Texas trip

We had a lovely trip to Texas in May. We took off Thursday and Friday the 13th and 14th to go down. On Thursday night we enjoyed seeing Jessica be inducted in the Junior National Honor Society. All the girls wore white dresses and the boys in nice dress pants and white shirts. They all looked wonderful.

On Friday night we went to a play that Jessica was in. She played two parts - both boys and just brought down the house. She talked in different accents and was such a ham. We were so glad we were able to go down and see this.

On Saturday we had a surprise soccer game. None were planned but the kids got a phone call in the morning and called the team and had an indoor game for James Jr's team. Then we had a birthday party for James Jr along with the rest of the Renfroes. Laura had come down on Thursday also so we had quite the crowd and it was tons of fun.

Nashville Flooding

Last year I attended a procurement card convention in Nashville at the Gaylord Resort. It was the most beautiful place I had ever stayed and was so huge! Besides the many restaurants, meeting rooms it has over 2800 guest rooms. It is hard to find your way around but all you have to do is stop and look lost and someone that works there comes and helps you. All the people there were just wonderful. I was so sad today to read what had happened due to the flooding in Tennessee this week:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -
The Gaylord Opryland Resort, the hotel next to the Opry house, was hit with up to 10 feet of water. Its first floor, power plant and technical hub were flooded. The resort won't be taking bookings from now through October so extensive repairs can be made.
Reed says the damage is likely to exceed the company's $50 million insurance coverage.

Their web site stated:
Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center is currently closed to overnight guests. Nashville, Tennessee experienced unprecedented rain over the weekend, and therefore there is severe flooding throughout the city. As a result, the hotel is not taking any incoming reservations at this time. The guests that were in the hotel this Sunday were evacuated to a nearby shelter for the evening where they were provided with food, drinks and bedding. As of today, most have left the shelter, and have been picking up their luggage from the hotel with the assistance of Gaylord Opryland's bell staff and other leaders who are on site to assist these guests with obtaining their luggage. Those who have already left Nashville, will have their luggage shipped to them from Gaylord. We are continuing to monitor the flood situation in Nashville, and will assess any hotel damage with the appropriate teams. When there is new information regarding the hotel's condition, we will post the news here on the website. Thank you for your patience and for your support.

Autograph hound

Last weekend I had such a fun experience. I heard that Frank Martin (K-State basketball coach - coach of the year for the Big 12 - crazy eyed Cuban) was coming to Wichita with two of his players and would sign autographs. Dennis went to the sports shop and got me a ticket and a poster on Friday then he went to Coyville on Saturday to help David with a project. So I went to the fan shop and stood in line with a bunch of other K-state fans for 1 1/2 hours. Darryl Winston was there also but at the time I had never heard of him and had no idea who he was. Turns out, after a Google search later, he was on the team in the early 70's and then was an assistant coach for Jack Hartman. When Jack Hartman had a heart attack, Winston coached the team for awhile. He, of course, didn't wait in line with us the rest of us but was in talking to Martin before we came in. I was fourth in line and as we approached the table Frank was still talking to Winston, saying "anything you need, coach you let me know. Just let me know anyway I can help and anything you need" Winston was saying he would. Winston is over the Biddy Basketball program in Wichita. Martin was saying this as he autographed the people front of me then I got to the table and he started signing my poster and pennant and then stopped and looked up and gave me a huge smile and said "Hi there, ma'am, how are you this evening?" I was shocked and said fine and he said, well good, and I said thank you and he said thank you. Never thought he would be so nice! Next I got Denis Clemente's autograph who was one of the best ones on the team. After he signed he sat back and posed for me to take his picture. It was just a ton of fun.