Making New Friends
Posted on July 23, 2021 by Ching under Community, Hobbies.
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My morning pickleball play group recently hit an all time high. We broke records this morning when we had enough players for all six courts at Edgemoor. Actually, there were 24 confirmed players and, at one point, we had two more in the waiting list. When I started my early morning play last year, I never imagined that there would be this many people wanting to get up super early to play. I thought I would be lucky to get three others to play with me. Last year we often did get eight players but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I could fill up all six courts at the park. Morning play has not been without its challenges… |
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Play last year at Seneca Park went relatively smoothly but this year our group grew to an average of 8-12 players and some of the players at the park didn’t understand. Because we would often run past the 7 AM hour, even though there were empty courts, they felt like they should be able to rotate in. The challenge with that is because we play a ladder or king of court format, we need an even group of players so we can’t just have random people joining and leaving. There has to be a set number of players for a specific period of time.
First, people complained that I was hosting “private” play at our public parks but, honestly, the only reason that it was private was I was mainly only inviting the people who I knew were open to playing that early in the morning. Since people complained about the games being “private,” I decided to open them up to everyone on Playtime Scheduler. But even that wasn’t sufficient. Please were still unhappy that we were playing at the park. Probably because we were having such a good time and they weren’t because they had to wait for games to finish because they didn’t have an even number of people? Who knows?
Anyway, making the play public is when things really exploded. We ended up with an average of 12 players and sometimes 16. This morning, we hit a record-high of 24 (although I did have three no-shows so we really could only fill five of the courts — which worked out because there was a group of ladies that showed up and they needed the remaining court and, had everyone who wanted to play shown up, there would not have been an empty court for these ladies to use).
Since making the games public, I have met so many new people who I have never met or played with before. Y’all know how much I love meeting new people so I’ve just been eating it up. And then sometimes you meet someone so amazing that you just want to be part of their growth.
EXHIBIT A: Tony Mathews (left) with me and Cameron Tucker and Tyler Smith (in the matching shirts)
This picture was taken at the Wichita Metro Crime Commission benefit tournament at Chicken N Pickle last Sunday, July 18. I had only met Tony a couple of days before but the morning that we met was the same day that I found out from Erica that she couldn’t play with me in the tournament. Tony just happened to be at the right place at the right time and I had a lot of fun playing with him that morning, so I invited him to play in Erica’s place and, as luck would have it, he just happened to be available. It turned out to be a good thing too because he raise way more money for our team than I did.
Anyway, Tony is going to be amazing. He’s only been playing pickleball for two months and he is already really good. It won’t take much to get him to the highest level. I expect his progress to be a lot like Meredith’s, where she basically learned to play the game and within months was competing with highly skilled players.
I’m going to get on Tony’s good side now so that, when he hits the big time, I can say I knew him when. LOL.
On Monday morning, I had the opportunity to meet and play with a young man from Hutchinson, Kansas named Bo Tolbert. This guy is amazing and so much fun to play with. He was looking at getting some pickleball instructor certifications but most of the programs require you to be 21 or over so he can’t do it until next year.
This kid is going to be on his way up, too. He’s a great player now and I can tell that he’s still growing and has the potential to get even better.
Now that I’ve been playing pickleball for a couple of years, I’ve met all sorts of people — all ages, genders, race, people from various backgrounds. I’ve been people who have been playing a long time and others who have only recently picked up the game. I’ve met a lot of players who started playing and immediately got really good (Cody and Meredith) and others who have taken some time to develop their game and others who are still at the same skill level as when I met them a couple of years ago (and there’s nothing wrong with that — some people are content to play with their same play groups and don’t desire to play in tournaments so once they get to a certain level there is no longer that same need or drive to improve).
I am particularly enviously of people who pick up the sport and are instantly amazing at it (ex-tennis players and other really athletic people whose previous sports backgrounds translate well to pickleball) because my progress has been long and arduous and slow as molasses. However, I try to remind myself that it’s not a race. Some people will get there first and some people get there later but, if the desire is there, they do get there eventually. I think the key is to continue to make progress and I feel like that’s what I’m doing. Every day that I play I feel like I am better than the time before. I may not be exponentially better but even the slightest bit of improvement is progress.
So anyway, I’m just going to keep on truckin’ and eventually maybe I’ll wake up and all of a sudden I’m awesome. Ha! Not likely to happen but that won’t stop me from trying. Until next time, GNG.
