Let your laughter fill the room

Coen recently asked me what my favorite thing in the whole world is...and when I started to answer that it was him, and his sister and Tad...he said "No no, not people...what's your favorite thing in the world BESIDES people?"  Now, it was bedtime and I think he was stalling, but I had to hand it to him, it was an interesting question. I told him I'd have to consider it awhile; this is not a question to be taken lightly.

When I was on my run this morning, the answer came to me.  My favorite thing in the world, besides all the people in it, is uncontrollable, helpless laughter.  When you are doubled over, on the floor laughing so hard your stomach hurts and  you can not stop.  Oh, yes, that is my favorite thing in all the world. 

I have always gotten laugh attacks. I don't know if it happens to everyone...  When something just strikes you as funny and the funny goes on and on and you can't stop. My mom gets them too. I wonder if its hereditary. It strikes me that its been a while since I've had a good laugh attack.  I'll have to start looking for silliness...  In the meantime, I better go tell my son the answer to his question. I think he'll like it.

Today was a much better day

 

 

 

 

 

Ironically, this picture was taken on the broken bench outside the gas station before purchasing ice cream.

Last night, after my traumatic evening (see yesterday's post), Tad and I put the kids to bed and sat up talking in the quiet of our living room. TV off, laptop closed, a few candles going and our voices.  We talked about parenting individually and together and how we both have such different parenting styles that sometimes its hard to mesh.  He told me some funny stories about the kids-things I'd missed and I told him about work stuff. 
I woke up this morning feeling much much better. 

My mom, when I met she and my dad at Alterra to hand over my kids, handed me an envelope from my cousin.  My cousin just read my blog and wanted to help in some way. She gave us a gift that was impossibly generous and extremely thoughtful...and just at the right time.  How lucky am I to have such friends and family in my life...  not just people who have helped us out this year, but also those who have supported us, and loved us.  Wow.

I stopped home after teaching a class in West Bend this morning and had lunch with Tad, throwing a load of wash in on my way out.  Later in the afternoon, I had a voice mail.  It was Tad.

"Oh! Hello there.  I am leaving this message for Alie Kriofske Mainella...  You were at my house earlier today... Well, you left your under wear on the floor.  Just thought I'd let you know."

I must have dropped some laundry.  That message made me laugh and laugh.  My kids are in bed now.  I hope to talk to my cousin tonight, and possibly a friend too.  Then I'll read my novel with the Brewer game on in the background.  I love it when another day comes.

I scream you scream we all scream for...oh screw it, let's all just scream.

I'll admit it. I've been a little down.  Right now my life is not a basket of rainbows.  We are at the end of our year of living simpler, true.  But everything's catching up with us.  We're out of money for the week and I don't get paid until Friday. My sister's birthday is this week, we need groceries, I need gas.  Our roof is leaking endlessly into our walls and we need to fix it...
  I have to work and my whole family is home for the summer; it is heartbreaking to leave in the mornings, some days.  Tad still needs to catch up on stuff at night and our evenings have been baseball on TV, Internet surfing, flipping channels and more baseball on TV. 
I hate to say this but.  Ugh.

So I was clearly in a bad mood this afternoon and Tad, knowing that I'd like to see a little more spontaneity in our family life, suggested we surprise the kids by telling them we're all going to walk down to Cold Spoons for gelato.  My heart leaped.  A walk? In the evening? AFTER dinner?!!  Just what the doctor ordered, right? Apparently not.  Darn consumption not solving all my problems....stupid capitalism.

We started out down the street, alternately holding hands at driveways and intersections and running on the sidewalk.  Then we got onto Vliet street.  Lucy wouldn't hold my hand at one of the driveways and Tad got stressed out about the cars coming and I had to grab her wrist which she tried to grab away and it became a battle of will.  Still, determined that this outing would save my mental state, I remained patient and pleasant and even turned around and smiled at Tad. He smiled back. 

As we approached Cold Spoons, a disturbing realization hit me.  It is Monday. Gelato is Italian.  Are not Italian places generally closed on Mondays?  "Oh no", I said, covering my face.  We walked up to the darkened storefront, a big mean CLOSED sign staring us in the face.  "Closed!?" Coen said in a panicked voice.  We stood silent for a moment.  Considering.

