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T h e A d v e n t u r e s o f C h i c a g o J o

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Texas and More

2005-04-12� � 5:31 p.m.
My little brother had a home game on Friday night, so I flew into Houston to surprise him.

Since sleep is currently escaping my grasp, I stayed up late on Thursday night and made t-shirts for the entire family with cheesy GO KYLE-type sayings on them.

After working a couple hours that Friday morning, I went home to change into my �Kyle Keena�s Proud Big Sister� t-shirt and head to the airport.

While drinking the pre-flight Diet Coke, I got a few questions about what Kyle Keena did to deserve a t-shirt in his honor. Little did the questioners realize that my dad now had a �Kyle Keena�s #1 Fan,� my maa now had a �#17 is #1,� my sister now had a �Kyle Keena Fan Club Member Since 1987,� my 20-month-old nephew now had a �Homerun Uncle Kyle,� and my 5-month-old niece now had a �Youngest Member of the Kyle Keena Fan Club� t-shirt.

What can I say? A lack of sleep goes a long way...

My maa picked me up from the airport, and we headed to my sister�s place. We got the babies all changed into their Go-Kyle gear and loaded into the car, and we headed to the ballpark.

Kyle was on deck when we approached, and my sister called to him. He waved back to her and the nephew and then did a double-take when he saw me. He thought it was a good surprise.

I of course yelled, �Go Kyle Keena!� while jumping up and down and waving my big, foam finger during silent parts of the game.

It was great to see my brother in action. He�s so friggin� good at what he does. His team smoked the visitor�s team.

After he got cleaned up, the entire family went out to eat.

When we requested a table, it was crazy to see how the family had expanded. We now had five adults, a chair for the baby�s pumpkin seat, and a high chair. That�s quite a crowd.

Over the weekend I realized just how much crap a baby requires. For the 20-month-old alone we left the house with a car seat, a toy, a backup toy in case the first isn�t good enough, a bottle of juice mixed with water, a reserve container of juice and water already mixed since the kid drinks a lot, at least one change of clothes, a small jacket, some pull-ups, a container of wipes, a tub of diaper cream, a bottle of antibacterial hand gel, some animal crackers, a small first aid kit, and an umbrella stroller.

Now take that x2 for the 5-month-old we also hauled around, and that�s a lot of crap.

The kids were pleasant though, and them being absolutely beautiful didn�t hurt things either. However, I can barely get out of the house in the mornings as it is. No kids for Jo! (Well, at least not for a long time...)

On Friday night my brother and I stayed up until 3 a.m. just talking, and I surprisingly made it up okay the next morning. My maa and I headed back to pick up my sister and the kids before heading to our favorite thrift store.

I scored three skirts before I went on baby duty, taking turns with the other two adults on who held the 5-month-old and who chased the 20-month-old. When I tired of chasing the energetic little boy, we stopped at the book section and then went to the furniture section where plopped down on a retro print couch for some quiet time.

He flipped the pages, and I read whatever was on them until he grew bored of it and flipped to another page. We did this several times until his mom and grandma were ready to go.

After shopping and a little lunch, we headed home to wait for my dad and brother to return from their errand running. Meanwhile my mom and sister needed to run some errands, so I took duty of the 5-month-old. (I certainly wasn�t going to take both kids!)

Five minutes after they took off, the little girl took a massive dump. Four baby wipes and half a tube of diaper cream later, she was as good as new.

When everyone finally got home, we hung out for a bit before going out to dinner again.

After dinner we hung out at my sister�s house for a bit before my maa tossed me the keys to her car and said that my brother and I could take it out for the night. YAHOO!

We ended up back at the house to change clothes and gather our crap, and then we headed to the gym soon before midnight. I used my mom�s gym pass to get in, and no one noticed.

My brother kicked my ass, thighs, and legs with his super workout. At one point he was lifting the 45-pound bar with three weights of 45 pounds on each side and I stumbled with the 70-pound barbell. In celebration of finally being finished, we went to the gym�s hot tub for a soak.

Apparently the kid working there wanted to know more info after seeing me in my bikini (har har), and he stopped us as we left.

Him: �Kyle, did you sneak your sister in here?�

Kyle: �Um, no. This is my mom...�

Me: �Hi, I�m Cathy. I�ll be 48 next week. I�m the ultimate MILF.�

We talked with him a bit, and again didn�t go to sleep until 3 o�clock.

I had to sleep in the next day, but we soon rounded up the family for a trip to see my Maw Maw. My dad, brother, and I took turns riding her new electric wheelchair. After our hair blowing in the wind and more belly laughs than you�d think, my dad made me promise to get him one of those once he got older. I agreed, with hopes that I�d get to ride it too.

The trip to visit with her wrapped up, and we stopped by my sister�s place one last time for kisses from the babies before I headed to the airport.

There was a long wait for the plane once I got there, but I read a lot and talked with a nice older man who used to work in Chicago. Once on the return plan, I was again not too thrilled to see I was surrounded by kids.

The two rows ahead, the one I was on, and the one behind had two sets of twins; and the row across from me had a 3-year-old.

However, this flight was NOTHING like my flight to Houston. Apparently if the adult isn�t an idiot who can�t shut the flip up for three minutes, the occasional squirm or whine doesn�t bother me. IMAGINE THAT!

By time I got home, I was sick. And here I am today -- still sick. That sums up both today and yesterday.

In an odd note, I got two compliments from bosses today. One compliment said that it was appreciated that I was always cool under pressure. The other said that these docs I worked on today were really good.

Instead of what should be gratitude, I�m suspicious... Did middle management attend a weekend seminar on appreciating employees?

With that thought, it�s time to take my cool and talented head outta here. Have a great Tuesday. Here�s to not being sick tomorrow!�



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Speaking in Tongues - 2008-02-07
I Have My Reasons - 2008-01-25
Got an Itch, Fix it, Shine it Up, Sing it Out - 2008-01-23

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