It started out fantastic and then dipped to downright sadness and trailed to a beautiful slope of wonder……on June 3rd we put the sweet Ava Jean to sleep, as I may have already mentioned it was a mind blowing, wonderfully sad experience…she is at peace! RIP Ava Jean who passed on June 3rd.  On the same day, my friend, owner of Twincitiesradio.net JazzyJ passed away of cancer, we had an incredible celebration of his life on the following weekend, with dozens of musicians performing at his memorial, just as he would have Loved!!!

The evening went on and we all gathered at a local pub, to jam with all the various musicians. SADLY I had forgotten my camera at home, or you would see MANY More pictures up here…..I did a duet with Dan who had an Astonishing voice, then we each did some solo….everyone did 2-3 songs, the rest of the time was spent in the back courtyard talking about the wonderful experiences we’ve all had with JazzyJ….. On JUNE 6th, my husband and I celebrated our 13 yr wedding anniversary AND our grandaughters One Year Birthday, and then later that evening as I was picking around on my guitar, I heard one howl from LuCi and then silence….less than an hour later, LuCi had given birth to 5 Wonderful Kittens!!!!

We lost #5, the runt, 5 days after he was born….I named them 1, 2 , 3 and 4…in the order of their wonderful and prob. scary entrance into my Closet Laundry Basket……Of course LuCi has moved them 2x since and they are currently under my bed…OF ALL PLACES!!!!!  They are growing SO fast and so BIG…all of them have the Multiple toes and of course, the Maine Coon/Bob cat traits….curly tails, bobbed tails and lots of toes……   A few days after they were born, the world lost another great soul, Drew Stein who was a victim of 9/11 and passed….adding to the number of 9/11 related deaths…you can see more on his Facebook page…… It’s been a truly crazy June with 5 birthdays, fathers days and graduations….as well as my Son and his family visiting before they take the big Move to GERMANY….my Son is in the Air Force…

I’ve been asked to write a song for a Powerful and Gripping story by Jane Devin called “Elephant GirL” her story line and words inspired me and to be honest, moved me quite a bit more than I had expected. This woman has a way with words that seem to wrap their fingers right around your soul and there is no doubt of the power of her warm grip….  “Janes Blog”……   Meanwhile I’ve been performing A LOT and have been fortunate enough to be released in a fantastic Press Release by ‘TheStage.TV’… PRESS RELEASE where I am mentioned, as some of you know, the spotlight player IS on my website….. you can check out ‘thestage.tv’ here…. there is Much talent on here and it all follows the theme of an Open Mic….it’s not NEW, but t’s just coming into it’s own, after a couple years. I find myself on there from time to time giving some new songs a test drive and keeping the old songs in a present form, trying to keep up with myself actually.    New songs in the works and ‘DiRTY CRiMES” and “iNDiGO ROAD” seem to be getting a nice dose of LOVE from my fans…you can check these and more out on my YouTube Page (SuzenJueL) all one word, and I would GLADLY put the link up, but I keep getting an error….so You might hve to just search

I hope all of you dear readers are having a fantastic summer.  My projects are piling up and I really should get the balls rollin’ on the freeway of thought here. Much peace to you ALL!  You can see some photos of my recent Performance at MENDO BERRI as well as the amazing kittens I’ve been trying to capture  FLICKR for Suzen

I want to give a shout out to Kevin of TheStage.tv for the Press Release which came out today!  New Spotlight Feature PR . I was informed today that I was in the Press Release, which features the new Spot Light Player….

First video player that gives emerging original artists a simple way to engage fans through donations, online music sales and social media exposure…Use that link to read the full article. And to feature and try out their New Player, you’ll see me there!!!

As well as a few other musicians from TheStage.tv …. You can read the article when you have time, and find out more about how the Open MiC style website is  making a rather noteworthy Splash in the music scene.

In other news……I have finally put Ava to sleep, on June 3rd. We were fortunate enough to have a vet. that could come to our house….it was just Ava and i outside in the grass, where she favored being more than anything – besides the garden of course….could never keep her away from.  She passed away very quickly and very peacefully in the grass, head on my lap…watching birds while I sang ‘Ava jean, she’s my queen….’ she was gone.     3 days later, my grand daughter celebrated her First Birthday and my husband and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary, and Luci delivered 5 Kittens at 8:30 that evening.  June 6th is turning out to be one LuCky DaY!  Sad we lost Ava, and grateful for such a sweet series of events to follow.  5 days after Luci delivered, one of them didn’t make it…I called him #5, I believe he was the runt…… But the other 4 are doing quite well and sometimes get so fat from Mama LuCi’s great milk they can hardly move sometimes.

When You Get some time, please check out TheStage.TV and pass around the Press Release…good Karma and suCh!   Some of the things that are coming up in the near future is a collaboration for a book with Author Jane Devin on an upcoming book called “Elephant GirL” you can read some of the pre publishing reviews on her page. We’re both excited about this project, and I am truly honored that she asked me to do it…. This among another few platefuls of projects and things I need to finish, however writing songs and performing are things I am happy to spend my time on…many times it paves a beautiful path of experience, leading into even more spectacular dimensions….always excited to view peeks of the next things life may place or even hurdle in front of me….I just gotta keep my balance and I’ll be fine!!!