Tad said calmly, "Oh no you guys, its closed!  Let's just go to the gas station and everyone can pick out an ice cream treat." Dang it! I don't want to spend money on stupid gas station ice cream.  I want to go to Cold Spoons. And now I want to go home.  But I paste a smile back on my face and take Lucy's hand.  Coen runs ahead, looking at his shadow and BAM, he trips over a crack in the sidewalk and down he goes.  He sits for a moment examining his skinned knees and suddenly becomes hysterical as red blood blobs peek through.  "Pick me up! Pick me up!" He yells clutching at me. I barely get him off the ground when my back, already injured, pulls and hurts all the way down to my toes.  Coen goes for his dad.  "Pick me up!"

Up he goes and Tad tells him its okay and he'll be fine--he's just getting his summer skin.  Before he knows it scraped knees will hardly bother him at all. Coen buys this and calms down.  We approach the gas station parking lot and Tad coaches me on which way to walk to avoid traffic which sets my blood boiling 'huh! tell ME what to do!'  But we go in and hover around the ice cream cooler.  We're in everyone's way and keep having to move and Coen considers his ice cream choice for about ten minutes.  Finally we head out and I suggest we go home and eat on our porch. I am overruled and so we sit on a broken blue bench outside the gas station.  A pick up truck is blasting I am Iron Man and a garbage can is wafting stink in our faces.  I cannot possibly think of a worse way to be spending our evening.  Stupid Iron Man!  Garbage smell!  Can't fit on this bench!  This is what my brain is saying on loop. 

Coen cries because his ice cream is melting and pieces of chocolate are falling off and Lucy still has hers and why didn't he get a push up too and his knees hurt.  I sit on the edge of the broken bench and bite into my ice cream sandwich, sprinkled with freezer burn, sticking to my teeth, obviously expired.  I fold over the wrapper and lob it into the garbage can.  I seethe.  Lucy has an issue with her push up and I pick it up to dump out the melting part and accidentally overturn the entire thing into the dirt.  She shrieks.  I try to salvage some which she now declares to be "usgusting".  She takes what is left and I pick her up to carry her home, my back aching and sticky red push up dripping onto my arms and feet at every step.  I'm sitting here with my toes sticking together, and I have to admit, I'm almost cracking a smile at the disaster of it.

Yeah, so our ice cream outing didn't really do the trick.  But I guess happiness comes when it comes.  And it sure doesn't come in a push up pop or an ice cream bar.  Here's to tomorrow being better.

Clink!

Smash!

Damnit.

Spontaneous custard tarts

Weekday breakfasts are quick and easy.  A bowl of cereal, milk and toast.  Frozen pancakes popped in the toaster with a sausage link or two.  Oatmeal.  Peanut butter toast and cut up bananas.  But on the weekends, I love a more complicated, more decadent breakfast.  Sometimes I make a batch of muffins and a pitcher of smoothie.  Or fresh blueberry pancakes, or french toast or egg and cheese burritos.  Today I rifled through our fridge and found some Phyllo dough left over from a dessert I'd made for a party...  I was going to wrap the dough sheets around some bananas and chocolate but alas, we are out of both bananas and chocolate chips.  So I got creative.

I took out six ramekins and spread layer after layer of leftover phyllo dough sheets with melted butter, folding them up and placing them in the ramekins until they formed a cup.  Then I made custard out of eggs (we have tons --they were on sale), milk, sugar and fine farina.  I poured this mixture into the cups and then placed a layer of phyllo back on top.  After they baked at 375 for 25 minutes, I made syrup of water, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon and poured that atop the pastries.  They turned out pretty yummy and were easy and cheap to make!  A sweet breakfast treat!

This is what my childrens' faces looked like when I brought them out.

Think it, and it shall be so

I think I tend to annoy my friends and loved ones with my urgings to THINK POSITIVE!  My constantly smiling face and upbeat facebook posts annoy the crap out of some people (so I'm told).  However..I have to say that for the most part...it really does work.  And its not that I'm never in a bad mood. Sheesh. Just ask my kids. Or my husband.  But I guess to be honest, mostly, I'm pretty happy.

My friend and coworker spoke this afternoon to the group of teenagers with whom I am spending my week at my Youth Leadership Summit and he told his story. His story, in a nutshell, is that he was shot  some time ago and paralyzed...and it was hard to come to terms with and sometimes is hard still..but he would not change things, had he to do it over again.  Do you know why? Because he is who he is today because of the life he's lived and the things that have happened to him.  (Aren't we all?)  And he likes who he is today.  And so do I.  Watching him joke with my group and talk to them about believing in themselves and trying hard to succeed, I was proud to be his friend.  And so pleased they were hearing that message.

