Easter Surprise
Posted on April 6, 2018 by Ching under Zumba.
The YMCA is always closed on Easter Sunday but Alex, Amanda, and I had the treat of seeing the Easter Bunny on Saturday in between our Zumba double.
There is a new Zumba class in Andover on Saturday mornings at 8 am. The girls (Alex and Amanda) had been doing it since it first started. I’d been wanting to do it with them but first I was sick. Then, the following weekend, I had to cover Amy’s 7:30 am Zumba class at East Y. If it wasn’t one thing, it was something else. Anyway, I knew I had to make it happen last weekend because my Sunday class wasn’t an option (due to the Y being closed for Easter). If I was going to get my normal weekend workouts in, I’d have to do two classes on Saturday.
I’m glad I did because we had a blast. I had to take my medicine (the doc had prescribed steroids, which I had to take with food) so we went to Dunkin Donuts in between classes. Brian picked us up from the Y and brought us back. This photo was taken while we were waiting for my 10:30 am class to start.
BTW, I’m not sure if you noticed but the Easter Bunny shrank compared to last year. I’m making a mental note to get a photo with the Easter Bunny again next year to see if there’s a change. Until then, have a fabulous weekend!
Comment on This
I am not a Handyman!
Posted on April 6, 2018 by Brian under Home Ownership, Projects.
So, the back door to the garage has needed some work for a long time now. If anyone remembers the Farmstead fiasco of a home, then you all know that I am not a handy person. I don’t really know how to fix things all that well.
Heck, I had to have my father-in-law come help me install two smart light switches because the switches were smarter than I was and I couldn’t figure out the wiring. If it wasn’t for him and his friend (Tito Arnel) I could have very well wired it and burnt the house down.
Back to the door! So, the door was water damaged and rotting because the previous owner cheaped out on the install and didn’t seal it properly. One of the sprinkler heads wasn’t ever adjusted right and water just pounded that frame and, well, we get a crumbling POS.
About a month ago I got fed up looking at it and called a professional to come give me a quote on installing a new door in my garage and, while he’s at it, installing a new front door too — because, if they are already here, it will probably be cheaper… Right? No!
After about an hour of his time and the price getting all the way up to $9000, I had to dial him back and tell him I wasn’t going to fork out what could be money for a pretty good vacation, for a couple of doors. We narrowed it down to just the garage door and that was still well over $1000. I thanked him for his time and looked at option 2, 3, 4, and even 5.
I looked at a few videos and found a door at Lowe’s for about $170. Add in screws and caulk and we’re looking at $200 max, plus my time. I managed to convince my wife that this was going to be so easy, a child could do it. I told her they made the doors idiot-proof and that even I could install one now. Heck, even my dad was convinced we could both tackle it and be successful.
Then one night I was playing online with my buddy and remembered he worked construction for like 15 years and knows how to install doors! So I buckled down, swallowed my pride and asked him if he would be willing to help. Without hesitation, he said yes. My wife has never been so relieved to not have to do something in her life. I think her exact words were, “Oh, thank God!”
Fast forward to this last Saturday. My friend and his son Eli come out. I already had the door and everything we needed. He gave me more information about installing a door than I could process. It wasn’t really as easy or simple as I thought it would be. But, in the end, we got it done and it looks great.
I honestly don’t think it would have been as good without him. I’m sure I would have done something to either ruin the door or mess up the install. I am grateful to have friends with skills.
Here’s some pictures of the new door and the old one we removed.
Old, rotten door.
New door, in progress.
New door, trimmed up.
Outside view.
By the way, anyone need a door?
Comment on This
The Wheel Barrel
Posted on March 30, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
Finally got to try the Wheel Barrel.
My coworker Tom, who lives in there area, has been talking it up for weeks. However, I’m not usually in Topeka and, when I am, I’m usually hitting up the Burger Stand. We carved out some time on this last trip to Topeka for the Wheel Barrel, though. Sarah, Chris, Tom, and I went on Monday night.
Here are some pics.
Sarah had a half sandwich and soup combo. I can’t remember what kind of sandwich she got, though. I think she might have gotten the “luau” because I remember us talking about how much she loves ghost peppers.
Tom had a full sandwich and soup. I can’t remember what kind of sandwich he got for the life of me. He also got the tomato bisque soup. I heard their tomato bisque is really good. I’m not really a tomato bisque soup person but Brian loves that stuff. I may have to bring him here.
Chris and I both got the same thing — the “hangover” grilled cheese sandwich. It consists of smoked gouda, sharp cheddar, bacon, two fried eggs, and sriracha aioli on sweet brioche. It is amazing. This was, hands down, the best grilled cheese sandwich I’ve ever had.
This is the Wheel Barrel’s take on bananas foster. It was the perfect size dessert of the four of us to share.
So, I have newfound respect for Topeka and a new favorite restaurant. I’m definitely hitting this place again the next time I’m in town. I may even bring reinforcements (i.e. Brian).
Comment on This
My Zumba-filled Weekend
Posted on March 29, 2018 by Ching under Movies, Zumba.
Missy took an impromptu trip to Branson with her family last weekend so I got roped into subbing a couple of extra classes. Here are some pictures.
These were from Missy’s Friday night class at East YMCA.
Brynden outfitted her friends to match both of us. We were all in our Kingston Yah Wo Mon shirts that night.
