November 2025

November started early with getting in the car at 5:30 in the morning and heading to Auburn. My friend Nick had gotten tickets to the UK vs. Auburn game and asked if I wanted to go. Thankfully the timing worked out great because it was a night game, which allowed us both time to trick or treat with our families. It was a seven hour trip down to the town of Auburn. We got there a little after lunch time and spent some time exploring the city and grabbing a bite to eat. My friend Francesca went to school there and gave me all kinds of recommendations. Very nice town and people too. We had at least six different groups of people stop us and thank us for visiting Auburn and said they hoped we enjoyed our time in the city. We made sure to be in our seats early because they have lots of fun things they do before the game. The highlight for me what when the eagle flew around the stadium and landed around mid-field. 

The game was not pretty by any means. Both teams struggled offensively. The media before the game was talking about both coaches being on the hot seat (possibly getting fired). Kentucky narrowly won the game 10-3. We even tried to blow it at the end of the game by throwing a late interception. As we were walking back to our car it was a little sad that we didn't get the full Auburn experience because after every win they go out and throw toilet paper up into the trees at Toomer's Corner. We decided to get on the road back home after the game. I had started feeling sick a few days before the trip and the drive home is where I started to fall apart. Lots of congestion and extremely tired. About one in the morning we stopped to sleep for a bit. After a 3 hour nap, Nick got up and drove the rest of the way home. We were gone a total of 27 hours and 14 of those were driving time. I really felt my age - I am no longer in my 20's as much as I think I am. The next day I saw that Auburn fired their football coach. 

Jennifer and I went to the home opener against Nicholls. This was a picture of the opening tip of the 2025-26 Kentucky Wildcats basketball season from my seats in Rupp Arena. 

Jennifer and I headed out to watch the basketball game against Valparaiso, which was actually our second game of the week. I made sure to send a picture to the kids when Kentucky's score got to 67 because right now there is a crazy young person trend going around 6-7. 

I woke up one morning and my toe hurt. When I looked down I saw this bruise - which is maybe the weirdest bruise I have ever had in my life.

I took Brinley to her orthodontist appointment where they finished putting on all the parts of her braces. She was actually excited about this day. 

Back to back weeks Kentucky had SEC football wins. It had actually been almost two years since we had an SEC win at Kroger Field. Florida has been an absolute dumpster fire, but this was a really fun game to watch. 

Brinley joined the academic team at Hayes. She is getting the hang of it all, but is really worried about buzzing in and getting it wrong. I told her that there is no penalty - that she should give it a shot. I believe that she really just enjoys spending time with her friends at practice and the matches. 

Jennifer is leaving her current job and they don't want to pay her for the vacation time she has accrued, so she decided to take all of it remaining. I took off to spend some time with her on a stay-cation. We took Fawkes out for a sunset walk one night. We made a list of things we wanted to try and do for the week. We studied the book of Ruth together and went on a lot of lunch dates to our favorite places. I even spent my week off joining the gym close to our house, Planet Fitness. 

We don't have cable and I noticed while I was at the gym that the TV's on the cardio equipment had all the ESPN and SEC channels. I took full advantage and watched the UK vs. Louisville game at the gym while I worked out. Kentucky didn't play well at all and got beat. The only good news I could come up with was that I got in two and a half hours of cardio instead of sitting on the couch during that time. 

We never got around to carving pumpkins before Halloween, so we did it afterwards. Landon did the 6-7, Jennifer did the heart with cross in it, Brinley did Derpy from K-pop Demon Hunters, and I did a cross. 

Jennifer and I got out to hike in Raven Run. It was a little chilly out and I completely overdressed with a long sleeved shirt and a winter coat. We went down to the overlook and looked at the river for a bit before heading back to the nature center.  

We went to some of our favorite places on our stay-cation. We went to Big Kahuna, Wild Eggs, Carson's, Dad's Favorites, and Long John Silver's. We tried out a new place, Critchfield's, but I don't think it will make it into a regular food stop for us. 

