Sugar Glider's

Mom & I have had our babies for a full week now. We've grown pretty attached in that short amount of time. They are both male. Brothers actually. They are named after poker. Seeing as how it's our favorite pasttime and we got them from our super cool poker friends, it seems only fitting that the be named Ace & Jack. My mom say's Jack is only short for Jackson. Jack just fits the poker theme better. The sleep most of the day but, LOVE to play at night. They're so cute. Here's some info on Sugar Glidders. As soon as I get some pics, I'll post them.

What is a Sugar Glider?
Sugar Gliders (petarurus breviceps) are small, arboreal marsupials which originate from New Guinea and Southern Australia. As their common name entails, they possess a gliding membrane (similar to that of the flying squirrel¹s) that stretches from their wrists to their ankles and allows them to Œglide¹ from tree to tree. As with all marsupials, female sugar gliders also possess a pouch, in which they raise their young. Sugar gliders are nocturnal animals which spend almost their entire live in trees. In the wild, they live in colonies of between 6-10 gliders and spendmuch of their time foraging for food.

What do Sugar Gliders look like?
Sugar gliders grow to about 5-6 inches in length (excluding their long tails) and have long, bushy tails which they use for balance and can easily be the length of the body or longer. Their fur is usually grey/silver with white bellies and a black stripe which extends from the tops of their heads to the end of their tails. Males develop bald spots at the base of their heads after reaching maturity [1.5]. They have fairly large, pointy ears and large black eyes. Their face is similar to that of a possum¹s or a bat's.

To see what they look out visit this address.
http://www.sugar-gliders.com/sugar-glider-photos.htm

The Miracle of Life

Congrats to my friend Kim!!!


Top Stories
Firefighters, EMTs aid quick delivery
By Lisa Scheller, News Editor

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 When Kim and Pete Feyerabend bought their Chrysler Stow 'n' Go van last year, they knew it would be handy.
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But until last week, the Eudora couple didn't imagine just how handy it would be.

On the evening of July 3, three days before her due date, Kim went into labor. The couple, and their 4-year-old daughter Ashleigh, were in Basehor celebrating an early Fourth of July at the home of Pete's parents, Bob and Betty Feyerabend.

Kim had visited her doctor earlier that day. But during the afternoon and evening she had sporadic contractions, none of which were strong. Her first child had been born after a 4 1/2-hour labor, and Kim and Pete didn't expect this delivery to be much different.

Even if the baby did decide to come that evening -- sometime between the family dinner and fireworks -- they knew Basehor was a mere 25-minute drive from Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where she planned to deliver.

But the best of plans can go awry. And in this case, they did. At 8 p.m. Kim's water broke. Almost immediately her contractions accelerated to a minute apart. They were strong. Kim and Pete both knew these contractions were for real.

They left Ashleigh with her grandparents and headed west on U.S. Highway 24-40. By the time they neared Tonganoxie, they knew the birth was imminent. Pete dialed 911.

Then he pulled off at Tonganoxie's Laming Road -- and swung into the first driveway on the right, thinking the water tower landmark would make it easy for an ambulance to find them.

By coincidence, the driveway into which he turned was that of the Leavenworth County Annex, which houses the county's emergency medical unit. But Pete hadn't known that.

"We had no idea," Kim said Monday.

Though they were in the right place, the ambulance was out on another call.

"About a minute later the EMS showed up, the volunteers, without the ambulance," Kim said.

At the time, Kim was still in the front passenger seat.

Pete knew there was no place to have the baby, so he rushed to lower the van's back seats, which flatten flush to the floor.

"I think I had them down in about half a minute," Pete said. "I was just kind of throwing things out of there pretty quick.

He helped Kim into the van and sat at her head as emergency workers swirled around.

"I was more or less just helping her hold her head up ... because in the back of the van we didn't have any pillows," Pete said.

And within minutes, the couple's second daughter was born. "Goodness gracious, obviously it was pretty exciting there for a while," Pete said.

