The cat and the Christmas Tree

This sounds like a title to a new book, huh? :) Hmm...might pursue that one someday.

L and J put the Christmas tree together last night. The cat kept looking at it. Finally he decided he wanted to "taste" the tree. I saw him snacking on a couple of wire branches last night. Of course we had to chase him away. J started to put up an ornament and the cat watched with amazement! A shiny ornament for him to bat at while we weren't looking! WOW! We were careful not put any ornaments on the bottom branches as we figured he would want to practice his cat skills on the tree. We found a bell ornament and rang it. The cat did not like the sound of it. I guess we should have many bell ornaments on the tree maybe that would scare him off. He sat on the arm of the couch last night looking at the lights and the ornaments. I don't know if he had his way with the tree overnight or not. Everything looks okay.

The cat is a big fan of our space heater. Whenever we have it on he jumps up next to us and get friendly. Yeah, right. He loves the heat coming from the space heater and wants to warm up his little fur body. I have to admit cats are interesting creatures.

Kansas 6-0!

KU basketball is starting off in true fashion with a perfect record so far. The true test however will come up December 2 (a Sunday afternoon) when KU meets USC and the infamous OJ Mayo.

Brandon Rush is back in strong force in the line up. He was the lead scorer with 17 points, followed by Darnell Jackson with 13 and Mario Chalmers with 11. Close on their heels in points was Conner Teahan (the Zac Efron look-a-like, although when I saw him he didn't look much like him. Conner is better looking!). Teahan scored 9 points, all three-pointers and he came off the bench to do this. What a future this kid has with the Jayhawks and I can't believe it that he's just a walk on! KU won the game 87-49 over a Rex Walters (former KU player) team of FAU (Florida).

I have heard that the students have not shown up in strong force, leaving a lot of seats open. If I were a student I would be there every night! Also, if I lived in the Lawrence area I would try to get sesaon tickets, although it IS a pretty hefty price!! Guess it would be better if I was an alumnus and contribute to the Williams fund to get better seats. But since I don't live in Lawrence and I'm not an alumnus then I guess we are pretty lucky to go to a game when we can.
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I still haven't put the tree up but I heard that the cat was under the tree blanket this morning. I can imagine what it will be like when the tree is finally up. Cat thinking: "Hmm..Which ornament shall I attack today/tonight?"

Blog without a title

"Dancing with the Stars," is one of my favorite shows. Monday night was the finals and on Tuesday the results came in. It is so interesting to watch the "stars" become dancers. I enjoyed watching Jennie Garth, Cameron Matheson, Mel B (A Spice girl), Sabrina Bryan (a Cheetah girl), Marie Osmond, and Helio Castroneves. The past few weeks my favorites were Jennie, Mel B. and especially Helio. I was shocked when Jennie was voted out and Marie Osmond won over her. It was a definitely a fan base that got Marie Osmond that far. After watching her on Monday night as a "wind-up" doll, I thought about how she was on the "Donnie and Marie" show. It was entertaining, but I really didn't like it at all. It was free-style dancing, yes, but the moves were sloppy. Whereas, Mel B and Maks did a pretty good routine and by far the favorite (in my eyes) was Helio and Juliana. I never knew much about Helio until I found a magazine ad touting that he was an Indy 500 race champion. Hmm...I'm going to have to start watch the Indy 500 this next year. Helio had class, personality, and technique in his dancing. I loved to watch him smile while dancing. It was great that he won DWTS championship last night.
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It's hard for me to get into Christmas season this year. I don't know why. I think it's just too soon. At this writing Christmas is twenty-seven days from now. So I had to make room for our tree. I am decorating the house with my nutcrackers, mooses, angels, and Rudolph (minus a broken antler) and Clarice. I have my bare tree stand in the corner waiting to put branches on it. Then put the ornaments on. I wonder what Sasha (the cat) will do with our tree? He'll probably play with the ornaments. Batting each one with his paw. A kitty-cat's delight! No ornaments on the lower branches! I am hoping that he will leave everything alone!

I'm trying to formulate a Christmas list for people who live out of town. Thoughts of books, gift cards, homemade items (I doubt this), scatter my brain. I wonder what day to shop for these items; who would like what; and would they feel offended if they didn't get much this year from us? Decisions!!
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Last night I got my rest in as I didn't smell any smoke. Thank you! :)

Unrestful night

I couldn't shut my brain off, nor my hearing mechanism, nor my nose last night. I had a tough time getting to sleep and ended up taking a nap with the cat this afternoon.

First off, I was reading, as I always do on the Internet at night. I was playing with "Facebook" and ran across some young people that I hadn't seen in nearly 20 years. In fact, they were at my wedding, and they probably wouldn't remember it. My best friend of 20 years ago, "K" came with her two children, to my wedding. We were best buds working together for Ma Bell as operators. We would hang out together and she would fix me up with some real losers for boyfriends. Sure, she was a nice person but she was a lousy boyfriend finder. I can still remember her trying to get me to write for the office newspaper, which eventually I did write for it and became the editor later on. "K" was a great friend. She got married before I did. Had 3 children before I did. And she died before she was 50. She has been gone for nearly 6 years. She died of cancer. It started in her lungs (she was a heavy smoker) and it eventually went into her brain. Maybe that's why I hate it when I am around smoke. But thankfully, she did find God before she died and belonged to a Presbyterian church in W town. Her youngest daughter was only 12 when she died.

So I found her kids on "Facebook" and saw a picture of her oldest daughter. She looks just like her. My mind kept remember how "K" talked and I couldn't shut my mind off.

Then J was coughing so much last night. I don't know how much rest he got. He likes to sleep in the basement with us in the other room. He would walk upstairs several times to get a drink of water. I couldn't shut my hearing off.

Then finally I smelled smoke from our neighbors woodburning stove. They have an outdoor wood boiler and the stack isn't high enough to go over the roof. So if there is a north wind we get the smoke downwind and the odor seeps inside our house. I started coughing too and threw the blankets over my head trying not to breathe.

By this time 2AM, I've had it. I go upstairs and sleep in J's room (on the other side of the house). This way I don't smell much of the smoke. I finally sleep after having some strange dreams and hear S waking up at 6 AM.

Hopefully tonight will be a better night. Sleepily yours...MB.

Electricity Dependency

Face it, we are electrical dependent. If our electricity goes out, as it did today in H town, then we feel lost.

When the electricity stopped abrutly this afternoon I was just about ready to watch my soap and was reading an article on the Internet. Everything just turns black and dark. L checked on our breaker box to make sure it just wasn't us. No, everything checked out it was the neighborhood. I went out to the church thinking that things were probably fine there and perhaps I could vacuum. Nope. Couldn't vacuum; the emergency lights were on and there was an eerie silence in the church except for the ticking of the wind up clock and the dripping of the sink. I did however, find some work to do without using the electricity and I promptly put on my battery charged Mp3 player in my ears to listen to music.

