Fanciest College Kids You've Ever Met.

What is this!?!?! Blog overload!!! RUN AWAY
No don't. Seriously. Read this. It's full of cheese, danger, and vampires.
Only 2 of those things are true. You have to read to figure out which ones.

The day started out as any normal Saturday would for a summer-existing college student. Except Karin and I have no real concept of what regular college students do on Saturdays.... So we sat in the living room verbalizing our confusion and discontent with phrases like, "But what do we DO?!" and "IS THIS REAL LIFE?" Regardless that we had not had a tooth recently removed, or that neither one of us was named David, this seemed like the only appropriate phrase to use on such a Saturday.

So we formed a plan.

That plan was to craft a remarkably elaborate three-course meal. Why? Just because we had the time. Nothing more. There was nothing confining our afternoon except the limits of our imaginations. Thus it was time to craft a menu, and explore Mankato.

Mankato. What a place. Full of people that we didn't see all the time (and yet we saw the ones we do see all the time anyway). Stop 1: Goodwill. Here we sought a blender for our festive evening planned. And found Ava and Eric... They are not a type of blender, they are a type of person we see a lot. Those are different. We did not find a blender, but we did find a bird clock, an ice cube tray, and some lizard glasses. Those things are important but not to this story.

Stop 2: Thrift Store.  Here we again, sought a blender. But did not find a blender, we found Nick, Carl, and Zach. Again, those are not blenders, they are the kind of people we see a lot.  It also marks the second Cronin we had seen within the hour. Again, not relevant to the story.  But we found hot pads that look like watermelons and a bath mat. So those things are good. But no blender.

Stop 3: Target. Pronounced, Tar-gé. There have always been too many hard consonants in store names.   There we found a blender! A successful trip indeed! Also a cutting board. Those things are important to the story.

Stop 4: Hy-vee. For those of you reading this from the middle of the midwest, this is familiar. MN-ers? Less so. But judging by the number of people milling about, they like what they found. It's a carnival-esq place. There we found supplies.

Then onward home! Where we immediately began preparing our feast of sorts. Feast menu? Let me enlighten you.

Appetizer: Extra-cheesey Spinach and Artichoke dip.
Dinner: Chicken breast with white wine mushroom and mozzarella sauce. With a side of parmesan green beans.
Dessert: Grapefruit and Mint Sorbet.

Go ahead, be impressed. It's pretty normal.

We began with our preparations, chopping, squeezing, dicing, and stirring. All in good time, all in slight chaos. Let me explain. The kitchen in the apartment is not really meant for more than 75% of one person. Therefore it feels crowded with one person and overwhelming with 2. But Karin and I managed to make it work. All the while keeping things a secret from our friend Brittany who joined us for such an occasion.

With the sorbet in the freezer, the dip on the chips, I began working on the main course. This is the part of the story with danger. Heat the skillet, put on the butter, put in some olive oil, salt and pepper chicken. Toss! And scald. Zoinks!  My still red-forearms attest to this lack of judgement. But hungry friends take precedent over very hot substances, and I continued to cook. Stir, flip, stir, put in oven, make sauce, add mozzarella (because the recipe was wrong, it needed mozzarella), and all done!

It may not have been my best move, but it was one of the best dinners.

And of course there are things I would do to change it. Like less mint, more grapefruit. But over all, I would declare it a successful evening. Let the cooking continue.

Humble Abode full of the Food

Holy Shiitake mushrooms and snakes alive!
It's be 45 years since I've written a blog post. I've also had it on my to do list (which is ever evolving and always very long) for that amount of time. It's even written on antique paper.

Let me catch you up in the short version. ie, incomplete sentences fashioned as bullet points.

• Forensics season 2012-2013 ended with a bang. GAC=8th in the country AFA style, 15 quarter finalists, 4 semi finalists, and Shelby as our first persuasion finalist. Boom shakalaka.
• Junior year is over. I said what?
• I have been home for 2 days, came back took a final, and moved into the new apartment a la College View for summer at GAC
• Class of 2013 graduated. I was at baccalaureate and cried more than most of the doting mothers there. It's embarrassing to be me.
• Coached 1 speech camp. Gonna have 3 more.
• Had a s'more. Wanted s'more. 
• Working at Summer Academic Programs again, this reprise with Karin. 
• Living with Karin.

Ok great! You now have the chapter titles to my auto biography.

Now for the interesting things... sort of....

We are going to be supreme chefs this summer. How? you ask? Easy. I'm a boss. 