"Thank goodness the EMTs or EMS, they were there so quick. That's what made it not quite so critical. They seemed to calm it down pretty well for us."

Tonganoxie Fire Chief Dave Bennett said he and other Tonganoxie firefighters had just returned from a call to check on another pregnant woman, one who didn't have her baby at that time.

"In fact, we were just getting off another pregnancy call and we hadn't even made it back to the station when we got this call," Bennett said.

Bennett responded with five firefighters and EMS official Patrick Morey.

"Contractions were a minute apart when we got there," Bennett said. "And about 20 minutes later we had a baby girl named Sydney Rose."

For Pete's parents, the evening was anxious as well. "

They got in the car and left," Better Feyerabend said. "Then, 10 minutes later the phone's ringing, he says Mom we're in Tonganoxie, we're not going to make it to the hospital."

Betty asked where they were. "He said, ‘We're under the blue water tower,'" Betty said.

Thinking they might need their help, Betty and Bob left Ashleigh with relatives and headed to Tonganoxie. "

There was all kinds of help," Betty said, adding that she and her husband decided to stay out of the way. "We sat on the back of our van."

But they soon learned everything was OK, and they even caught a fleeting glimpse of their new -- and perfectly healthy -- granddaughter bundled in a towel as she was carried to the ambulance to be taken to the hospital with Kim, who also was doing well.

That's when Bennett, and everyone else who helped with the delivery, also could breathe a little easier.

"You would think with all the experience I've had with my own children, six of my own, I wouldn't be a big sissy, but I am," Bennett said.

He expressed gratitude for the emergency workers, particularly two of them.

"Thank God for Pat Morey, though, and Jamie McCutchen,"

Bennett said. Bennett said a nurse practitioner also had stopped to help, but he didn't know her name.

Kim said she wasn't alarmed by the fact that her child was going to be born without her doctor present.

"I just knew that they were the ones that had to deliver her," Kim said. "There was no one else there and I knew the ambulance (even if it arrived soon) wasn't going to get me to the hospital in time."

Kim hadn't taken birthing classes.

"They coached me," she said of the emergency workers. "They told me to take deep breaths and try to stay calm."

And shortly afterward Sydney, who weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 19 inches long, was born. But Kim said she realized that even if the ambulance had been at the annex when they arrived, it's likely her baby still would have been born not at a hospital, but "in transit," as Sydney's birth certificate reads.

Mother and daughter spent two nights at Lawrence Memorial, and everything's going fine.

"I was very happy," Kim said. "Everything went good and she's doing good."

Kim and Pete didn't know the people who delivered their baby -- including a nameless-to-them nurse practitioner who stopped to help. But, now that things have calmed down they hope to contact them.

"We'd like to send them thank you's and thank them," Kim said. "They were calm and kept me calm, they did a good job."

Israeli star guard set to play for Shockers

Gal Mekel, the captain of the 18-and-under national team in Israel, opts for college ball in the U.S. over a shot at playing professionally at home.
BY PAUL SUELLENTROP
The Wichita Eagle