After I was done working I checked on the town. The grocery store had put up a sign, "Electricity out will re-open when electricity back on," and on down to the Subway doors were open and the neon sign was darkened. I decided to see if the school kids were out playing in the yard. They were not. Hmm. Guess the teachers found some activitiy to do without the use of light or computer. Of course the hospital probably were using their backup generators. So I drove back to church and after one hour and a half it was back on.

I can imagine that some people were drying their hair, or baking a batch of cookies, or that businesses were in the midst of some important business and computers going out. Yes, we are dependent on electricity. It could have been worse though. It could have happened during a cold winter's night, it could have lasted longer. It was inconvenient. But it wasn't dire. We lost our electrical service one time during the dead of winter, the box was pulled competely off of the side of the house. It was cold and we lost a lot of food in our refrigerator. We were out for 3 days without electricity and had to leave our house. Now that's dire! I hope that we never have to go through that again. I admit it. I am dependent on my electricity.

KU Wins!! 601 wins/1,000 points

What a game! KU played Arizona of the Pac-10 Sunday night. It was not an easy win. This was the first real challenge that the Jayhawks have had in their early season. It wasn't easy listening to the ESPN announcers either. Ron Franklin and Jay Bilas (ex-Duke basketball player) called the game and were singing the praises of Arizona great "Chase" Buddinger was. And of course they had to bring up the fact that a "Chase" Daniels QB from Mizzou beat KU Football team last night. I was sick of hearing the name Chase! (with the exception of KU's own Chase Buford, who saw no action tonight).

At half time the score was tied 40-40. After the half, KU was looking sluggish. It really didn't look great. We had slippery hands, not great on rebounds and too many fouls.

The star of the game, who was only supposed to play 20 minutes the whole game, was Brandon Rush. He had the steals, the great shots and nearly sunk in a half court shot at the end of regulation play. He did have 1,000 career points in this game. At the end of regulation play, KU and Arizona was tied at 62 points.

The end of the game Arizona had two players foul out of the game and one of them was ESPN's darling, Chase Buddinger (who also shot an air ball during the contest!). That makes 601 wins at Allen Fieldhouse for the KU Jayhawks. The top scorer for KU was Darrell Arthur with 20, followed by Brandon Rush with 17. It was nice to see KU win this weekend!!
ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

KU's First Loss (Football)

I thought about some clever titles like: "Scalped at Arrowhead," but I decided against using that as the title. The score was 36-28.

I was sorry to see the Jayhawks go down in defeat. It was hard watching the team in the first half as the Jayhawks didn't make any score in the first half. I couldn't stand the ABC commentators at all. So at the half I listened to the KU broadcast team of Bob Davis, David Lawrence, and Nick Bukaty. It was much easier listening to it and then watching it (as a replay because of the TV delay) IF I chose to.

Blame it on the Sports Illustrated jinx (featured this week on the front cover), or blame it for being number 2 in the nation jinx. We had a couple of missed field goals that didn't help matters.

Depite my complaints this was a successful season for KU football. 11 Wins to 1 loss. We are at least bowl bound which I can say KU is better than K-State in footbal this year. lIt would have been nice to see KU play for the Big 12 championship game or at least the national championship in the country. But we did have a good year best in a long time.

Now I wonder what this will drop KU to in the standings? I wonder what bowl game KU will get to be in? Time will tell tomorrow where KU is in the rankings.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK

Thanksgiving on the road

We spent a very untraditional Thanksgiving. I think this is the first time that I've spent it on the road.

After roaming around on the campus at KU and visiting Wal-Mart there, we drove to Capital City. There was one of two places we could have eaten at. We chose Cracker Barrel over Boston Market. We used to love to eat there when the kids were younger and look around at the Christmas stuff. This time we looked briefly and was seated at first near the smoking section of the restaurant. BLECH!! I cannot stand to smell smoke. Then we were moved to the back of the restaurant. In my opinion, they should just build a seperate building for eaters who like to smoke. Or ban smoking in all restaurants.

The restaurant had their Thanksgiving meal all ready to serve to the customers. We chose a non-traditional meal of grilled cheese sandwiches, meat loaf and chicken and dumplings. We had a little wait while those who chose the Thanksgiving meal had no wait. We looked over their pies and we weren't satisfied what they had listed besides the waitress had already dropped off our bill as if to say to us, "Leave all ready, I want to make BIG tips off of our Thanksgiving meal."

So we went to a McDonalds on the turnpike and picked up a McFlurry, an ice cream cone and coke. When we got to Wichita I suggested that we should get some apple pie. We drove through a Burger King and picked up 4 slices of apple pie! Yum!! That was really good! We should have tipped them for quick service! :)

I kind of like the non-traditional Thanksgiving it was nice! :)

Of Players, people, and passing thoughts

After the game we lined up along the tunnel to get autographs of the KU basketball players. The crowd control ushers put a line up so the fans wouldn't step beyond that line. We got in place with a few other kids and adults waiting to see who would come out of the locker room. One of the adults (wasn't me) wanted the Coach's signature. That sounded good to me too, but someone saw him leave the building the other way. Another missed opportunity seeing him.

All of these kids are genuinely nice to both kids and adults. Jeremy Case loves to talk to the kids and ask them how they are doing. He's one of my favorites. S did get to see Russell Robinson. He was sooo nice!! S would ask them if they would take a picture with her and they would all say sure. Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed both seem really young. Cole had his Gatorade in his back pocket and has such a boyish grin. We all liked them all. I think that speaks well of the team when they consent to a picture or an autograph without ANY complaints. They are nice and they represent the university well. They are such great ambassadors. I can never emphasize this enough. They have been schooled well or they are just nice young men to begin with. We did miss Sherron Collins, as he is hobbling on crutches. Each time S asked if they would take a picture with her. I would take it (camera wasn't always cooperating with me...flute I needed you then) and I would say "Thank you very much." I would smile at them and them at me. Just very nice kids. Great role models.
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Of people....people got to the fieldhouse late and would leave early. WHY? I guess they don't cherish what they have. We, who don't live near a collegiate team are starved to see a game. We may be the last people who leave the parking lot and so we don't have to battle the lines out of the campus. That's fine. We take in the whole experience. Kids get their autographs and talk to the players. We linger and watch all the hoopla. We try to take pictures on the floor. An usher shooed us and others away. I guess they didn't want us to desecrate the Jayhawk. I'm not sure what's the reason.

People milled in front of us and in the exits while watching the game. It was hard for us to watch the game because people just wouldn't sit down, or they got there 30 minutes into the game. It was ridiculous!