Let me chronicle these cooking adventures thus far. 

Prior to Perham camp/graduation, I made bruschetta and pasta for those friends sick of the caf.  We're talking the kind with garlic and olives and the other kind with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Was it good? It was so good I might make it again. 

Pasta? Red sauce, red wine, other things I found, and mushrooms. You want more details? I am a cook that mixes and matches, somethings can't be taught my son. 

Two nights ago: Grilled cheese with gouda, avocados, spinach, and feta. Karin thought it was so good she almost fell over.  Damn it feels good to be a chef-ster. Sort of. Ok, I'm not that cool. I tried?

Last night: Pasta with white sauce, asparagus, spinach, and pepper. Quite good, but took a 2 in the round compared to the grilled cheese extraordinare vibe I have. I also made some exquisite coffee cake muffins. So that's ideal. 

Karin may be a little paranoid about the air-germs, but over all I think it's a good set up. We're making it work for the best I believe. 

Tonight's menu is far more elaborate than ever before. Why? Because we never have Saturdays to ourselves and don't understand what else to do... so we're going to cook. Updates to follow.

First step: Buy a blender. 

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (read: Remembered)

Well good gravy.
It's been about ten years and a day since I posted here. Guess I should make my life count, or at least for the last day of 2012 by blogging today. So that probably includes like the 12+ events of 2012 or something like that. We'll see where that goes.

1) Baby niece Amelia born.  She's so suitably fat now and I'm such a proud aunt!

2) State 2012. I think I cried for the whole damn thing. Every moment and it was super. We get to do that again in 2 months? I'm so ready to cry for several hours.

3) Watching my friend Ch-low Rad-cliffee do what she does at AFA. That was neat.

4) Surviving NFA to the surprise and accolades that we didn't expect. I've never been so genuinely surprised and overflowing with pride for what we speechies do.

5) Baby nephew Pete born. Although he looked like a grumpy old man for a while, he's learning to smile and getting cuter all the time.

6) May 18, 2012. I have a voicemail of Vanessa giggling.

7) Duluth with Lady Chelle Chelle. It was more than a moment, but it was important. It includes the apple pie baking and the porch sitting.

8) Climbing trees. Want a new perspective? That helps.

9) Giving a bike to a new teammate. Warm Fuzzies all over.

10) Oreo died. I forever miss my giant feline who hated snow, loved any holiday with bags and wrapping paper, and took two arms to hold. Now my heart holds you.

11) NCA. Dinner theater. Nuff said.

12) CinCC. I successfully cried in every performance in front of large audiences because that's where you cry. Love me some Guh chuh-wire fam.

Bonus: Throwing Better Cheddars because they're worse, not better. The moments leading up to that one were good too.

Ok so I should tell someone and this is as good a place to tell people as any about my new goal to blog more consistently than this semester.  No point to having a blog that you don't use and there should be amusing things going on in my life that you may or may not appreciate.

To those of you going abroad this semester, blog because you want to read your experiences in full and not through collapsed memories that get compressed and diluted. Do it then so you can laugh about it later. Also, then I won't have to throw Better Cheddars (or rocks) at you.

So cheers to a happy survivable 2013.  Love you all.

Did Some One Order a Surprise?

I'm going to take the next ten minutes out of my busy busy busy work week day to tell you a little story. I hope it makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

So there's a girl on the forensics team from Mississippi this year. Her name is Elizabeth, and I think she's super swell. Anyway, she had received a graduation present of a bike that was her sort of mode of transportation since you're going super far away to college and you don't get to keep the car. Bikes are great, that's awesome.

Bad news: Some asshole on campus took her bike before she could get her lock from in her room.

Dear sir/madame who stole Elizabeth's bike: I'm a fierce mama bear and if I see you riding on that bike around campus, I will deck you and rub your face into the dirt/snow with my shoe until I think you have suffered enough for being the kind of terrible person you are. You suck. --Sincerely, Kelsey "yabettersleepwithbotheyesopen" Abele.

So this bike hasn't been recovered, and St. Peter is typically a very safe community. Things get returned, and there's not too many people on campus that you don't know, so things turn up.

None the less, being about a gajillion miles away, it's hard to lose something that was a parting gift and a sign of freedom from your community back home. So Kris tells us about this bike problem and a plan is formed. Prove Minnesotans aren't evil, chip in and buy Elizabeth a bike.

So all sneaky like, we find out things like, "What kind of bike did you have? A Schwinn was it? Oh, you like red? Hmmm I'll keep an eye out for it!" And we get her a bike.

