Dawn’s 60th Birthday
Posted on February 10, 2026 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
We held a surprise birthday party for our dear friend Dawn Hazlewood last month at TapNPaddles. It was actually Jeanette Santo’s idea. Dawn was volunteering with Girls Growing the Game on Sunday so we decided to have a surprise pickleball party immediately following so she would already be there.
As (bad) luck would have it, we ended up with a snowstorm that weekend and events were getting canceled left and right. The 3G event was also canceled so now Dawn was not going to be there and we needed to figure out a way to get her to TapNPaddles without giving the surprise away. Janelle Lindeman invited Dawn to play pickleball from 4-6 PM (the same time as her surprise party) and, thankfully, she accepted. We were actually concerned about her saying no and then we would have to fess up and tell her about the surprise just to get her there. We joked about just kidnapping her if need be. LOL.
Anyway, it all worked out great and she was none the wiser. Almost everyone still came, despite the weather that weekend, and we had a great time celebrating our lovely friend. Check out this YouTube short for the highlights.
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O’Larney’s Pub and Rooftop Bar
Posted on February 9, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink.
O’Larney’s took over the old Industry space in Old Town last summer but we didn’t actually have the opportunity to try it until last month.
Chris and I both had the lunch special which consists of a half sandwich and salad.
I had the Kevin’s chicken salad, which was pretty good.
Chris had the “salami get this straight” sandwich. Their sandwiches have fun, creative names.
The half sandwiches are very generously sized as well. I am thinking of going back with Brian and just splitting a whole sandwich with him. They also have flatbread pizza, which Brian would probably enjoy also. I’m not certain how often they change their menu, but below are pics of the menu from the time we visited last month.
Additionally, they offer $4 OFF all sandwiches from 4 to 6 PM and $4 OFF all flatbreads from midnight to 1 AM. Curious if you’ve been and what you’ve tried. Let us know in the comments.
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Trying the Waffle Bus
Posted on February 6, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink.
I recently switched to a new work bag so I gave mom my old Betabrand kaleidoscope bag. We went to drop the bag off one night and had dinner at the Waffle Bus while we were in the area.
It was not bad, but it wasn’t great either. We probably wouldn’t go out of our way to eat there but it was worth crossing off the list.
The place itself isn’t very big inside. The food is just ho-hum. It is a good option for when we are in Derby, visiting mom and dad though.
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Deck Rails Repaired, Finally
Posted on January 26, 2026 by Ching under Home Ownership.
So our deck railing that’s been barely hanging on for most 2025 finally fell off and we did also get it repaired, finally.
As you all know, it gets super windy here in Kansas. One morning the rails were there and then they were gone when I got home. I found them on the ground next to the stair. Yes, it was super windy that day.
We got rid of all our deck furniture. They were over ten years old and Brian and I were tired of them anyway. Also, he said they could use them on their patio at work so that’s where the furniture went.
Besides replacing the deck railings, we also replaced the steps which had been falling apart as well. We kept the main deck floors to save money, though. They still felt sturdy and secure.
I took a few pics when the contractors first started working.
Here’s are a few more progress pictures.
Apparently I didn’t get pictures of the finished product. The railings and steps are done but they do still need to be stained and treated. I guess the $12K that we paid didn’t cover that part. Ugh. We have to pay another contractor another $900 some to get that done. I’ll get pictures of the fully finished work then. Stay tuned!
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A Pickleball Christmas Movie Night
Posted on January 22, 2026 by Ching under Pickleball.
I joined the some fun pickleball ladies for a movie night a couple of weeks ago. We watched A Pickleball Christmas. The movie itself wasn’t too bad the pickleball was completely atrocious. LOL.
We made a drinking game out of it.
Here are a couple of pictures from that night.
Even though this was after Christmas, we decided to wear our Christmas jammies since we were watching a Christmas movie.
The movie isn’t great and the pickleball is awful but I still highly recommend this movie. Grab your pickleball pals and make a night of it.
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