The Kittens are 9 days old today….I have posted an ongoing photo series of them on my flickr photo page warning, it is a bit of a CUTE OVERLOAD…I’m grateful LuCi lets me sneak in little photos of her Crew….

CD in process….new songs have been added almost weekly. This is a unique time for me and quite a load of lyrics have been waiting in piles and memory clips, moments and solitude have left their snapshots of words and I’ve been writing quite a bit….my main focus these next few days is to finish with some ideas of titles and CD art, and prepare the 2  Hour OriginaL OnLy set I will be doing at MendoBerri on June 25th…(hope you can come!!)  … Also a friend of mine Jazzy J of TwinCitiesRadio.net passed away on June 3rd….there will be a memorial for him tomorrow that I will likely be attending with friend/musician MJ Kroll who was especially close with Jazzy. He will be remembered for all his passion, love and outpouring of support for the Local Music scene as well as his role in Second Life Music as well!   ………………………………….. More to come…thanks for keeping up with my Slow Pace  - Suzen JueL

So the time has come. I knew this was going to be difficult and gave it many months of processing time in my head. Ava has been with us for almost 14 years. I’ve never been one to really mark down the birthdays of  my pets, most times I’m not exactly sure of it anyway…I don’t think I ask in most cases.  But many years ago, my 2nd oldest Josh, and I, went to  pick up a puppy. I believe Josh was 10 years old, which would make it close to 13-14 years ago.  There were two beautiful little girl Wieneramers, with a silvery sheen of fur that seemed to just blend in with the sand. Her eyes were bright green and she was very friendly, lively, vocal. Her sister was very cautious and also quite bloated….so we chose Ava, of course her name wasn’t Ava at that time, that came a bit later.

Adorable and loyal, dedicated and smart. An all around clever dog. She went on long runs with my husband, played with great affection for everyone. Usually outsmarted US on most occasions, learned quickly to sit, stay, come…what no means…never learned to quit begging though, she knew those Brilliant Green eyes would win us over every time.

When we moved into our home….in 2002, Ava explored her much larger space, ran through the woods with me, while I went to pick blackberries in the grove buried far back in the woods, she chased rabbits, sniffed the tracks of the red fox, the deer, turkey vultures and other critters that roam the forests near our home. Walked with giant prances and happy leaps every morning and afternoon with me…picked the carrots from our garden and circled around the yard with it like a trophy…she had to do this for at least 20 min before she actually ate it, and that in itself was just pure comedy.

The memories are just a pure flood for me, but

writing this is part of a healing process…not to mention some closure, for myself and perhaps also for all those who loved her in her long and crazy lifetime. I thought she’d live forever.  This, will be the first time that I’ll have to put a  very very loved pet, who has become a BiG part of our family, to sleep.  In these past few years…after having greeted all the kids, their friends, our family members, other pets, children, babies, strangers…..she has become old. Tumors and cysts, arthritis and recently has lost her hearing, and her appetite.  She has great difficulty going up and down the stairs, often fearing the fall. It’s almost daily now that she loses her footing half way up or down…she just sits there for a moment, then continues.  She still stands on the top of the stairs with her silly grin making her happy groans, every time any one of us, walks through the door, always eager to greet us, always completely satisfied once she gets a good rub on the head or sometimes a treat.  She’s never let anyone sleep alone, n ever cried and howled … even in her worst pain. Has survived a life threatening ‘BLOAT’ attack and after a 1500$ surgery, was pretty much back to her old self…..but a few years after her surgery, she started to slow down….and the masses of growth, started out as little lumps that grew into her side, effecting almost every thing she does, now…..it’s a struggle for her to breathe sometmes…..it’s just time. Sadly, it’s time.

So we always hope….maybe one day she’ll just be better, maybe she won’t hurt..maybe we should let her have her last summer….is it really Time???? REALLY????  That was our plan, to let her have her last summer, but the pain this is causing her, is starting to become a bit more obvious. She’s happy in the sun, in the grass, at my feet as I linger outside in the garden, sitting in the shade reading, she is right there…..But then she has to get up, and move and go up and down those stairs again…..and it pains her, I can see this just starting to overshadow her Joy in life.   I called the vet last week and talked it over….I went through Months of ‘thinking it over’….I have to prepare myself, I can’t just up and go like that…it’s a process, one that takes much thought, much consideration and No Selfishness….it’s not right to keep a pet in pain just because you’re not ready.  She has a few good days left in her….and within the week she will be gone, and there will be a sense of relief, for I have gone thru every single step of this over and over….and like my dad told me, when I was younger… “Sometimes the Right thing to do, is often the most difficult’  words I know are true, words I’ve assured myself with, many times in life. Once again, I know this.

And as she goes….I have visualzed

myself standing next to her, singing a song I’ve been singing to her since she was a puppy….. “Ava Jean, she’s my Queen, and she’s never ever mean” and she wags her tail….closes her eyes with her silly little grin….belly up to the sun and happy as she can be.