Hey!  I have not been around here in a very long time.  Strange roaming through here now. 

If you still stop by once in a while and haven't seen where my new digs are located, you can find me at the following great spots:

http://jayhawkfever.blogspot.com

http://sueablesphotography.blogspot.com

http://sueablesphotography.com

And I'm on Facebook!   http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=583922815&ref=name

Stop by and say hello!!

Sue  : )

Just a reminder to all that I can be found at

jayhawkfever.blogspot.com

I'm trying to keep up!

I feel absolutely awful that I have not had time to visit anyone.  I feel I need to explain at least a little as to why I have not been around.  In a very brief nutshell here is why:

• Seeing a neurologist for over a month and he is causing me a different type of headache with new meds and diagnoses constantly.
• Seeing a new family doctor since I haven't seen one in over twenty years (no comments please!)
• DQ has been here for a week and has required constant attention.
• Dweeb is in a band and a good one with band practice being held here requiring me to cater to them.  It will pick up once the gigs begin in the next month.  I'll put music up when I have it.
• Triplets having double ear infections and pneumonia.
• Now Baby Sis is out of town with the brood and I'm trying to find time to get her floor mopped and some laundry done for her so she doesn't have to come home to that mess.
• Jaden arrives here from Houston on Thursday (YEAH!) for a long weekend.
• Somewhere in between I'm trying to find time for photography school.
• Oh yeah, did I mention I'm quitting smoking??????????

 

So you see, I really do have a lot on my plate.  I really do not have a minute to spare right now.  I'm truly trying to find time.  I'm really hoping once Jaden leaves next week to get back to get around to visit before Christmas chaos kicks in and all festivities are held at my home.  I so much appreciate all your visits and comments as the past couple of months have been very difficult for me personally. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't give up on me please!  Thank you so much for your support!

And Florida finally bites the dust in Vegas!!!   The JAYHAWKS RULE!

FINAL SCORE:  Kansas Jayhawks: 82

                       Florida Gators     : 80

It took the KU Jayhawks to bring the #1 team to their knees. 

Your welcome.

 

It seems the holidays have crept up on us all to quickly again this year.  It's time to prepare all the fixin's, get together with our families, and stuff our tummies.  This also means Christmas is right around the corner. 

Our family LOVES this holiday season like no other!!  It is OUR FAVORITE OF ALL.  It is so festive, colorful, joyous, giving, and we never want to end.  The festivities for us begin Friday.  No, that does not include shopping. 

Today Drama Queen hopped an airplane to come home for Thanksgiving.   She switched planes in Memphis.  When she arrived she seemed to have many very tall men all around her as she deplaned.  As we headed to the baggage claim, she told me these 'boys' went to Tennessee State.  Of course, Moi with 'issues' right now, perks up and exclaims "NO WAY!"  Tennessee State are the poor souls to be devoured next by the Jayhawks on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.  So, I approach one of these poor boys and ask him if he is here to play the Jayhawks and he replies yes and is shaking my hand firmly as I smile and say "I'm a Jayhawk, but good luck tomorrow night".  The poor kids hand went limp and he scampered off.  DQ says I scared him to death.  I'm just a 5'3 white girl and he was 6'5" dude, so I don't think I scared him that much and I was smiling and being nice when I said it.  Maybe it was the Jayhawk part. 

Blondie will be in town someday.  You know college kids.  Thursday for sure.  The weekend is packed full of activities and it's going to be in the 70's!  Warmest Thanksgiving EVER!  Unbelievable. 

I wanted to wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING and I hope everyone is able to be with their loved ones. 

I thought I lost October, but then I realized it was over there.     

                                        

You know where to go to find the scoop *wink* .  So head on over here.
You can leave comments over there also, in case you didn't know. 

I know I have your attention now... right?   So you know where to go to find the juicy details.  That's right, go HERE.

How I wish we could get just ONE birthday of DQ's without drama and disaster. 

Tuesday morning I spoke with her on the phone.  Air conditioning was out at her house, so I told her she could come over to keep cool.  Fine.  She would finish the load in the washer and call me. 

Within an hour, Dweeb called from work.  DQ was on her way to the ER.  He said it was something like she had lost a pint of blood already and they were leaving the 'baby daddy' place (father of Reece).  WTF???  I just talked to her!  She has no car!  *sigh*   I told him I was on my way.

