Hot

Today my car registered 109 degrees. They are predicting a heat index of 115 tomorrow. I'll be driving to Madiosn all day--in my convertible with no air condition. Hopefully there will be a breeze. At the moment I am packing some clothes and grabbing the kids to find a restaurant and movie theatre for the evening. Then we're sleeping on Mike's couch. No way I can endure this anymore. I am sweating just sitting here. Stay cool and drink fluids.

Yesterday...

...I spent almost the entire day at Mike's sister's house. It was HOT again. Not as hot as it was two weeks ago, but still when my car registers over 95 it is time to seek shelter. Julie has a pool and air conditioning and fun kids for my kids to play with. I had spent the morning cleaning the house, mowing the yard and planting flower and was sweaty. Nothing felt better than hopping in the car and eventually hitting the water of the pool.

Mike spent the day working on chores around his house.

After swimming and eating grilled meat (yum, nothing says summer more than jumbo grilled hot-dogs!) Lynn (married to Tom, Mike's brother) joined us her gorgeous dog Quila (pronounced Keela). Julie and Lynn are in charge of the music at the wedding. They are geniuses and can play anything and know everything. I just sat there and said, "sure, that is great..." or "...hmmm, I have no idea what we want." We settled on a variety of musical selection ranging from Ave Maria, to Catholic songs that all Catholics know by heart, to "I Hope" by the Dixie Chicks. I think the music will be awesome and we'll have a keyboard, a flute, a clarinet, a guitar (if Tom plays too) and a trumpet (if my sister plays). I am quite excited.

It was cool to have a girls afternoon to plan stuff. Like how should I walk down the aisle? With who? What kind of dresses should the girls wear? Etc. I like my new sisters in law a lot.

At about 5pm the boys joined us, well Mike and Todd (Julie's husband) did. We all went to see Grace and Margaret's performance of Underwater Adventure, the culmination of three weeks of church camp. It was adorable. Grace was an angelfish, Margaret a pufferfish. The scenery was amazing. We were all underwater, there are murals everywhere with sea turtles, schools of fish, dolphins, a giant whale and blue saran wrap strung up above us signaling that we are underwater. I also love seeing the girls sing, dance and act in a very supporting arena. The kids that attend the camp come from all different backgrounds and races and income levels. They all seem to truly love each other as there is no shortage of hugs, smiles and high fives! The camp is held at the church that I loosley attended for about a year or so--the musicians are amazing. The theology that the pastors preach is about unity, peace, tolerance, justice, equaitly, and counters everything that the right wing pumps out. It is a very good place.

The night ended back at Julie and Todd's for a trip to Kopp's Custard (whoa, major calorie alert) and then another evening dip in the pool. We left at about midnight as I was turning into a pumpkin and falling asleep on the couch. But, what a great day.

I love being a part of Mike's family. I was really worried before I met them that they wouldn't like me, or wouldn't be thrilled that I had kids, or worried that I was too loud and mouthy. But. I fit in great and they have totally welcomed me into their group. I love my family, but everyone is younger than me so our relationships are different, I love that Julie and I can relate to one another about our kids, that we are all in our 30's (or really close....) and have similar interests. It's very cool these Crowell/Guelke people. And we won't even start the list of quotes that Todd and I generate!!! Good banter. Good times. Good people.

And I get to claim them as my family! I'm so lucky.

(This doesn't even underscore the fact that the girls and Mike's nephews couldn't be more alike. Grace, 10 and Nick 11 share a passion for reading: Harry Potter, Narnia, etc. And their personality traits. Margaret 7 and Andy 7 could be identical twins, they are totally peas in a pod. They have the same effected voice, they are the rambunctious monkeys of the group and they play hard. All four make a lovely little group. And I think that it is way cool that Grace and Margaret gain two cousins that are their ages!!! Another bonus.)

Reasons that I love Door County

Mike and I spent last weekend in Door County to celebrate his birthday. It was wonderful. It had been a few years since I went there for a day trip and even longer since I have stayed overnight. But, we stayed two nights is a cabin (delux cabin with shower, plumbing, kitchen, etc). It was great. Here it the itinary of how we spent the weekend.

