When Fantasy Congress Become Real

Today I met Congresswoman Gwen Moore, the representative from my district in the House. She was our guest speaker at church. After the service I introduced myself to her. For lack of a better conversation topic, I told her that I have her picked in my fantasy congress league and that I would appreciate it if she would be as active as possible because that would help my score. I explained to her that I get points for all sorts of activity from the passing of her sponsored legislation to just showing up for roll call. I don't think she knew what I was talking about but she did tell me that her aides have mentioned "fantasy congress" before. Perhaps she'll look into it.

I think that I should receive some sort of credit in the league for actually having met someone on my team.

Wisconsin seasons

Spring officially begins in 2 days, but we couldn't wait any longer. Today we broke out the Weber grill to cook our dinner. Trevor invited Christie, Jon, and me to his apartment for hamburgers and fries. We brought chicken, potato salad, asparagus, and guacamole. We brought too much food, which is what normally happens. And what's worse is that grilled food usually doesn't keep too well in the fridge.

Trevor's neighbors gave us some funny looks as they walked by in their parkas and scarves. Our hands were cold on the beer bottles, but we just moved our chairs closer to the grill for warmth. Jon and Christie argued over who got to sit in the way of the smoke - both of them wanted it.

I can't decide what was my favorite quotation of the night. The contenders are the following.

1. Jon: "The last time I was home, my dad made me watch The Devil Wears Prada. He really likes the fashion industry."

Or

2. Christie, as we sit around the grill: "Well, it looks like most of the snow in your front lawn is melted."

Europe by the Numbers

Ten…completed postcards that I left at the breakfast table in Brugge, Belgium. Because they are stamped, I hope someone will drop them in a mailbox and not the garbage.

Nine…H & M stores. Two in Paris, two in Brugge, and five in Amsterdam!

Eight… supporting characters in the story:

1. Ida, our gracious Parisian hostesss
2. Simon, our trusty Belgian guide
3. Valerie, our trusty Belgian guide’s sidekick (and fiancée)
4. “The Waitress Who Cared” (and who told Felecia that she cannot eat the pita with her meal)
5. Our smelly Flying Pig hostel roommate
6. Arnold, the Friendly Frenchman, who dreams of visiting Alabama
7. Charley’s flirtatious reflection
8. The dog at the hostel who likes gloves.

Seven...pigeons that landed on Charley at one time to eat from his hand.

Six…days’ worth of pictures that I deleted from my camera.

Five…cigarettes bummed from strangers

Four…countries visited in one week: Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands (a.k.a. Holland – who knew!)

Three…traveling companions: Felecia, Charley, and me. Decisions never required a tie-breaker.

Two…musicals, from which we sang a good number of their songs: Wicked – “You’re gonna be popular” and Pete’s Dragon – “It’s a Brazzle Dazzle Day”

One…exhausting week.