The point of that, besides the above shout-out (do people say 'shout-out' anymore?  I am not sure), is that the Youth Leadership Summit is a TON of work.  A TON!  And sometimes I find I spend the whole week (like so many other days, nights, weeks) just sort of pushing through and thinking about when its over...and I can say that I did it.  So I told myself this time....this is going to be a GOOD group, I can feel it.  And I am going to be WITH them this week.  Just be part of the event (and run around like a maniac getting things done, but not too much) and see what these kids are like.  And I am having a blast.  This is an amazing group of youth and they are fun, and smart and kind and respectful.  They are enjoying each other and the summit. 

I also, gave myself a similar pep talk about my own kids.  Sometimes as a parent, you just want it to be bedtime already. I am the first to admit it.  But when I rush through my night, doing dishes and hurrying bedtime along...I miss out on my kids.  So I've been trying very hard to slow down and enjoy them lately.  And it's been wonderful. Coen and Lucy are both so smart and loving and sweet and hilarious.  I'm very blessed...I know that.

But I also know that part of what blesses me is what I put out there.  And I try to make it good. 

Summer

Today was officially the first day of summer for three of four Kriofske Mainellas.  Tad was home with the kids today and it was a lovely feeling indeed to leave the house this morning without getting anyone up, making any breakfast (aside from a bowl of special K and a 1/2 banana for myself) or ushering two small individuals to the car.  Ahhhhhhhhhh.

There are several things a person can do for free in the great city of Milwaukee if one is a resident.  Today Tad took Coen and Lucy to the Milwaukee Public Museum where they proceeded to spend an hour in the streets of Old Milwaukee. Tad thought maybe the rain and cloudy skies put the kids in the mood to be somewhere dark and somewhat spooky.  They had a great day.

I started my Youth Leadership Summit at work. This means I will be putting in 50 + hours this week.. But that's okay, I am excited about the work, and the kids I'll be working with!

Other things a Milwaukeean can do for free in Milwaukee
Mondays: Public Museum, The Domes
Tuesdays: Concerts at the Peck Pavillion
Wednesdays: The Art Museum
There is also Chill on the Hill in Bay View, Concerts in Washington Park, Opera concerts at Alterra at the Lake, and Picnics by the lakefront...

There's more..but my child just came downstairs because he doesn't know what to read now that he's finished his book! Sheesh!!! And good night.

Happy Father's Day

First of all, I must say that I am so happy to have Tad as my partner and as the father of my children.  One of the things that first attracted me to him when we first met, was the way he speaks to children like they are PEOPLE! (which they are, of course) As a father he is playful, gentle, sensitive, loving, and protective.  He respects and loves his children.  And he shows me that he loves me in front of them...which I hear is a great gift for children to have...

Second of all...I am so so lucky to have Joel Kriofske as my dad.  He is hilarious, tender, sensitive, fun and oh so caring to my sister and me.  These are my top five dad memories.

1. My dad has an amazing singing voice. When I was a kid (and even still today) when he would sing to me, I would just feel like I was nestled into a protective, warm and magical place, just looking at his kind face and letting the sound of his voice wash over me
2. In our house growing up, we had a fireplace. When the weather grew cold, my dad took my sister and I into the woods on nightly expeditions to collect firewood.  He'd pull our battered red coaster wagon and we'd run along beside him, pretending that we lived in forest while he found timber and kindling.
3. My dad made a point to take my sister and me individually out for a treat...just dad and daughter. I remember sitting opposite him at The Chocolate Factory, eating a scoop of blue moon and a scoop of mint, and talking
4. In the summertime, my dad, at the request and squeals of my sister Beth and me, would throw us into the lake or the ocean or the pool or wherever it is we happened to be swimming.  I remember the way it felt to be held in his arms, wet from the water as he hoisted me high.
5. When I was a teenager, prone to extreme embarrassment by my parents, my dad would make it better by going to his own extremes.  My sister and I would be arguing about one thing or another, or arguing with one of our parents out in public and my dad would yell, loudly in a mock angry voice, "Be quiet now or I'll make a scene!!!"  This would always dissolve the embarrassment we may have had, and send us into gales of laughter and pride that we had a dad such as ours.

