...Returned to The Alley

My favorite place to be on crisp Fall Saturday afternoon is an alley. Not just any alley will do; it must be filled with BBQ smoke, the constant sound of aluminium cans being opened, 1000s of friends and every where one looks the most beautiful colors in the world wave about - crimson and blue of course.

Last Saturday Wade and I returned to our alley for another season of Jayhawk tailgating. We hang in the alley next to 11th St. between Alabama St. and Illinois St. - within steps of Memorial Stadium. Several season ticket holders from our town park here. The parking fee at this location (an apartment complex) is steep so Wade and I choose to hoof it; we park 3-4 blocks away. It is a haul, but it is so worth it!

Because of our Williams Fund donation, Wade and I were invited to attend KU's Select-a-Seat at Memorial Stadium in June. Our good friends Amanda and Andrew are also donors and have about the same number of Williams Fund priority points as we do. Because of this we were able to pick our seats on the same day. We coordinated via a couple text messages and got our season ticket seats right next to each other - something I hope to continue until we are old and gray.


Amanda, Andrew and Wade - three of the four coolest fans in Section 9, Row 38.

Can't wait until next Saturday! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

...Celebrated Another KU Win

" Oklahoma who? Bring on Mizzou!"

(KU tutu courtesy of Cecilia)

...Enjoyed a New View

Wade's company, P1 Group, Inc., is currently working on a project at Allen Fieldhouse with Turner Construction Company. Wade has been at this job site for a few months now and is really enjoying it... mostly because he has been able to indulge his man-crush by watching the men's football and basketball teams workout. He has even stood before the 2008 National Championship trophy case for several minutes with no one around to block his view. Lucky man. Turner Construction Company gave Wade two of their tickets to tonight's basketball game. Turner is a rather large construction company, so we knew they had to be awesome seats. Key word here - seats! We got to sit on the East side in the Allen Fieldhouse wooden seats for the very first time! For those of you who have never been inside the greatest building on earth, I shall explain. The majority of The Fieldhouse seating is made up of bleachers. Out of 16,300 spots, only 1,100 of them are of the coveted wooden seat variety. Under normal situations bleacher seating would be just fine. In The Fieldhouse you dare not burp for fear of losing precious space between you and your bench mates. It is that jam packed in there.
Sitting on the wooden seat side was so different. For starters, we could hear Coach Self yelling clear as a day. I think it is fun to watch the bench's reaction to the game and I am glad I got to experience the other side of Phog's house.

What a view. Go Hawks!

...Spread the Word in Missouri

We spent Christmas Day at my Uncle Phil and Aunt Nancy's house in Garden City, MO. To make Coach Fambrough proud we drove there with our Jayhawk auto windsock flying high. After that win in Arrowhead last month, we could not resist rubbing it in a little.
We plan to exchange gifts with my folks on Saturday, but my mom brought the kids a few to open today. Our favorite by far are these super cozy KU fleece blankets she made for them. Uh, I want one. It is definitely on my wish list for next year.

...Joined 100,000 Fellow Fans

I always tear up during the following situations: while singing the National Anthem at a sporting event, when the bride and groom exchange vows [duh, right? Who doesn't?], and at the very beginning of a parade when the marching band approaches. Today was no different. In fact, I am pretty sure I had tears in my eyes during the entire parade. Cecilia, Finn and I joined my mom, dad, family friends [Rodger and Jan Shannon] and 99,993 other KU fans to show our boys just how much we appreciate them. Poor Wadie Babe had to work [Here's to double time honey].

Finnie is asleep in his sling under the blue blanket.

It was a perfect day. We arrived on Mass. St around 10:00 am for the 3:00 pm parade [all of 30 minutes of it, but SO worth it]. We each bought our must-have 2008 National Champion tees [Yes, Jacob your mother had us get you a XXL locker room t-shirt soon to be delivered to you in Chi Town]. We had a fabulous lunch at Vermont St BBQ [yum... best sweet potato fries ever!] and then headed back to the chairs we had strategically placed between 8th and 9th Streets upon our arrival downtown. Yes, we are wicked smart. As you will see from our You Tube video, we had a great view of our Champs! Cecilia even got to give her favorite Jayhawk, Sasha Kaun, a high five!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk Forever.

...Witnessed Mario's Miracle

I think I said, "OH. MY. GOD!" like a billions times last night....like I am sure you did, dear reader. That was THE BEST basketball game EVER. Cecilia was a trooper and stayed up for the entire game and a bit of the post game news coverage. She was a great co-cheerer and I was glad to have her support because Wade was a mess and a Negative-Nelly [yes, that is a meganism]. He had an extremely upset [aka nervous] stomach before the game that he TRIED to blame on my meatloaf [okay, it was actually Stouffer's meatloaf but who is keeping track?] So it was up to Ceci and I to keep the positive vibe going in the Cottrell House. Here is a photo of her right after the game. I apologize for the quality, as it was taken with my phone.

Here is a shot of Finnie this morning after I told him about last nights amazing victory [as HE was a trooper and went to bed on time so Mommy could watch the game] . As you can see, he went into baby shock...

Wade is positive the Jayhawk's success in 2008 combined with the first year of his son's life is "a sign" that Finn is sure to one day play a sport in a Jayhawk jersey [whether it be football or basketball he cares not]. I am pretty sure my father would agree with Wade...I can remember the two of them having a conversation at the hospital the day after Finnie was born, "You know what would be so cool?" says my father to Wade, "What if Finnegan plays basketball for KU?!" They then commenced exuding extreme giddiness and glowing pride as if Finn had already accomplished this feet.

I love how we pass down our fanaticalness [another meganism]. Reminds me of that cool bumper sticker, "Kansan by birth, Jayhawk by the grace of God." So I guess the "grace of God" part could really mean "by the brainwashing of my parents." Either way, I am good with it. There was definitely some Divine intervention dealt out last night. Mario is a GOD.

...Cheered for KSU [kind of]

well this was a great night of march madness. ksu sucks lost big and our #1 kansas jayhawks kicked some butt. we watched the games at mom's house and if you don't know her house is divided - ksu sucks and ku. when i go there i have to act like i give a crap about you know who. i loved that you know who lost but i had to pretend that i cared - but i don't, i wanted them to lose in the first round. any how rock chalk well you know the rest