In Kansas City

So here I am in exotic Kansas City - well, really Independence, MO. I flew in Monday night and have spent the last two days in safety training sessions with groups of our scrapyard folks. We have an affiliate headquartered here with 17 facilities in Kansas and Missouri, so I visit pretty often. Others in my party stayed at nice hotels but I am in a Motel 6 down the road, setting the standard for thrift as usual.

The highlight of this trip is that I got to see a Kansas City Royals game last night. The Royals lost to the visiting Mariners 3-2, but I wasn't particular about who won anyway. What was really great was our seat location - lower deck, ten rows back between home plate and third base (but closer to home). The former owner of our operations here has season tickets but never goes to the games so we got $45 seats for free. We were so close you could talk to the players in the on-deck circle, if you wanted to - and we had a good angle to call balls and strikes too. The weather was nice, and there was enough action on the field to keep your attention. It made for a late night, and I was groggy during my training today, but it was worth it.

General Updates

Here is the latest on our handful of slow-moving McAlpine news stories:

IT'S ROANOKE: Annie has committed to Roanoke College in Virginia and will enroll as a Freshman this fall. She had a very difficult time choosing between this and Ohio State. In the end it was the great scholarship Roanoke offered which tipped the balance. Next step - Annie and her bud Meghan are driving over on June 14 for "Spring Into Maroon" day, a pre-orientation for new students.

BUSINESS TRAVEL REDUX - SCOTT: I still work my slacker three-day schedule, but am traveling again with some frequency. In early April I visited two of our Florida locations with a videographer to shoot for a training video we are putting together. Last week I was in Kansas City helping with a behavioral training course we are trying out, and I fly out again today for more sessions this week. I have a pretty full slate of onsite safety reviews to do in the summer and fall, mostly in Kansas and Missouri, plus some other trips are bound to pop up. Two years ago I was pretty burned out from the road warrior thing, but now that I have had a break my upcoming travel schedule seems manageable.

LEE ANN DOES ROLEX: The Tack Trunk runs a vendor booth at the big Rolex horse event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington every year, and this year Lee Ann got to work it. She spent three days there, returning home late last night. It was a pretty good time - the store put her up at a hotel, bought all her meals, and she found time to visit other vendors and even see some of the events. It's a good bet she will work again at the World Equestrian Games this fall, which lasts two weeks and is held at the same place.

LACROSSE FAN ALERT: Annie got her doctor's permission to play again as her mono has wound down. Her team has three games scheduled for this week, so hopefully she will see some playing time. Go Lady Warriors!

Upstairs Bathroom - New Paint

We have a bright new color scheme in the bathroom. Previously Lee Ann had painted this room in vertical blue and white stripes, which looked great, but we were ready for something different. I picked out this tangerine orange paint and we unboxed the shower curtain, rugs and other items Jana bought Annie for her bathroom at our last house. Here you see the result. I love it - Lee Ann and Annie are waiting for an excuse to repaint.

Little Veggie Garden - Planted

This weekend I weeded out the raised bed behind our Lebanon house and set in some plants. I have the traditional four peppers but cut back to two tomato plants. I have to keep telling myself how big they will get in this small space.

I still have some space at the near end for more plants. What will I put in next? Hmmmm.....

Annie Turns 18

Annie's senior year at Lebanon High School is winding down, and so is her childhood - she turned 18 on Monday. We had her birthday dinner on Sunday and her big surprise was Uncle Brian and Aunt Lorrie, who appeared as if by magic to help her celebrate. Here is our girl posing with Brian and showing off the dress she will wear to the prom next month. There is so much going on with her these days, and nearly all of it good. Happy Birthday Annie!!!!!!

The Diagnosis...

Now we know that Annie has been suffering from mono. The doctor called on Friday and told her not to play any contact sports for four weeks. Apparently mono inflames the spleen, which then is prone to bursting with life-threatening potential. What bad timing - this will keep Annie on the sidelines for almost the entire lacrosse season, which begins with a game on Tuesday.

Annie's coach has given her responsibility for coaching Sierra, the sophomore who will be playing in goal for the Warriors while Annie is out. On the bright side, being the goalie coach is something new for Annie to learn, and will keep her involved as a member of the team right through her layoff. But watching from the bench for the first 13 games still is a bitter pill for her to swallow.

Well - THAT Was Unpleasant

Apparently Google has taken over Blogspot, the original host for this blog. Nobody asked my permission. Instead, when I tried to log in one day in mid-March I was hit with a cheerful greeting from GoogleBlog, or whatever they are calling it now, and curt instructions that I now would need a Google account for access.

That rubbed me the wrong way, so I stopped even trying to post for a while. Then, when I resigned myself to compliance with the new requirements, I found that the re-registration process was not working - the system did not recognize my old password. More time went by.

Finally Annie asked why I was not posting and I told her my problem. She had it fixed in about eleven seconds, so now I am blogging again. But I'm not so happy about it. Stupid Google.

So here are the highlights from the past three weeks:

ANNIE IS SICK. She has the mother of all flu bugs and is suffering through day eleven of a shifting multiplicity of symptoms which have included severe body aches, a sinus infection and a week's worth of fever/chills. Her sole remaining complaint is an upset stomach and the accompanying vomiting. Two doctor's visits and three prescriptions have failed to give much relief - to her or the rest of us.

THE COLLEGE APPLICATION/ACCEPTANCE PROCESS IS DONE. Of seven schools, only one did not offer Annie admission. That was UCLA, which accepts few out-of-staters. But her real stretch was applying to Washington & Lee in Virginia, an elite school well beyond our means, and she got an acceptance from them last week.

YESTERDAY - NEWS OF THE BIG SCHOLARSHIP! Roanoke College (also in Virginia) hosted a competition on campus three weeks ago to select the winners of their large academic scholarship awards. Annie got the news by phone yesterday that Roanoke was awarding her a four year full-tuition scholarship. WooHoooooo! But she is waiting to get final offer letters from all six schools (the others are Ohio State, Miami (Ohio), Kent State, Earlham and Washington & Lee) before she decides which to attend, and should have those in hand by the end of next week.

DEVELOPING - Lacrosse season starts with three games next week. Lovely spring weather is here, allowing Lee Ann to start garden and landscape work. I untarped the tractor today at the Tower House and started 'er right up - mowing season looms. I painted the upstairs bath walls here at East Main a couple of weeks ago - a tangeriney color, not nearly as bad looking as you probably think - but now can switch to outside projects. Lee Ann has her project horse Nick in pretty rideable condition, and his training is progressing.

And that's the news.