Jennifer and I ended our stay-cation with another trip to Rupp to see the Wildcats play. This was the rebound game after the loss to Louisville. The Cats easily beat Eastern Illinois.

Last home game of the year and we played an undefeated Tennessee Tech. Kentucky beat them easily 45-10 on Senior Day. I ran into former UK basketball player Todd Svoboda and gave him a ride over to the stadium. Then met Waka Flocka on the sidelines - who is the guy who sings Grove Street Party which is the hype song for the football team. I sat most of the first half with my friend Meiko and her husband, Joe. 

Big Blue Crush week is where we compete against Tennessee in who can have the most blood donations. I had a busy week so I went Monday after work to the blood mobile on campus. I had never been in the very tight quarters, but I was able to donate some blood. Kentucky won the competition, too!

Brinley's academic team had a fundraiser night at Chipotle. We went after youth group and grabbed some burritos. Brinley has struggled with eating every since they put in some bite blocks in the back of her mouth. Her over bite was knocking off some of her brackets. She is slowly adjusting to life with a mouth full of metal. 

One of my patients were chosen to be the kid of the game at UK basketball. The family was allowed to come to practice the day before the game. I was selected to be the hospital employee that was the family's helper throughout their experience. I was able to attend practice with them as well. As much as I was being a big fan myself I was just worried about making this the best experience possible for this little guy. 

After the UK practice I got home and picked up everyone. We dropped the kids off at McKinley's house while Jennifer and I went to a nurse dinner at Tony's downtown. After it was over we picked the kids up and headed to the Hamburg area of town, with the intention o surprising them with Wicked. I joked with the kids and told them that I was accidentally driving to our old house. They couldn't believe it. We moved 3 years ago! Then I pulled up to the Regal Cinema and told them to get out because we were going to watch Wicked For Good. Brinley was pumped - she didn't think it came out until the next day. It might have been a school night, but we made a wonderful experience out of it.

What an amazing experience for my patient selected as the player of the game. We ate in the club before the game, he got announced on the court pre-game, high fived the starters during the line-ups, cheered the Cats to victory, then had seats on the court for the post-game show. It was truly an amazing night for him, his family, and myself. I will never be able to experience all the things that I did that night again. It was so awesome to see him smile, laugh, and have a great time. It was his first experience ever at a UK Basketball game. 

Thanksgiving break started for the kids on Wednesday. Landon and I went to watch the Wildcats play Tennessee Tech. I told them that we would beat them pretty easily. I told Landon we could leave when Kentucky got up by 30 points. Well, we started off play horribly. In fact we were losing at the first two media timeouts. Landon must have thought I was crazy with my 30 point spread prediction. Kentucky finally came to life and got up by 21 at the half. They got up by 30 just a minute and a half into the second half. Well, I told Landon we had to move it to 35 points because he downloaded a game to my phone at halftime I didn't want. It finally got to 35 with a little over 8 minutes left in the game. I doubled down and placed another bet. If UK could get to 100 points, then Landon could get virtual reality goggles.

Landon agreed to the new deal, but we decided to move down to the lower level because a lot of people had left. We were sitting here with about a minute left when UK got to 100. The last 3 points of the game were the most exciting. Walk on Walker Horn came in to play. He has played in 22 games in his career and never scored a single basket. He caught the inbound pass with 0.8 seconds on the shot clock and fired up a fade away 3 pointer. The crowd went nuts when it went in, including myself. I shot out of my seat and threw up the three pointer good sign. I found a video of it online later that night. I spotted my white shirt. I circled Landon and I with a white marker. 

Landon loves going down the escalator the wrong way for a good challenge. Thankfully he has always been successful and he has never gotten yelled at by any of the workers either. We stopped by Graeter's on the way home.

After getting up and putting the turkey in the oven we watched a little of the Macy's thanksgiving day parade. I had a friend that had done a Turkey Trot. Inspired by him I decided to go out and run a 5K in the park. It was extremely cold, but I didn't walk at all. First 5K I had done in quite some time. I would really like to get back in running shape and do another half or full marathon. 