• Friday night: Drove up after work, stopping for a wonderful fish fry and fried cheesecake bites (really, someone decided that it was a good idea to deepfry cheesecake, and as disgusting as it sounds was amazing!). We drove up in the dark and Mike got to see the sky without Milwaukee's light pollution. We arrived at our cabin very late and went to bed. Although I should make mention of the fact that we had NO pillows in the cabin. They had informed me that we needed our own lines, so I brought sheets and towels, but no blankets and no pillows. We did however stuff our towels in outr pillowcases and voila! Pillows.
• Saturday morning we drove up to Fish Creek to have breakfast at the Cookery. We had granola french toast, I had cherry sauce, Mike had apple sauce and of course whipped cream. It was fabulous.
• We then headed to meet our kayak guide and head out for our four hour kayak adventure. We were one couple out offive and had a guide. We put in near the tip of the penisula and did a lovely ten mile paddle. The water was clear, the scenery gorgeous, and at one point I even hopped out of the kayak and swam in the lake. The water was cool but fabulous. However, I would suggest that getting back into your kayak in the middle of the lake is not entirely easy. The guide told me that I would have no probelm. Well. He. Was. Wrong. I have to say that I did not dump the kayak, and more importantly Mike into the lake, but I felt like a fish flapping around on land. I am sure that I looked completely ridiculous! But it was fun.
• After four hours in the sun and on water we were hungry. We headed to Summer Kitchen where they have the best soup on the planet. It is so well known that there is a soup bar with four or five different types and hot, freshly baked bread. We then had custard sundaes at Not Yet Liked custard stand and headed back to change and get ready for the evening play.
• Ever since I was a kid I have spent time vacationing in Door County. With six kids it was hard for my parents to take us anywhere else so many, many summers were spent there developing a familiar routine that always included a trip to Pinnisular Players outdoor theatre. The gounds themself are magic, flowers in bloom, lush trees, strung lights, small outdoor bar, a firepit, and the lake. We saw a comedy that was too long and too slapstick for my taste, but we did get to enjoy the new theatre (they are in the process of building a permanent structure). We didn't make it back in time for us to build a campfire at our cabin, which was a sacrifice.
• Sunday morning we were up early to get our name on the long list at Al Johnston's the Sweedish pancake house made famous by the grass and goats that reside on the roof top. Another helping of pancakes with cherries and whipped cream. Hey, we were on vacation!
• We also took time to wander around Ephraim, to see the water and enjoy the views. Then we hopped into the car to make our way through Pennisula State Park to see the lighthouse and climb the lookout tower. We ran out of time or we would have rented bikes and toured the park a pied. I think that we took over 150 picture (which, once again are on Mike's camera and hence downloaded on his computer! I'll post some soon, I promise!)
• Then to Wilson's for an ice cream cone and finially had to admit that the weekend was over.
• We must have consumed over 5000 calories a piece, although the kayaking offset some.
• We started a list of things to come back and visit, including a luke-warm committment from Mike to try camping. :-) Which I think that he will really enjoy, since he enjoys everything else that is assoicated with camping: the fire, the hiking, the biking, the swimming, the woods, the eating; he just has never slept in a tent yet. Or shared the community bathrooms. But, he'll find that isn't so bad.
• We think we're going back next weekend to camp with the girls. Now that will be an adventure!

My thighs love me.

I love my treadmill. I ran 24.5 miles since July 3rd. I feel great and am starting to be addicted to whole running thing. And I can see doing it long term. Something that I never thought I would do. Ever. Run? Me? But I can hear my thighs thanking me.

I'm supporting her.

Kathleen*Falk for Attorney General.

She is one kick-ass woman and a hell of a good politician.
She is honest, and straighforward. She doesn't kiss ass for votes. She is a real human being.
And she is at work defending things that I care about.

I was interiewed by the local liberal paper last week and this article appeared on the cover.

And this is is what I had to say.

Falk’s position has already garnered an endorsement from Women’s Choice, a women’s advocacy group. “Kathleen Falk is just a tremendous advocate for women and the pro-choice agenda,” said Kristen Rogers, executive director of Women’s Choice. “I think she’s a model woman and she embodies everything that we support in candidates. She’s a strong worker, she’s connected to local groups, she’s intelligent, she’s witty. She just has a good grasp on what women in Wisconsin care about.” Rogers added that the two Republican candidates pose a “huge threat” to reproductive rights. “If we want to protect this office and protect pro-choice, Kathleen Falk has to win,” she said.

You Go Kathleen.

I can be nice, sometimes.

I just was nice to someone that I don't like. I try to like this person, but it never fails that she then makes me crazy. I have to deal with her, there is no going around that, but I can choose how I interact with her. In a conversation today I was nice and tried to get her to gently see my point of view, and others that know share my point of view. I think it worked, to a degree. There were moments in the conversation where I was cringing and wanting to say, "You are mean and catty and make me nuts." But. I didn't. For lots of reasons. And, it was just fine. Sometimes there is something to be gained by being pleasant.

#58

I am sitting at my desk at work, recovering from an email that my brother just sent me.
Stevie Castner is dead, killed in Iraq, one week after arriving there. He is the 58th Wisconsinite to be killed in the war.

