleepwalking scene from the movie “Step Brothers”.

It occurred again two nights later – again while I was at work.  Linda was ready to call a priest for an exorcism.  She did however contact the pediatrician the next day, confirming what I already suspected – there wasn’t much we could do.  It was hypothesized that she was probably overly tired and needed a little more sleep.  We had her take a good nap during the next day and things seemed better.  She even spent the night at the grandparents without any problem.

Until last night…

I about tripped going up the stairs as she was asleep on the stairs – like a cat curled up.  I picked her up and carried her back to bed (no easy feat considering she’s about as big as us now).  I then went to bed.  As I fell asleep my cell phone rang – it was Linda calling me from the basement because Anna was up sleepwalking again.  I hoisted her up over my shoulder and carried her back to bed.  Linda spent the next 45 minutes at her side carrying on full conversations with Anna asleep the whole time.  How extremely weird.

What’s more amazing is how many friends we’ve talked to that tell us that either they sleepwalked or their kids do.  It’s nice to know we’re not alone.

Finally, I confess that I did sleepwalk as a kid, but never to the extreme that Anna is.  Here’s hoping things calm down soon.

Meeting Pete Johnson

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Most everyone knows that one of my hobbies is premium cigars.  I find them enjoyable as a relaxation tool – they’re also fun to collect (much like premium wine).

One of the local cigar shops hosts a big event each month; they will bring in a cigar manufacturer (really celebrities in the cigar world) with specials, food, drinks, and a party atmosphere.

I try to attend most months – as long as my work schedule allows.  I’ve been able to meet many different cigar manufacturers and have autographs, pictures, and stuff like that.  One person I’d yet to meet was Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars.  Well, I finally got to meet him and talk about cigars with one of the more popular cigar-makers of today.

Next month will be Don Pepin Garcia – even bigger – but I’ve met with him twice before.  Doesn’t mean I won’t try to get there, though….

Mission Farms Bike Ride

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Linda and I had a wonderful date-night last night.  We joined a good friend on our first joint group bike ride.

Mission Farms is a retail-restaurant district in north Leawood.  We met up with about 10 other riders and headed south in the mid-evening July heat.  This was a “welcome ride” which means nobody gets dropped behind.  However, the people at the front pretty much keep going.  If you moved fast enough, you can catch them at a stoplight.

After falling back initially to stay with our friend (who had volunteered to bring up the rear), we decided to catch up with everyone else.  Staying with the lead group was a little tougher given the heat, but we survived.  17.5 miles later and we were back at the Mission Farms area.  After reloading the bikes onto the Jeep, we headed over to one of the restaurants, Los Cabos, and enjoyed cheap beer and lots of chips and dip.

This will be a weekly ride…and I think we’ll be trying to catch it any Tuesday that we’re free.

Weddings and thinking back…

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Today we attended the wedding of the daughter of very good friends.  The friends are from the church we used to attend in Olathe.  In fact, Linda was the organist for the wedding.

As I sat there watching the two get married in a very beautiful Mass ceremony, it made me think back 17 years to a Saturday in May when we got married.

We have been through many things over those 17 years – college completion, active military duty, the birth of our two daughters, med school, residency, the purchase of two different homes…and all the other little stuff in between.  Through it all we have been together as a united team and I realized how lucky I am to have such a wonderful partner as Linda.  The Lord has truly blessed us!

Here’s hoping Matt and Jen have success in their marriage – and may they look back in 17 years and smile…

Tour de France

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July has arrived and so has the Tour de France.  Linda watches each stage with an almost religious fervor.

She knows a lot about most of the major riders – especially Lance Armstrong.  Ask her anything…go ahead…

It’s also been so nice here that Linda and I have been riding our bikes together.  24- and 30-mile rides have been a great way to spend time together.  We’re planning on doing a few organized rides together as well.  Who knows – maybe by Fall we’ll do our first century ride!

As of today, Lance isn’t doing so well in the Tour.  However, there’s still a couple weeks left and anything can happen.  Here’s to you, Lance…

Happy Birthday, Grandpa

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So it’s been another week and a half since I’ve been able to update the blog – working 7 night shifts in 9 days made for very little free time.

One of those days off included a trip to the in-laws to celebrate my father-in-law’s 68th birthday.  What’s even better is that the lunch was ready to go when we arrived – I didn’t have to do anything but show up and eat!

We’ve often celebrated Rod’s birthday by attending a Kansas City Royals ballgame, but they were out of town this year.  We’ll have to find another reason to get to a game.

Tim McGraw – Southern Voice Tour

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The Featherston crew once again rocked the night away – country style.  We attended the Southern Voice Tour concert of Tim McGraw – the 4th time Linda and I have seen him in concert.  This was the first time Anna and Emily got to see him live.

The concert first opened with the group Love and Theft, a standard country rock band with good music.  They played 5 songs for the first 20 minutes in an effort to get the Sprint Center audience in the mood for some awesome music.

Next – a real treat – was Lady Antebellum.  This was our second show with this very talented trio (they opened for Kenny Chesney last year).  They played for almost an hour and really had the crowd rocking and ready to go.

Then…there was an hour delay before the Tim came on stage.  I kept thinking, “Maybe I can go get a drink while we’re waiting”, but you know how it is – as soon as you get up, the concert starts without you.

While waiting, however, there was a film crew on stage that filmed audience scenes for an upcoming movie Tim McGraw has with Gwyneth Paltrow, “Love Don’t Let Me Down”.  So – at least we are now film extras – a small price to pay for an hour delay.

When Tim came on stage – it was almost 2 hours of excellent country music.  We sang, danced, and had an absolute blast!  He sang so many favorites, Linda put it best – “It’s just like driving down the road in my car”.

Here’s hoping the next time we see Tim McGraw, it’ll be with his wife, Faith Hill.  We’ve seen them together twice and that makes for some awesome duets.

Blast from the Past – Deanna Rose Farm

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Emily asked the other day if I could post another “Blast from the Past”.  So – Emily, this one is for you.

The picture above is taken in August of 2002 at the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead here in Overland Park. This is a small 12-acre municipal farm/park that has over 200 animals & birds, gardens, fishing pond, playground, one-room school house, and pony rides.  The park is named after the first Overland Park police officer to die in the line of duty.

When the girls were preschool age, Linda would take the girls to Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead a lot – it was free!  The girls would get to pet and feed goats, slide on big slides, see big peacocks, and get to play with the water pump.  They would spend hours at the water pumps if we’d let them.  The device you see above has a circular system in it – as the kid pumped water into the bucket, it emptied down a hole in the bottom of the bucket and circled back up through as it was pumped.  Presto – hours of entertainment for a 4- and 3-year old kid.