Chiefs Nation

Sundays in the fall. The day that can make or break your week. At least that is how you feel if you are a fan of the NFL. You see, if my team wins, I am on top of the world. I feel like I am more productive. I am happier. Conversely, if my team loses, the day is a normal, depressing, Sunday.

I have been a Kansas City Chiefs fan for my entire life. When I was a little girl, I was my brother's only option to tackle on Sundays. We would dress up in our Chiefs gear. Then make a dummy and dress it up in Broncos or Raiders attire. Once the teams were properly dressed, we would gather every pillow, couch cushion and bean bag in the house and swap tackles on each other. As the younger sibling, I was normally at the receiving end of these blows.

Fast forward a few decades later. I have stuck with boys in red though the good and the bad. As of recent, it felt like a lot of bad. In college, I would bond with my roommate's dad over Chiefs games. That season, we went an incredible 13-3. Since that season, we have had some average teams, but overall, it has been a rough stretch as a Chiefs fan.

Going in to the 2013 season, I hoped for average. I made the optimistic prediction in the preseason we would be 9-7 team, a lofty goal considering we had only won a measly two games the previous season and were donned the worst team in the NFL.

Now, entering week 7, we are 6-0. What? I did not expect that. But it has been an absolute blast to be winning again.

A few weeks ago, my pal Michelle called to ask if I wanted to catch a game with her. I used to make it a point to go to a game every year. I have slacked the past two years due to trying to avoid that whole depressed state. Driving 6 hours roundtrip to stare out at empty seats and watch our quarterback get sacked time after time is not my idea of a good time. You see, growing up idolizing Arrowhead stadium, feeling the energy of the crowd, and being proud to be one of the best fanbases in the NFL, it was so sad to see it gone. It was like watching a strong, capable man age into a bed-ridden, demented outcast.

However, I optimistically said yes. We were already 2-0 at that point.

The game we selected was the rival Oakland Raiders. Little did we know entering that Sunday we would be 5-0 and Chiefs' Nation would be attempting to break the record for the loudest stadium.

The game was incredible. The Chiefs had an unheard of 10 sacks (I think one was taken away later). In all of the 2011 season we only had 11 (I think... I know a lot about football for a girl, but I still don't have a brain for statistics like a boy). The stadium got almost as loud as a jet engine. Although it was loud and my ears rang, I still think I once heard it louder. In 2005, the Thanksgiving night game against the Broncos and the launch of the NFL network. This could only mean one thing, Arrowhead was back.

My brother always says it's a sad life being a fan of Missouri sports (at least on the west side of the state). This year, Mizzou is 7-0. Chiefs are undefeated. And the Cardinal's are going to the World Series. (Although I'm a Royal's fan, I am still happy for my friends who love the Cards.)

It's good to finally know that each Sunday is going to be a good day.

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Time is Not on My Side

I have been busy! And not blogging as much as I would like. I have been working a lot and having a little fun.  Here is a quick update.

My 30 in 30: Whoa! Two and half months in and I have made a small dent in my long term goals, but not as much in the tangible. 

Food: I have done a pretty good job at sticking to purchasing only foods with less than five ingredients. I did find a new vegan protein powder I like that is made from less than five. So that was a success. However, I bough flour tortillas. I have no idea why. I haven't purchased flour tortillas in like three years. I guess a moment of weakness.

Exercise: Let's just say eek! I'm running a 5K tomorrow. TOMORROW. And I have not even thought about training. Well, no, that is a lie. I thought about it, but then decided to sleep instead. As for yoga and barre: double eek. 

Others, I am still not washing my hair often (I should really write a post to explain that), avoiding shredded cheese, using lots of sunscreen and actively looking for a dresser. So I'm working on it.

Like I said, I work. A ton. I am teaching two classes which makes my life consist of grading and prepping. But I have had a few moments of fun, so here is a bit of the fun that I have been up to since my last update.

 

I went back home for the annual Chilhowee Fair. It was a fun filled weekend hanging with my niece & nephew and a bunch of old friends.

