Congrats.

To Sean on winning the Superbowl in the Doodles league. Good work, buddy.

I should take pictures of the snow piles here. It makes the KC white christmas look SORRY. And they won't be going anywhere, as we will be ringing in the new year with a low of -15, and a low of -25 later this weekend.

Well, it's been a helluva 2009. I particularly enjoyed the part where I married Paul because he's the bestest. He is being a wonderful househusband this week while I am at work - cleaning, cooking, doing the shopping. I still won't let him near my laundry though. But he is such a good grocery shopper that I am trying to make this his job.

We are having some friends over tonight, so we'll be safe and sound in our basement. Everyone else be safe, call cabs if necessary, etc etc. Happy New Year!

Posterization.

15 seconds that you'll be glad you took out of your day, compliments of Marcus Morris.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiOAN1MoBos

The Forecast.

100% chance of a White Christmas here in Minnesota. We've got a solid 8 inches on the ground (and it ain't melting with lows below zero), and more coming Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...

I am carefully monitering the forecast so as to plan my trip south accordingly. All of the presents are wrapped and packed and ready to go. I have the Dady & Garner holiday party tonight. I was the official party planner this year, so let's hope that everyone has a good time. Otherwise, they'll come bitching at me. Luckily, my budget included an open bar, so that should help.

Tomorrow we have Paul's family for Christmas at our house. It's going to be insane, a true exercise in domestication. I think there are going to be 20 people or so. I am little nervous. Paul is going to clean tomorrow and I am going to get the food together. Not too much cooking involved, and hopefully some people will bring some stuff. That's the plan, anyway.

Alright all, weather permitting, we'll be on the road on Wednesday morning. Charlie Brown is excited to see you all. He wants to give you all hugs and kisses.

Welcome to the Family!

Follow Up.

I also just purchased Now That's What I Call Christmas Vol. 1 (a double disk) on amazon. Cross your fingers that it arrives on time for me to jam it all the way to Kansas on the 23rd.

Mom, can you go over to Kevin's and take pictures of his puppy and put them on the blog, or email them to me and I will put the on the blog? I hear that Kev named the sweet baby "Rampage." Personally, I liked Mario.

Bakefest.

So I am going to take Operation Domestication to the next level this weekend and engage in some serious Christmas cookie baking. I am trying to decide what to make. So far, I have decided that I will def. make M&M cookies because they are good. PD wants me to make the peanut butter ones with the chocolate kiss in the middle, so I guess I will do those as well. I am considering spritz, but I need the cookie gun, and that kinda intimidates me. Of course, I will whip up some chex mix, with cheerios and peanuts and pretzels. Yummers. If there is anything left, I will bring it home with me. Yay! Almost Xmas!

Birthday Party!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, family! I heard from all of you, so that was nice. I went out to a birthday dinner alst night with Andy, Sean, and Brittnee and it was really fun. Tomorrow night a bunch of my friends and I are going to the bars, I'm really excited, there will be a lot of people that I work with and other friends all together so it will be fun. Thanks to everyone for calling! It was really fun to hear from everyone and get to see Sean on my bday :)

Here we go.

I believe that all the Kellermans (except maybe Danny) are about to get a taste of some winter. We're looking at a solid 6-9 inches, winds at 40 mph, lows below zero and wind chills way below zero. NOT happy. But I must say, I am glad it waited until after this past weekend, or that would have been a helluva drive.

It was nice to see all the fam this weekend, despite the somber occassion. I say we continue to celebration of Grandma K's life through the Xmas season.

Grandma H provided Paul and I with quite the Holiday decoration: a giant Snoopy in a Santa suit. And I mean GIANT. It's sitting on the couch in our family room. Charlie Brown (the dog) is afraid of it. He likes to sit by the couch and bark at it. I love it. It is very festive, and fun to cuddle with.

Anyway, I am almost finished with my Xmas shopping, and hope that you all can say the same. Except for pd. I have not gotten him anything. Argg.

Tis the Season of Heating Up Cars

Well, it's probably going to happen this week. I am going to have to start heating up my car every morning, probably for the next three or four months. Not cool. I really enjoy not having to do that.

It sounds like you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I hear Katie got domesticated, apple pie style. Only 8 more days of illegality, my dear. Congrats, you made it.

DK, how was your birthday? Did the Jayhawks ruin it with their sad loss to Mizzou? I watched most of that game, and enjoyed the first half - and then they blew it. Uggg. Basketball. Right?

Our Thanksgiving was pretty calm. We spent a lot of time with Paul's brother and sister in law, Mike and Heather, because they were in town from Duluth and we don't know if we will see them over Xmas. We made not one, but two appearances at Grumpy's. (Mom and Dad, Jess says hi and she missed you.) I worked on my general domesticated and tried to sew and knit some stuff. It's pretty fun. I successfully (kinda) sewed pleats into a bag, and made pockets. I like the sewing machine.

PD is excited for his first participation in the name exchange. I hope he can pull it off. I am ready for Christmas. I am taking Wed-Mon off work, so that should be nice. Right now, I am suffering from a bit of a cold, but I guess that is good - get it out of my system between the holidays, right?

Well, sorry for the somewhat boring post. OH YEAH I hung xmas lights on a bush outside my house. It is sweet. And we put our tree up. And I want to buy more xmas decorations, so I think that I am going to go to Target over lunch and do just that. Fun!

Happy Holidays to all. C. Brown says hi. He's adorable and can't wait to see you all at xmas.

Tis the Season of Giving Thanks

So - Thanksgiving has passed, and so I guess the next national holiday would be...December 9th. The birth of Kathleen Elizabeth Kellerman, 21 years prior. WOOHOO!

I'm super excited about my birthday, I got really cool gifts from mom and dad - and I got a little of my Christmas shopping done with dad on Saturday! I'm super excited to have everyone home again for the holidays, I love Christmas!

Mary - sorry you missed the giving of thanks, I ate extra sweet potatoes for you. And you didn't get to experience my apple pie, but maybe I'll make one for Christmas.

Danny - I hope you had a good birthday - sorry the Hawks couldn't deliver a victory - a safety?! REALLY MISSOURI!?!? I mean come on...

Kevin and Andrew - I had fun hangin out with you guy this weekend, I'll see you on Christmas - good luck with work and stuff during the holiday season!

Sean - see you in like....I dunno - a couple hours.

Mom and dad - Thank you SO much for all you did for us this weekend. I LOVE my birthday gifts and I had a lot of fun putting up the christmas lights and tree. Dinner was AMAZINGLY delicious and spending time iwth you two is always my favorite part of the holiday!

Family - LOVE YOU ALL. Everyone stay happy and healthy! UPDATE THE BLOG!!!!!!!!!! I like to know what you are doing instead of just boring you with me doing nothing...soooo ya.

Soccer?

As you all probably know, we are in the midst of the 2009 NCAA Soccer tournament. Drake, who had never won a tournament game beat Western Illinois in the first round, then advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 1-0 victory @ #4 Ohio State. Pretty big deal. Next game is Sunday Nov. 29th vs. Boston College. If they pull off another win, the following rounds are actually televised!

Hawks Basketball

Hawks Basketball rules all.

(Shhh... the KU Women's team is #19 in the Nation also...)

Rock Chalk Championship.

I'm excited for break!!!

He's Baaaack!!

BEST POST EVER - goes to Papa K.

I'm so excited to go home for Thanksgiving, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to because of the good Old Chicago, but I got my shifts covered luckily! School is finally starting to slow down after a few CRAZY weeks, but it is luckily getting better - this break will not come a moment too soon!

I'm glad to hear that everything went well in St. Louis and in Minnesota! (well, except for Mary's singing which we all know isn't that pleasant!) Haha! And its great to hear that mom and dad are finally getting to enjoy the life they deserve and travel!! You go, parents!!

I'm super excited for Christmas when everyone will be home - I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!! :)

Anyway, not much going on here, heading home on Wednesday night all the way to Sunday! Hawks basketball is legit, Hawks football - not so legit. And what is the deal with Mangino!? Is he gonna get fired?? Vote?

ANYWAY!

Rock Chalk, love you all! Can't wait to see everyone!

I'm Baaaaaaccccckkkkk!!!

Well I know it has been way too long since I blogged but there are many excuses that I won't bore you with today. I've read through the recent posts and have some comments and questions:

1) Mary, you should reconsider your choice of surgeons next time you have a root canal. You do know that your regular dentist is not qualified to do the RC, right? I'm sure it was not near as painful as our having to listen to your kareoke (however you spell it).

2) Katie - what the hell is a dichotomous??? I've never done fishing for ethics -- is it tasty?

3) Grienke is a stud - I saved the special in the paper for you Sean

4) Kev - thanks for returning my rakes. Oh, I guess I can just tell you at Thanksgiving

5) I guess we are definitely back to "just wait until basketball season". The game at Arrowhead is going to be less than exciting and after that, Mangenius is done!! Let's have a pool on who our next coach will be. Charley Weiss will certainly be available but hopefully we don't stoop that low.

6)Sean - BB season at the Phog is what you have been waiting to experience for a long time. I know it is worth it, especially with such a talented team. By the way, have you talked to Bob yet? If Greg Gurley and do sports announcing, then you are a shoe-in!! By the way, Greg Gurley's daughter is in the same class as Carloine -- maybe she could introduce you.

