February 2025

Well, the day finally arrived when Coach Calipari was going to return to Rupp Arena as a visiting coach. I had put my tickets up for sale early in the year with a crazy high price. I figured if anyone bought them then I guess I wouldn't go. It just so happens that someone wanted to pay $453 per ticket to sit in the upper arena. That was a nice surprise, but then I had some regrets because I was excited to see the game. My friend Nick sold his tickets to the game and was going to go with a friend. As luck would have it for me, the friend he was going with got sick and couldn't go. Nick and I ended up both selling our season tickets and still got into Rupp. We got there early and there was a buzz around the stadium. We even sat down close and watched the pregame shoot around. I also got to see some of the DanceBlue students that volunteer in my clinic. 

I hadn't put up any of my puzzles because I never knew where I wanted them. I finally decided on a wall in my closet. I only decided to hang the ones of places that we had visited. I really like how it turned out and it adds a little bit of color to my closet walls. 

We had a group Facetime with all the Heflin and Maitland grandkids to say hello to the birthday girl Eliana. It is hard to believe that she is already 3 years old. We weren't able to get up to Columbus for her party, but are excited to celebrate with her in a couple of weeks. 

Next birthday up is Jennifer! She is the big 4-0 this year! Jennifer wanted a Nothing Bundt Cake this year. The kids were actually going to be at an overnight middle school retreat with church so we celebrated Jennifer a day early. We got her the Wicked movie and a set of rings that have the kids name's on them. 

Jennifer and I both took the day off to celebrate her. We went to lunch at Dad's Favorite, which was delicious. Got her some Starbucks and ended the night at Harry's for dinner. We ran into a couple of people we knew that sent Jennifer home with the largest slice of chocolate cake I have ever seen. We enjoyed a quiet day at home, took a walk in the park, and even watched a movie from our childhood, Legally Blond It still just blows my mind when I think about it, but I have been able to celebrate 25 birthdays with this lady. There is nobody else I would have wanted to celebrate with, except my girl. 

I was able to finish four more Disney themed puzzles since the start of February. These were all pretty quick 500 piece puzzles. The only difficult part was that I didn't have a picture to look at to know what it actually looked like.

I park at McKinley and Taylor's house and walk to work every morning. If Nora's window blinds are open and the lights are on then I stop at the window to say hello. Well, one morning I was surprised to find out that Nora was going to be a big sister. It was early on so I wasn't allowed to tell, but I was going to be an uncle again.

With the kids still at the church retreat I talked Jennifer into heading downtown for the UK game with me. We had a good day, with not much stress because the Cats destroyed South Carolina. We played my over under game with the score and Jennifer won both halves. 

I picked up Brinley early from the winter retreat so that we could go to her last Her Knight Dance. We have gone to quite a few of these over the years and this is officially her last year. You age out of the event at 12. This one was probably my favorite one. We both enjoyed our Chick-fil-A dinner and then it was time to hit the dance floor. Brinley and I really are not big flashy dancers, but we both really enjoy the songs that get the crowd going. YMCA, chicken dance, and Cha Cha Slide are where it is at for the two of us. She even didn't put up a fight when it came to slow dancing this year. We spent the time talking about life and whatever came up. 

Brinley was also really excited to see one of her Rampage Softball teammates at the dance. They caught up on things because they haven't started summer ball practice quite yet. They both rocked out to the Cotton Eye Joe line dance. 

Brinley enjoyed doing the Cha Cha Slide with me. I am thankful that we went this last time together. I have enjoyed going with her over the years, even if I have to put on dress clothes. 

Landon told me earlier in the month that he was sort of bored with UK basketball games. I can't fathom that because I really enjoy going and the atmosphere of the stadium. I wanted to respect his wishes so I asked my friend Bobby if he wanted to go to the Tennessee game with me. We ended up in the lower level when we heard about a couple of open seats. Kentucky played great and beat a top five team. Rupp Arena was electric and it seemed like Kentucky was back.

Brinley had been working out with the Henry Clay Softball team since the fall, but she officially made the team. She was selected to be a member of the JV team. She was a little disappointed about not making varsity, but we were very proud of her. She is one of three 7th graders that made the team.

Landon also made the JV lacrosse team for his middle school. This was his first time playing and he is really excited about it. Besides the frown this is how he now has to walk into school, with his backpack on his back and his lacrosse bag in the front. I am excited to get to learn about a new sport and see how it all works. 

Nora had her first birthday party. She had been sick the week leading up to it so they cancelled all the friends coming over and it ended up being just family. Look at all these people focused on the big 1 year old!

Brinley with the birthday girl!

I have a lot of trouble with my mouth and saying whatever comes into my head. My pastor Jon Weece showed this little mnemonic THINK at church one Sunday and I need to be better about using it before speaking. If I follow these five simple rules then I would maybe not get into too much trouble.