Stevie was my math teacher, Kay's son. He was three years younger than us, but Kay was our math teacher, our homeroom teacher, our yearbook advisor. I had a tremendous relationship with her for all three years that I was in high school. I came to know Stevie in a playful relationship--we teased him and joked with him--and he hung around constantly. He was their only child.

And now he is dead. And his parents don't have a child anymore.
This makes me unbeleivably sad. Read on if you want to have a personal reason why I support the troops but think they should be home, safe, now.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=475964

Catching up, anfter negleting this too long...

I've been too busy to even consieder blogging these past few weeks, but I have had several comments by people that I didn't even know were readers of the like, "what is going on, you're not blogging anymore!" I have been meaning to really. Just. So. Busy.

I'll just do some quick bulletpoints. I have a life that is crammed right now. Crammed with work, with kids and with lots of fun. I have to say that I feel like I am perpetually tired. But. There are only three months of summer. Must fit everything in, before we have to hunker down in the cold.

First, there is no house news. People keep asking and it really nice that so many people care. But we have nothing new to say, except we are frustrated. I am worried that the girls will be back in Milwaukee Public schools and I am worried that we will own two houses forever. There is nothing more that we can do about it, and I heard this morning on the news that the Fed is going to start lowering interest rates again. That news was heartening. Maybe more people will be back in the market!

I recently (end of June) aquired my mom's treadmill and in two and half weeks, have racked up almost 20 miles on that sucker. I hate running, but when I finish my 2 mile work-out I feel strong, healthy and like I am not as pathetic as I say I am. Since the heat wave started last week I have avoided the treadmill and have tried to just stay cool, but there was a massive storm last night and it is cool. So. I will try and get out of the office early so that I can run again.

Last weekend we had the thrilling adventure of going out on Mike's brother Tom and sister-in-law Lynn's boat. It is a gorgeous craft that has a lower cabin that sleeps eight, has a small kitchen area, a bathroom and seating upstairs on the open deck. Tom was kind enough (and tolerant enough) to take us all out for an evening of chasing waves. At one point he shut the engine down and my soon-to-be brother-in-law Todd and I jumped in to swim. The water was gorgeous and clear and perfect. It made me want a boat that I could take out every warm day and hop in our massive lake. We were out maybe several miles (???) and it felt like there was no one else on the water. Lovely.

That same day Mike accidently poked me in the eye trying to help me tie on a halter dress. It bothered me all day and hurt like hell and so, the next day we ended at the eye doctor in lieu of going on our day trip canoeing. Glad we did, I had a badly scratched corneia (which has healed fine) and they fitted me with a contact band-aid. (Very cool, didn't know that they made band-aids for eyes) gave me some drops and sent me on my way. Mike felt (and still feels) awful, but it really wasn't a big deal, just another interesting episode in the category of "weird things happen to Kristen" category. There is a 50/50 chance that the cornea will re-tear in the next month or so, but I am confidant that won't happen, and well, if it does, it does.

My family continues to be interesting. More on that subject when I am allowed to write about it. At the moment I can say that I never saw this one coming and I am terribly excited about it. No one is pregnant, but the family may be growing. Again, I'll ellaborate as I can.

Two weeks ago Jenica and finace Drew were in town for her bridal shower (holy shit, that was already two weeks ago??) We had a lovely, although brief, time together. I got to FINALLY meet Tamara and Saranne who are adorable and perfect to the way that I imagined them. We visited with Chistian and Tim (always interesting) and Mike got introduced to the Rockford contingency and my cousin Jeanie and husband Ed. I scored a peice of Ed's art and he is making a garden scupture for our wedding present! I only wish life wasn't so far removed from people that I love--and wish that moments like that Saturday could last longer. Ahh, the realization that time stops for no one. Age I think.

Ok, I have blabbed enough for the moment. I am at the office and facing a dissaster of a desk. I am now working to help two state-wide campaigns (Attorney General and Lt. Gov.) in addition to my regular work. I see the 12 hour days and 60+ hour weeks approaching quickly and wonder if I can handle this? I have positioned myself really well in this job, I now sit on four boards or adivory tables of organizations, work with candidates and still have to raise almost a quarter of a million dollars in the next 12 months. I just wonder if I can deliver. But. In order to do that I need to shut down the blog and move along.

The upshot is that Mike and I are going cabining (not camping) this weekend in Door County. We're going here. We're staying in a delux cabin with a kitchen and shower (in my mind cheating) but will have the luxury of a fire pit and wooded site. I am slowly working Mike into wanting to try camping. He will get there...just not this year!

There you have it.

It's beeen a hectic month of June. And it doesn't look like it is getting any quieter in the next weeks!