When I arrive at the ER she is already headed for x-ray for her hand.  It had gone through a window at the 'baby daddy' house.  She went there to get her jacket and his girlfriend was there and they had a fight.  Wait a minute... jacket???  It's freakin' 95 degrees outside!  She didn't need a jacket.  Obviously she needed a fight.  She knew what she would find.  *screaming at the top of my lungs on the inside*.  She gets hand bandaged, we get her script filled, and I take her to her house.  This took the entire day! 

Tuesday evening, her girlfriend took her to dinner.  They returned to their house and DQ went to bed.  Soon, three police officers were at the door to get her for domestic violence and damage.  OYE!  They handcuff her and put her in the car.  (I think next birthday I'm going to get her handcuffs to wear as jewelry.  She seems to be used to this now).  I go to bed and wait for the call Wednesday morning from the County Jail.

An advocate for her calls me Wednesday morning.  He informs me of the official charges.  I explain in 50 words or less the situation between these two people and explain about Reece.   He'll try to use that if needed with the judge.   I spend the day waiting and waiting for the phone call that comes after her hearing in front of the judge.

Early afternoon I get the call.  The judge was not nice.  (duh!)  He looked at her previous record which includes kicking out the window of a patrol car, etc etc and is not happy with DQ.  (duh!)  He even had her juvenile record.  It's quite a list, but all misdemeanors.  (One point for DQ).  He told her what her bond would be.  She paniced knowing I would not pay that and begged him.  (Charming the judge... I think's it genetic and not in a good way people).  He lowered it and it only took 100 bucks to get her out. 

I get in the car and head to the County Jail.  I only do this because I don't want her to lose her job or lose her status at the house she is living.  She is walking on thin ice as it is with the police officers showing up.  Well, I made the mistake of showing up 30 minutes before shift change.  Great.  I spend over two hours sitting at the jail waiting for her to be released.  If I left to run an errand or for any other reason, her name would be taken off the release list and not put back on until I got back.  She was first on the release list and if I left she would get put at the bottom (as the tiny lobby had filled up by now).  So she walks out in her jammies and gets in the car and I dump her back at her house.  She knows I'm not happy at all.  Hopefully, she can get moved out of this metro area this weekend and away from all of this. 

I do not understand why she went over there and why she won't just stop and move on!  He has made it very clear he does not want her around.  But, with borderline personality disorder...  *sigh*  I'm thinking of running away from home! 

I'll keep you posted ....  next week, I'm going to try to talk about good and happy things.  Blogland is too sad right now.   Everyone have a great weekend!

It's been 26 years since I gave birth to my Drama Queen. October 3rd is a day to celebrate her birthday. Now I will tell you how wonderful this girl is.

She has a smile that lights up the room. She can make complete fun of herself and some of the situations she has gotten herself into. Her laugh is infectious. She has played soccer, softball, basketball and she danced. She was on swim team. She has always had many friends and included the excluded peers while in school. Until the age of 13 or 14, she was a delightful child, although a bit moody (but who isn't, right?). She gave life to five beautiful children: Isaiah age 9, Lucy age 4, Jaden age 3, Reece (passed away from SIDS last May at 3 months), and the soon-to-know sex of the latest. Now all of these pregnancies is not something to jump up and down about by any means. What I am proud of is that fact she chose to give them life. Isaiah and Lucy live with their adoptive parents.

The rest will be said with a few pictures:

Born October 3, 1980 at 9 1/2 lbs. 18 hours of labor before Csection was decided upon. Yep, she was a pain in my arse from the beginning *wink*.

Baby Photo Me and my girl at 18 months

Dweeb and I get married First dance recital

DQ and Blondie (so innocent!) Rocky Mountain vacation!

Last year she was in sports

I talk quite a bit about DQ and most of the time it is sadness. But not today baby! It's her 26th Birthday! We are going to concentrate on the good times.

She is doing well. She lives in a recovery house for women and has been working a full time job. Let's hope and pray it's good news from here on out!

Happy Birthday Girl!

Now it's Blondie.  It's always something.  If you want to know the bombshell Blondie hit me with go HERE.

Hope you have a great weekend!

The very first person I began reading, which made me decide to do this blogging thing we do is our dear and beloved IT Catholic Mom.  I love this woman!  She has helped me all along the way answering any questions I may have readily and kindly. 

Then I found out she was big fan of this team!