Most people were on the most part, pretty nice to talk to. We talked to some of the fans sitting behind us and those waiting in line for autographs. The people running the concession stand were very nice too.
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While we were downtown and at the game we saw this one older man dressed oddly. He wore shredded jeans, a colorful stocking cap, and an 11-0 football t-shirt. At first I thought he was a homeless weird guy. THEN, S said she saw him on TV during a football game dancing. Then while he was at the Basketball game, he got everyone in the mood cheering for KU. He even sat in the student section (behind the basket) as people took pictures of him. Someone called him the "ultimate" fan. So we will be sure to watch him out at Arrowhead on Saturday evening when KU football takes on Mizzou in the Border war.
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While we were waiting to go to the Booth family Memorial we saw the football team leaving for practice. S waved and took a picture of their bus.
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I can see S someday at Lawrence. What an experience. There may be more to blog later.

KU vs. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks

While we were there in line a couple of girls came in. S estimated that they were a couple years older than her. They were excited! It was their first KU basketball game!! They were primping and calling all of their friends on the cell phone. They were giddy with excitement. We had to laugh about how "crazy" and giggly they were!

The doors opened at 5:30. Our tickets were scanned and I bought a couple of programs. Then we ran up the stairs. I was in surprising great shape after 9 weeks and kept up with S. She found some pretty good seats and we were nearing the exit. We didn't need to cross in front of people if we needed to get drinks and food. We could have went up another way to our seats (maybe next time) and we wouldn't have to rush so much.

The guys were out on the floor warming up and doing stretches. The music was playing in the background (not the band yet) and we watched everyone come in. L and I picked up pop and pizza (that wasn't a cheap meal!) and we ate supper there at the fieldhouse. We watched the Big Jay and Baby Jay entertain the crowd. The KU band was on the other side playing on. They were REALLY good! They got the crowd in the spirit of things.

At around 15 minutes before the game was the national anthem, the KU Alma Mater song (with words on the scoreboard) and then the Rock Chalk chant (flute I thought about you!). The guys ran out of the tunnel. Then we heard the starting lineups. The other team was announced and all the students held up their papers, shaking them.

Then it was time of KU to be announced. A video with Naismith and Phog Allen, followed by video of the Hawks "599 wins and 12 conference titles." Bill Self in a video with his arms outstretch in victory and with U2 music in the background. It was AWESOME! Each player was announced and when they got to Russell Robinson the announcer would say "From New York and everyone yelled "NEW YORK." The crowd was LOUD!!

During the game we had to stand up in order to see the game. We did this the first time we were there. Stand up during the game and sit on the timeouts. Now we figured that our seats would be really good. Well, there were A LOT of problems. People would constantly walk by us. There would be traffic going south and traffic going left. We barely had enough room to cheer and get excited. It was BAD! One gal was walking right in front of me, just as I was getting excited. Arms outstretched and YEAH, right in her face. Sheesh! Why can't people find a spot and sit down already?!!

At half time NAU team only scored 10 points! When Brandon Rush came into the game the whole place ROARED!! They love this guy! The freshman, Cole Aldrich, Tyrel Reed, and Conner Teahan did very well in this game. Darrell Arthur, though, was player of the game. He is looking very strong since last year and looks pretty well built. The game went fast and KU got its 600th win at Allen.

Going to a KU game is just a great experience!! I really love basketball games!
Next meeting the players...

On the campus of the University of Kansas

We got on campus relatively early like around 3 pm. We drove on Naismith drive and seeing Allen Fieldhouse on the left side is quite a site! We drove over to the Kansas Union to check out the sweatshirts on campus. Not only does the Union have clothes, but this is where the students get their books, supplies, and KU collectables. There is also a place to eat for the students and their famous bowling alley.

We parked down the street from the union and walked briskly up the hill. It was a COLD walk. J and S looked down toward the right at the football field. I just wanted to get in the Union as it was bitterly cold.

While at the union, I picked up my copy of the University Daily Kansan the student newspaper and a magazine (also another media production) of the journalism staff. S has found the shirt to buy, actually her second t-shirt to get. She has found several but it's so hard to choose which one to purchase. I couldn't find anything, but I know there is one more bookstore on campus.

I told L and J to come pick us up at the Union's front door (or back door) because I did not want to walk in the north wind. S and I wait and then we go around memorial drive to the bookstore at the top of the hill. I find the perfect sweatshirt (it's warm) and we drive back to a parking lot near to AFH. This is where we will park for the game.

Yet, another cold northerly walk up to the fieldhouse enterance. By this time I am walking backwards. Snow is still falling but not accumulating. We walk around the Booth Memorial Hall of Fame and out to the AFH concourse.

Here I see people lining up at 4:00 PM!! Doors open at 5:30 PM and I want to be first!

I panic!

So I tell L the plan and he goes back out to the van to wait on the parking lot people to pay for parking. S and I meanwhile try to find a door open. They are locked. I guess we look pathetic standing there in the cold and a student inside the concourse sees us and lets us in.

He was an exceptionally nice guy doing us a random act of kindness! We could go no further than the lobby. It was nice and toasty inside waiting.

Next post....the game and other thoughts.

On the Road, without Charles Kurwalt!

It was a great trip!! We enjoyed in immensely! The next few posts will be based on the Lawrence/KU/Thanksgiving trip!

We were driving down the turnpike and we saw many cars from Texas pass us by. We noticed huge RV's and wondered what "star" could be driving them. We saw a tractor trailer rig pass us and noticeably the little girl was not wearing her seatbelt. She was looking back at us. Parents please buckle your children in the truck/car because face it, that isn't safe!

We went down Flint Hill Scenic Highway and saw Tallgrass praire National Highway, then there was Submarine Veterans Highway (all of these were little sections along the turnpike). Isn't that nice that the submarine veterans were honored in such a way? If you're interested to knowing where this is it is near Emporia.

The Matfield Green Exit has the Knute Rockne Memorial nearby. There is also a McDonald's and a convenient store where many travelers stop. I can remember when rest stops were nothing more than bathrooms outside in a brick building. Now you can stop here and get a Vanilla Cappuccino. Ask S how that tasted!

I picked up the latest copy of "The Tunpike Times," and turned my radio to 1610 AM for the turnpike channel. Nothing like listening to the monotone voice about the conditions of the road and the weather. Yawn!!

Big excitement came when there was a turn off for the Bazaar Cattle pens. It must be exciting if your not from Kansas. Looking out there in the pens, however, there is no cattle to be found. Darn!

The weather was misting with the temperature dropping rapidly. Our radio antenna accumulated ice on it. I can't believe it as the day before it was 70 for a high. The temperature nearing Lawrence is only 30! Welcome to Kansas where the weather changes pretty fast from one day to the next.

While walking on campus and downtown we get pellted with stinging sleet/snow combination.

Next....the KU game!!! WOW!!

Lawrence bound!!

I like this picture!! I know it's been on here before. It's one of my favorite pics!

This will be an exciting Thanksgiving for us this year! We are going to see our beloved KU men's Jayhawks basketball team play a game at Allen Fieldhouse.

