We Bring You ..A Special 48 Hours Report.....

48 Hours in Chicago...

A Mother, a Daughter, one small bear, and a lot of friendly Chicagoans..uh..people of Chicago..Illinoisians??

We're at the gate...we're on the plane...we're enjoying the plane cookies and the view...do you see Chicago in the distance, Bear?

Cool! We're here! And did you notice Mayer Daley left a sign to welcome us? Yay! We get to ride in a cab!! Hey, does he have a license??

OK, so take us to the Hotel Allegro...in the theater district..and make it snappy..


Long day, Huh Bear? Great room..why doncha take a wee nap...
Great older hotel with a whole new look...

Look at this cave...great for hibernating :-)

Get off the furniture..you are so not funny...


OK, time to go exploring! Tall buildings, huh Bear?! Oh, and that's the "el" - the elevated train..I remember riding on one with my Mother when I was about 5 years old...it was as exciting now as it was back then..

Let's go to the Sears Tower! Wait, what? It's not called the Sears Tower anymore?

OK, so it's the Willis Tower...It's still a ...Big...tall...huge...scary building..

This is what happens when they try to shove a lot of people in one elevator..with a mirrored ceiling...someone has to stand facing the crowd...and if it's me...well, I just have to take a picture of the smiling faces..."Say Willis Tower?"

"I'm Bear-King of the world!"

...ew, wait, I think I may be afraid of heights...
Oh hell no...you're not getting ME out on a 4 foot ledge, made of glass, OVER the city..103 stories straight UP!!

Oh...HellNo..

I think I fainted..I'm not sure...but Mom and April, even though they were terrified, went out and had these photos to prove it...

Next it was going on a Double-Decker tour bus to see the city ..

Look at that great architecture!
And Millennium Park? Soooo fun!

Mom and I came across this wonderful little sanctuary right on Michigan Avenue..the Fourth Presbyterian Church...{ makes you wonder what One, Two and Three looked like..}

Once in the courtyard, it seemed to go silent...but just a few feet away was all the hustle and noise of one of the world's best shopping avenues...Michigan Avenue..The Magnificent Mile...although I was told it wasn't quite a mile long..somehow "the magnificent three-quarter mile just doesn't "roll" right..)

Chicago has some of the best smiles anywhere..just look..

Bear was very pepular with the poople...I mean, popular with the people..


Bear got a little mischievous...sliding down banisters, almost falling into the fountain..what a ham...er..bear

The weather changed and the bright blue skies are now a thing of the past...a soft,
fog- enshrouded rain fell...showing another side of this beautiful city..

Ah, the Night Life...

.Bear stayed home..so we could go to Kitty O'Sheas..took the el..wow. F.A.S.T. !!

..so now I can order my very first Guiness..and get my very first Guinness mustache..the beer was pretty stout...and I can't imagine why they got all huffy when I asked for Sweet-n-Low??!

Listened to Irish music, and they even sang Happy Birthday to me :-)

Well, they said "to you"..not "Happy Birthday to me" ..that'd be silly..unless their birthday was that same day..then it would totally make sense!

Time to go..just one more stop to play a set with the Blues Brothers..then it's off to Utah..

See you in another 60 years, Chicago!

Have a great Saturday..I had a wonderful Birthday and that you all for the good wishes and happy messages..

I love you all :-)
-me

Well, well, well...

We just happen to have us a winner...

...of the DNA...

You know, the contest for the company I work with?

GeneTree....?? Remember??

And no, we don't sell jeans...we study genes.

So, you wanna know who won?

Really??

OK..

They say " a picture is worth a thousand words.."

{ I never found out who "they " are..and I think it's some totally random thing people say when they don't want to be held responsible for what they are going to say next...}

Oh yeah, the winner...

Oh.. oh..I first have to tell you about this really cute little Halloween bowl I got at the thrift store!!

It has 3 little orange legs! Three! Isn't that cute? He does get kinda wobbly, but he's really fun..

..even though the poor thing is limb-challenged..legless in Utah...tri-pod-cat...

..and he was born that way..he didn't loose on or anything...kinda like the 6 legged cow I saw when I was about 9 in Arizona...seriously, this thing had 6 legs! 4 on the ground and two kinda laying off it's hip..kinda yucky..