These were the early birds at Amy’s 7:30 AM class also at East YMCA.
Brian was nice enough to get up early and help me set up. The stage at East is heavy and takes at least two people to move.
After class, I met Brian up at the dealership where we got our cars washed which actually went way faster than usual so we had time to grab a quick bite at Dunkin’ Donuts before my 10:30 AM class. Brian bought a couple of donuts to surprise grandma and then proceeded to kick her butt at Uno after lunch.
The rest of the evening was spent bowling with some of my Zumba girls (Alex, Amanda, and Rose) and then Brian and I finished off the evening by watching Pitch Perfect 3 and Justice League. It was one of the busiest Saturdays (weekends) we’ve had in a good long time!
Comment on This
Cory’s Birthday Festivities
Posted on March 26, 2018 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.
Brian and I normally do not go out on St. Patty’s Day because the bar scene just gets too crazy. This year we agreed to go out and meet the gang in honor of Cory’s birthday. If it hadn’t been for that, we probably wouldn’t have been downtown at all. Although, I was kind of interested in all of the NCAA madness.
Cory’s birthday, which has always been March 17 so it coincides with St. Patty’s Day every year, just happened to fall on a Saturday when the NCAA tournament was in town. This is the first time in over two decades that Wichita has hosted games. The Downtown area was ridiculously busy and buzzing with activities. Thankfully, the city has done a great job with planning and there were plenty of places to park.
The plan was to meet at the Arcade, this place downtown that has old school arcade games and pinball machines. Before that they decided they would meet at Old Chicago for supper. Brian and I are not really too crazy about Old Chicago so we decided to do our own thing for dinner and just meet up with them after.
We used the opportunity to dine at one of my favorite restaurants in Old Town, Public at the Brickyard. This is us, waiting for a table to open up.
We got there around 6:30-ish and were given a 30-minute estimated wait, which was nothing compared to the 45-minute to an hour wait they were quoting to people with groups of four or more. The KU game was on and everyone was sticking around to finish the game so even though they might have been done eating, they were still drinking and lingering. Thus, no open tables until much later.
This is Brian with his signature RBF. While I thought the people-watching was quite entertaining (some people had been drinking since at least ten o’clock in the morning and were obviously pretty hammered), he was getting completely annoyed. He’s not great around inebriated people when he’s sober.
We were seated much sooner than expected (I think they were trying to be conservative so as not to disappoint people — underpromise and overdeliver, right?) but that didn’t do anything to improve Brian’s RBF.
They put us in the corner, where there was plenty of good people-watching to be had. Unfortunately, what entertains and amuses me sometimes has the opposite effect on Brian who was annoyed by it all.
Here he is, mid-complaint.
Here I am, in contrast, enjoying my yummy beverage.
It’s called the lodi dodi and consists of gin, champagne, strawberries, and honey.
What saved the evening for Brian is that Public serves Boulevard Brewing’s Irish Red Ale (first one on the list), which is his current favorite beer.
I really like Public’s food but their Cuban sandwich looked quite puny that evening. I suspect it’s because they had to feed hundreds of people that day already.
Brian is less adventurous than me and usually orders what’s tried and true. He’s had the Cuban there before and he liked it so he ordered the same thing. I generally try to go for what’s on special because I know I won’t be able to order it any other time so I got the pork belly with a side of black beans and rice.
And, because I’m a little piglet, I also ordered dessert.
Mostly because we were killing time until the KU game finished but also because I have no self-control whatsoever.
After dinner, it was off to the Arcade for games with the rest of the gang. We were the first to arrive and got a few games in before everyone else showed up.
It wasn’t long before the rest of them showed up and it was at that moment when I realized that we left the card (with a $25 gift certificate to Grove’s) for Cory at the restaurant. Thankfully, when Brian went back for it at the restaurant, the card was still there at the edge of our table. I would have been really upset had it gotten tossed in the trash because I made Brian go out of his way to get the gift certificate. Just kidding. He actually used it as an excuse to stock up on more of one of his favorite local beers, Warbeard from Walnut River in El Dorado.
Here are a few pictures from our adventures at the Arcade: Becca above and April below.
Here’s a picture of me with the birthday boy.
Kristen (foreground) and Cory (background) in deep concentration.
Selfie with Jay.
Selfie with the hubs.
Rune and Kristen shooting things.
Rune showing off his masterfully-styled outfit.
Brian with the birthday boy.
If our friends seem to be dressed more strangely than usual, it’s because April had this crazy idea for everyone to buy secondhand outfits from the thrift store and dress as crazily as possible. Brian, who is always kind of a party pooper, refuses to wear used clothes and wouldn’t make an exception even for Cory’s birthday.
I really, really, really wanted to participate. Anyway, Brian donned his favorite Hawaiian shirt which is old and raggedy so it sort of qualifies. I found a couple of Thred Up things in my closet, so I wore those. We were not nearly as fun and festive as everyone else. The ironic part is that I had on the most “normal-looking” attire out of everyone and I was probably the one who wanted to do the dress up thing the most. This is what I get for having a lame, no fun spouse. Blech.
I suppose it’s all good. We had a ton of fun and we didn’t lose Cory’s card/gift. And I don’t really have to participate in EVERYTHING.
Cheers to another memorable year with great friends!
Comment on This