This will be our first game this year to see them play. We are hoping to get great seats (in the student section) and most likely will have to stand on our feet most of the game like we did last year! We sit down when (thankfully) they have timeouts!! We love the excitement of hearing the KU band, seeing the cheerleaders, the flag, and the Big Jay and Baby Jay running around on the floor. We love seeing the players warm up and trying to find the coaches on the floor before the game. We love eating pizza before the game starts. Seeing the students holding newspapers during the announcement of the visitors team and then ripping them into shreds into confetti is exciting. We love hearing the Rock Chalk Chant and the KU Alma Mater song. So much tradition to see while at the game. The excitement of hearing the announcer shouting the lineups for the Jayhawks. Then seeing the big scoreboard in the middle of the fieldhouse. I love it when they shoot t-shirts into the stands for some lucky person to catch.

Then after the game waiting to see the team and getting autographs. The players (kids) are so nice to sign autographs and they are very nice people. I would love to see the coach after the game, but I'm sure he sneaks out to avoid it all.

I just love KU and especially basketball. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I can't wait until we are there!!

Confessions of a church custodian

The church custodian is an unknown person in some circles around town. You would think living in a small town that everyone would know what your job is and where you work. Not so.

Today I went down to my local store to pick up Swiffer liquid and a Glade air freshner. Now usually I like to shop for my janitorial stuff out of town. You get a better bargain and there is more to choose from. But this week I forgot to get more Swiffer floor stuff while I was at the Well-town Wally World.

I am checking out with my products and I know the clerk pretty well, or at least I think. Her son and daughter was in our church pre-school when I was a substitute teacher (I've held many jobs) approximately seven years ago. I tell her to charge the products to the church account. I get this wary look from her. I smile and say, "Yeah, I use this Glade air freshener in the church many times." This one was a cinnamon one, so I could get that "Christmas season aroma" going in one of our lounges. I sign off on the slip of paper and she hands me the receipt. "Now, make sure that B gets this." B is our secretary. The clerk still giving me this look like "are you sure you are authorized to do this?"

I wonder what she would do if I bought lemon juice, vinegar, and soda (all to use as green cleaning products) and charged it to the church account? It makes me wonder what she would say then. LOL!

Short week

The day after tomorrow we are heading for Larry town for a KU basketball game. We will have to shop downtown before the game and/or the Union (if it's open). No doubt there will be a lot of stuff about football since KU is number 2 in the nation and there is that Border War Football game at Arrowhead on Saturday night. It's great to be a Jayhawk!

We are also going to the Yale game the end of December. I am hoping that our friends G, K, K, and Z will be going to that game. Since we didn't take a summer vacation this year, the basketball games are making up for it. We will have to stand in line for autographs and pictures of the players. I hope my poor old body can stand it all! I love to eat pizza at the game and hear the Rock Chalk Chant and the other traditons. It just makes be want to be an alumnus of KU all the more. Maybe I should take ONE correspondence course and then I could say I was an alumnus! LOL!
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Please pray for my friend flute. She is facing an operation soon. Pray that she will have a sense of calmness about it.
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I just love "Dancing with the Stars." My family cannot stand it! My favorite celeb is Helio (a race car driver). He is the only guy celeb left in the competition. He is such a charmer! I just love his smile. My second favorite would have to be Mel B. Actually I like her partner, Makism a little more. He's a cutie too! It's great seeing Marie Osmond there and her brothers in the audience. They are all looking so old. Okay, its that age thing again. They are old and I am not. LOL!
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We still haven't told the inlaws we are going to L-town. Each time we have gone to L-town they tell us not to go. That's why I haven't volunteered any information about our whereabouts on T-giving. I hope the weather is good that day. Guess we could eat lunch at Boston Market in Capital City or some other place?? Just pray for us and good weather and pray that the inlaws undertand.

Testimony from Barry

Today at my church Barry B., was in attendance. This was the first time he was there since September 30th. That was the day that time stopped for him and his wife. He had suffered a heart attack and a stroke that day.

When announcing visitors at church, an elderly gentleman (my FIL) stood up and said something about Barry being back. Everyone clapped and stood on their feet (a standing ovation) for him to welcome him back. It was sure great to have him with us in church again. Of all the things that he went through it was INDEED a miracle!

Barry gave his testimony about his health condition. He said while he was in the coma he knew that God was with him. Barry knew that the Lord was in his room. He could almost touch Him as he was in the presence of God. He felt the peace of God with him. Barry felt a tremendous amount of peace because he knew God was so big. He was thankful for the congregation for the prayers that he felt and gave thanks to his wife, Darlene. Darlene also shared and was told Barry had a 10% chance to live. She held onto the phrase "He was 10% and growing." She was reminded that "nothing is impossible, when you have God."

The Lord has made Barry a living miracle. He will be able to tell his story to countless people in the near future. Welcome home Barry!

Wally World at (beef) Well-ing-ton

L and I hadn't been east of H town since May! We used to go to Arr town a lot as we had friends over there. But since then our friends broke up and one moved to W town and the other moved to Capital City. So we noticed the new housing development north of Arr town...I was impressed! We saw three nice looking new houses there and I thought I'm sure that S and J would want to move out there. NOT! It would be nice if H town would be able to build like that in the near future.

So we drove into (beef) Well-ing-ton and noticed that the old Sears store was vacated, along with the 2nd WM, and Taco Tico, but the Braums had grown. We drove past the KFC and the new high school, and there loomed WM.

It must have been H town day today as I saw at least 5 people not including me at the store. Thankfully the bags didn't break (LOL flute!) when we were there. The store is still relatively small as compared with W-town's WM's. But it is bigger than there previous locations, complete with a grocery section. Dillons better watch out because WM will give them plenty of competition! Plus, the service reps are REALLY nice.

If you are in the area check it out as it is not far from the turnpike.

KU Football 11-0/The Auction

Instead of writing two posts and considering the late hour that I am writing I am combining two posts.

How about those Jayhawks?? Now they are 11 wins and no losses. The last time they had a record this great was in the 19th Century....1899!! They beat the Iowa State "clones" 45-7! That was an interesting game. The commentators on TV stated that KU was the least penalized team. They made several penalties in this game. I really believe if they hadn't have had any penalties the score could have been 45-0. Todd Reesing was the player of the game and Kerry Meier took over in the 4th quarter as quarterback. He was quite good! Meier is a versatile player. Last year he was starting quarterback and this year he lost the job to Todd Reesing but still plays as a receiver and as backup quarterback.

