Caitlin's wide world of sports

Caitlin came to Kansas for a nice visit the weekend of Sept. 17 and immediately was treated to about 11 hours of sports excitement. Alaina had a volleyball tournament in Maize, which started at 9 a.m. After watching her first two matches, Caitlin, Tom and Sharon drove east for Laura's soccer game at noon. Laura had a nice assist at midfield on the first goal and then tossed a shutout in goal during the second half (OK, one ball hit the post but it didn't go in). She is playing 11-on-11 for the first time this year. She would prefer not to play goal but her mean coach (Tom) volunteered her for the assignment.
Then it was back to volleyball. Alaina's team went undefeated in its pool but lost in the winner's bracket semifinals. They had to settle for third place (They finished second in a 10-team tournament this past weekend and are now 14-5 on the season). We finally got home about 8 p.m. We had a nice brunch the next morning to celebrate Caitlin and Tom's birthdays, and we even got to watch the Lions lose to Minnesota. Our nephew, Chad, and his fiancee, Jenny, who were in town for a wedding, also came, as did Tessa (another niece), her husband, Brandon, and Aunt Donna. It was a fun morning, except for the Lions.
It was great fun to have Caitlin visit. Alaina and Laura particularly enjoy hanging out with her. We wish Fort Worth was a couple of hours closer.

Maura's birthday invite

I found a cool site, smilebox.com, to send out electronic birthday invites complete with photos and soundtrack. Check it out.

Make a Smilebox invite

on the road again

Looks like I will be doing some traveling for the month of September...will be out promoting a huge new dealer program on behalf of GM. No word yet on where I will be sent but I'm listing Wichita, Fort Worth, Miami, San Diego, Boston and Knoxville! Stay tuned in the event I get to go any of those places...my boss said I'll probably be in Waco, TX or something. Neat.

Back in the saddle

Unlike the lucky kids in Michigan, school started this week in Kansas. Alaina and Laura both started Monday, as did Sharon, who will work about 35 hours a week at our elementary school as a para-educator and a lunchroom aide ("Hey, take that Cheetoh out of your nose!").
Alaina actually had to start a day early because she was part of the school's Link Crew, which helps the freshmen get oriented. She also has started volleyball practice. They had tryouts earlier this week and play an alumni game this Saturday. First league contest is Sept. 1 against the East High Aces (think aviation, not gambling). Her team should contend for a league title.
Laura is taking both band and jazz band this year. My guess is that in about eight years, she can start playing Shine weddings. She already does a mean version of Gary Glitter's "History of Rock and Roll." She plans to try out for volleyball next month.
I drove Conor back to Minnesota earlier in the month. He wanted to get back early to hang out awhile before classes start on Sept. 8. The good thing is I got to fly back because we we left his car with him. Even better thing is I don't have to help him move to a new apartment on Sept. 1. He will work about 15 hours a week at the St. Paul Pioneer-Press as part of a class. He gets three hours of credit and he gets paid. Talk about a win-win. We had lunch with my friend Tom Webb who is a business writer for the Pi-Press. We also talked with Dan and Kim's friend Tom Fladung, who is the editor. We walked around the new on-campus football stadium, which is really pretty. Michigan State plays a night game there on Oct. 31. Conor says Chris Gibney has tickets for you Spartan fans.

Save The Date - Alison Is Turning 70

Our favorite wacky aunt from Miami is turning 70 this year and wants to come celebrate with us. As she told Peg, all the people she'd want to be at her party are in Detroit so why not have the party there? We'll have brunch Sunday, Oct. 11 at Peg's. Exact time will be determined later. Mark it on your calendars. And the last word is from Alison: "I am so delighted that you all are enthusiastic - you all mean so much to me."

Ahem!

Family, in the great tradition of all Shines before us...we are slacking on these posts. Is that because we are all on facebook peeking in on each other? Or because, like true journalists, we operate better under deadlines?

Sharon turns 50

Sharon turns 50 on May 16, so she was really surprised when we held a surprise birthday party for her on May 9. Saturday's party continues the tradition of holding one every 10 years for Sharon, whether she wants a party or not. We had the first when she turned 30 at the Wichita River Festival offices and her 40th at the River Festival as well. Alaina is still mad that I did not tell her about that one until it started. At age 6, she was still considered a security risk.
We had last Saturday's party at our house. Alaina, Laura, our niece, Tessa, her husband, Brandon, Tessa's parents Jerry and Julie, Sharon's friend, Brenda, and her sister, Donna, helped pull this one off. Tessa and Julie took Sharon to get her hair cut and to lunch as an early birthday present. The rest of us started setting up for the party. We managed to get it all put together before guests started arriving. Sharon arrived wearing a new outfit that Julie had insisted she wear home after she bought it. She was very surprised, mostly because I had bought everything for the party using cash, knowing that Sharon checks the checking account and Visa bill almost daily. We used this photo of Sharon, taken by me on our honeymoon, on the invitation. I'll upload some party pics when I get them.
If you want to mark your calendars, her 60th party will be May 16, 2019.