Enough about the previously crafted information. Now it's time for my update. Mom and I have been very busy as you can imagine. We did have a great trip to St. Louis to visit Danny and Brigid althought the time went way too fast. Lesson learned -- do not go to Wal-Mart on Halloween. It is packed, they were none too friendly and shut down my line right when it was our turn (all I wanted was some tums). We met Brigid's parents at dinner on Saturday night and had a really nice time (by the way, Danny paid so others should follow suit). Two weeks after St. Louis, we went to the great north to visit Mary and Paul and also had a great time. Lesson learned -- "Take a chance on me" is not a good kareoke song for Mary to sing. We all met up with Bobbie and Tim and Chad and Laurie for dinner on Friday night and had a great visit. I was disappointed that there was no snow for us to enjoy but I'm sure we will all get some this year.

Work has been really busy with year end sales push, establishing budgets for 2010 and 2011. Although the economy is bad, HNTB is expecting record setting year for sales, revenues and earnings in 2009. The preliminary numbers for employee shareholders is a 61% increase in stock value. Woohoo, I may get to retire some day after all!! Mom has also been staying very busy and has a pretty set schedule of babysitting and working at the Tree where, as we all know, she is a superstar!

Sean, I played poker up at Mike Fitz's on Friday -- 3rd place again!! Mike won and Vince took 2nd place -- he was almost strategic, which is very surprising as you know. Connor was there and I found out that he bailed on KU at the last minute and ended up at Northwest Missouri State. Probably a better choice for him. No wonder you have not seen him on campus.

Mom and I have a few trips planned over the next few months -- man this empty nest deal is kind of cool. We are going to New Orleans from December 1o through 13th for the HNTB Louisiana Christmas party. Flanagan's are going too so it should be fun. Then at the end of January, we will be going to Amelia Island Florida for the HNTB officer's meeting. The weather is not all that great in January, but the place is beautiful. Finally, we are going to go to Las Vegas with Pat and Lisa Ryan from March 17th through the 22nd. You might note that this is the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Pat and I will be placing some very strategic bets on games and spending quality time in the sportsbook at the Mirage and expect that Lisa and mom will enjoy the pool and some gambling excitement too.

We are really looking forward to the holidays and having everyone home. Will miss Mary and Paul at Thanksgiving but look forward to seeing them at Christmas. Everyone stay healthy and safe!!

Love you all,
Dad

things that horrify me

1. having to get a root canal
2. having complications from said root canal that cause serious pain
3. remembering that i attempted to sing karaoke to "take a chance on me"
4. seeing people in north carolina gear
5. not getting to see the surprising close kansas/memphis game

GREINKE EARNS AL CY YOUNG

Kansas City Royals All-Star starting pitcher Zack Greinke was awarded with the American League Cy Young Award on Tuesday, the award given to the best pitcher in the American League.

The Royals finished with a disappointing 65-97 record and tied for last place finish in the American League Central division in 2009, but the performance of their ace pitcher provided for a great spark of excitement in the Kansas City area.

Greinke finished the year with a 16-8 record and a miniscule 2.16 ERA. He earned 25 of the possible 28 first-place votes. The other pitchers receiving first-place votes were the Seattle Mariners' Felix Hernandez (2) and the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander (1).

From kcroyals.com:

"Zack Greinke has always been a potentially tremendous talent and we were all fortunate to watch him perform this past year," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "He was everything that he and all of us expected him someday to be."

Greinke, 26, became the third Cy Young winner in club history. Bret Saberhagen won in 1985 and 1989, and David Cone won in 1994.

Zack is set to get married to his long time girlfriend this coming Saturday.

You do work, Zack.

BIRTHDAY PARTAY

WOOHOO Go Mary!!

Happy Birthday to the Queen of DesCombazes (WTF is DesCombaz plural??)

ANYWAY - we love you sis and happy birthday!

Bloggin' Birthdays

MARY IS 29!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I just talked to her and she said to celebrate, she was going to take us all out to jackstack and pick up the tab!

Hawks

Ouch

Root Canals cannot be fun. What happened? Not taking care of your teeth?

Jayhawks look pretty awesome in the first two exhibition games. They all seem awfully confident this year. It would be nice to relive 2008. Rock Chalk!

My dentist and his drill like to party on my teeth.

And now I have to get a ROOT CANAL. I am in incredible pain. This is not good. And the root canal is not even until next week, so I am just going to have to suffer through it.

Updating My Blog.

Whenever something big happens, I like to update my blog. Like the time that Kevin signed on to the blog. He still hasn't posted, but hey, you take what you can get, right?

Well, I will start my post with an update on the weather (because I know you guys care) and my domestication. It's really nice today, but that doesn't really matter to me because I am stuck in the great ranch on the sky (aka my ofice; those of you who have been here know what I am taking about). However, it is supposed to be sunny and 60 again tomorrow, so I think I am going to try to mow over the leaves and dog poop in my backyard in my attempt to make it look respectable. The problem is that I recently learned that garage door openers take batteries, and my battery is dead. Therefore, I have been unable to access the lawn mower. So first I have to go to Target and get a battery. While there, I might pick up a rake. Haven't decided yet.

So yeah, home ownership, sometimes not so cool.

Sean and Kate seem to be doing well, or at least still being gross on Facebook. I might have to close down my facebook because I have become violently ill as a result of their mushiness too many times.

C. Brown and Mouse are also doing well. C. Brown was recently named Best Pog in the World. Yup. Pretty awesome. When he heard that he won the award, he just started pogging out like a maniac. It was great. He loves tennis balls that squeak, destroying stuff, and destroying tennis balls that squeak. So if you are looking to get him an xmas present...he's easy to shop for. He also likes dog treats and whatever meat Papa K is cooking or slicing at any given time.

Agreed

I agree with Danny... I will also be at the football game at arrowhead, and I assume I'll be there at 8:00am cause at this point KU-MU doesn't sound like Prime Time. I'm going with 4 other people, so we should figure it out to all tailgate together.

Thank god for basketball...

Because the football team blows and now I have wasted $60 on a ticket to see them. Not only that, I wasted $60 on a ticket to a Chiefs game. Wow. Talk about not thinking. I'll be back in K.C. for Thanksgiving - although I don't know what time or day I will be getting in... Hope to see everyone there. Mary - I assume you aren't coming, correct?

Hopefully the basketball team comes out firing tonight!

Kansas tops preseason hoops coaches' poll

Kansas tops preseason hoops coaches' poll

Posted using ShareThis

BTW

By the way -

How have none of my brothers or my sister posted about the embarrassing performance of Todd Reesing this past weekend?

Busy Week

So, this week is going to be one of the hardest that I've had in a while. I missed the last couple days of school last week because of my illness, so I'm attempting to catch up with everything now. Sean came over tonight and we went to Chipotle and hung out for a while - by that, I mean we literally sat on the couch and did homework for 3 hours. I'm still doing homework, Sean went home though. This week I have:
-Two chapters of Child Development due with matching, study questions, journals, and multiple choice questions.
-A dichotomous key for both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.
-A multiple page microbiology formal lab write-up.
-A make-up fishbowl for my ethics class.
-Make-up a microbiology lab.
-A microbiology lab test on Thursday.
-Work on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

That is all I can remember for now, but it is a busy one. I hope you are all having good weeks, on the up-side, I'm feeling much better, and obviously back to school.
Oh well, that's what school is! Work, work, work!

Love you all,
Katie

Pigs like to Party

So, I went to the doctor today after being sick for a while, and I expected them to say that I have bronchitis, but apparently I have either a bad sinus infection, or an "H1N1 infection." Because apparently some people just get the cold part of the swine flu. Either way, I haven't had a fever this whole time, so thats good.

I've been doing a lot of sitting around, its getting kind of boring. The Hawks put up a sad fight today, it was tough to watch, but I watched it anyway. We'll get them next time...hopefully.

Anyway, I'm only writing this because Mary told me to, but there really isn't that much going on, so I wont make you guys read anymore.

Love ya,
Katie

Flu Shots

Great work Katie and Sean, I am still working on mom and dad to get their flu shots especially because it is indicated by the CDC for the following reasons: Anyone who wants to prevent the spread of the flu to friends and family... If that doesn't get you then it is also indicated for anyone over 50, as well as anyone who smokes especially since they are at higher risk of it developing into a serious pneumonia. Anyways to update everyone, today we had new guys in the CVICU today. This one had to have half of his lungs removed because he got lung cancer from smoking. Yes, lung removal fits into open heart surgery because they have to crack open your chest and, man, do those wounds look painful when they have them stapled back up. Just thought I would update everyone... no underlying thoughts here or anything. Have a lovely weekend!

P.S. They saw through the bone.

Sorry, Sean.

"Country Hits to Check Out" does not qualify as a post. It would be like if I wrote a post called "Why the Vikings are Better than the Chefs." It would not count as a post. However, your two other posts were quite legitimate and appreciated, by myself and the Princess at least, I don't know if anyone else reads the blog.

Charlie Brown says hi. He ripped his dewclaw so he's been kind of a sad pup, but he'll snap out of it. He just got a really awesome new dog bed for costco (DK - they have awesome ones there for $20. They are indestructible. You just need to make friends with someone with a Costco card).

Keepin' the Blog Alive...

So it's been a busy week here in Lawrence, well, not really. Fall break is over and it is back to school until Thanksgiving. Ugh. Everyone is getting sick, I got my flu shot today, but Andy had the flu this weekend and Brittnee had it a couple weeks ago, so I am taking Airbourne 3 times a day and my multi vitamins and hoping I can avoid it.

Mary - I think that a Jayhawk would be the only acceptable costume for said party.

I don't really have much going on, I just thought I'd write a little bit since no one else does (with the exception of Mrs. DesCombaz).

Well, off to class.

Canada likes to party.

So, I am back from Canada as of Saturday afternoon, which is a good thing because someone needs to keep this little blog running, right? Canada sure did like to party, as do franchise lawyers. I was pretty sick of being surrounded by 700 franchise lawyers by the third day of it, but oh well. I did not have to pay for a single drink all week, so that was cool.