Grandma and Grandpa arrived right as we were getting all the food on the table to eat. The kids helped me with some food prep this year. Brinley with the mashed potatoes and Landon with rolls. After our meal we played some games including Clue and Monopoly. Landon won Clue and Jennifer won Monopoly. 

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we celebrated again with McKinley, Taylor, Nora, and Theo with a brunch. We again made too much food, but it was all delicious. I think I actually enjoyed the brunch food better than the regular Thanksgiving fare. I had to move him, but Theo did make the family photo.

October 2025

We had an unexpected guest at our back door. The girls tried to find if anyone had posted on the neighborhood page that their cat was missing. No luck. They felt bad and put food out for it. When I discovered they had done that I quickly brought the food in. We don't need a stray cat coming around all the time. 

Well, Fall Break quickly took a turn for the worst when Landon had a wreck on his scooter in the park. He said his wrist hurt so we told him that we would watch it. The next day they had planned to spend the day with McKinley, Taylor, Nora, and Theo. They played at their house and went to Goodfellas. I asked them in the afternoon how he was doing with his arm. He was still complaining of pain 24 hours after the injury so we decided to take him for x-rays. 

Turns out he actually broke his arm - radial bone up near his wrist. They put a splint on until he can get into the doctor to see if any additional interventions are needed. 

Went on a walk with the kids and dog. Brinley thought that Fawks got tired and then carried her the rest of the way home. I am glad that Brinley has found so much joy with her little dog. 

Jennifer joined me a on a sunset walk in the park. I really enjoy getting to go on walks with this beautiful lady. 

Then Jennifer the very next day had a concrete paver fall on her foot. She really thinks that she broke her big toe, but didn't want to go get it checked out. Said from her online research that they wouldn't do much for it. Instead she was just going to tough it out. 

After spending time in the nursery Nora wants to run. The kids usually spend about 10 minutes playing with her after we get out of church. 

Visit with the doctor at Shriner's Hospital. They took the splint off and got some more x-rays. Then he got his first cast. They went up past the elbow because they don't want him to move his wrist at all for the next 2 weeks. The break went into the growth plate and they want to be extremely careful with it. I had the honor of signing his cast. He was excited to get to school and get all of his friends to sign it. 

Another sunset walk with the kids this time. Brinley has been giving this smile in the majority of pictures nowadays. I have always just loved this tree planted out in the middle of the lake. 

Landon at the Cross Country team banquet. His season started out rough because he was still healing from the knee injury he had over the summer. He was finally getting into form around mid season. Then before the last two races of the season he broke his arm. The doctor told him that his season was over because if he fell and did more damage to the growth plate he could have a lot more permanent damage. He still enjoys running so I will assume he will run next year for his eighth grade season. 

I told the kids about the Kroger tailgate that happens before all the UK football games. They were both really excited about going to this event, but nobody had any interest in going to the actual game. McKinley and his family went to the tailgate too. Nora actually signed Landon's cast. 

Maybe I should stop going to the games too. Kentucky got whooped by Tennessee. This season has been a dumpster fire. Students actually started chanting "Fire Stoops" during the game. That did not make the coaches wives happy and they started chirping back at the students. 

I think Brinley just enjoys having a live action teddy bear that she gets to play with and dress up. I am sorry some days for this dog and all the silly things that they make it do. 

DanceBlue had a Halloween event at Evan's Orchard in Georgetown. The kids and I went to the event. I dressed in an old Bowser costume that I had around the house. I thought it was pretty sweet, but for the first time ever I had someone dress up as me! On of my patients going through therapy thought it would be funny to dress as me because we are both bald. Pretty easy costume - just had to wear all blue and a name badge will about do it. 

Another one of our longtime nurses in the clinic decided to retire after 45 years of working at the hospital. She loves some Diet Coke so I brought enough for all of us to enjoy one in her honor. I am truly going to miss working with Mrs. Barb in the clinic. I am so grateful for the last 5 years that I got to work alongside her. 