Happy father's day to all you dads out there and to all you moms who play both roles!!!

When it rains...

Tad is returning from his away-time in Madison and I am ready to RECONNECT!  And when I spoke with Tad on the phone, he let me know that he too, is anxious to just sit with me and BE together tonight.  Of course, this night, that I have decided would be an important night in, I got not one, not two, not three ... but FOUR invites to go out and hang with friends!  Sheesh!  Of all nights.  Anyone who knows me, knows how much I enjoy a social life.  Funny, that one night I decide staying in is absolutely imperative, that so many opportunities should present themselves.

I was invited to
1. A game night party with co-workers current and old
2. A back yard barbeque
3. Going dancing with a good friend
4. Going to a play with my sister

What GIVES!!!  I hope offers of excitement out in the world will continue to come in abundance this summer. But this Friday night, I need to be on the couch, in my jammies, with my man.

The power of alone time

Tonight Tad is away spending some much needed time AWAY...away from parenthood, responsibilities and even husband-hood. 

One thing I love about our relationship is we give each other that.  When life is not too busy, we try to each take a night a week away from it all with friends or alone.  I like to meet up with my girls for dinner, or go for a long walk with one of my neighbors.  He likes to join a friend to watch a sporting event, or go out to chat, but mostly he likes his time alone --to regroup and re-energize.  He left for Madison this morning and I know he enjoyed driving in the sunshine listening to a couple new mix Cd's (on very high volume) that he made last night. I know he'll enjoy his night away, his completely uninterrupted night of sleep, and his kid-free morning.  Tomorrow he'll come home a rested man who appreciates what he has even more.  That's the way it is. When we get some time away, especially when we're in the business of raising children and even just in a partnership, time to do something that is yours and yours alone is SO invaluable and really good for you too.  When I do it, I get to actually MISS my family and I'm so happy to see them when I am back. And Tad always says that being out in the world makes him appreciate what he has in his own world even more.

Me? I'm hanging out with my kiddos tonight...though not as I type.  We played in the neighborhood after school until dinnertime.  We feasted on pigs in a blanket (super cheap meal), watermelon, applesauce, pasta salad and veggie soup with chocolate covered ice cream bon bons for dessert (all leftovers).  Right now, I am happily blogging away to the sounds of the ka-chunk ka-chunk of Coen and Lucy bouncing on Coen's mattress which he has pulled off his bed frame and on to the floor.  When I close the top of my computer I'll go and give them a 30 minute warning before its time to clean up their fort and get their little bodies into bed. 

I will then enjoy the quiet of my house and not talk to anyone at all while I embark on perhaps a crafty project, or view something girly, or eat pretzels dipped in melted chocolate and peanut butter.  Mmmmm.  I better sign off, it's suddenly a bit too quiet upstairs!

Good night dear readers.

bicycle

 I did two things today that were free and enjoyable.

1.  I rode my bike to work today! It is the first time I've ever done that...it was lovely.  I took the Hank Aaron trail.  Then on the way home, I dropped by and got Coen and we biked back home together.  Next time I'll just have to remember not to fill my bag so full!

2.  I remembered an old song my dad used to sing me as a lullaby and I sang it to Lucy tonight.  Singing it, and looking at Lucy's big brown eyes, all sleepy and dreamy, I remembered being a little girl and laying in bed when my dad sang to me.  Tucked in at night, freshly bathed, the nights my parents didn't go out...and my dad sang me "time after time", I can still remember how safe and loved and wonderful I felt. 

Here is a link to Kathryn Grayson, Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford, doing time after time, if you should like someone to sing YOU to sleep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlBYm4WWGs4

Sunday, lovely, Sunday

The sun is finally shining.  The kids slept all the way until 7:00. And Tad and I had a really great night playing a board game with friends.  The makings for happiness!

Today, after coffee, breakfast and our weekend TV viewing time, we all went outside and the kids ran around and rode their bikes.  After a while, we took a family walk down to the Mobile station and bought a Sunday paper.  Tad wanted the sports page, Coen wanted the comics, I wanted the Entree section and the coupons and Lucy was just content to take a walk.  There, we ran into Tad's cousin Jenny's husband Dino who is a police officer in Milwaukee.  We chatted with him for a while and then headed for home.