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Feeling Spontaneous
Posted on July 22, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Brian and I were feeling spontaneous this past weekend and decided to drive up to Topeka. We had to reschedule our nail appointment but Saturday was truly the perfect day to do it because the pickleball tournament portion of Sunflower State Games was going on. It basically allowed me to kill two birds with one stone. Brian has never been to Wheel Barrel, one of my most favorite restaurants in Topeka, so I could take him there and then also catch some Sunflower State Games matches.
I got a pic with Kim Knotts and Karen Fox to prove that I was there. 😉
I tried to watch as many matches as I could but Brian was getting hangry and put his foot down so we finally had to leave and go to the restaurant. I texted my friend Tom who lives nearby and he met us at the Wheel Barrel.
Tom is a regular at the restaurant. He even has his own beer mug on the wall labeled “Tom Terrific.” We were already seated when he arrived. When he came in, the server greeted him by name and when he came to sit at our table she was like, “You didn’t tell me that the friend meeting you is Tom!” I made a mental note to drop his name on future visits.
It was great to see Tom. It’s been too long. Anyway, here are some pictures of the sandwiches that Brian and I had.
I had the Monte Cristo which is one of their award-winning sandwiches while Brian had the Hangover sandwich, which is everyone’s favorite.
The Wheel Barrel has amazing sandwiches and they also have yummy cocktails. Brian didn’t drink because he was driving. I think we will have to return sometime when we are staying overnight.
There are a few more restaurants that I used to frequent when I spent a lot of time working in Topeka that I want Brian to try so we will definitely need to make another trip. For now, we can cross the Wheel Barrel off the list.
Until next time, GNG.
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Dinner at River City Brewery
Posted on July 20, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink.
We are on a mission to complete our #WICKEDBREW tour before they run out of shirts! The other night, I picked Brian up after my Aqua Zumba class and we went to River City Brewery for dinner. It was a Thursday night but the place wasn’t busy. At least not when we first arrived.
We were mostly there to get our cards stamped and neither of us were all that hungry so we just shared a soft pretzel and a pizza. We like to get the Kansan because it’s all meat and there’s no veggies, so nothing for us to pick off.
Brian had just opened a bottle of wine at home so he didn’t feel like drinking beer. I had to take one for the team that day and do the drinking for our stamps.
Thankfully, our server recommended a super delicious beer that was right up my alley. It’s called the raspberry sno cone. It was both refreshing and delicious and I didn’t mind having to drink two glasses of it one bit. I probably could have had a third had it not been a weekday. RCB makes such good beer.
Speaking of beer, Haus of Brews is back this year. RCB is one of the local breweries that regularly attend. I believe they are going to participate again this year. If you enjoy drinking beer, you must pencil this date in on your calendar – September 25. We are still looking for some sponsors. You can find out more here.
Until next time, GNG.
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A Day with Lauren and Pat
Posted on July 17, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Lauren Stratman and Patrick Smith’s pickleball clinic at held at the Oklahoma City Chicken N Pickle this week.
Lesli Toubassi, Will Williams, Bill Schantz, Dan Harris, Barbara Clark and I all made the trip. We got to ride in the fancy schmancy Chicken N Pickle van, which is actually super nice and roomy. The van has tall ceilings. I can stand up all the way and not reach the top. All 6’7″ of Michael Harris almost fits.
The Oklahoma City location is a lot like the Wichita one. They are all very similar really with slight variations to the layout.
I do prefer the court configuration in Wichita but the covered outdoor courts at the OKC location are quite nice. Specially on a hot, sunny day.
Here are some snaps I took during the clinic.
We also took a group photo.
And some fun photos like this Pat sandwich one.
And one with both Lauren and Pat.
There wasn’t really anything new or earth-shattering at the clinic. Much of what we covered were things I had learned or heard from other people already but we did have some super fun drills. I recommend doing these clinics with your doubles partner or a friend so you can learn the drills together and can do them regularly days and weeks and months following the clinic.
It was such an awesome day and I am beyond grateful that I got to participate in it. Until next time, GNG.
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Wicked Brew Tour Challenges
Posted on July 16, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Things to Do.
Brian and I are normally done with the #WickedBrew tour by now but we started a lot later this year. We typically complete the drink tour which usually starts after Memorial Day during the month of June. Part of it is I can walk to to several coffee places that participate in the tour from my office downtown. However, this hasn’t been possible since I’ve been working from home.
Also, the tour didn’t happen last year because of the pandemic so I didn’t realize it was happening this year until much later. Anyway, we didn’t get started until after we returned from Colorado a couple of weeks ago.