..wonder what her DNA was up to??


Oh, and that manly-hairy-arm? Not mine. Mr. B's.



He was volunteered to be our "Independent Accounting Firm" of Blake, Braxton & Lulu to tabulate the results...

Drum roll please.....

drdrdrdrrddrdrrrrrtmmujumummmemattamdfapdoadjaenafnntmmm..{can't remember how to spell a drum roll... exactaly..)

TaDa!

que the confetti..drop the balloons...free the hounds!!...

{ok, maybe not that last one}

And that soft pink large hand? Yeah, his too.

TaDa Again!

Yay! The Texas Woman has won the DNA test kit!!

Now, Cher, contact me with your information and I'll get the test kit ordered and sent to you. I'll send you an email explaining how we'll proceed and who you choose to be tested (you would need a male decedent of your paternal line to test if you wanted paternal lineage (we woman don't carry the Y chromosome) , or you can be tested for your maternal side, the mitochondrial or mtDNA)

OK, for anyone who didn't win but would still like to have their DNA tested, let me know. I can get you a crazy-good deal :-)

Whew. That's about all the excitement I can handle tonight.

Stay tuned for some fun photos of my ExciTinG, fUn, aMAzIng trip to chIcGo..

-me

OK, well, tis herself's sister's birthday too..

Yessiree..I'm back. But not quite back in full force yet.

I'm pooped..after all, I'm now officially old..

Well, not old as in "there was an old woman who lived in a shoe.." type old.

As a matter of fact, I can think of at least one big sister that's older than me..and lives in Lake Havasu..not in a shoe, but in a very nice home...and if it was a shoe, it'd have to be a flip-flop..with bling...

..which could be a problem with a ton of kids running around..maybe you should think about combat boots...

It's KATHY!

Yepepers, today's her birthday! And one would think if my birthday was before hers, I'd be older..but as they say in French-type-talk.." oh contraire..wee wee and one croissant, se vouis plat.."

Aye, sweet Kathleen Mary..

And probably in France apparently they don't spell it like that....just a guess..

So yes, back to Kathy. Today, October 7th is her "many-birthdays celebration". I dare not say how MANY many-birthdays celebrations she's had...my Mama only raised on fool..and I was not her..she..it..

OK so maybe I was, but back to Kathy's birthday..and because her birthday was recognized first (by quite a few years..I'm just sayin'...) she always got the party. Her friends. Her cake. Her sock-hop. Bygones...


But, looking back, I have to admit, she was a pretty good sister..and is getting better as each and every long loooong year that passes..like sand through the hour glass, so are the "Days of Kathy's Life"..

que the soap opera music...

First, she taught me you can indeed look this thin after giving birth just 4 weeks previously..

Yeeeeeah right...I still tell people I'm carrying post-pregnancy weight..my youngest is 32..years not weeks...

Then there was the "you must be able to fit into a park swing at all times"...and again, right after giving birth..

the baby is nearly as wide as she was...

She always has been a sharp dresser...

..and always sported the best hair-dos ever...those curls at the crown were her trademark...

If someone is saying negative things...she has taught me how to respond....

..and if you disagree with some one's opinion..

...let them know in a dignified manor..

Always sit side-saddle on a tractor..

..in capris..and flip-flops..and try to always match your hat to the color of the tractor..

Yes, she's taught me a lot..mostly about being a friend, and keeping good friends. About caring and showing you care..

About service and support. About laughter and life..and...

....oh yeah... how to dress "Irish"..

{sorry Pam & Angie...}

...but what I really have to thank her for is ...

Loving Braxton, even when he's "silent but deadly" while on her lap...


Happy Birthday Kathy! We love ya tonzzzzz!! oh, and Braxie says he's sorry...

-me

ps - sorry, I haven't drawn the name for the DNA kit :-(

I WILL tomorrow night (the 8th) and let you know who won!

Well, it's toodalou.....for now..

oh..not as is ..

to. DUH. loo.

no, it's "to DA lou"..meaning I'll be gone for a few days...not that I have to..you know...go TO the loo

Anyway, in the wee hours of the morning, Mr. B will drive me to the airport to visit with April in Chicago...or is it visit with Chicago in April..


I get so confused...