Now for the fun part of the story. We decided to surprise her.

So this morning, after warm ups are over, everyone is sitting in their pride rooms working quietly(sort of this is speech), and Elizabeth pipes up, hey my brother might buy me a new bike. Kelsey's thought: oh no he won't. Commence plan.

Brittany, Karin and I go down to fetch the bike out of Brittany's car and wheel her in.

We then go into the team room where Elizabeth is still working. I walk in pushing the bike. Park it in the center of the room. Wait for Elizabeth to turn around. And say:

"The team cares."

That's it. She covers her mouth, says, "Are you kidding?" "Not at all."

She then immediately starts crying and comes to hug me. I'm practically crying at this point, and she's just saying thanks over and over and over again.

"Want to take her for a spin?"
"She's really mine?"
"Sure is."
"Do I get to name her?"
"Of course you do."
"What about, Awesome Team?"

If you're not crying at this point you have no soul.

She called her mom and told her, and for the rest of the day she kept talking about how amazing it was, and how perfect it was, and how she couldn't be happier.

Damn. Good. Day.

Moved In Close

HOORAY!!!! I have survived my last trip through Iowa for the time being and managed to move into my dorm without too much trouble!  So far it looks pretty neat.  You know, stuff on the walls, stuff in the drawers, stuff in the closet. Maybe I should get a large picture of Chuck Norris just to make this place feel a little more Italian...

Unsurprisingly, half of my closet is made up of suits.  So that's the best thing about the room. Oh, and the fact that it's a single. that's pretty swell.

Anywho, work week officially starts tomorrow and I can't wait to be reunited with my soul mates.

Whirr of VHS Film in Reverse

Fun game: Drive to Bonner Springs and to eat Chinese food and listen to pretty music.

Does it sound like a Monday night flash back from high school? It should, minus the whole Bonner Springs thing, I didn't have to drive there for music or Chinese food.

But the hours spent in the car were well worth it. A mini reunion with people that after years of not talking or hearing from pop out of the wood work and make your day that much brighter. Spring, welcome back. Missed you!

But that was not  the only  surprise of the day! I had the pleasure of not only reunionizing with Allegrians, but with some Barstownians too!  Looooooonng time no talk and suddenly-KA-POW!!!!  Bamalamadingdong there they are catching you up on the oh, say, 6 years you missed in the middle. Woof. So that's my day. A series of flash backs and rewinds just to keep me on my toes.

And I couldn't have imagined a better one.

Even the Owner Has to Sleep Sometime

REUNION! And by that I mean it's been a few months since I've seen dear Phil, but we managed to hold up the tradition of talking for hours. And that means that although we ordered food in plenty, we still managed to talk long enough that even the owners of the Chinese/Sushi place we went to had to close and kick us out... and then we talked in the parking lot for another 30 minutes... It's like neither one of us get's to talk... ever... But it's all good.

And with that, I think I'm going to sleep. Sleep is nice.

ABduction-Taylor Lautner's New Work Out Video

Things I absorbed from watching the movie Abduction: (Here's a link so you can see that I'm sort of close on some of this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1600195/)(Annnnnnddd because I found the comments were suuuper good/accurate: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/abduction_2011/)

1) There was a bad guy, some spies, the CIA, and a bomb in the oven.
2) Some actors I typically enjoy (Sigourney Weaver) made some bad decisions making this movie.
3) Plot Holes: could have been a very dangerous drinking game.
4) Taylor Lautner is probably a Hufflepuff.
5) My favorite part was where it tried to be an action/spy movie.
6) My second favorite part was where that first plan failed.
7) Points 5 & 6 mean I loved 99% of the movie.
8) Will be a feature film for an upcoming Team movie night.
9) Best scene award goes to waking up in the woods and Taylor crying one single tear. It's just a bad dream Taylor.
10) Just because Rotten Tomatoes says 4%, doesn't mean everyone hates it.....

So next time you're near the half-off dollar DVD bin, check it out. It'll cost you less than a pack of gum and it could be really swell.

Bag-Ception

So here's the skinny. I like crafts. I craft all the time. I'm not so secretly crafty. And thus is my life while I am home. I have been attempting to work on my scrapbook from Rome (you know, the reason why I started the blog thing in the first place) and it's been an adventure. But there's a point when I can't do no mo pictures. So I decided to pick up something a little more mindless, albeit conscious.  Let me explain.