This has been difficult news to swallow.  No, I haven't lost respect for her, but c'mon...  these people are crazy.   You would think they knew colors other than RED existed!   This Friday, my team meets her team.  Now, I know she posted the picture from last November when our teams met.  But do I really need to remind her of this???

 

Kansas 40, Nebraska 15

Nov. 2, 2005 · Memorial Stadium · Lawrence, Kan.      

Kansas' Win Over Nebraska...

Yeah...  that's what I thought!  Bring it on, girlfriend! 

This piece of my 101 expansion will tackle the issues of several of my sisters. I'm sure there is a medical name for this symptom, but I have no idea what it is. I'm sure it's mental. You see, four of five of my sisters are married. Three of those married sisters married men named 'Tom'. I don't know if this is some sort of sibling rivalry and I just failed to get the memo or what. All I know is the two sons-in-law who are NOT named Tom, have considered having their name change in order to 'fit in'.

These three grown men constantly argue about who is the #1 Tom, who is the #2 Tom, and who is on sh*t list because they have been relegated to #3 Tom. The #1 spot was usually determined by my dad (meaning they showed for happy hour at 3 pm to have a drink with him or helped in some home improvement project our dear mother was determined to have done). Now that dad is gone, it is pure mayhem when everyone is together. Arguing back and forth on who is "#1". Personally, Baby Sis's 'Tom' is the #1 Tom in our family. C'mon... he stayed home all last weekend with the triplets and Jack so we could escape on a two day vacation! Did the other Toms come and help?? NO! So, there you have it.

Baby Sis's Tom will always be #1. That is it. No more to be said. Period.

Now, for the #15. Actually I just put that number 29 there. It's been awhile since I counted and probably counted my kids in there. So, to be completely accurate and avoid Blondie correcting me in the 'comment' section, I shall just list names. There will be a quiz so pay attention... got it?

I think going by families will be easier. No way by ages. Too many to remember.

Maryanne, Mike, Paul, Marie, Clare, Elizabeth, Louise, John, Lindsay, Krista, Erin, Natalie, Danny, Frankie, Elise, Joe, Luke, Chris, Rachel, Josh, Brian, Jack, Lauren, Abby, Conor. Can't leave out Kapoe and Princess (one sisters doggies who are her kiddies!)

Okay, I must have included Jaden, Reece, Isaiah, and Lucy (my grandkids) in the mix when I wrote my 101, but there you have it. All but two of these kids are 18 or under. Now do you understand my migraines at family functions? I thought so.

One more thing... this number is subject to change at any given time. We are good Catholics... but I'll cover that in the next installment.

Life at Baby Sis's was a getting a little crazy. The triplets aka the bosses) are now 1 1/2 years old and the 3 year old is hitting his 'terror' stage. Needless to say, Baby Sis was feeling pretty frazzled. Baby Sis, Lil Sis, and I decided it was time to run for the hills. The hills being the Lake of the Ozarks. It is not far from home, but far enough that we cannot hear those little urchins whining, crying, biting, pinching. We couldn't even hear the 'kerplunk' from various items being thrown in the toilet or the three little boogers spending playtime splashing in the toilet when we turn our heads for one nano second.

The weekend was great. It was relaxing. Many photos were taken of the beautiful lake and sunsets. Baby Sis was able to get a good start on catching up on her scrapbooking for each of these sweet angels. Oh yeah! Can't forget the fantastic deals found at the outlet mall just around the corner from our condo. Just check out the great Reebok shoes Lil Sis found for 10.99! A steal I'm telling you.

The last evening we spent watching one of the fantastic sunsets that occur right before Fall officially arrives and had fun goofing around. Unfortunately, Baby Sis saw us begin to pack things up and load up the car. You know what this means! We have to go back. SHE has to go back. Baby Sis wasn't quite ready to go back. Panic ensued. She.was.not.ready. She ran. She tried to hide. But, to no avail. We found her. It was the chanting "I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I'm not ready." that gave her whereabouts away. We dragged her from this dumpster kicking and screaming. Eventually she gave in and we settled in for one last night before the three hour drive home.

It was a great, although short, time away. I think we will have to do this again before the bad weather sets in for the winter. It's just too much fun getting away for a few days with your sisters.

Once I get through the ridiculous amount of photos I took, I'll post a few in the photo album. Until then, we are keeping a close eye on this mommy. We don't want her escaping.