So what will the poll pundints rate KU this week? My guess (probably everyone's guess) is number 2 because number 2 lost this past week. Now, KU needs to focus on the big game at KC on Saturday with rival Missouri. Missouri, who has one loss and who beat K-State at Manhattan today, is probably hungry for a win. KU needs to stay just as "hungry" and continue to stay focused as they have all season long.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!
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The Church Auction tonight was fun. It was a great way to contribute money for the building/kitchen fund. The auctioneer always cracks me up, BG. Great personality and good at his job. There were pies, peppernuts, assortments of breads and cookies, small quilts, dinner invitations, along with various items that the congregation brought. The items that got the most money was a dinner with TP for $90; and two quilt/wall hangings that brought in $110 and $270. I should have bidded on a smaller quilt, as it only went for $5.00 (more like my price range). I contributed a couple of crystal items and they went for pretty cheap (considering how much they were probably bought for). L made a miniature bench and I ended up buying it back for him (as it was going REALLY cheap). L gave the little bench to EG, as he had made a larger sized version a few years back.

I bought a tall angel with a dove in her hands. I think they called her a "Willow Angel." Then I bought a little wooden box and some notecards that flute made! Thanks Flute!!! I'm not sure how much the auction made for the building fund but hopefully the auction did well. We had approximately thirty-five or forty people there. We had a great time! I love those auctions! :)

Auction Items

Tomorrow my church is having an auction. L is make something special for the occasion. I found a game that we played once (Scene It Movie edition) and then some stuff that I got from my wedding of nearly 20 years ago.

I have no emotional attachments to these items that I found in the basement. I remember wrapping them carefully in newspaper. Today as I look through the items I find the old newspaper. It was like finding a time capsule of stuff. In one box there was a newspaper featuring the movies that were "new" in 1989. "Field of Dreams," one of my favorite movies. In another box I found a newspaper dated 1991, just before we moved to where we live now. The hot topics then: baseball manager Leo Durocher had past away and the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearing were going on.

Then I found a salad bowl set downstairs. Now even though I have never used that set, I cannot bear to part with it. It was given to me by a dear cousin who died a week after our wedding. I DO have emotional attachments to that particular item.

It's funny the kind of emotional attachments that we place on "things." I have A LOT of attachments down in my basement that I can't bear to part with. It could be clothes that S or J wore when they were babies, or stuffed animals that they played with and have their initials on, or toys. But sometimes you need to part with them because you run out of room to keep them and you just can't keep EVERYTHING. This is why we have garage sales. I've only held two in my lifetime. I suppose I should have more but it's hard to part with "things" because it reminds you of the people who held these toys next to their heart.
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My friend Flute is facing surgery next month. Pray for her. I'm sure she'll do okay. But prayer really does get you through your fears and concerns and helps the doctors do well.
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KU plays Iowa State tomorrow at 2:30. Hope that they do well tomorrow!

KU Basketball wins over Washburn

Above: Brandon Rush and Sherron Collins cracking up!!

It wasn't an easy win despite the score of 92-60. KU was missing Sherron Collins who is injured and on crutches after surgery on his foot. Collins, will be out until the first of the year. So Bill Self needed to find someone who could fill in for Collins, who was filling in for Brandon Rush. Starting was senior Rodrick Stewart. At a couple of times during the first few minutes the Icabods were leading KU. It was hard to watch the game when the 'Hawks were behind. They struggled at the free throw line and Sasha Kaun had two quick fouls.

Then coach Bill Self put in a substitution. The crowd was shouting loudly. It was Brandon Rush coming off of the bench. Nearly looking to be in his old form, he collected 7 points in the first half and had a steal which sparked the Jayhawks to do a turn around and they never were behind again.

In the second half, Sasha Kaun scored all 10 of his points and started playing more aggressively off the bench. Sitting down for a long time in the first half, gave him time to think how he wanted to play in the second half. It did him wonders.

One of the outstanding plays of the game came in the second half when Russell Robinson came up with a steal and passed it off to Rodrick Stewart, who did a one-handed dunk. It was perfect!

Freshmen Tyrell Reed (who looks like Kirk Hinrich) scored 8 points; Cole Aldrich (who resembles Greg Ostertag) played very well defensively for a big man; and Conner Teahan (who resembles Zac Efron, from "High School Musical," fame) came off the bench scoring two 3 pointers, and was perfect at the free-throw line. These three freshman is the future of Jayhawk basketball.

Scoring for the 'Hawks were Darrell Arthur with 14 points; Sasha Kaun, Mario Chalmers, and Darnell Jackson had 10 points; Rodrick Stewart scored 9 points; Russell Robinson and Tyrell Reed each scored 8 points; Brandon Rush and Conner Teahan had 7 points a piece; Cole Aldrich and Brennan Bechard each had 3 points; and rounding out the scoring was Jeremy Case with 2.

The Hawks still need to work on shooting at the free-throw line and not to make "silly" plays. This is still early in the season and they do have room to improve.

The next game....is Northern Arizona vs. KU on Wednesday....we will be there. Watch for us on TV! We will be that little spec of people in the student section!

KU football team is playing Iowa State on Saturday. Their final home game, senior day. Hopefully they can continue on their winning ways.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

Welcome Home Barry and Darlene

It has been 8 weeks to the day since I last saw Barry. He and Darlene prayed for me before I went into surgery. I came home 4 days later with no complications. Then one week and one day later everything was changed for Barry and Darlene.

September 30.

The company which L and Barry work for was holding a company picnic in Wichita. We couldn't go as I was still recovering from my operation. We got an email that night telling us that Barry was in W-Hospital after suffering a heart attack. We were in shock! How could this be? He looked so healthy and was giving us prayer a week before. Our thoughts and prayers went out to him and Darlene. I prayed and prayed that next day. I prayed that God would give him a miracle. (see blog on October 2).

God gave him a miracle. A miracle that he will probably tell the church in the near future.

November 14---6 1/2 weeks later. Barry is back home, thirty pounds lighter, and looking great!! Barry is a living miracle! L and I visited with them this evening. We made a meal for their return to Harper. It is so great to see them and have them back home.

Welcome Home Barry and Darlene!! :)

Ramblings..

Sherron Collins (of KU) is out with a fracture of his fifth metatarsal bone in his foot for 6 whole weeks!!! That's a long time. I know what that's like not being able to do much for 6 weeks. Well, we won't get to see Sherron play in a week, much less than the game we're planning on going to in December. So of course, S and J want us to get tickets for the KU-K-State game which also happens to be ESPN GameDay. I think THOSE tickets will be hard to come by. Brandon Rush could be ready to play by the December game, and since my name isn't Coach Self, I can't guarantee this information as correct. I can only hope that Brandon will be ready to play in December.
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J had to go to the dentist today to remove a baby tooth. The new permanent one had already started growing in and the baby tooth was in no hurry to leave his gums. We had such a long way and a lot of people were in the already small lobby. The appointment was scheduled at 11:30. He didn't get in until 12:00. By that time they were at least 7 people deep. The door opened and yet two other people came in, one woman in a wheelchair had to wait inside the office and the UPS guy came through with a load! The lobby was packed! Finally at 12:30 J comes up with a gauze where his tooth was and a little container for his pulled tooth. What a day!
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I was cleaning the microwave at the youth group room this afternoon. You know "The Cat in the Hat" story where the cat has this pink spot he tries to get rid of but then it spreads all over? This is how I feel about the microwave. It stinks. So I read up to get water in a dish with lemon and microwave it for 2 minutes. I do this. It still stinks. I'm thinking, okay, what about 7 minutes? I do this and oooh wee!! It REALLY stinks! I leave the area and find something to do upstairs for a little bit. I realize that I have to replace a trash bag down in that area. So I go back through the downstairs and get in the hallway before the big opening room and I SMELL the stench!! Why did I even MESS with this oven? I should have just left it alone. I'll have to check it tomorrow before youth group meets. I just wish that I had Little Cats t, u, v, w, x, y, z to help me and bring some VROOM to get rid of the smell.