McKinley and Taylor were going to go out to dinner and Jennifer and I offered to watch Nora and Theo so that they could eat and have a good time without having to worry about both kids acting up. I thought they were overly ambitious with the plate of food they wanted us to feed Nora. That big section was full of chicken sausage, one was full of strawberries, empty one had blueberries, and the little lady did not like the golden kiwi. We spent about 3 hours there with the kids. Jennifer left to take the kids to youth group and grab us dinner, then left to go pick up the kids. When McKinley and Taylor got home they couldn't believe that I was by myself. I think they forgot that I did this whole thing about 12 years ago. Also that top picture was Nora tickling me and I am laughing - funny thing Nora doesn't know - I'm not ticklish.

If you can't beat them I guess you got to join them. I don't really enjoy having the dog on me, but for some reason this dog really enjoys laying on me. 

Jennifer with another of her finished pavers for the rock garden. Her artwork is always amazing to me. I enjoy seeing what she is going to do next. 

Big game - first time Texas has come to Lexington to play football. Lots of celebrities were in the house. I got to take a picture with Randall Cobb and Chad Johnson. 

I chose to sit up in the stands with Jennifer and Landon. It was great weather and a close game the entire night. We went down around halftime to see if we could get Coach Pope to sign his cast. He was so nice and was happy to sign it. To get back to our seats we walked out to the concourse and then ran into about five of the basketball players. I asked them to sign the cast too. Landon was embarrassed, but I think he was happy after the fact. Landon doesn't enjoy watching sports like I do so he asked if they could leave in the fourth quarter when it was tied 10-10. It wasn't what I wanted, but I drove them back to McKinley's house and rushed back to catch the end of the game. 

The game went into overtime and we unfortunately lost. My friend Zach sent me this picture that the Texas Longhorns social media had put out. You can see both of us in between the two players. I am the guy wearing shorts closest to the player number 8.

My designs are nowhere as good as Jennifer's, but I think the message still gets out there, which is the most important part in my opinion. 

This was a great book that I was able to finish. Gave me lots of things to contemplate about my faith and journey as a man of God. I would highly recommend. I suggested it to Jennifer so that we could discuss the topics in it. 

Brinley is extremely dedicated to something when she puts her mind to it. Her youth group was going to dress up at church an she was going to be a green army man. She painted herself green and actually made all the accessories to go along with it, including binoculars, walkie talkie, and a grenade.

Landon went to the second exhibition UK basketball game with me. It was awful - the team played so poorly and we got beat by Georgetown Hoyas. Good thing it didn't count on our record for the year. The only good thing of the night was stopping by Dairy Queen on the way home for ice cream. 

Brinley has waited for almost a year to get braces. They gave her the option of Invisalign, but she wanted the original braces. Her mouth - her choice. She seems happy about it now so we will see in a couple of months if she regrets the decision. 

Work decided to dress this year as TV characters. The nursing staff picked to be the Adams Family and I naturally had to be Uncle Fester - yet again because I am bald. Jennifer came up with my whole outfit and it was a hit. The light even lit up when I pushed a button with my tongue. Most of my co-workers were a little scared when they initially saw me, but they all said the nursing staff did such a great job with our costumes. 

After getting home from work I then took to the streets with these boys to go Trick or Treating. They walked around for the entire two hours getting candy. I believe they had a good time hanging out together. I stayed back and tried to let them do their own thing, but pre-teen boys aren't the most responsible decision makers. I was very happy to hear them all be thankful and polite to all the people handing out candy. Landon is in the ghost face outfit in the middle. 

Of course Brinley wanted to go with her friends and dog to Trick or Treat. I think they took a more casual approach than the boys who were running from house to house. Jennifer went with them to be on back up shark duty.

After trick or treating we headed over to McKinley's for a little pre birthday celebration. We didn't get to see Nora because she had already gone to bed for the night. McKinley turned 35 this year.