On Saturday we went to a wedding that was not nearly as good as mine. No surprise, I am sure. We left at about 9:30, as I need more recovery from the Toronto trip. (FYI, no fishing in Toronto, but it is an awesome city and I want to go back).

Now, life goes on in fear of the snow. Things are relatively quiet for the next few weeks, which is good, as I am swamped at work. PD is busy with school and work. We need to get a mini fridge and cable back pronto, aka before basketball season starts. Very important. We are going to see Norm MacDonald do stand up on Saturday, and that is about all we have going on. We are going to a Halloween party and I need a costume idea, suggestions are welcome.

Hope all is well in the lower midwest. Check in on the Blog. Come on, Kevie, I am waiting....

Wild At Heart

(See previous 2 posts)

So besides listening to country music and getting pumped for basketball season, I wanted to give everyone somewhat of an update on what else going on with me.

First of all, yes, Mary, the hawks are good at football too.

We're ranked in the top 20, but have not been playing up to that standard recently. Yes, we're 5-0 (1-0 in Big 12), one of only 6 undefeated teams in the nation, but our defense gave up 36 points and 500 yards to an Iowa State team that went 2-10(0-8 in Big 12) last season. Ouch. Anyway, we have Colorado on Saturday in Boulder, at 6:00 on ESPN, I believe. I'll be going on ahead and watching that. Unless our defense steps it up, it'll be tough to get past Colorado, let alone Oklahoma on the 24th in Lawrence. We'll step it up though.

Anyway, life is good. I'm getting used to not having any money/trying to not spend it all, though it does suck sometimes. Today is the first official day of Fall Break, as I'm free for a few days since my classes ended at 3. Like KT said, we've been going out and having dinner together once in a while... and/or I'll go over there and do homework/laundry.

We'll be going home for JP's Mass tomorrow t 4:00. I have a list of things I want to accomplish while home, such as getting some money from the bank so I can buy some clothes, bringing some warm clothes (high has been around 45-50 in L-town this whole past week), and of course seeing mom and dad, who I obviously miss a lot. It'll be good to spend some time with them. Then they take off, as I think they're going to the Lake on Friday morning??? Not sure.

Kate came to L-town last weekend, and we celebrated our 6 months of going out. I got her some Kappa Alpha Theta gear (refrigerator magnets, traveler's coffee mug, bulletin board) and a framed picture of us. It was my favorite weekend in L-town so far, obviously, as I was able to have Kate and all my friends in the room at the same time. I've met a lot of friends at KU, and I've been having a lot of fun overall.

My classes are tough obviously, especially Spanish and Biology, but I think I actually have an A in Spanish and a B in Bio, so I'm doing well.

Highlights of last weekend include Kate giving me a CD of a bunch of country songs that I and her both love, and she ordered them in a really thoughtful way. Most of you know about my encounter with one of the Kansas Men's Basketball players, Sherron Collins, in the concourses of the KU/Duke football game. I went on ahead and got a picture with him, before proceeding to get one with T-Baby Taylor and Tyrel Reed also. If your not familiar, you should totally check out the pictures on Facebook. Anyway, I bring it up because I can't get the guy (Sherron) away from me. Kate and I went to Longhorn for dinner on Saturday night, and he decided to also go ahead and go to Longhorn that night, at PRECISELY the time that I go, and conveniently find a spot right next to us. I mean, I don't blame the guy, but if he wants my autograph or something, he just needs to ask.

So anyway, the weekend was great with Kate, I already miss her and now, with the exception of tomorrow, I'll be chilling in the dorms over Fall Break. Almost everyone on my floor is going home for the weekend, but one of my good friends Meaghan, and another of my friends, Gabrielle, should be around this weekend, so I'm sure we'll find stuff to do.

Hawks on Saturday! 6 P.M. ESPN.

Rock Chalk and I'm excited to see you all soon.

Late Night in the Phreakin' Phog

(See previous post)

Just wanted to go on ahead and remind everyone that Friday is Late Night, the first official step in Rock Chalk Championship 2010.

Faces that will be seen will include some of the following Men's Basketball Players for the University of Kansas:

• G Sherron (Can't get away from Sean) Collins
• G Tyshawn (T-Baby) Taylor
• C Cole (I eat Hansbrough) Aldrich

Accompanying those three semi-decent players of basketball include the following freshmen:

• G Elijah (Dr. E.) Johnson
• F Xavier (X) Henry (That's Zah-Vee-Ay)
• F Thomas (The Next DJ) Robinson

You also have the following returning players:

• Marcus Morris
• Markieff Morris
• Travis Releford
• Mario Little

Among others.

The Coach of the basketball Jayhawks is the following:

• Bill Self

So anyway, we're going to win the title, and Friday will be Step 1.

Country Hits to Check Out

Here's some New Country Hits for Everyone to Check Out (Purchase/Youtube)

• "Do I" by Luke Bryan
• "History in the Making" by Darius Rucker
• "Toes" by Zac Brown Band
• "Fifteen" by Taylor Swift
• "Only You Can Love Me This Way" by Keith Urban
• "Big Green Tractor" by Jason Aldean
• "Why" by Rascal Flatts
• "Cowboy Casanova" by Carrie Underwood
• "I'm Alive" by Kenny Chesney Feat. Dave Matthews

One more thing.

Is perhaps the reason that Danny is now refusing to blog the fact that the Rammies got stomped by Mr. Favre and the Vikes?

Responses to Katie's Blog.

I will address as many topics as I can remember.

I am leaving for Ca-nah-dee-ah in a couple of hours. Flying to Toronto. I will not be fishing; I will be learning about franchise law and schmoozing (over free booze, otherwise known as boozing) with other franchise lawyer types. I will NOT be allowed to use my Crackberry and will therefore go through withdraw. If you need me, efax (read: email) or facebook me. The pog and pd are going to miss me very much. I will be at the the Westin Harbour Castle, which is a fancy hotel for people who are kind of a big deal (like myself).

Katie, I want another pair of sweat pants, no elastic at the bottom, prob. XL, what's the discount? Maybe pick some up for me and I will pay you back? Also, can you still find National Championship gear? I do not have a shirt that I am happy with. Otherwise, the DesCombaz household is sitting pretty with the necessary gear for the upcoming season.

Sean, I hope you cheered for Nebraska in the game last Thursday. I am afraid that your precious little lady friend might taint you.

Whoever's name I get better like knitted goods, ahahahahahaha.

Also, is PD part of the xmas name drawing now? I mean, ya'll were drunkenly calling him brother at the wedding...I think that he should be in.

C. Brown can't wait to see you all at Xmas.

Nonsense

Alright folks, have you all given up on the blog?? I quite enjoy the blog, it is saddening to know that I have no idea what you all are doing.

Mary is going to Canada?
-She didn't blog that

I want to get a Crackberry.
-Thoughts on this matter?

In my Microbiology class I took a quiz on Friday, midterm on Monday, and lab quiz today.
-What is the world coming to?

Midterms are almost over, I am going home with Sean on Thursday for John Powell's service.
-Shoot Megan and/or Lakin a text and/or facebook message on that day.

The Hawks scored a bunch of touchdowns during the last game, so I am heading from my Child Development class to the bookstore to look at what I can get for a good price which it's hot. If I see anything that any of you will like for Christmas, I will buy it and strategically get your name in the drawing. :)

Well, I'm off. Have a wonderful week you non-bloggers, you.

Just a Quick Post

To let you all know that we officially have our first snow, should be adding up to 2-4 inches by the end of the day.

P.s. If anyone is looking to get me a bday present, I need new snow boots.

Kate and I like to Party.

I'm like 7 or 8 posts behind in the Blog (haven't had time to read the girls' nonsense), but I thought you all would enjoy this:

No. 16 likes to Party???

No worries, DK, Brent is not my fav Vikings player. After watching the game on Monday night (aka my first as a Vikings fan), I have settled on Jared Allen as my fav Vike. Why, you ask? Well, it's simple: because he's a big fat white guy who had a bazillion sacks, he used to be a chef, and, most importantly, he sports the "Wisconsin Waterfall" haircut (a look that I recommend for Kevie). I am looking for a picture to post.

By the way, speaking of my new alligence to Minnesota sports (which extends to only professional sports and not college sports), how 'bout that Twinkies game on Tuesday? So much fun to watch. Hope they can pull it out against the Yankees.

Ok, but I have been out of the loop for Kansas football, being that we have not gotten any games on TV up here, but I just checked the standings and was amazed to see that we are No. 16. So awesome! And, Mama & Papa K will be making the trip up to Minnesota on November 14th to watch us take on Nebraska at Tiff's. Good stuff.

I refuse to post...

Until Mary stops cheering for the Vikings. Brett Favre is a disgrace to football and humankind. I hope someone tears his labrum (that would be in the shoulder) and he has to go through intese rehab and is never able to throw a football again. Sorry to sound mean, but pre-madonna's are the worst thing in sports. (see Chase Daniel).

Vegas.... Not again?!

So since Mary is bugging us all, I will give a quick update on what I have been doing that is preventing me from blogging: Reading all the other blogs. No, but really, I have been super busy at the hospital. I just finished a project in which I gave a 25 minute presentation to about 20 pharmacists who are way smarter than me but it went really well. Now, I have started my second rotation in the CardioVascular ICU. In two days I have seen a bronchoscopy and TEE. Feel free to wikipedia those.