Check out my other place for the Dweeb adventure (oye!).

 

My niece went to Israel this summer.  This is my favorite picture of her looking out over the Sea of Galillee.  

I'm out of town until Sunday evening.  I will get around to see everyone when I get back. 

Today's question asked for the Tuesday Blog Walk:

Simple answer, complicated emotions. 

I was sitting in my living room drinking my morning coffee.  Dweeb was getting ready for work.  My parents were expected within an hour to have morning coffee with me.  This is a rare visit due to dad's mobility troubles with his illnesses at this time.  It was one of the last times he visited my home before his death.  Blondie was at school.  She was a sophomore and had just begun high school.  Drama Queen, well, she was once again in the county jail for a misdemeanor.

I flipped on the television to the Today Show to catch the news.  Within five moments, they switched to the World Trade Center which had smoked billowing out of it.  The word at that point was that it might have been a small plane such as a Cessna that hit the Tower.  It seemed like a lot of smoke for a small aircraft to me and Dweeb.  It had not been that long since we had been in NYC and took a trip to the top.  Blondie wanted to Dippin Dots.  I bring this up constantly because that was the way to get her to the top.  She was scared to go all the way up there.  At the base of the towers are benches outside.  We laid on our backs on these benches and just stared up at the buildings.  From this vantage point, you could not see the top.  That is how tall these buildings were.

Dweeb went back to the bedroom to finish getting ready for work.  I continued to watch the television and listening to reports.  As I was watching I saw with my own eyes a jet liner fly smack into the second tower.  At first I just sat there stunned.  No way was what went through my mind.  Then without thinking I screamed.  My husband ran out of the bedroom.  I just looked at him and said a passenger jet just hit the other tower!  He looked at me like I was an idiot until he glanced at the television screen and they showed it again.  Shit... and F--- were the words that continually came out of our mouths.  Then we heard them reporting that there were several other airplanes unaccounted for.  My parents showed up at the door.  They came in with the delicious rolls and I just loked at them.  They had heard the news on the radio.  Dad was shaking his head and cursing.  (one of the few times I really heard my Dad curse in my entire life).  Mom was more like "that's too bad".  Anyway.  I poured coffee for all of us.  We tried to carry on a conversation, but kept staring at the television.  It wasn't long before the Pentagon was hit and the unthinkable. 

When the first tower fell, Dweeb was already at work.  I stared in disbelief at the images.  I watched the cloud.  I watched the reporters trying to make sense of what they were seeing on the ground.  Then the second tower fell.  I was crying at this point.  I've been to those towers.  They are so tall!  Unlike anything you have ever seen in your life!  We have tons of pictures from our trip of those towers.  Pictures taken at the towers.  Pictures taken from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  Unbelievable.  It wasn't long before I heard about the plane in Pennsylvania.  At this point, I nearly paniced.  Is my sister all right?  She works in Chicago.  Are the family members of a friend of mine okay?  I knew they worked in Manhattan. 

Then I snapped out of it.  Blondie.  She is at school.  Is she okay?  Is she freaking out?  As a sophomore, does she realize our country is under attack?  Do I need to go get her?  I think at this point I was in shock.  I believe I called Blondie on her cell phone.  She said she was fine and they did know what was happening.  She couldn't believe it.  I don't think at that point she fully realized the impact and what this meant.  (In December, 2002, her dance team went to NYC to take dance classes and see a Broadway show.  They made a visit to Ground Zero.  Many had been to the towers before this tragedy.  They signed the large sheets of paper hanging on the fence surrounding the area.  I have photographs of the girls visiting and signing). 

I visited DQ a few days later in the county jail.  It was the first time we were allowed to visit.  She didn't know what was going on really.  All she knew was that the morning of 9/11, all those incarcerated were immediately ordered back to their cells and they were on lock down for over 24 hours without any explanation.  Needless to say, she was not happy.  It happens that all jails in the nation were put on lock down for at least 24 hours.

Most of that day, I realized we were under attack, but was in shock.  I wept for days.  I was angry.  I wanted to race to the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan and help all those people.  Help find their loved ones.  Help them find their way home.  Help them get in touch with family and friends to let them know they were okay.  I was frustrated. 

In many ways, I am still feeling all of these things.  It is still difficult to believe that the Towers do not exist even though I have been to Ground Zero several times since.