Anyway, y'all behave yourselves until I get back to blog-land on Wednesday night..


Oh, and it would be great if you could send up a prayer or two for Gerri on Monday - she's having her lumpectomy..

Be safe and know I will be thinking about yo...well, maybe bot so much..but you know I'll be thinking about you when I get home..and you'll know I'll have photos, so be warned..

-me

So, whatcha doin' on Saturday??

I totally stole this from Cute Overload..

...but I had to..I mean, just look...

"Boy, have I got a busy day planned...first, I have to put off cleaning out the rain gutters..

..then I have to avoid painting the spare bedroom..

..and somewhere in between not edging the front lawn and forgetting to take out the trash, I've got to carve out a time to refrain from cleaning the attic..."

So, what's on your not-to-do-list today??

..have fun..not doing it.

-me

OK ladies...and a guy that I know who reads this...

It's October. October oneth to be exact. And October happens to be Breast Cancer Awareness Month..

Yeah..like anyone who had battled this only thinks of it in October..

...or anyone who knows anyone who has or is battling breast cancer...

...or anyone who has breasts...

..or anyone..

..or..Or??

Or, I'd like to never have to think about it..worry about it..loose anyone to it..read another obituary of a stranger that lost their sweet lives too early to it...or have my girls, and my grandgirls ever have to worry about it ..ever again. ever.

photo by Jenny Winkle

never. ever. again.

photo from the Susan G Koman site

But, the reality is what it is right now..so we need to do all we can to support, to love, to honor those who are in the battle currently..or have been to hell and back.

Because that's what it is.

Hell.

And sometimes when I hear "I was glad I got cancer because.." even though I know they mean well, and they may really believe what they are saying...

I want to say this....Cancer sucks.

artwork by Lori Ann Vovak

Breast cancer is mean and ugly and hateful and rude and I wish I had never had to tell my children, on a long distance phone call, that I had cancer.

And I wish I had never heard my grown son's cry..or hear the fear in my daughter's voices..or see the look on my sweet husband's face..the devastation from my sisters...

No, I am not glad I had cancer. I am not glad my sister is going through breast cancer. I'm not glad ANYONE has cancer..

So when I can do anything I can to remind people of this, like put a pink "Survivor" magnet on my car..or wear pink a LOT in October..

..or tell my story of how I found it, myself, and when the docs said "probably not..let's wait"

.. and I stood up for myself and said.."No. I want this lump out. I want it gone. Now."

..and that they were surprised (!) that is was indeed cancer..and it had spread...and I needed a double mastectomy..and oh, yeah, you'll need chemo..and radiation..and several surgeries..and and and and.".oh yeah..and don't worry.."

I want to tell everyone I can to know your body... demand doctor's do their jobs....insist on hearing it all..even if that means having to take someone with you to appointments to take notes (thank you Mr. B)..to ask the hard questions..to do your own research..to ask for help..then to accept that help..

And fight. Fight like you've never fought before..like you didn't even know you could fight...


...and never, never ever give up.

And to all those who have gone before us..know that cancer didn't beat them..they beat cancer..they just didn't survive.

It can only beat you if you allow it to. And then you're the 'victim'..and I think too much of those who have fought the battle to think of any of them as 'victims'..

Let's beat the hell out of breast cancer..this month and all the months that we are so blessedly given.

I. WILL. NOT. BE. A. VICTIM.

Thank you all who have walked in the various Breast Cancer walks for me...

..you walked so I can stand.

-me

PS...please check out http://soyouwanttobeasuperhero.blogspot.com

"A donation of $8.00 towards this worthy cause is what you might spend on a specialty coffee at your favourite cafe a few times per week. Research into breast cancer - what causes it and how to treat it, with the dream of curing it is the hope of every woman and every man who has been touched by this disease. While you are giving hope to others, this zine will, we hope, inspire you to be the very best you that you can be."

..and order this beAUtiFul Zine from Sherry Lee. The cost of the zine is $10.00. $8.00 from each zine will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. $2.00 will be used for postage and handling. Really..go look...it's totally beautiful!


And, yes, they have breast cancer in Canada too. But I Pinky- PROMISE, if they find a cure, they will not keep it to themselves.

Hear that Canada? Just so you know...we'll be watching you...so hurry, please :-)