I can't wait to smell it tomorrow!

Back to the Bugs

This is actually November?? The weather is cooler or will be. But in the basement of the church lurks spiders and wasps.

I encounted a huge spider this afternoon in an abandon classroom where I decided I should clean. It wasn't that furry spider up in flute's room, or a daddy long legs, it was your typical horrifying spider. I scream, "AGGH!" in the quiet church. I'm sure the pastor heard me but I think by now he's used to me screaming. So I take my trusty broom and foot and kick at it hoping my light weight vac can suck him up.

So I go to another abandon classroom. I sprinkle on the carpet cleaner and proceed to vacuum. Then I see something flying. It's a wasp. UGH!! I scream again!! I quickly get my stuff out of the room and move onto the next room.

Then I check another classroom with my broom and I see there's yet ANOTHER wasp. I do my vacuuming with all the time just staring at the little bugger. This time I didn't scream. I should be used to seeing wasps in this church. It's just hard to believe this is November and still seeing wasps. Welcome to my world as the custodian, it's just a typical day!

KU Football and Basketball

Speaking of KU sports the football team is currently number 4 in the AP and USA Today polls. They move up one spot as they were five last week. What must the team do to catch the attention of the football pundits? They have a perfect record of 10-0, yet they are under the Oklahoma Sooners. Is it because Oklahoma is known for their great football teams and KU isn't? OU isn't perfect. Their one loss came to the hands of Colorado. Is it because KU supposedly plays "fluff" teams? What part of perfect does these pollsters do not understand? If KU would have lost a game we probably wouldn't even be in the top 10. But on the bright side, KU is number 3 in the BCS standings which is a good deal. So the 'Hawks need to deal with Iowa State (the final home game for this season on Saturday) and Missouri (at Arrowhead the Saturday after Thanksgiving). Then the true test will be for the league championship against, OU. Mangino is probably telling his guys just look at the next game and nothing further. This is true. They need to concentrate on winning against Iowa State this coming Saturday. Good luck 'Hawks!
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The Men's Basketball team played against a very good UMKC Kangaroo team Sunday night. Jeremiah Hartsock and the rest of his teammates scored a few good three pointers. KU did end up winning over UMKC by a score of 85-62. Mario Chalmers (my favorite player) scored 23 points in the game, followed by Russell Robinson (S's favorite player) with 15 points. They are playing in the 1st annual Jayhawk Invitational tournament. The next game will be with the Washburn Icabods (I want to add Crane at the end of that) of Topeka, Kansas at AFH on Thursday. Then they will playing against Northern Arizona on Wednesday. That's the game we are going to. Watch the blog then!! :0)

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
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A very busy work week for me this coming week. Pray that I keep recovering. I still can feel tired at times, the pain from the incision, and vacuuming upstairs is somewhat a challenge. You don't realize how much you use your abdominal muscles when vacuuming (especially with a heavy industrial thing that I have). I currently cannot use that vac at all. A lot of activity going on at church a couple of meals, a couple of youth group meetings, and an auction on Saturday. Whew! I'm just tired out thinking about it all!

KU Football 10 and 0!!!

http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/songs/rockchalk.mp3
(Turn up your speakers to hear this! Flute, this one's for you!) :)

KU wins over Oklahoma State 43-28! Now, do the football pundits believe it? Number 1 Ohio State was knocked off today. The only two schools who are undefeated are Kansas and Hawaii (who has a late game tonight). Maybe KU will move up from number 4 to number 2 or dare we say number 1??? Wow!!

The game was televised on ABC. But I was less than thrilled to listen to the announcers. They were boring, always talking about other games, or to the guy whom the OSU stadium was named after. Who really cares?

So I retreated in the kitchen to listen to Bob Davis and David Lawrence on 98.7 FM radio. They call the game so exciting!! You feel like you are actually there. Bob Davis is so good at football and basketball and makes the radio broadcast so exciting. A lot of times when it's basketball I listen to the radio and watch the television. Unfortunately, there is a delay in the televison broadcast so you know what's going to happen before you see it. Tonight I just listened to the radio and watched the television to get the "replay."

KU has two more games left in their regular season. I cannot think beyond these two games as I am sure that's how the coaches are telling their players. Look at one game at a time. The next game is Iowa State at 11:30 AM in Lawrence (this is the time that is listed in the LJW paper). There are STILL tickets left for the game. If you are big football fans check it out online. Tickets will run you about $45.00 a seat. The Missouri game is sold out at Arrowhead in KC on Nov. 24th. Then after that they will probably play OU for the championship of the Big 12.

The KU weekend continues tomorrow night as KU basketball team takes on UMKC Kangaroos.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

http://www.ocsn.com/media_server/play.smil?school=big12&media_type=audio&content=http://mfile.akamai.com/9192/wma/cstv.download.akamai.com/9192/cso/big12/audio-big12-kan-fightsong.asx

Praise Report!

My friend Barry is coming back home on this Wednesday! The Lord has worked a miracle through him since he suffered a heart attack/stroke back in September (approximately 75 days ago).

He prayed for me just before I had my operation which was 7 1/2 weeks ago. Then eleven days later he had a heart attack/stroke. Things didn't look good at all for him. I went into prayer mode for him. I prayed that God would work a miracle through him. At that time I didn't know what his odds were for even living. They were quite poor. We wanted to visit him in Wichita a couple of times. One time he was in SICU and not doing great at all and then last week he was resting.

Barry did pull through and went to OLOL in east Wichita (a rehab hospital). PTL! He will have a story to tell all of us at PV Mennonite Church.

It will be great to see Barry back home soon. Welcome home!!

KU wins Big 107-78

Yes, this is a BASKETBALL score! :)

The first half of the game was not shown on the local CW channel. We were sooo upset! We started to call the station only to get busy signals. Everyone else who was expecting the game were calling as well. Instead of the game, we got WWF Smackdown. UGH!!! Trash TV at its worst!! It was AWFUL! We listened to the game via the FM radio station KFH. Thank goodness we had that to go to. Bob Davis and Chris Piper called it so well that we could picture the game in our minds. They call it so well that we wish we were there watching it in person. I got a call from flute who wondered when the game was starting. It had started but the CW channel programmers were apparently clueless. They were supposed to record Smackdown AFTER the game instead of going right into their network feed.

