Making My Zumba Comeback
Posted on November 13, 2023 by Ching under Community, Zumba.
Guess what, friends. I’m gearing up for my Zumba comeback. As you know, I started teaching Zumba over ten years ago and, at one point pre-COVID, was teaching nine (9) classes a week. I started dialing it back after I discovered my passion for pickleball in 2019 and then really cut it back after COVID to the point where, for the majority of this year, I’ve only had one regular class – my Wednesday night Aqua Zumba at the East Harry Genesis Health Clubs location.
We eventually canceled that class as of October 1, 2023 due to low numbers (I could never get my 21st and Woodlawn regulars to come over, so I would have people between both locations but not enough at either location to warrant keeping the classes going). So as of the beginning of October, I have had zero (0) regular classes each week, which has never ever happened since I started teaching in 2012.
Anyway, the universe knows how much I like to keep busy so I was presented with an opportunity to sub a couple of Missy and Todd’s classes while they were on their two-week Panama Canal cruise a few weeks ago. I ended up subbing a class for each of them. I hadn’t taught land in nearly four years. I’ve been stuck teaching Aqua Zumba because they could never find anyone licensed to teach water but we had a plethora of regular Zumba instructors who could teach land so I ended up giving up my Monday night Zumba class to help cover Monday night Aqua Zumba and it ended up eventually becoming my regular class, which I eventually gave up to make more time for pickleball. But I digress, getting my playlist ready for subbing (pretty much starting from scratch because I hadn’t had a regular Zumba class for years) rejuvenated my passion for Zumba and so now I’m ready and actually kind of excited to get back at it.
I attended Missy’s Halloween weekend class a couple of weeks ago and cameo’d three songs. I’ve been so obsessed with pickleball the last few years that I had forgotten how fun and exhilarating it is to let go and just dance like no one is watching. I think it’s the jolt I need to find a new regular Zumba gig.
I’ve been talking to the leadership at West YMCA and it seems like they will have a spot for me there so I am now going through the process of getting rehired. I’ll share updates as things progress and, of course, I’ll be sharing my schedule and promoting my classes here and everywhere. Until next time, GNG.
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Lunch at Watermark Books & Cafe
Posted on November 8, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.
I’m all about enjoying a good lunch but I’m also economical and pragmatic. So when my friend Chris Townley suggested we have lunch at Wine Dive, I countered with Watermark Books & Cafe across the street because I didn’t feel like spending $50 on lunch that day.
It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at Watermark. They actually have delicious, cleverly-named sandwiches. I took a pic of the menu (see below) so you’ll see.
The sandwiches are named after classic novels. I ordered the special that way which was the Catcher in the Rye, except I subbed it with white bread.
Chris got the BLT, which I don’t think they had a clever name for come to think of it. Chris loves BLTs. He gets it at most places we eat.
Until next time, GNG.
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Dinner at Bonefish Grill
Posted on November 2, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Pictures of our dinner at Bonefish Grill a few weeks ago.
We tried almost all of the appetizers. So yummy!
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Brian’s First Time at Station 8 BBQ
Posted on November 1, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Brian has been eating mostly Hog Wild by his office and so I decided to expand his horizons by taking him to Station 8 BBQ. I think it’s possibly the best BBQ in Wichita. It is located in an old fire station. Thus, the name Station 8.
I took a bunch of pics to commemorate Brian’s first time there.
I got there first and the line wasn’t bad but it was much longer by the time Brian arrived. When Brian showed up, the line was literally out the door past the wooden Station 8 planter sign out front.
The nice thing about Station 8 is that you don’t have to wait for your food. You wait in line to order but you get your food when you pay so all of the waiting is up front. Once you’ve paid, you get to chow down and enjoy the delicious BBQ.
Here are some pictures of our food.
Brian enjoyed it so much we even got him to smile!
Until next time, GNG.
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Bartlesville Tournament Weekend Recap
Posted on October 30, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
I played in the Bartlesville Pickleball Classic tournament again this year. As far as tournaments go, it’s just the best.
- It is organized and well-run.
- The tournament fee is reasonable — one fee for all events.
- You get an awesome free shirt.
- Lunch is provided for players.
- You can make extra money for reffing matches.
- The competition is pretty darn good.