The chiefs of course have been somewhat disappointing but I am optimistic we will get a dub-ya in the next 5 weeks if not more than one. Just to keep everyone informed, I am currently dominating the family fantasy football league known as The Doodles League. After I take care of uncle Matt this weekend, I will still be the only undefeated team.

Katie and Sean have been in town once or twice each sine I've been around so it was nice to see them. I got to see Kevin at the royals game last weekend for their last home series. Other than that, I am basically learning all I can each day as I push towards graduation in May.

Oh yea, the American Society of Health-system Pharmacists has a yearly meeting that displays all the residencies for the following year. I just booked a hotel and registered for it. Just need to get my flight.... to Vegas... I mean its not my fault they are having it there. Treasure Island will be a nice place to stay considering last time I went I stayed at the Imperial Palace.

I will in fact be back for Thanksgiving considering the KU-MU game is the following saturday. Hope to see everyone then, if not before.

Andrew

Apparently, Only Mary and Katie Like to Party.

The level of blog participation recently is subpar. Pick it up, people. Sorry, gotta make this one short as I need to get back to (1) drafting this complaint; and (2) bugging Sean and Kate on facebook.

But FYI, it went from highs in the 80's here to highs in the LOW 50's (if that) in about one day, we got no 60 degree days, we need to turn on the heat because it gets to freezing a night already, but we haven't even got the window units out. Sadness.

BIG GAME tonight for us Northerners/Vikings fans. Rock Chalk Brent Favor!

Big game for the Twinkies tomorrow, thanks to the Royals not-so-stellar performance in the dome this weekend. Go Twinkies!

I can't believe that all my Go Vikings comments have failed to result in a post from Kevie. Sadness. Maybe I am losing my ability to bug people?

In case you were confused, I typed this up for all of you:

Morning Brew: Facebook Statuses Translated
By: Alex Beecher, University Daily Kansan, Tuesday, September 29, 2009

"Kansas sports has spent an inordinate amount of time in the headlines this past week. I don't think I need to tell you why. But despite the rampant coverage, people still have questions. 'How could this have been pre-empted?' they ask. 'Surely there must have been signs we missed.'

Indeed there were signs. Most notably, Tyshawn Taylor's facebook stauses ought to have served as red flags. Unfortunately, not many are fluent in 'G' around these parts. But, as anoted connoisseur of the thug life, 'G' is a language with which I am quite familiar. So, I've devoted this past week to translating Taylor's stauses, so the picture might become more clear to everyone else."

***Katie's note: Keep in mind family, this is a really, really small goofy looking guy, which adds a comical twist to this article.***

"Taylor: keep my name out ya' mouth for you get smacked in it
Translation: Do not speak ill of me, sir. Should you fail to comply, I will be forced to respond with violence.

Taylor: never get outta character .. I'm always a G about it
Translation: In my actions, I am a consistent gentleman. Thus you can be assured that I always act with intergrity.

Taylor: n****s be muggin me - you know I'm muggin back
Translation: It has often been said that ciolence does no more than breed further violence. I must confess taht I find truth in that. For, having been assailed, I responded in kind.

After these posts, Taylor proceded to injure himself in a fight. Following his release from Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Taylor explained matters.

Taylor: real n****s do real things .. point plankn
Translation: Whosever calls himself a man must occasionally take action to prove said point. This is a simple matter, and not to be questioned.

Taylor: I got a dislocated finger ... from throwing a punch ... so don't let the mews paper gas yall up aite
Translation: A recent Gallup Pool found that only 36 percent of adults fine media outlets to be trustworthy. Cynical though that may sound, I too believe that media ought not be trusted implicitly. And so, lest any newspapers attempt to portray things otherwise, i shoudl like to clearly state the circumstances under which I dislocated my finger. That is, by striking another man with my fist.

Having now shed ligh on these preciously dark areas, it is my sincere hope that Kansas Athletics can move forward and - through both the passage of time and the taking of proper actions - reclaim its 'G' status."

HAHA, I just HAD to type this and share it with all of you, I thought it was too funny for you all not to read. Rock Chalk G's.

The rest of you missed out...

So Mary says I need to blog, so obviously the first thing I want to blog about is the meal had last night, and I want you all to picture it in your minds (except Andrew, mom, and dad because they were all there to enjoy it).
Started off with some baked potatoes smothered in butter, cheese, and light sour cream.
Followed by an 8 ounce rib eye cooked to perfection, pappa k style.
Some squatter-nut-bash drizzled in some brown sugar.
AND - if you weren't jealous enough yet...
Mom made a homemade apple pie and with 3 pounds of jonathan apples and we each enjoyed a slice of that...a la mode.
It was phenomenal. I hope you are all jealous...correction...I KNOW you are all jealous.

Anyway, my life is going well. I'm working a lot still, pretty much all weekend every weekend. Classes are going well, my microbiology class is really hard but I'm going to get through it I'm sure. I am starting the long process of nursing school applications, I am applying to KUMed, Avila, Rockhurst, and St. Luke's. Hopefully you all will hear good news about that around...February. Ha.

Megan Mincher is engaged, I'm sure you all have either heard that or saw that coming.

Sean and I are...hanging...in Lawrence, dinner every now and then, but in general, the hawks are awesome and Late Night is October 16th.

Andy just turned 21 so we went out and had some delicious sushi, and my 21st is rapidly approaching (just so none of you forget!).

Uhh, lets see, what else do I know? .... Nothing really. I stopped off and saw my friend Lauren Goulding from high school if any of you remember her, she had a baby about a year and 3 months ago, so I was checking up on baby Emma. My other friend whom I'm sure some of you remember, Cadie Williams, is also preggers now. Yikes. But yup, thats about it!

Keep me posted everyone.

More Big News.

Here it is. I am converting for a Vikings fan for the season. Here's why: (1) the Vikings actually win games and, therefore, have a chance to at least make it to post season play; (2) that Brent Faber guy is pretty fun to watch; and (3) the Chefs never get televised up here. I will be a Chefs fan if the Chefs pay the Vikings, though.

In other news, poeple up here call the Royals "lowly" (Lame). The Twinkies should be thanking us for beating up on Detroit. I have a growing headache and am hoping to leave work soon. The temp dropped about 20 degrees, if not more, in an hour yesterday, and it's now 50-something and windy as hell. And there may be frost tonight. Awesome. We don't really get fall here, it sucks. I pulled out the down alternative (no animals hurt in the product of this) comforter last night, and it's quite lovely. But damn, I hate Minnesota winters. Hate hate hate.

Haven't heard from many family members recently. Sean and I had a phone date not too long ago, and I talked to Mom last week, but the rest of you should update me on life.

Rock Chalk Vikings.

I guess we like to fight, not party.

So, I'm sure you all have heard of the news going on up here in Lawrence. No specifics about why all of this basketball v. football stuff is going on, but its no good. And when Bill Self gets back into Lawrence, I can guarantee you there is going to be some ass - whooping that Mary will probably be able to hear in MN.

Like Mangino said "You all wear crimson and blue, you're all Jayhawks, so what the f*** is your problem."

Like a wise student said, "Save it for Missouri, you idiots."

I ate the squeaker.

We got C. Brown some tennis balls with squeakers. He made short work of this one and ate the squeaker. Now we hope that when he gets all crazy and runs around the house like a mad puppy, he will squeak.

BIG NEWS.

I have Big News.

No, I am not preggers. Everytime I have "big news," people assume that is the deal. Please remember that I use the term "big news" rather loosely.

I JUST SAW THAT KEVIN KELLERMAN IS NOW A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE BLOG.

Pretty exciting. I highly anticipate the first blog from The Big Guy.

No one but mom got back to me about the KU/MU game. Who's going to go? Is it worth a trip south? Anyone?

Weather should be lovely this weekend, 75-80 and sunny, but there's a fire watch for the state because it has been so dry. Hasn't rained in about a month (i.e., not since PD & I were at the cabin, when of course it rained amost the entire time). We are having a grill and chill tomorrow night, possibly one of the last ones. I am going to do yard work either tonight or tomorrow, put down some mulch where the dogs have torn up the dying grass. I don't know how to take care of a yard, other than to mow and pick up dog poo, but apparently it requires more than that, because ours is not looking that hot. I have taken to solving all problems with mulch.

I think we are going to have to buy a rake, too, and use it, as we have too giant trees in our backyard. Lucky for us, all we have in the front is a pine tree, so life should be good for that 1/2 of the yard.

I know this is terribly interesting to all of you. But now I must return to work and perhaps harrassing Sean and Kate on facebook, one of my favorite passtimes.

Living in Fast Forward

Hello all.

---This will be my legitimate post---

Things are going well in Lawrence. I'm obviously very busy with school and friends. I really like college in lots of ways, with a main one being that I don't have to go to class from 8-3. Nah, instead, my classes are 12-3 MWF and 1-4 TR, with the exception of a Biology lab at 10 on Wednesday. It's really nice to be able to stay up late and still get a good amount of sleep. (KT hooked me up schedule-wise.)

I'm in Biology 100, Communication Studies 130, Spanish 212, English 102 and Biology 100, along with said Biology Lab (102). The toughest class for me is probably Spanish... the class is 100 MPH the whole time and there is a ton of homework. But, I'm doing well in it and all my classes so far.

I'm making some friends up here, and I'm hoping to find more ways to get involved in the journalism school, etc. to hopefully meet even more people.

I miss Mom and Dad obviously, and I do miss little things about home like Coach's wings and going to Royals games. I miss Caroline and Joe and the other kids I babysat for too.

I'm doing well though, hopefully it will continue to get better.

Kate seems to be doing well and staying very very busy in Columbia, but we're still doing great. She's busy with her sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta), volunteering, and Pre-Med society. I struggle from time to time because, as you all know, I'm a natural worrier. But she does really well keeping me grounded, and I always know I can get help from the big guy upstairs or one of you guys if I need it. I got a note from her in the mail today, which absolutely made my day.