So at about 7:50 PM (1 minute left in the first half) the game appeared on the CW. I wonder what executive told whoever was in charge to get with it. If the station was having a problem, they sure didn't show it. Usually if they have a problem, they will run a feed down below and saying something like: "The KU-ULM game is having technical difficulties. We will be with the game as soon as possible." But they didn't. So I think that it was a human error...a BIG human error. The kind where you could lose your job over.

So we got to see the second half of the game. It was sweet! Darnell Jackson scored 21, Sherron Collins had 22, and freshman Tyrell Reed (who didn't play in the first half) scored 11. Cole Aldrich was great too. He is our future center. He's got great moves for a big man. The future of KU basketball looks promising. The present of KU basketball is now underway.

The next game for KU will beagainst the UMKC Kangaroos (what a mascot!) on Sunday at 7 pm.

Tomorrow is the big football game at Stillwater on ABC at 7 pm.

As always: ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!

KU and other ramblings

It's a three day KU weekend. Tonight the Men's Basketball team will be taking on ULM (University of Louisiana). Then tomorrow night the Football team will be playing the Oklahoma State Cowboys on ESPN. And finally on Sunday (which is rare to have a game then) night, the KU Basketball team will be playing the UMKC Kangaroos! The Hawks will play one more game next week before the game we go see them! I am excited about going to the game!! I WILL blog on that when we get back, be assured on that!
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You know you live in a small town when....you see the chief of police vacuuming city hall! I walked in today to the city building to drop off a biddy basketball application for J and there was DE, chief of police, vacuuming the floor. He's a nice friendly person. I am glad that I live in a small town, sometimes.
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Are they expecting snow in the next few days in H town? The Christmas decorations around the town are going up currently. They will be up from now until at least February or March depending on the weather no doubt. In rival K town they had their Christmas stuff up at least until March or April of one year. We would drive in on US 400 and there were the decorations waving in the wind. How long is too long to keep Christmas decorations up?
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I tried vacuuming in the church today with the big industrial vacuum cleaner. That thing is heavy!! Heavy since my operation that is. I started feeling a pull in my incision area and had to quit.

Maybe I can call the chief of the police to come on out to do the vacuuming at church! LOL! :)

Lucky Break

A week ago we went to J's orthodontist thinking he would get his herbst appliance off. He didn't. They said he wouldn't get it off until January, even though he had it for a year. I was thinking, whatever!

So about five days later, J broke the appliance. So I made an appointment for him to get it taken care of today. We made the 45 minute trip up and it took at least 10 minutes for the technician to tell us that he could get his herbst appliance off now.

Well, WHY didn't they tell us this LAST week? WHY did a week make the difference? We could have saved a trip up there with gas prices now at $3.09 a gallon. I guess we are now dealing with the "head technician." So she even moved up his appointment from January to December to get the braces removed.

I was so glad (this time) that J broke his herbst so that now he can get the braces off in December instead of January.

Now WHY couldn't they have told us this a week ago? I will never know.

Not a post about KU!

I had a professor whom I had at SC (the Presbyterian college). He was my advisor as I was a History major. He was also a Presbyterian pastor in a little town called Zenda. He was known for giving especially hard tests. This is probably how I learned to write lengthy and in detail. One time I remember taking a Civilization class one student fell asleep in his class. What a wrong move!! Dr. B saw this and did not like it AT ALL!! He told everyone to be quiet and then he took a book and threw it on the floor. This poor student (no thankfully it wasn't me) woke up startled as Dr. B told him that was the LAST time he would fall asleep in HIS class. I was scared!!

Then another time I can remember (in the same class) he wondered if we knew our roots and wondered how far back we could naming relatives. This one girl got up and went REALLY far back. I couldn't do that at that time. But I can now. I think that's how I got started on researching about my background. I know of my background somewhat more than I did back 30 some years ago. I also know my husband's family tree as well.

Then I remembered how Dr. B got us to really get involved in History. He would come into class dressed as someone else (not all the time) but some of the time. I remember this one time he came into class as a German guard. He played the part to the hilt! We would ask him questions and still take our notes. I'll never forget it. He was quite an entertaining professor.

One of the guys at college drew up a cartoon for our college newspaper. He drew up Dr. B perfectly!! Then he drew a whip in his hands. Yep, that was about right! Either you really liked him, you feared him, or you didn't like him. I liked him, he was a quirky man. He had a full beard and wore a turquoise ring. He liked the American Indian culture really well.

While I was in college he published a book based on his dissertation, "The Great Trek of the Russian Mennoties." I've got it somewhere in my house to this day. So yesterday I did a google search on Dr. B and found him on a 1-2 minute "You Tube video." It was interesting to see him and how he had aged. I sent this video to a friend of mine and she said that Dr. B had aged. And I said, "Well yeah, the last time we saw him, he was younger than what WE are now."

It's that aging thing again. Everyone else looks old and of course we all look the same...not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHOlxYVtkwY

KU Wins Again!

Darrell Arthur scored 20 points against Fort Hays State on Tuesday night. I had a picture of him but it didn't show up!!! Now the "regular" season begins on Friday when they play ULM (a Louisiana team) at Allen Fieldhouse. All home games are on TV here in are "neck of the woods."

We are counting down the days until we are in Larry town for the game. The kids are wanting to get the KU media guide so they can read all about their favorite (every one of the Jayhawks are their favorite) players. They also want a KU poster too. Then we are getting some pens for the players to sign for autographs after the game.

It's great to see the players up close and personal. Last year we even took pictures with S and the players. I think this year J will want his picture taken with at least one of the seniors. Last year, Russell Robinson had the flu so we didn't get to see him. But hopefully he will stay well for S to see him.

The KU Players are very nice to give autographs out to everyone who lines up along the tunnel to their dressing room. We were there pretty late after the game, yet the players were there signing every ones piece of paper, etc., and they were probably tired and wanting to get back to the dorm or whatever they do after the game. We saw the TV crew (Paul Splitorff and Dave Armstrong) on the floor while talking to our H town friends. Then we saw Chris Piper going down to the locker room after the game.

If you ever get to go to a game, be sure to line up early (like we did) so you can get a good seat. Sometimes people would straggle into the fieldhouse late and not get to sit together. Actually in the section we were in, we sat when there were timeouts and stood up during the game. Pretty tiring, but that was the only way to see the game. The fast food is good there and even the bathrooms weren't that busy during half time (they have a lot of stalls!).

I would love it if J could go to a Bill Self clinic in December or the summer camps but those things cost A LOT! (anyway, it's a lot to me).

See you at the Fieldhouse! And as always: ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!