Former Shocker Nick Rogers got his first look at future Shocker Gal Mekel when he watched the Israeli guard throw a between-the-legs bounce pass to a cutting Kyle Wilson for a layup.
"He did a lot of that," Rogers said, remembering a pickup game in June at Koch Arena. "He completed most of them. He's a pass-first player."
Mekel (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) said Friday he will attend Wichita State. He is regarded as one of the top talents in Europe and will captain Israel's 18-and-under team later this month in the European championships. WSU coach Mark Turgeon cannot comment on Mekel's commitment until he receives a signed financial aid agreement.
Mekel visited WSU and Providence in June and also had an offer to play professionally for Maccabi Tel Aviv in his hometown. He eliminated Providence last week and decided playing time at Maccabi might be limited.
"We think the best way for me to develop is in college basketball," Mekel said. "I really connected right away with (coaches) Mark and Scott (Spinelli)." He also connected with the university and city. He's a little nervous about moving a 19-hour flight from home, but he feels good about Wichita.
"To leave the family, it will be very tough for me," he said. "But you have to sacrifice things to make your dream and develop. I need to do this. If all the people in Wichita take care of me and welcome me, it will be easy to leave home."
Mekel visited Wichita with his father, Alon, and both liked the city and his future teammates. They believe it's the best atmosphere for Mekel to develop his skills. "He is very, very focused and very, very hard working," Alon Mekel said. "Wichita and Providence are two totally different places. Gal liked the way of life. Wichita is more quiet."
Rogers, a senior on last season's WSU team, said Shocker fans will enjoy Mekel. He describes him as similar to NBA star Steve Nash, while also hesitating to start the hype on Mekel after watching a few pickup games. Nash or not, Rogers said Mekel is talented, smart and confident. He dribbles well, loves to pass and does it all on offense. Rogers was so enthralled by his ball skills, he didn't pay much attention to Mekel's defense.
Turgeon might tone down Mekel's flashy passes, but Rogers said the passes usually work.
"He likes to have the ball in his hands," Rogers said. "He's unselfish. He won't be the quickest guard we have, but he always found a way to get his shot off. He always found a way to get all the way to the basket."
Mekel wants his college experience to prepare him to become the first Israeli in the NBA. Or it could prepare him for a return to Israel and a contract with Maccabi.
It wouldn't be unusual for a European player to spend a season or two in the NCAA, then return home to play professionally. WSU dipped into the foreign pool in 2001, when it signed center Sasha Mijajlovic, a Yugoslavian from Hutchinson Community College. Mijajlovic returned home during the summer and never played for WSU.
Mekel said he has no plans for how long his stay at WSU might last. "I don't want to look far from this point of time," he said. "I want to get better."
Mekel said playing basketball at an American university will allow him to delay the military service required of Israelis after the age of 18.
Mekel attracted a lot of attention with his play in the Albert Schweitzer under-18 tournament in Germany this spring. He scored 31 points with five assists (and eight turnovers) against Spain and 29 points with six assists against the United States. He averaged 17.2 points in the tournament. He will play for the Israeli team in the European championships beginning July 18 in Greece. He said he has been invited to the Adidas SuperStar Camp in Berlin in August, then plans to come to Wichita.
Mekel cannot sign a letter of intent because the NCAA signing period is over. Mekel's commitment reserves WSU's 13th and final scholarship.

I got this in an e-mail from JB

Rather than fill people's e-mail with my boring information, thought I'd share this with you all here. If you care, great. Feel free to share your answers in my comment section or to repost on your blog. If you don't care, too bad! This is my blog :)

4 THINGS you may not have known about me.....

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Teacher
2. Dispatcher
3. Student Assistant for Admissions @ WSU
4. Customer Service for Spiegel, Eddie Bauer & Newport News

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. EverAfter
2. Girls Just Want To Have Fun
3. Grease 1 & 2
4. ANYTHING with Matthew McConaughey ooooooh baby!

C)Four places I have lived....
1. Concordia
2. Wichita State Dorms (Fairmount & Brennan)
3. Scary Apartment on Battin in SE Wichita
4. Eaton Place in Downtown Wichita

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. ER
3. American Idol
4. Days of Our Lives

D2)Four Shows I miss--Loved to watch:
1. ED--Oh how I miss ED!!!!
2. Rosie's Talkshow
3. Third Watch
4. 90210

E) Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Denver, Colorado
2. Nashville, TN
3. Billoxi, MS
4. Las Vegas

F) Four websites I visit daily:
1. Jennifer B's baby page--Cute Jaxon
2. Rosie's Page
3. Dawn's page
4. Hotmail

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Peanut Butter Cup mix in Ice Cream from Marble slab or Cold Stone
2. Mexican Everything--love Tacos!
3. BLT's
4. Chicken Fried Steak and Mashed Potatoes

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Las Vegas
2 Colorado
3. Tennessee
4. Cruise Ship