Thats actually where I had it originally.. but maybe setting ajaxData variable there and then looping in a sub is hte problem, will fiddle with that but change that sub up a bit and just use ajax.lastdata instead of setting a custom variable, etc.. Thanks for the tip guys, have a great week!
(edit)
even this isn't working.
<img src="http://content.screencast.com/users/crhatfield/folders/Jing/media/61813015-f231-46a2-ba4c-2142caab5e06/2012-06-05_1036.png" border="0" />
am I missing something? thanks :)