KU Basketball Pic

Pictured above is Coach Bill Self and Brandon Rush.

KU is playing Tuesday and Friday this week. On Tuesday they are taking on Fort Hays State. I think this is their last exhibition game. At least when KU plays these smaller in-state schools its a win-win situation. The Division 2 schools get some money for playing against KU and KU gets to practice against sometimes some pretty good players. For example, on the Pittsburg State game there was a guy by the name of Abercombie. I remembered that name because I wanted to say "And Fitch."

I know that some of the Wichita State fans would love to see a match up between WSU and KU. It would be nice if that sort of game could be held in Wichita. I'm pretty sure that the game would be sold out. But for some reason KU and WSU will not play a game, unless it would just happen to be in a NCAA tournament game.

We have sixteen more days until we see the 'Hawks play in Lawrence. We are still hoping for good driving weather. Not sure where we will eat for Thanksgiving but this will be one different holiday for us. We can't wait to go up there and watch the team play! Hopefully we will see some of our friends from H town there like we did almost a year ago.

KU Number 5 in Football poll

With the impressive win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers yesterday, KU's football team is now rated 5 in the coach's poll and AP poll. There are only three undefeated teams in football: Hawaii, Ohio State, and KU!!

But yet when I listen to ESPN, I don't hear the praises of the KU football team so much. In fact one of the announcers listed his top 5 and KU wasn't among those teams. OU was on his top 5, but yet this team has one loss. But there again, OU is known as a football school and KU is known as a basketball team.

What does the KU football team have to do to impress the sports pundits? If they remain perfect over their next 3 opponents then they will catch their attention. Hopefully they can continue their winning ways.

Alumni

As much as I blog about the University of Kansas, the basketball team and the football team you would think I went there. I tell everyone that I bleed Crimson and Blue, in fact the two colleges that I did go to did have red and blue as school colors. But that's where the similiarily ends.

My brother was a graduate of KU. I wanted to go to a KU type school, if not KU itself. I don't know what changed my mind. Maybe I felt that I was not worthy enough. Or that I would be very homesick. Or that I would be a number rather than a name. I don't know what it was. Probably because of my ACT scores at that time. After taking that test they told me what was my chances of pulling a C or better at that particular time. The numbers didn't look all that good.

After high school I went to three different colleges. Juco (school colors were red and blue), then the E-State (for one semester) I hated it there. So I thought that I wouldn't make it over there at KU because I liked being near H town. At that time I liked someone. But I thinked he liked me more like a friend and I just didn't want that. So of course it didn't work out. Then I chose S college. I absoultely loved it. It was far different than most colleges. Smaller classes, nice profs, and most importantly I was a name and not a number. It was a good Christian based education.

So now I am Alumni of S college. But I just love KU. I've walked into KU bookstores and threaten the family that I'll buy a KU Alumni shirt. They frown at me and said, "You didn't graduate from there." Shucks, I tried. Too bad that they don't have a shirt that says, "KU Sister." But then S holds up the shirt that I'm looking forward to wearing "KU Mom." With any luck, I'll be a "KU Mom" for 8 straight years. I like the sound of that.

I am an expectant "KU Mom" starting in 2011 (that's only 3 more years!). WOW!

KU Wins 76-39 over Nebraska

Yes, this is a football score. Back in the 70's the two tough teams in the Big 8 were Nebraska and Oklahoma. Fast forward thirty plus years and they aren't doing so hot. At least, they didn't do too good today against KU.

KU continues to amaze the football pundits with a record of now 9 wins and no losses and impressive 5 wins in the Big 12 division. Yet, the critics still claim we have played "cupcake" teams (K-State must have been a cupcake team too). They think KU is not a contender. Well, think again. Quarterback Todd Reesing is leading the Jayhawks with his great passes.

Today we listened to the game on the radio as we were in W town shopping. We got to see some of the second quarter of the game at TGI Friday's sitting in the bar area. I asked the waiter if it was okay if the kids sat there and watched the games because of the bar. It was fine as we were in a booth and not around the bar, then there might have been a problem. We munched on potato skins and watched the football game in HD and wide screen. It was great fun!!

It was homecoming at KU and there was a sea of blue shirts in the football stands. We wished we were there to witness the victory.

KU's next opponent is Oklahoma State at Stillwater. Hmm, I wonder if we should make a trip down there and hang out at Eskimo Joe's? Probably not, the game is probably sold out. Hopefully KU will do well against the Cowboys next week. After that they will face a tough Iowa State and after Thanksgiving a trip to Arrowhead Stadium to meet the Mizzou Tigers. Three more games left on the KU schedule and hopefully they will continue their winning ways.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

KU Basketball wins in Exhibition game

KU played a Division 2 team, the Pittsburg State Gorillas. (their former name Kansas State Teacher's College of Pittsburg...that will age me again!). It was good to see KU's new freshman out on the floor and the seniors as well.

Sasha Kaun (for whom our cat is named after) has his curly locks. He looks good and strong. I likened him to "Sampson." Hopefully he won't cut his hair! :)

Cole Aldrich, from Minnesota, looked like he was ready to come off the bench and Tyrel Reed, from Burlington, Kansas, looked impressive to me. These two could be great backups to the already great lineup that Bill Self has assembled.

Coming back for the 'Hawks were: Sasha Kaun, Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, and Sherron Collins. I didn't even miss Brandon Rush (at this point, I can hear my kids say "Bite your tongue.") The 'Hawks are loaded with talent. Hopefully they will work on their passes and plays a little more and shape up into the "team mode."

Pre-season polls places the Jayhawks at 4 in the Nation. I think with all the talent they really have the potential of doing well in the NCAA tourney this year.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!

Skipping Thanksgiving

The Halloween season and commercials are past us as of November 1st. Now let the Christmas music and Holiday season officially begin. I just heard Christmas music as I was waking up this morning. Welcome to the sound of "Jingle Bells" from now until December 25th! I don't know about you, but I could wait upon hearing Christmas until after Thanksgiving!

Why isn't there any Thanksgiving music out there? Well, sure there's the traditional "We Gather together," but are there other songs out there. Why couldn't there be a new song such as "As The turkey lurkey dodges Mr. Farmer," or "The hills are alive with the Gobble gobble gobble." Or "I'm dreaming of some red cranberries?" (Not really, just an example).

Nope, nothing about Thanksgiving. There's Halloween and lets jump right over Thanksgiving right into Christmas. Often times I think that retailers (and they technically already have) skipped Halloween into Christmas retail. Although the Halloween costumes and decorations are a big seller. Right after Christmas decorations goes down here comes Easter and then right in June or July (depending what part of the country you live in) it's school supplies time.

What am I doing Thanksgiving? For the first time, I'm skipping Thanksgiving and will be on the road from Larry Town the night before to see my beloved KU Jayhawks Men's Basketball team play. So I'm just as guilty as the retailers for skipping Thanksgiving.