The Royals lost last night but have won 7-of-9, and---oh yes---I'm still an avid follower. I hate to say this but, I'm pumped for next season (haha).

As for the Hawks, they still rule all. I'm so pumped, the football team plays Duke at home this Saturday at 11 a.m. Very excited, should be a blowout as usual. (Hawks.)

Oh, and Mario Little is huge. Saw him on campus today.

I like Mrs. E's and the Underground for food (I'm doing okay keeping the Freshman 15 off), and my friends and I like to go out to eat on Friday nights and sometimes on Saturday's too. Like I said, hopefully I can continue to meet more people and have fun.

Glad to hear everyone is doing well and, obviously, staying busy.

Can't wait to talk to and see you all soon.

Love you,

Sean

Home All Week-Yeah!!

It's been a very busy week at work with lots going on but the best part is that I have been home all week! Almost forgot what that feels like. I was supposed to go to Dallas today but the meeting was cancelled. I'll pay for it next week as I will be heading to New Orleans on Tuesday morning till Thursday night, then flying to Chicago for meetings on Friday. We've had some major re-structruing in the Federal group and I now have about 140 people in the Engineering Practice. It's getting almost too big to handle so I'm looking to hire some new management staff to help me and others out with the workload.

We've been working in the upstairs bathroom - floor tile is down but not grouted, celing is painted and 1/2 of the beadboard is up. Slowly but surely we are making progress and hopefully it will be done by the Holidays! We had all the trees trimmed this week around the house and had the one down by the shed cut down completely, which really makes a difference.

Mom is coming downtown to have lunch with me tomorrow -- we plan to eat outside since the weather is so beautiful. I'm looking forward to getting a whole lunch hour or more instead of the usual 15 minutes at my desk. We are going to Mathew (the baby) Beck's wedding on Saturday. It's a 1:30 wedding but the reception is not until 6:00 -- guess I can work in the bathroom in between! Unfortunately this means I can't get up to L-town for the FB game but at least its on TV this week so I can watch the first half or so.

How about them Royals fnally getting some runs for Zack Grienke? if they could do that for his final 3 starts, he could win the Cy Young (PD, that is a baseball award for the best pitcher in the league). Like Sean, Andrew and I are still following the team hoping that they will not break 100 in the "L" column this year. Disappointing but there is always next year.

Well I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend - could be the last nice one in the great North!! Be safe. I love you all,

Dad

KU vs MU

dad and I are not going but I think some of your sibilings are. Dad and I will watch the game either at home or at a bar with the comfort of heat! love mom

Jayhawks Like to Party.

Hey all, I will do a legitimate post soon, but I am really busy at work today. But I did want to ask if anyone is planning to go to the KU/MU football game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which I think is at Arrowhead? I kinda want to go. And I could bring PD and explain to him what a quarterback is. (He revealed that he did not know after asking me what position BreNt Favre plays.)

hello children!

hi all, i hope eveyone is having a good week. Dad got back for DC last night and I have been keeping busy with work. I have started walking again and have been pretty faithful. Yesterday I walked over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to see Grandpa. He had a skin cancer taken off of his face on Wed. all went well. He has had several small ones taken off before, this was more the size of a nickel and right where the foot of his glasses sit. He is doing well probably will have a couple black eyes. It is about a 45 minute walk over and then i took a shorter route home about 30 minutes. It feels good to be walking again. I worked at the learing tree mon thur thurs. at night and then babysat a couple times too. tonight i am sitting for Joe and Caroline while Dad plays poker. If you have time send Grandpa a card to let him know you are thinking of him. 11119belleview kc mo 64114. We are in a football pool this year so that should be interesting.or course we are 0 and 1 since the steelers lost what the heck! have a fun weekend and be safe I love you all very much, mom

hi all

StL

Not much going on in St. Louis. I'm looking for a new job if anyone has any contacts here. Even though Emerson has been nice the past couple of years, I have hit a plateau and am not being challenged anymore.

Brig and I have started to play a little golf. It's actually pretty fun - although she gets more frustrated than I do, which is kind of surprising considering my competitiveness with sports.

Mom and Dad are coming in town for a night in October - so that should be fun. I think Smokey and B Hansen are coming in next weekend because Brig will be in NYC for a bachelorette party. B has never been here - so it will be nice to show him some of the city and possibly go to a baseball game. It's weird being in a town with a good team.

Any and all are welcome whenever you would like. Andrew - you should still try to come over while you're living in K.C. I'm sure Kevin will come sometime before winter (he was supposed to in August).

Hope all is well. Katie and Sean - glad to hear things are going well in L-town. Stay away from the swine flu!

Tyshawn Taylor likes to Party... and is really good at basketball

Just wanted to let everyone know that I saw Tyshawn at the Underground (food) the other day.

It was pretty neat.

I am hoping to give a legit Blog Entry sometime soon.

SEAN

School, Work, School, Work, School.

So, school and work. That's pretty much what I've been doing around this time. I wake up, go exercise with some people from work, go to class, come home, shower, go to work, eat, go to bed. Luckily I have stayed away from the swine flu as of yet (knock on wood), but a girl that I work with AND exercise with got it, so I'm just hoping it doesn't hit me. The first football game is this weekend, I wish I could go, but I have to work...weird! Oh well, it will be fun because I will get to watch it at work and there will be a bunch of people at Old Chicago to watch it I'm sure. I'm going to a concert tomorrow night, I hope it doesn't rain. I'm going with Andy and his roommate and his roommates girlfriend to see Blink - 182, it should be fun! I'm hoping to get home for Sunday night dinner with mom and dad, and Andrew?

I hope everything is going well for everyone, my 21st birthday is quickly approaching. I'm excited to finally turn 21, but I feel like I am growing up so fast! I apply for nursing school in October, so there are going to be a lot of life changing experiences going on for me here pretty quickly. Just gotta believe I can do it and keep trucking through!

I miss you all and I'm sad we are going through this drought where I probably won't see many of you because it is always that way between summer and Thanksgiving. But I can't wait until we all get to get together again, I miss you all very much.

I love you!

KU is famous.

300 cases of swine flu...and counting.

PD Is Famous.

If you have not already, check out PD's story on NPR.com. National Exposure! He entered a contest and they liked him so much they put it on the website. Maybe he will be a famous author soon... We'll let you know if he wins.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105660765

tanned and burned

i forgot the part about i am tan and dad is burned!

Tanned and burned

hi everyone! having a hard time remembering how to do al this stuff! Dad and I had a wonderful time at the four seasons. the setting and weather could not have been more beautiful. the company wasn't bad either. dad did anot touch his computer and did some well deserved resting. till 9 am one morning! i was so proud of him! we truly feel blessed to have all of yu wonderful children and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. we are so very proud of you all. remember to work hard so you can once in awhile play hard!! love to all,mom

Exciting Stuff.

So, operation domestication has come to a hault as things have gotten busy at work. It's better that way, though, because I need to bill enough hours to hopefully get some sort of bonus at the end of the year.

Things in St. Paul are dandy. Fall is approaching quickly - highs in the low 60's this weekend. Overall, this summer was lame. Hardly any thunderstorms (except when I was out of town - a tornado literally hit downtown Minneapolis while we were at the cabin last week). Only a handful of days in the 90's, and it's still only 55 or so when I got to work in the morning. Add that to the fact that this past winter was about 10 months long and I am still shivering from it, and you can see why I am not that excited for fall. I am also realizing that we are going to have to buy a rake...sounds like a husband job to me.

The state fair starts on Thursday. People here love the state fair. It is INSANE. Seriously, they wait all year for it. We'll probably go this year, considering that we live, literally, across the street from the fair grounds. This location, while wonderful for transporting yourself to the fair, sucks for transporting yourself anywhere else. 12 days of fun for Minnesotans, 12 days of traffic hell for MK and PD. We are going to have to use our garage for the first time because there is no street parking. Let's hope it doesn't collapse while a car is in there, or if it does, that insurance covers the car as well as the garage.

So yeah, that's about it from here...we have a comedy show tonight, a bbq tomorrow and a wedding on Friday, so keeping busy in general.

I would like to pose a question for the blog: Should I just become a Vikings fan this year?

Charlie Brown Likes to Party at the Lake.

Some highlights from our lake trip...It rained all but the last day and a half, but oh well, we still had a great time.

Well Mom and I had a fun week in New Orleans. I had to work a lot but mom got to spend some time in the sun at the Royal Sonesta pool. We ate at our favorite restaurant, Red Fish Grill, one night, went to an eclectic bar and grill, The Bull Dog, another night and then had an awsome dinner at GW Fins. Listened to some Jazz too. We are really looking forward to our trip to the Four Seasons and will be heading out tomorrow morning. Thanks again to all of you for this fun trip. I am especially looking forward to not working for a few days. The weather is supposed to be great so I'm sure we will take some long walks and spend some time by the pool. Planning on a nice dinner at the Blue Heron - one of our favorites! It's pretty damn quiet around the house with Sean off to school. It was really hard to leave him but we are adjusting and feel good that he seems to be adjusting very well, making new friends but still missing ole mom and pop (and Kate of course). We are looking forward to having Andrew back home again for 10 weeks in about another week or so. Every one take care - we love you all!!

Let Classes Begin

So, classes start tomorrow and I'm pretty excited for it. Summer has been great, but I feel like I have been working non-stop and I'm ready for a little change. Granted, I always say that and then two weeks into school I'm sick of it, but we'll see. I'm going to be working a lot too, so I'll be a busy little girl!