Michelle (you know that girl) said that she was going to knit some plastic bags together to make a super bag. And I'm thinking, "Huh? I couldn't have heard that right." But then she just looked at me like, "Did I stutter? I'm knitting plastic bags to make a super bag."

Wait for it... Wait for it. Yup. Mind blown.

The goal is to take all of the grocery bags that you annoyingly stuff into corners and then plan to reuse, but usually forget because no one looks in corners for bags every time you decide to go to the store. So you just end up having these mounds of should be reused, sculpted, or donated bags that look lonely and unloved and dingy in the corners.

The process works like this. You cut these unloved crinkle-wads into long strips of super thin plastic and then ball them up as you would yarn. Then once you amass enough of a ball (and/or clean out those corners) (That's where I put that!) (Yum, Halloween candy), you knit. That simple. You know, except for that part where you spend awkward mindless hours cutting apart bags to the strange looks of your friends (or those friends you would have if you didn't spend your Friday nights cutting apart plastic bags).

But here's what I've learned: This could be really cool. So far (and I only have a portion of the base of the bag) it looks sort of legit, and could end up the envy of every Environment conscious pseudo hippie I pass on the street (see, I told you that would make sense later).  I'll be sure to post pictures here when I do finish it, but I'm pleasantly pleased with the reactions I've heard so far (I knit a lot in public.... Hence my single, only child status).

Resounding Message: Go green! Knit more!

Blog-off #has it been this long?: 12 in 2012

It's a blog off!!!!!!!! You should read that in the tone of "ready to ruuummmmmmmble!!!" you should probably reread that in the correct form. Michelle and I are finally back on track with our blog offs. Be prepared.

This week on blog off: 12 things in 2012.

These can be everything and anything. On your mark, get set, GO.

12) 21 hour bus ride to Texas in January as a first tournament back.

11) Bringing State back to the hill. In more ways than one.

10) Learning uncomfortable things about people you've known for an eternity.

9) Learning to love them anyway.

8) Big trophies, big dreams. AFA/NFA

7) Driving alone through Iowa, not enough dance music.

6) Wrangling sheets onto a semi-lofted bed=life lesson. Some things are better tackled in pairs.

5) Managing the fact that not everyone operates on the same time scale. And only occasionally is that ok.

4) Sometimes after signing an email, introducing yourself, and wearing a name tag that has your first and last name, people will still not understand that the "k" in your email kabele stands for your first name.

3) The drive back from the airport gets longer the stranger the strangers are. (see #4)

2) America celebrated in cheese and apples is best done on a porch.

1) Official title: cat whisperer.

0) Mayans said so.

So that's that. I'm a fan of these list things.

I'm Not Trying to Stall!

Things you should know about me driving a manual:

1) it's scary and I'm no good at it.
2) it's going to take a lot more than the one mini lesson I had today.
3) it's not for lack of trying.

So for those of you feeling brave enough to take me up on that adventure, let me know. I'm just a slow learner. Or I guess the better point to make would be that I'm a slow kinesthetic learner. My auditory and visual retention is fine, but muscle control and muscle memory are repetitive practice makes close enough kind of situation. Ye be warned.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Is it too late to declare that the Olympics have encouraged me to once again obsessively listen to the Beatles? Probably, but I feel no shame. Other things I'm not ashamed of: starting my scrapbook of Italy. Well, I should be more specific, I'm currently in process of picking out the pictures that will eventually make their way into my Italy scrapbook. Don't make fun of me, this is a long process. Here's to hoping I get it done before I go back to school.

Nothing else new to report here, I think that Grace K is a super star, and that's not opinion, that's fact.

Blues Clues Could Write the Soundtrack to My Life

Just after midnight here in the quiet town south of Kansas City, and there's nothing new to report. I had a lovely dinner with Jessica for the first time in all too long, but it caught me up on all of the news that escaped my grasp. Well done Jess you super stalker you. I am back home, so if you a) want to catch up sometime in the next week or so-text me. Or b) if you plan on writing me a letter sometime when it's supposed to get here before I leave again-text me an I'll give you my non-school other home address. And I will mention that there is a large box of unloved envelopes sitting next to me that are just begging to be sent across the country, so figure it out. With any luck, there will be enough of you that don't go to school with me to keep me writing letters all year. You know who you are- don't let me down. And yes, Michelle, cross country does not exclude you- I'll make it plural just because: cross countries. Better?

Ok, I think I'm going to call it a night.