When friends ask me what tournaments they should do, I always tell them to put this one on their list because they will not be disappointed. Of course, it does help that my wonderful friend Deana Holman lets me stay with her. And, as an added bonus, I get to love on her sweet dog Stella.
My partners this year were Chris Wilson (for Intermediate 50/50 and 4.5 Mixed Doubles) and Susie Ternes (for 4.0 Women’s Doubles). My schedule was 50/50 on Friday, Women’s Doubles on Saturday, and Mixed Doubles on Sunday. Since Chris and I were starting and ending at the same time, it made sense just to carpool. As luck would have it, Deana had a couple of extra rooms so I offered them up to both of my partners. Susie had several people staying with her in her giant Airbnb so she couldn’t take advantage of the free room at Deana’s. Chris was able to cancel his hotel reservation and stay at Deana’s instead, though. It worked out perfect since we were traveling together.
Originally, when I saw Kumar Krishnan at the Shangri-la tournament, he told me we would start at 8 AM on Friday so Chris and I planned on driving down on Thursday night. However, when the tournament schedule was published, our start time wasn’t until after 1 PM so Chris and I decided to drive down on Friday morning instead.
The Bartlesville tournament is very popular with the Wichita players so it wasn’t a surprise that Wichita swept the Intermediate 50/50 podium.
- First Place – Ian Carr and Tiffany Lesperance
- Second Place – Brady Randall and Michelle Belew
- Third Place – Chris Wilson and me
Susie and I played together the next day. Although, she wasn’t my original partner. I was actually signed up to play with Stacy Lyon but Stacy ended up withdrawing due to a family vacation. When I was looking for someone to take her place, I knew Susie and I had several matching outfits and had talked about playing together at some point so we can wear our matching outfits and so it was a no-brainer. I am so glad she was available to play because, not only did we look great in our team uniforms, but it was so much fun!
I really enjoyed Susie’s positive energy and she just has a good time no matter what. We actually lost our very first match so we had to take the long way (or, as I like to call it, the “scenic route”) back to the podium. We had to play against some Wichita friends in the backdraw and then we met up with Roxy Schlatter and Laura Cramer, the team that put us in the backdraw initially, again. This time we were playing for medals so it was best 2 out of 3 games to 11, win by 2. We lost to them in the main bracket 6-11, 11-9, 5-11 but we were more prepared for their tricks (a lot of lobs, a lot of drive, and lob-drive combos) the second time around and we won pretty decisively, 11-3 and 11-4.
We then advanced to play in the championship match against the undefeated team of Jolinda Holt and Vanessa Palmeri. I had never played against either of these ladies before so I didn’t really know what to expect and, as always, it takes me a while to make adjustments. We went 3 games but couldn’t pull off the win. I’m not complaining, though. I had an absolute blast playing with Susie and Silver in 4.0 Women’s Doubles is nothing to be ashamed of considering it was our first time playing together.
After we were done playing, I made an extra $15 by reffing some matches. I reffed 3 and got $5 each. You actually make more if you are a trained/certified ref, which I am not. I was happy to make $15, though, and it was a great experience. I would totally go back next year and just ref. LOL.
Sunday was a quick day for us because Chris and I ended up signing up for a much higher level than we intended. I was originally signed up for 4.0 Mixed but then Chris told me to change it to 4.5 because it was labeled as “4.0 and Below” which really meant 3.5 and up. Anyway, they fixed the labels by removing the “and Below” designation but by then it was too late to move back to 4.0 division. Anyway, I didn’t make much of an effort to change it because I really didn’t mind the challenge but it was a tough group and an even tougher draw. As per usual, I ended up having to play against one of my former partners in the first round. We ended up losing to Dustin Herman (who I played with in ICT Classic earlier this year) and Fong Witte. In the backdraw, we ended up losing to Mitch Spencer and Greta Siemens. Although, I wasn’t too upset because we actually played much better this time than we did during the Backyard Pickleball Invitational (which we lost to them in that one too). I think the most disappointing part of the day was that we only got to play Wichita teams. So we traveled all the way to Bartlesville to play against people we normally play with/against at home. Again, I’m not complaining because the entire weekend was fabulous. It’s always wonderful to see, compete, and hang out with Oklahoma friends. They are good people!
I can’t wait until the next time. Until then, GNG.
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