Sean moved in, and it is really fun having him so close, he says he is loving dorm life, which is awesome because dorm life is the shit!

Mom and dad are still in N.O. and I hope you guys are having fun!

Football season is quickly approaching! :)

I really have nothing else to say, I hope everything is well with everyone. I just felt like writing on this blog because I hadn't in a while.

ADIOS!

College

Sean - you'll have so much fun in college and you will meet many new faces. You have Mom and Dad close, and you have Katie even closer. You can always try to bug mom for a home-cooked meal on Sunday night. It's a quick drive.

Just be who you are - there will be plenty of kids who are in nearly the same situation, and you know what you're doing or aspiring to do - so you're already in a better situation. Call me whenever you want. I know there are tons of things to do in the upcoming weeks as school starts, so if you have some free time, call.

Get your books, but try to have fun and soak it in as much as possible.

ESPN U

Sean, your blog made me cry! Sadness! But you will love life at KU. I will knit Kate a crimson and blue scarf so she won't be so lonely.

Not much going on here, although I did see a commercial for the channel ESPNU when I was at the gym yesterday and noted that EVERY college basketball highlight involved a certain fairly neat basketball team from Lawrence, Kansas. Seriously. Every basketball highlight. It was swell.

The Night Before Life Goes On

So it's Saturday night, and move in day is early tomorrow morning.

I got home about half an hour ago from Kate's, where we said our "good-lucks."

It was pretty sad.

So anyway, I'm sitting here watching Channel 9 News with Mom and Dad right now, thinking about stuff.

I have a lot of different emotions and things going through my mind right now, obviously.

Excitement, Anxiety, Nervousness, Curiousity, to name just a few.

As for what I'll miss, it will be a long list. I'll obviously miss Mom and Dad. I'll miss going out to dinner with them, complaining about the Royals to Dad while he's falling asleep on the couch (or his chair), always bothering Mom, doing things like following her around and asking her when she works and what her plans are for the evening, visiting her at the Learning Tree, watching two and a half men with Mom while I'm falling asleep, her home cooked meals. To name a few.

I'll miss Cisley's kids, Caroline and Joe. Whether it's playing basketball with them (real or video game) every Wednesday when they come over, playing Monopoly with them or just laying down watching cartoons.

I'll miss the kids that I babysat this summer and last, Jacob and Joshua. Taking them to the pool, taking them out to lunch, trying to see how many sports we can play outside in one day, watching the Sandlot, taking them to the pool more, listening to Joshua constantly call Jacob "Bud" all the time, and so much more.

I'll miss the house. I'll miss having a big room, my own bathroom, and being able to always have a different change of scenery if I wanted, simply by going upstairs or to the basement.

I'll miss having money.

I'll miss Kate. Can't even big to name all the things we did this summer. Coach's wings every Wednesday, going to and watching so so many Royals games (we didn't miss too many), many times laying out at the pool, random below the belt jokes about KU/Mizzou (Hawks), many minutes and hours of talking about nothing, going to concerts, going out to eat more and more and more, playing board games, blasting out to "Our Song" and "Love Story" in the car ride home after a dramatic Royals victory, driving 35 minutes to Harrisonville just to hang out with her for 2 hours at 10 p.m., watching Hardball, Sandlot, Field of Dreams, Remember the Titans, Friends, and many other movies (not ALL of them are sports) down there, going to Mochi Yo (Frozen Yogurt) wayyy too often, walking random places, dancing at the DesCombaz wedding (and the night before), and so so so many more things that we did this summer. Most of all, I'll miss how often we got to spend time with each other and text and talk to each other.

So anyway, that's a few things that I'll miss when I head off to Lawrence tomorrow.

I know that I'm not going too far away, and I will always have Mom and Dad if I need them.

I also know that with all that I'm leaving behind, there's many opportunities waiting for me at KU. I'm hoping to get involved in Broadcasting as soon as possible, as well as many other things.

I'm badly hoping to meet a lot of new people that I have things in common with. I'm hoping to become even more independent. I'm hoping to be open. I'm hoping to always remember who I am. I'm hoping for a 2010 National Title. I'm hoping to be able to spend my time wisely. I'm hoping to make good grades and have a great social life.

So to sum up, there's not too much on my mind.

That's just a few things that I'll miss and I'm looking forward to for college.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk.

Good looking human beings

Sean - remember this and you should be fine in college

anniversary number 10 weeks

Well, it's not really our anniversay, but PD and I have been married for about 10 weeks now, pretty impressive, right? Sounds like a lovely anniversay...I need to get to this power and light district sometime soon.

After near certain death from the Kansas heat, I am back to life as normal, and busier than I have been at work all summer. However, PD, C. Brown and I head to a cabin on a lake next Wednesday, so that should be nice. (Mouse is going to stay with his grandmother Roberta.) It will only be about 70 degrees while we are there, but oh well, a lake is a lake.

I took a wild trip for work up to Park Rapids, Minnesota, a tiny little down where the lawyer's office shuts down from noon to one so people can go home for lunch. It was awesome and I think that I have a future as a country bumpkin lawyer as soon as I get sick of this downtown Minneapolis madness.

Not much going on otherwise. I am gearing up to spit some law at Katie's ex-landlord if he gives her anymore trouble. Esquire that, scumball.

anniversary number 30

hi all! dad and i had a wonderful date last night. he sent me 30 beautiful red roses that i am truly enjoying. i picked dad up downtown and then we went to the power and light district and sat outside and had a drink while doing alot of people watching. then we went to macormick and schmidt on the plaza and had a cocktail and appitizers. that was fun we sat outside again. it was a beautiful summer night here in kc. we then went and had dinner at the capitol grille on the plaza. they presented me with a beautiful red rose. the chef sent us an appetizer,too! we had a great meal and then they sent us a chocolate piece of cake on a plate with happy 30 anniversary written in chocolate! we then came home too full to party!!! we were so excited and happy to see all of you this weekend, we really treasure our time together. we have a busy and emotional weekend coming up. then we will be looking forward to our time together for 8 days!!!! i love you all very much, mom

anniversary number 30

NOW Papa K. Can Party

I'm glad to see that Papa K made it successfully onto the blog. I want to remind everyone that I don't talk to you all very often, so posting on this blog is necessary. Actually, required. Keep me posted on what you're up to. I want to know!

I had fun with everyone at the wedding, sorry I had to cut it short, I had a headache and then had to wake up at 8:00 a.m. and work for a solid 9 hours. Ugh. But I made over $120 at Old Chicago that day, so it was all well.

Moved in and getting the place decorated! It's a lot of fun, this place already feels a lot more like home than my other place did, so I'm really excited.

Sean is moving up on Sunday, I was supposed to work but Andy (my new boy) is going to cover my shift so that I can help get Sean settled and go to Wally World with the parents and the newborn.

Love you all!

Amy Gallagher Likes to Party

Alright folks, the time has come. My knee has been rehabilitated and I'm ready to cut some SERIOUS rug.

I'm all moved in to my new place, HUGE THANKS TO PAPPA K, and a half-sized HUGE THANKS TO SEAN. (Even though he ditched me to take care of his girlfriend, I guess I can let it slide.) But I'm really excited, its looking really good.

My sister, Mary, is in Lawrence today so when I get off work I am going to bond with her. You should all be jealous.

Have a fabulous day and I will see you all tomorrow.

The Upcoming Weekend.

So I learned today that the Princess will be working on Friday and not sitting poolside in Lawrence with me. BOOO. I will still be there, and Sean says he's going to figure out a way to get us into the pool. So all should be good. Then I am either going to stay in Lawrence that night or come to KC, it's up to Sean and the Princess, really. This weekend waws low-key, PD has been sick for a long time so I am just trying to not get his cold. Uggg. Don't want to be sick in the K to the S.

Regardless, I plan on being in KC at some point Friday night or Saturday morning, preparing for the par-tay thing. I guess I have to Amy's wedding because Sean didn't get me a Toby Urban ticket. Booo.

Dad, I will get you set up on the bloggin this weekend, I don't know what happened, I emailed stuff to your gmail account.

I'm Still Not a Member - Please Help Me!!!!!

Hey, this is Dad on mom's account because my daughter, Mary (you may know her), never gave me the help I need to overcome my apparent technology challenged person. She promised to help me out a week ago but alas I heard nothing back from her. I can't figure this damn thing out on how to become a member, Oh well enough about that. Yesterday was fun...moved Katie out of her apartment and into a U-Haul truck -- and let's just say the landlord does not go to church on Sunday or probably ever. He was a piece of work and started bitchin and complaining the minute he walked in the door. After another hour of 4 of us cleaning some more, we finally called it quits. Suffice it to say, he is a lucky man that Kev was not there helping us move out. We held our own but having the big guy with us would have been interestin'. Mom and I went to the Crown Center outdoor movie last night with the Reidys to see Mama Mia. It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. Tomorrow, whether he likes it or not, I'm taking Sean to get some of his stuff for school (all donations are apprecitated). I'm heading up to DC on Tuesday for meetings T and W, then home to move Katie into her new place on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend for the wedding. Mom and I are going to stay in KC on the 7th and hang out at home with Danny and Brigid when they get in. We are staying downtown the night of the 8th because we are doing the KC version of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and have to be at Union Station at 7:30 a.m. Sean and Kate have joined the HNTB Riley's Racers team are doing the race with us so it should be fun. Everyone be safe in your journeys!