I tried to get Brian to complete the tour with me over 4th of July weekend (we would have 3 days to get 10 stamps) but he was worried that his liver wouldn’t be able to handle it. Besides that, most of the places were closed on the 4th of July. We did manage to get four stamps on Saturday, July 3, though.
We started our tour by having lunch at the East Central location of Wichita Brewing Company. As East-siders, that location is most convenient for us.
We got our cards and first stamps and we were on our way.
Our next stop was Il Primo, a cute coffee shop across the street on the other side of Woodlawn. The coffee shop has been around for 20 years and yet, amazingly, Brian had never been there.
Look at this handsome guy!
I took a few pictures of the inside.
Also, I solved the “Riddle in the Dark Roast” and got a couple of extra punches on my Il Primo card. Go me!
They had one of the shirts on display at the counter.
We kind of did a beer-coffee-beer-coffee pattern, so our next stop was the PourHouse ICT, Walnut River Brewing’s taproom at Union Station.
Cheers! BTW, did you notice that Brian had on his 2018 Wicked Brew shirt?
My old fashioned wasn’t very good but our server was nice and still gave me a stamp for it. Not a lot of places can make cocktails as good as the Belmont.
We had lunch at WBC and some light food the PourHouse so then it was time for dessert, which was perfect because our next stop was Cocoa Dolce. Brian had never been to their downtown location.
The Cocoa Dolce Sweet Lounge is super cute inside!
I had a tipsy gelato which typically vanilla ice cream with salted caramel whisky poured over it but they actually let you pick your own spirit. I opted for Bailey’s to be poured over mine.
It kind of looks like a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy but I promise it’s gelato and it was amazing!
I highly recommend grabbing a friend and enjoying some coffee or one of the many flavors of hot chocolate they offer. And of course, trying some of their decadent and delicious artisan chocolates and gelato.
Brian got his usual black coffee and a couple of Wichita flag truffles and then we also got an Oreo cheesecake to share.
The Wichita flag truffles were almost too pretty to eat. Almost.
When this location first opened we got a bunch of free cheesecake from my coworker Amir’s friend who was the manager. That was my first experience with these amazing cheesecakes. Brian had never had it so I wanted him to get a taste. So even though we weren’t really hungry and didn’t need extra food, we got a cheesecake. We ended up taking most of it home.
They have the cutest cheesecake to go boxes!
We managed to get four stamps that day and that was Brian’s limit. The next day was 4th of July so then all the places were closed. It took several days before we could get our next stamp.
Stamp #5 was at Leslie Coffee Co.
I went to play pickleball with some friends after my Aqua Zumba class last Saturday. Then a bunch of us decided to have lunch at Merle’s after. Leslie Coffee, which is within walking distance of Seneca Park, is just down the street from Merle’s so it worked out perfect.
On Monday, I tried to talk Brian into getting a few more stamps so we planned to have dinner at River City Brewery after my Monday night Aqua Zumba class. Unfortunately, they were closed. So then we drove down the street to Norton’s. They were open but there was no food because there were only open because of the art show. Norton’s is normally also closed on Mondays.
So then were were like, “What about Hopping Gnome?” Piatto’s is next door and they have great pizza. They were also closed.
At this point we were just hungry and we didn’t even care about getting our cards stamped anymore. We ended up eating at Dempsey’s Burger Pub. Neither of us had been there in a while and they have great food also.
We were so hungry that we ordered way too much food. Brian got the beer cheese dip with pretzels and fries.
He also got a burger for himself because that’s what you get at Dempsey’s.
We shared a big basket of truffle fries, which were completely unnecessary after the regular fries which we didn’t know came with the beer cheese dip.
I got a couple of sliders, which were the perfect size. I told Brian that we should just get sliders and truffle fries next time to minimize all the wasted food but it’s kind of hard not to order one of the gourmet burgers when you’re at Dempsey’s because that’s kind of their thing.
Dempsey’s kind of reminds me of the Burger Stand (in Topeka and Lawrence) except I like the food at the Burger Stand better. I think it’s the closest thing to the Burger Stand that we have here. Dempsey’s burgers are pretty good — they are just not as good.
Anyway, the experience made me miss the Burger Stand. Brian has never been there so I’m hoping we can go one day. They have pickleball tournaments in Topeka sometimes. In fact, the Sunflower State Games is this weekend. I didn’t sign up for it though. Maybe I can sign up next year and then Brian and I can hit the Burger Stand while we are there.
Anyway, we still have a long way to go on this Wicked Brew tour. I’m hoping to get the rest of our stamps over the next few days because there are only a limited number of shirts and we don’t want to miss out.
Until next time, GNG.
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