After we all read our favorite newspaper sections and Lucy colored on the chalkboard, Coen walked over to me and said, "Mom? I don't know if you're going to say 'yes' to this or not, but I'm going to ask anyway... Can we do some kind of project?"  I pulled out some garden stones and a wooden lizard and paints and the children currently are painting away as I type this.  Tad's still reading the sports page.

It is blissful.  After a while I'll bring out a snack and later this afternoon we're all going to meet up with some friends at Pride Fest.  Tomorrow is the first day of summer vacation for my three family members.  And since I don't have to take anyone anywhere tomorrow morning, I'm going to ride my bike to work!  Happy Sunday.

Why is my heat on?

Well, today was the last day of school.  Usually the last day of school is celebrated by a big picnic and gathering in the park, but today it was 55 degrees and rainy.  So Tad and I dropped Coen off at school where he had fun and watched a movie and we went grocery shopping with Lucy.

We took the kids out for a celebratory last day of school lunch.  (We could splurge as we had little to pay for daycare this month--Yay suddenly having a teacher for a partner!) and then home where we lounged and watched a movie.  I did laundry while the kids viewed and Lucy stripped down to her birthday suit and found a warm cuddly spot inside the laundry basket.

We all went outside to play for a while until it got too chilly and we came in for a very wintry dinner of grilled cheese and soup!  The exciting thing is that the soup we ate was delicious seafood bisque made and packed up for us by our neighbors Lynn and Bill.  And the cheese was leftover from our grill out last weekend. I forgot to bring out the cheese for the burgers so hurray for unexpected extra cheese!

I love a meal that just pops up like that, unplanned. Now the meal I was GOING to make for tonight can wait another day, thus drawing out the length of time before we need groceries again.  The heat is on as the children just took a bath.  I intend to leave it on until I go to bed.  My children felt sorry for Mother Nature as I was speaking poorly about her this evening.  But, I mean, come ON!  I'm back in my fleece!  Mother Nature! I want to pack up my fleece!  Give us back the heat!

Lucy, on a puddle hunt

Getting warm in the laundry

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, bright and shiny sun...

I love love love this weather.

We have no central air at our house, which some might find rather torturous.

We installed window units in both the kiddo's rooms as they sleep in a converted attic and it is monstrously hot up there!  I was against it at first.  I lamented how I grew up with no air conditioning and I was fine! My children could live through it too!  But once we got the window units in and I realized that my children now slumber soundly, not awoken by loudly chirping bird, nor 90 + degree heat, nor clashing thunder clap!  That is indeed a lovely thing.

Tad and I sleep in heat, blown gently by a fan in two of the windows and the ceiling fan overhead.  I love it.  I just love to feel it all around me, soaking into my skin. 

mmmmmm summer. 

This post brought to you by tomorrow's sudden jump back down to 58 degrees.

todayday

Today I am 36 years old.  I always liked the number 36.  It's a nice number!

I had to work today but I went to work in my kick-ass new yellow shoes that Tad gave me.  These shoes cost a pretty penny.  But Tad reasoned (bless him) that I spend no more than five dollars usually on one article of clothing as I am a major thrifter...so pretty penny shoes, I do deserve--so he says.  He also picked me up at noon and we went out to lunch at Casablanca (two for one coupon from United Way) and for a stroll down Brady Street (our old stomping ground).

On my way home from work, my mom called me and told me my birth story which she does every single year without fail.

This evening, we sat in the backyard with the kids.  Coen dragged out a table and chair with a notebook, some books on space and a pencil and did 'research' on black holes. Lucy drew on our new white-erase board easel given to us by our wonderful next door neighbors.  Then they ran through the sprinkler.  We ate grilled veggie burgers, and my mom's cheesy potatoes, and beans and fruit with cake for dessert. (all leftovers)

Now I am going to settle in and watch baseball with Tad.

Here are some photos of the people I brought into the world and the person I brought them in with.

Another special order!!!

I made a shirt for a friends' daughter's birthday last week! It was my second special order. Here it is.  I'm thinking about staring an etsy shop eventually.  I'll have to crank out a bunch of shirts first, I suppose!   

I had a really really nice weekend.  Two overnights for at hour house, both went awesome.  One birthday/graduation/onset of summer combo party.  One delicious Thai meal with a group of friends.  I'm going now to watch baseball...then maybe a movie...and eat some leftover cake!

Sleepover!!

Popsicle time!