 

 

You know those Buzzfeed articles, '19 Signs You Grew Up in {Insert City}?' Well, I think if there was one on Chilhowee the first line would be: 

'You get a bit of a rush when you hear, 'Step back and toss your egg.'

 

'And get mad when the announcer does not say those exact words.' 

I got sick one weekend. After about 60 hours of being cooped up in my house, I decided I needed to paint my door. I'm not sure if I love the color. It's okay from the inside view, but it looks uninviting from the street (not that I want to invite strangers into my home). Sorry for the bad pics.

 

 

I went back to STL for Alissa's 30th Birthday Surprise Celebration. We had a super fun weekend and saw Chicago: The Musical at the Fox. And guess who was in it? Paige Davis from Trading Spaces. Remember that show? She was Roxie Hart and was in-cred-i-ble. I could hardly believe it. Also - Peterman from Seinfield was Billy Flynn, which was also cool. But I really was stoked on my favorite TLC host.

 

I went home another weekend for a wedding. 

 

Although I have been driving a ton on the weekends, which I hate, I haven't been quite as annoyed because I get to hear Mitch Holthus announcing the Chiefs' games on my drives back to Springfield. And. We. Are. Winning. I can not tell you how many times I have jumped on my couch this season, and we are only four games in. 

An Unexpected Detour

I work at a college campus. As employees, we are aware of the threat this can pose. We often see in the media of different school shootings that have recently taken place.

Today, a threat happened in Springfield. We now know, two seperate events took place at almost the same time. One involving a serious threat that the campus was made aware of from Homeland Security, and one involved a dispute that allegedly resulted in an individual showing a gun at another university campus right up the road from my college.

You can read more about the threats here. 

This resulted in my campus going on a lockdown. I was in my classroom with my class of high school students. It was speech day, so a student was at the front of the classroom. 

When we were made aware of the lockdown from a Safety & Security officer, we went to the back corner of the room, locked the door and shut out the lights. This classroom is next to the side entrance to the building, that happens to be the first building down the street from where the gun incident took place. 

There is a big window to the hall in my class, so we quickly moved into a large closet in the back of the room. 

My students were all able to text or call their parents as we looked to social media for updates. 

Thankfully, both suspects were apprehended and there was no harm to any students or individuals. 

Was it scary? Yes. At the time it was a real threat. And it rattled me. For me, the scariest part was that I was with students. I think it would not has shook me as much had I just been alone in my office. 

Even as I look back at my tweets and FB updates, I can see that some may think of these as over reactive. You see, I was in a dark, small closet with 25+ students. We were relying, thankfully, on social media updates. Social media was also a way for me to update friends, family and coworkers of the whereabouts of myself and, more importantly, my students. 

Is there a ton to learn from this? Yes. First, I must say, we did so many things right. I felt safe and secure almost immediately. We have active shooter drills on campus. We have behavioral intervention teams of counselors who work with our students. We try as best as we can to prepare, but when you have thousands of students on campus in all classrooms, you learn a bit more. 

For instance, I put my phone on 'Do not Disturb' when I go into a classroom. I had my phone right in front of me, but did not get the alert because of the setting. The classroom phone did not go off until many minutes later. I did not know to go on lockdown until an officer came in my classroom (which was very quickly). Many students in common areas were not made aware as quickly as we would like. That classroom definitely needs blinds. And maybe I'll risk the buzz of a text or call interrupting my lecture or a speech to get a Red Alert text. 

Although we can learn from this, I can not say enough about our Safety and Security team and leadership at my campus. They took the threat seriously with the information that was given and acted swiftly. Obviously, there are some threats that don't get acted on. Many campuses chose not to lock down today.  I feel much safer knowing the steps our team took to ensure the safety of our students and staff. 

Was it an overreaction? No. I think when there is a localized threat, it is better to lose an hour of class time than to jeopardize the safety of all the people we, as a college, are responsible for, who include not only out adult students, but also our high school students and daycare students. 

So THANK YOU to everyone at my college who made this girl feel a bit more safe.  

**All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarially that of my employer or any other institution.