Dec. 14: Trip home to Wichita

The trip home was much more dramatic than the trip back to Corpus. North of Oklahoma City we ran into snow and ice. Slowing down to 50 MPH, we finally arrived at Rebecca's home around 9:00 pm. That day, we went from 74 deg. in Corpus to 21 deg. in Wichita. Right now (Sunday 8:40pm) it is 13 deg in Wichita and 73 deg. here. It only took us 12 hours to get back to Corpus vs. the 15 hours it took us to get home.

It was a busy time for those 4 days we had there. Rebecca was constantly studying for tests and finals. Trina had us out to her academy Wednesday evening for a family session on stress management. The class covered officer suicide. I call it the elephant in the room - everyone knows it's there, but no one wants to talk about it. Wichita now has a special team to help with this problem.

The next day we went back to the academy and had a BBQ with everyone. After that lunch, I met a couple of the girls from my work and we had another lunch. Then that night, we met a couple of friends from the cruiser club and had supper. It was Larry's birthday so he got the sombrero treatment along with being sung to.




Friday was Trina's graduation at 10:00. Larry's brother from Waggoner, OK, Dean, and his wife, Lethia, drove up for the ceremony. My brother, Gene, and his wife, Cindy, drove in from Newton. Rebecca took the day off and the boys were out of school for the day. Willie is not working at this time so he made it too and was able to get Nathen back to school for 1/2 day (required for trying out for the bowling team). Her family was well represented. That grin on Trina's face is because after about a dozen of the graduates crossed the line with no applause or cheering, her Uncle Dean decided she should be the first, and all of us, of course, all joined in. The chief, as he presented her a diploma, said "Must be your personal cheering team." Trina's first day is Tuesday. She's been assigned the east side and will be on 3rd shift. She also knows that she will be working both Christmas eve and Christmas day eve. Trina does not like her hat (they call it a bus driver hat) and her bun in the back made it sit a little high on her. The middle picture is of Trina and Justin. He graduated from the academy also but will be going into the Sherriff's Department. He was previously in law enforcement at Reno County and Olathe, KS., so he has some experience going into his new job with Sedgwick County.


The graduation was held at Friends University - established in 1898 (previously Garfield University from 1887 to 1898 off and on) probably the oldest university in Wichita if not the whole south central area. It is a beautiful old building (most of the campus has been modernized) and I was only in it as a young girl doing a piano recital on the first floor. I've never been in the upper part of the building and heard many others saying the same thing. The stained glass window was at the back of the auditorium.



Around noon we all went to Old Chicago for lunch and then to Trina's apartment for cookie cake and ice cream. On the way home, we stopped at a bowling alley to watch Nathen try out for the Goddard Bowling Team. Won't know until tomorrow if he made it or not - grades may pose a problem for him - but his scores were great. Here's a picture of him bowling with his orange Tigger bowling ball.





Saturday, Rebecca, between taking finals on line and studying for more, cooked and served dinner (Trina made the gravy). We also played games. Hopefully, here studying paid off and her finals are all OK.




This dinner was our Christmas since we'll be here in Corpus Christi at that time. Trina and boyfriend, Justin, came over for dinner (and to play Guitar Hero - and who wouldn't want to). We had gotten each of the boys a very small radio controlled helicopter called a Mosquito. Kinda cute and they can be played with in doors.

I have discovered a new game - Guitar Hero. Boy is that a fun game. I spent most of the weekend playing bass and the lead occasionally. The last hour, before we had to go to bed to get ready to leave in the morning, I discovered the drums. Obviously, I am a frustrated drummer. Was probably a drummer in a former life. That was soooo much fun. Unfortunately, the drums are a borrowed instrument for the boys, but there is always next Christmas. Photos and video will show my enthusiasm. The song, in case you don't recognize it, is "Living On A Prayer" - one of the few on the game that I actually knew. The hand sticking up at the left is Willie on bass - Nathen is on lead, but let's face it - it's all about the drummer.