Love,
Dad

It's Wedding Season! (Again)

Well - after a solid 4 weekends without wedding, Brigid and I kick of Part Deux this summer. We get to travel to lovely St. Charles, MO - which is alot like Sullivan with lights - for a 10 a.m. wedding tomorrow morning. Yes - 10 a.m. Brigid is in the wedding, so we have to be there at 8:30. Fun stuff. Then the reception isn't until 1:30 - so we get to kill time in a land of Lake People.

We will be travelling back to K.C. next weekend for the Toby Keith or Keith Urban (or whomever it is) concert. It should be a blast...

Really we are coming back sometime Friday evening and we'll be staying at Kevin's house with Bob and Hampton. Yes, you all get to meet Hampton - although he won't be allowed in Mom and Dad's house because he's a MANIAC. So - whoever is around on Friday, we should do some dinner/cocktails.

Otherwise, STL is going well. The weather is amazing and should be spledid for some relaxing by the pool on Sunday. Glad to hear all is well with everyone. Andrew - good luck. Don't let anyone overdose.

South Dakota Likes to Party.

My friend Niki spotted this in a parking lot up here in Minnesota and was kind enough to document it for me (it's a South Dakota plate):



Apparently the owner of the car walked up to her while she was taking the picture and was like, did you hit my car? When she explained her purpose - that she is friends with an insane Jayhawks fan - said owner was happy to allow her to proceed with her photography mission.

On a related note, I was pulling into Target the other day, and noticed that the car in front of my had a Missouri Tigers license plate frame. Gross. Well, the lady was walking in with me, so, in Big 12 spirit, I started up a friendly conversation, noting that you don't see Mizzou stuff up here too often. I told her that I was a Jayhawk and tried to talk hoops with her. Like a true Mizzou alumnus, she was not interested in talking hoops. Wonder why.

Doing Work

Hello all.

Just wanted to let everyone know that everything is still going well in KS. I finally started cleaning out my room and closet, etc. in preparation for college. Some days are easier than others to clean up and get prepared and all that crap.

There's obviously been a lot going through my mind recently about college and such, and I'm sure it will continue in the next few weeks... but as my sister Katie once said, Chalmers' shot still goes in every time, so I really can't complain about life.

I went to the pool with Joshua and Jacob today, except the clouds didn't go away until we were walking out the door. Swell. We had a nice lunch with Kate at Crapplebee's beforehand.

Anyway, Mama K offered to go get Chipotle for dinner, so, naturally, I didn't punch her in the face.

Hope everything is going well.

I miss you all and look forward to seeing you soon.

A quick word from des moines

Family- I started my new rotation this week and consequently have been extremely busy and tired. I am working at Broadlawns Medical Center which is the county hospital here in good 'ole Polk County Iowa. The population is quite interesting. My preceptor is awesome, he graduated Drake in 2006 so he is the youngest faculty member we have. I am working in an anticoagulation clinic, in other words, we work with people who are on Coumadin which is used to prevent blood clots bit often can cause bleeding. They come into our clinic MWF and we go over their labs and make adjustments to their dose. The best part if our collaborative practive agreement that we have. For those of you who aren't down with the lawyer talk, this means that we are partnered with the physicians in the hospital. This way we (and by the end of next week "we" becomes "me") can change the dose of the drug without contacting the physician. Its a relatively new practice to the profession of pharmacy and is a great stride in management of patients. In fact, studies show that patient managed in anticoag. clinics have better outcomes than those managed by physicians. Other than that, I am doing great but will be really busy the next 5 weeks before reports to St. Lukes and keeping mom company. See you all the in two weeks!

busy mom

hi all! i am here and doing well as is dad! we have both been busy even with my part time job. the learning tree is great and keeping me busy, i have been working everyday this week teaching classes at the corinth store. dad is in NO and always busy. i am going to visit NO after sean goes to KU. I am very excited to go to NO it has been over a year since i have been there. nothing else going on here. love to all, mom

Highpointe Will be a Party.

Well the moving process has finally kicked off. Last night I packed up a lot of my kitchen and my room. Put some stuff into my car and moved some small pieces of furniture down the stairs. I'm really excited to be moving into Highpoint, I think it is where Megan Mincher lived at one point, but it is really nice and it will be nice to have just one roommate again. I hope you all can make it down to see it eventually! *Cough* The 7th *Cough*.

Anyway, you all are doing sort of a poor job keeping me up to date with your activities (with the exception of my sister, Mary). So keep in touch and let me know how it is in Des Moines, and STL. It interests me. I miss you guys!

I kinda like to party!

I kinda like to party!

Domesticated Partying.

I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting for yet another update on Operation Domestication! Well, the Operation went quite well this weekend. We had Paul's friends Chad and Laurie over for dinner. I made a lasagna, and it was not a previously frozen one. That's right, I made it from scratch. It was AMAZING. Just ask PD. I successfully hid the fake-meat taste. So good.

And then yesterday, I made this, also from scratch:



While I don't plan on quitting my day job quite yet, I think I have a real future as a tote bag maker. Now I need one of those green measure board things and rolly cutters. Mom knows what I am talking. Mama K, you should tell me what they are called. I plan on making another bag, unsupervised, with my own sewing machine, sometime this week. I was also so pleased with myself that I signed up for the wrap skirt class in August.

Other highlights from the weekend included drinking Mike's Hard Pink Lemonade (pretty good), taking a nap, and just generally kickin' it.

Want to Party?

Dear family,

I am moving in to my new apartment on the 6th of August. My sister, Mary (I'm not sure if you all know her), is going to come down on the 7th and drink some beers and sit at the pool, maybe grill some food. I would like to extend the invitation to all Kellermans including Dan, Kathleen, Danny, Kevin, Andrew, and Sean. Please let me know if you would like to come and sit by the pool whilst drinking beers and eating food with myself and my roommate and my sister. It is the day before Amy's wedding, so some of you will be in town anyway, and it would be quite fun. Let me know.

RSVP via BLOG.
Or, you can text/call me. Hopefully all of you have my number, if not, we have a weird situation.

TKO

This fish had no chance against Kevin

Do Mom and Dad Like to Party?

Bob and Charlie are making far more appearances on el blog than Mama and Papa K. What gives? Papa K, did you get set up?

Three hours until the weekend, which is supposed to be mostly cold and raining. Ugg. Well, not cold really, but not the mid-80's the low-90's that I would enjoy in late July.

An update on Operation Domestication: I both made an enchilada bake and cookies from scratch this week. Pretty exciting. My wedding gift kitchen gadgets are pretty cool. The handmixer I got is even designed so that you can stand it up with the mixing part over the bowl while adding ingredients. Saves quite a bit of counter clean-up. I know you guys care.

I am going to be trying more enchilada recipes, such as the one DK so kindly shared on the blog. They are good vegetarian eats. Sunday: sewing class! I know you all are jealous.

We drove by the new Twinkie's stadium last night, as we were in the neighborhood after seeing a totally awesome coverband at a total dive bar. It was great - the cover band, that is. The stadium looks good, I think outdoors ball will be good for the TC's. As some Kellermans would say, it's neat. Rather neat, actually. Last year it snowed on opening day, so hopefully that will happen again, haha. That would be neat as well. Ya'll should come up for a game next year.

Does Mary still have cats?

Bring It.

My dog is cuter than your dog.

All that this guy wants is for Uncle Kevin to pick him up and give him a big old hug.

The Royals Suck

Just thought everyone should know/be reminded of the fact that the Royals have lost nine consecutive games. They have about six good major league baseball players, and their bullpen continues to only walk people and give up runs.

Recap of the last nine games:

July 10, 2009: Boston 1, Kansas City 0. Royals get shut-down pitching performance from Brian Bannister but give up one run in the eighth, while mustering no offense.

July 11, 2009: Boston 15, Kansas City 9. Royals have an offensive outburst, but it all occurs after they trailed 9-0. The bullpen continued to give up more runs.

July 12, 2009: Boston 6, Kansas City 0. Royals can muster absolutely no offense.

July 17, 2009: Tampa Bay 8, Kansas City 7. Royals score 7 runs, and lead 7-3 before the bullpen surrenders 5 runs late in the game.

July 18, 2009: Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 2. Zack Greinke goes seven innings of one run ball, leaving the game with a 2-1 lead. The bullpen quickly comes and and gives up three runs in the eighth.

July 19, 2009: Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 3. Royals' bullpen blows another lead. Former Royal J.P. Howell collects a save in each of the Rays' victories over the Royals.

July 21, 2009: Los Angeles 8, Kansas City 5. Royals take a 5-4 lead following a homerun from Billy Butler, but Sidney Ponson and the Royals bullpen quickly give that lead away.

July 21, 2009: Los Angeles 10, Kansas City 2. Royals lead early 2-0, but the bullpen surrenders 7 runs in the seventh inning, completing the Angels' doubleheader sweep.

July 22, 2009: Los Angeles 9, Kansas City 6. Royals lead 6-2 before the bullpen quickly gives up seven runs.

This is what I have to deal with.

9 games. 1 game giving up 15 runs. 2 shutouts. 6 blown leads. 9 games.

A true fan.

Hampton as a baby.

Elliott and Olivia Like to Party.

I'm super bored right now while all the girls I'm supposed to be nannying are playing with their friends at a neighbor's house. Lucky for me, there is a Law and Order: SVU marathon on. Phew.

Request for Important Information

Can someone please post the recipe for the enchiladas that Mom used to make with the flour tortillas? By "Someone," I mean Mom (although I think Danny might have this one as well). As part of my plans to domesticate myself, I am hoping to come up with a vegetarian version of these fine roll-ups this weekend for a dinner party.

Mini Charlie Brown Probably Liked to Party.