Goodbye Airport Route

In six hours, my final true camp affiliated duties will commence, and two hours after that, they will end. What a story it has been. But you know what? Next time I go to the airport, I want to pick up someone that I want to see specifically. Or if I'm the one being picked up, I'd love to see someone important in my life, and not just someone with a vague description looking confused on the sidewalk. Although, with the people I know, there's a good chance that they'll look like that. Woof.

The Last of Speech Camp

Ah, the last night I have of speech camp. We still have tomorrow, but this is their last night on the Gustie campus, and I'm sure they are exhausted enough for their parents to take them back- let's face it, even my parents would take me back at this point. After camp all I do is sleep- or maybe all I want to do.

Be that as it may, speech camp is always worth it. For the laughs, the cries, the accomplishments, and the stories. SSI: like a champion.

http://vimeo.com/46599422

Check out the sweet Vid!  Carl and the Freshman worked hard (even with all the chaos and bumps in the road) and I think the product turned out pretty well.

That Story About Answering Phones

Thus begins the first day of the extension. With some grace, we managed to start a bit later, although I'm still attempting to convince Kris that my natural sleep schedule does not include the words "Meet in the Courtyard by 7:30." What a shame too. I could use the shut eye.

I will say that I am getting back on track with letter writing. Since this past week was one fraught with campers and no sleep, I felt I could not devote the necessary time to letters, so this week I'm responding to all of the things!

Oh, here's that story about the phone call.  My mother so kindly reminded me.

Remember Slam Camp? Well, since I picked everyone up from the airport, I had all of their phone numbers saved in my phone, including Kika's.

Fast forward. Last week (yes, the one before Speech Camp), I got a call from what I thought was Kika. My phone said Kika, and smart phones are really smart. So I answered in a Kika appropriate:

"HEY GURL HEY! Whachu do?"
"Hi, is Kelsey there?"
"Gurl! This is!"
"May I speak to Kelsey?"
"Yeah, spit it poet."
[Silence]

At this point I'm a little confused, because the Kika I know would have not only appreciated this greeting, but would have responded in kind. Too confused to continue, I began again:

"Are you still there?"
"May I speak to Kelsey?"
"Yes, this is she."
"Kelsey, this is Teri from GTS (Gustavus Technology Services)"
[Gulp]

Uh.......  WHAT??!?!! You mean to say that I just greeted GTS in a very non-GTS approved fashion? Woof. My Life. I would like to point out that I confirmed with Justin that my phone did, in fact, say Kika as the caller ID, and that I'm not just delusional.

After I finished my job related call with the now confirmed non-Kika caller, I set down my phone and looked panicked.  When Justin asked what happened, I responded with, "That was not who I assumed it to be..."

Since then I've done some digging and it turns out that the GTS number was saved under Kika's contact info. Strange, I'll admit, considering that I have texted her in the past... So let your lesson be learned, answer your phone only when you're sure. Or just don't answer your phone. Whatever works for you.

Pushing Them Out of the Nest

Woah, slow down crazy, slow down.

Tournament day. Boom. Now that it's over (and we're talking not the tournament that I'm competing at, but the little baby heart and souls that I've coached and worked with all week are throwing their newly found skills around in a room at the mercy of an unfamiliar audience and a scary person with the almighty pen. Terrified yet? It's like being crushed, without being told that you're being crushed.) Good news: My little GOAT pride didn't flinch. They did what they came to do, they laughed in the face of danger, and they want to come back next year. To this? I say I raise you a moderately less successful competitive day for this reaction. They laughed, they cried, and I think they learned something. (And the incredible people they met and the friends they made don't hurt either). So here we go, G! O! A! T! GOAT! Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

As for my now somewhat mushy mental state: I think I've been staring at a computer screen with my mouth gaping open and my eyes crossed for 10 minutes before I realized I should type, or blog, or maybe just go to bed.

Remind me that I should tell you all about that time that I went to a judging certification for MN... Still pondering that one a little bit.

Proud Parents

Remember that time I watched 15 fantastic HIs tonight and was so proud of my little baby GOAT!

I do. It was great.

Get Free Poet (Just Kidding, Stay There)

Oh yes, it's a Gustie Poem.
Even though it's Thursday. I give my heart to you anon.
I wish with all my being to wake up
A new born
Speech critiquing super coach
And to let the people see how good they can be.
Sweat out the negatives at the Dive,
And choose instead, sweet dreams
On which ride the gusts of opportunity.
G.O.A.T.

Uh... you get the point... Sort of.

Better Believe I Dig Poetry!

Another.... And another...
Haikus never get old.

Blog views are down, mom
But practice takes lots of work
One on Ones begin.