  

Coen had his first ever sleepover at his house last night.  His friends from school--Alejandro and Sebastian came. It had to be the easiest sleepover in history. No arguments, lots of fun, and everyone was asleep by nine!  It was awesome!  They got up around 6:30 a.m. I made them some breakfast and they played quietly until it was time for Tad to take all three of them to soccer!

Coen and Sebastian riding around the block.

Alejandro post a front-yard soccer scrimmage

The boys are having some reading time before bed

Here they are having their breakfast

In the morning Lucy watched "Elmo's Potty Time!" 

The boys watched with Lucy and giggled

A double shower afternoon

Today  a few parents got together and had a shower for our kids' teachers.  Coen's teacher is getting married this summer and the assistant in his classroom is having a baby!  I volunteered to make the cakes.  Here they are.

Baby rattle cupcakes

A disco dancing wedding cake

The cakes are box mixes (boooo) but the frosting on both is homemade!  I had to kick Tad out of the kitchen a number of times until they were all done!

Happy Blogging for LGBT families day!

The issues you have read about in this blog--marriage, love, what to make for dinner, shopping with coupons, going down to one income, funny things kids say, frustrating moments in parenting--all of that is common among ALL families, gay, straight, what-have-you....

Today is June 1st, otherwise known as Blogging for LGBT Families Day.  I have many friends who are gay, many of whom have families, wives, husbands, children, and pets!  I truly hope that one day my children are sitting in history class, reading a textbook in disbelief that there was ever a time that a long-term partnership between two men or two women was not legally accepted as marriage.  In honor of today, I share my own story with you...

I grew up with two partying, politically active, uber liberal parents who took me to taverns and parties as much as they took me to rallies, protests and political actions.  There was never a day when I thought that it was wrong to be gay.  The angriest my mom has ever been at me (or at least the angriest I perceived her to be) was when I called from a friend's house to report that I heard Whitney Houston was gay and then proceeded to have a laugh attack on the answering machine.  She called me, fuming.  She wanted me to know that I came off as disrespectful and mean and what if one of her gay friends was there to hear me.  She was ashamed.  So was I.  But that was when I was a teenager, immature, unsure.  But at that same time, I had my first crush on a girl.  Her name was Melissa.  She was brown haired, brown-eyed, super cute.

Both in High School...and in college I was always a little (insert strange sound effects here) different.  In grade school I wore two different colored shoes or socks at all times. In grade eight, for the school talent show, when other kids were doing renditions of madonna, whitney houston, or michael jackson songs, I sang "Everyday" by Buddy Holly.  In high school, I refused to wear make-up, or hairspray, no matter what all the other girls were doing or saying or how much I was shunned for it.  When Jim Henson died, I walked around school wearing black with a floppy crocheted frog tied around my neck.  But you know, no matter the bullying, no matter the teasing...I refused to give into the way people wanted me to be.  They called me "wierd". They called me "nerd", but mostly, I didn't really care. I didn't need a label.  I was Alie!

I had countless crushes on boys before noticing Melissa.  And I went through all the phases in high school and college--heavy metal, alternative, punk, hippie...and not just in the music genres... experimenting, lesbian?, straight? bisexual?  Who knows?!  But through those phases, I tried to stay true to myself no matter what.  When I had another few crushes on girls----I called one of my lesbian friends and also one of my old college friends (who had expressed her homophobia to me) and told them both I might be gay.  Of course the reactions were quite opposite.  But I had the feeling that neither of them quite believed me.  Then I dated a bunch of guys.  Okay, so I guessed I was straight after all.  I wondered if I should call my friends back and say that maybe I cried wolf. 

So now, I'm a grown up (most of the time).  I have two children. I am married...to a man. Falling in love with Tad was the most natural and magical thing that has ever happened to me in my life.  He's my partner. My friend.  And he knows that I think girls are cute too.  He's okay with that.  And so am I.  Because in the end, I'm Alie.  I always have been and I always will be.  No matter what.

Everyone is attracted to someone.  Some people will be attracted all their lives only to people of the same gender.  Some people are attracted to only the opposite.  Some people, both.  The way I see it, we can be attracted to a multitude of different people throughout our lives.  But when we fall in love...we fall in love with a person.  I think all families should be free to BE families...to get married...to have their love seen as valid and to have children together if they so choose.

Pride Fest is in Milwaukee next weekend.  (June 10-12th on the Summerfest grounds) Whatever your label, or your identity, if you're looking for something to do, go out and support those you know and love (and even those you don't know) in the LGBTQ community!!!