So, I found out that Charlie Brown is a Beagle Border Collie mix awhile back (which is pretty neat, being that the only Border Collie I ever knew was awesome and named Phog - which I tried to name Charlie Brown, but PD rejected it). So I was thinking, I wonder if C. Brown was a cute puppy? Therefore, I googled "Border Collie Beagle Mix Puppy" and found this:

http://www.dailypuppy.com/dog/aki_1610

And if you are wondering what Mousey would've looked like as a puppy:

http://www.dailypuppy.com/dog/ellie-bean_748

L-Town

So -

Just reppin' good ol' L-Town. The knee is up and running again (well, not running, but its up). Not to much new stuff going on here, I'm moving out of my townhouse on the 31st and moving into a new apartment on the 5th, so I'm super excited for that. There is going to be a beer/pool day on August 7th at my apartment that my sister, Mary, is going to join in on if anyone else would like to as well, open invitation.

Amy's wedding is coming up, that'll be fun. Hopefully my knee will be at its highest rug cutting abilities. (Fingers crossed).

Not much has changed in the life of Katie since my last blog. I've been goin on some dates with some people - I've been single for months now, you all should be proud since apparently I'm "never single". I do have my eye on someone. But yanno, for the sake of all of your sanity I'm not making any drastic decisions. We went on a date a couple days ago he took me to the lake and grilled some steaks and veggies at the park then we went and fished until the sunset then watched the sunset and (never thought I would say this) but watched the stars on the hood of his car. I sound like my own country song. But anyway, it was a lot of fun.

Since then, I've been fishing a couple of times, I finally went and got my fishing license, ($20.50 at Wal-Mart) so I'm fishable for a year! I've caught 3 good size carp (gross!) and one baby bluegill that was smaller than the palm of my hand. But, that was my first caught fish at Clinton Lake so it forever has a place in my heart. :)

I'm loving summer, I'm loving life, and I miss you all!
I've been praying for grandma, I hope you all are too!
Keep up the good blogging!

MK + PD Know How to Party

I am going out on a limb today and posting TWO, yes TWO blogs. This first one is mainly for mom and dad, because I promised them that I would post my maid-of-honor speech, and because of its awesomeness you all can read it again.

"Good evening everyone, as many of you know, I’m Katie, Mary’s little sister, and I would first like to start out by saying how honored I am to be standing up here as her maid of honor. It’s been a long journey to get to this night, and I’m so glad it’s finally here!

I want to start out by telling you all one of my earliest memories of Paul, and I think I can speak for most of the basketball-crazed Kellermans when I say this, it was the first time he entered our notorious NCAA March Madness bracket and made two memorable decisions. Not only did he enter under the name Paul “Roundball” DesCombaz…but he also chose Kansas as the only number 1 seed in the tournament to be eliminated before the Final 4...which in the Kellerman family, doesn’t typically go over well.

I remember thinking to myself, “who is ‘Roundball’?” And when I asked Mary about Paul’s bracket choices, she defended him in saying that he doesn’t know that much about basketball or the Kansas Jayhawks. Needless to say, he’s been learning. Well because the Kansas Jayhawks didn’t get eliminated after all and ended up winning the national title, “Roundball” obviously didn‘t do too well, and that bracket is something he will never live down in the Kellerman family. However, Paul, as much fun as it has been and will continue to be to call you “Roundball,” I am glad the day has come that I can finally welcome you into our family and call you brother.

Having a big family has been a blessing for myself, my siblings and my parents, and in that family Mary and I fall nearly 8 years apart. That number has never made a difference in the way we have bonded as sisters and as friends. I have always been the “princess” and Mary has always been the “queen”. This was just our little way of sticking together even with all 4 of our brothers. It took a lot to separate myself from all the World Wrestling Federation on the tv, but those were the times I was always able to look to the “queen” as a role model.

Although now everyone is grown up, made their own lives, and luckily have their own tvs, I look to Mary now more than ever as the kind of woman I aspire to be for many different reasons. The confidence she had to leave Kansas, let alone Lawrence, Kansas, and head to Minnesota is the kind of courage and drive I wish to have one day. The desire she has for her career as an attorney has pushed me to work even harder for hopes of attaining that kind of success for myself. The time she has taken and the care she has shown to keep in touch with her family hundreds of miles away, has kept us all in contact, and for that we are all thankful. And most importantly, the relationship and life that she has made with Paul shows the love that I learn from in hopes of experiencing myself.

From the time Paul and Mary stepped into my parent’s house for their first Kellerman family holiday as a couple, I saw the way they looked at and interacted with each other, and I knew this day would come. I know we all wish you the best of luck in everything you do together and every journey your life takes you on.

To my new brother-in-law, we are so glad to have you as part of our family, but one of these years, you’ll realize that in that bracket you have to pick Kansas to win the National title.

And finally, to my big sister, Mary, I know Paul will take care of you the way a true queen should be cared for, and I’m so glad you found that in such a loving man. I wouldn’t have wanted anything less for you and I am so proud to call you my sister.

So, to Mary and Paul DesCombaz.

I promised the bride a few final words, so while our glasses are raised: I love you both, congratulations, good luck, and rock chalk."

Granted, I couldn't get through all of it, so at least this way I don't have to read it in front of a large group of people! :) I bolded an important part of said speech, which is obvious in this blog.

My Computer Likes To Party Too Much.

So, apparently my computer likes to party, because I came into work this morning and it decided not to turn on, presumably due to a weekend of partying. I know how it feels, I am not a big a fan of Mondays, either. But now I have a loaner that has almost enough memory to run outlook and internet explorer at the same time...so at least I can update my blog!

PD and I had a lovely weekend. We went to happy hour with some buddies on Friday. We planned on sitting outside by the river, but being that it was 65 and raining, we opted for inside. Sadness. Saturday was cold and crappy as well, and we spent the day running stupid errands. I went to a bachelorette party for a girl that I'm not very good friends with (but whose betrothed I am good friends with) on Saturday night, and then split right after dinner (Psycho Suzi's deep dish pizza, Danny has been lucky enough to enjoy this this fine piece of pizza art) and then watched the second 1/2 of Animal House with PD.

Summer kinda returned on Sunday...we turned the window units back on and headed for the sculpture garden and the Walker Art Museum. It was a lovely day. We then had a not so good lunch on the rooftop at Brit's. I keep meaning to bring some Kellermans to this place - while the food is subpar and the drinks are expensive, they have rooftop bocce ball in the middle of downtown Minneapolis. So that makes it pretty awesome. Or neat, as Sean would say. Then, I baked some zucchini bread, as my friend and I are having a little competition to see whose is better. Domesticated, I know. It turned out pretty well, I must say. Also neat.

In further attempts to domesticate myself, I will be taking a sewing class next weekend so I can learn to operate my sewing machine and make a tote bag. Fun Stuff!

Now back to my boring old job, where at least I have Sean's blog entry to entertain me. 28 days 'til we go to the cabin...and less than that until I make an appearance in the land of the Rock Chalk.

Dad Wishes He Could Party

Mary,

The big guy has no idea what he's doing, and needs some serious advice on how to actually join the blog. I tried my best to help him, but he seems to have messed it up too much. hawks

Lightning McQueen Likes to Party

Sup.

So I figured maybe if i made a new post and gave everyone an update on my current happenings, the blog would obviously be more interesting. Questionable, I know.

Well, not too much going on here in the Leahood. During the week, I'm babysitting 9-4 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for two kids that I sat for last summer too, Jacob and Joshua Steele. Jacob is 6 and Joshua is 3, and finally potty trained. Which, I must say, is pretty neat.

Joshua has an infatuation with the movie Cars. Except he refers to it as Lightning McQueen. (For those who haven't had the opportunity to see the Disney Pixar movie 14,000 times like myself, Lightning is the main car. Joshua rocks many a Lightning McQueen croc or beach towel, as I am often forced to take them and Kate to the pool every day that I sit for them. It's pretty tough, but I like to think I'm getting by pretty well. (See forthcoming picture.)

Jacob and I throw the ball around, wiffle-ball style, outside while it's 900 degrees outside. Which obviously makes the pool a good supplement.

I spend a lot of my nights with this girl Kate, who I like. She's neat. We go to the pool with the boys during the week, and then hang out either here or in H-town (Harrisonville) at nights. We enjoy watching the Royals suck... who doesn't really?? We are the worst baseball team ever. I get semi-peeved watching them once in a while. We watch the freakin' boys in blue a lot, (where I make a point to point out every possible hawks shirt in the crowd) and we thoroughly enjoy our "Winged Wednesday," which is the night that we go to Coach's to have one or two Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches or Spicy Wings. SO GOOD. We like to eat a lot, and are unfortunately counting down the days until we go to college. Although I like to often step back, and know that it can't be too bad, because I'm not the one stuck going to Mizzou.

Hawks.

I'm excited for college, hopefully I'll be more ready next month when I actually go. Having the princess up there will be pretty clutch. My roomate doesn't like sports, so I've obviously come to the conclusion that he has issues. ...Just kidding, I'm sure it will be great. I'm living in Ellsworth in a 2-person suite with bath. They had orignally put me in McCollum put I complained and got what I wanted, taking a page out of either Mama K's or Mary's book.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing neatly. And I hope we can continue to keep up on the blog, which is a grand idea, just ask Mama K.

Oh and I'm listening to a lot of country music, which surprises everyone I'm sure. I just can't get enough!

I'd like to end with the poem that got me an A in English class last year. I have previously sent it to you all in an e-mail, but just to jog your memory...

The Shot

All tuned in as the shot was thrown

And the nation's best was finally shown

A memorable shot, to say the least

And the nation was relieved of the bias from the east

One to be shown over and over

The shot did justice to a four-leaf clover

The shot going in led all to see

You just can't mess with destiny.