Dinner For Two

2006-09-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am a pathetic piece of crap, but I am an attorney

2005-09-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

Since I only seem to blog about what I do in Wisconsin I might as well show you what I did there last week. Justin and I enjoyed our time with family, friends, and beer. (and we became attorneys too!)

I do not know how Calfornia's swearing in will go, but I imagine it won't be quite as intimate as ours in Wisconsin. Just me and Justin, and five others, families, and Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice, Ann Walsh Bradley.

Here's what we promised to do:

I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Wisconsin;

I will maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers;

I will not counsel or maintain any suit or proceeding which shall appear to me to be unjust, or any defense, except such as I believe to be honestly debatable under the law of the land;

I will employ, for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me, such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and will never seek to mislead the judge or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law;

I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets of my client and will accept no compensation in connection with my client's business except from my client or with my client's knowledge and approval;

I will abstain from all offensive personality and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which I am charged;

I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cuase of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any person's cause for lucre or malice.

So help me God.

We are lawyers!

2005-09-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

"Repeat after me" says Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley

Justin signs the big book

Now my turn

Spring Walk, etc

2005-05-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

My batteries died and I just got around to replacing them. So here are photos from a spring walk Justin and I took the Sunday P.J. and Erin headed back to California. (early April) We walked in the University Heights neighborhood, which is full of large, beautiful old houses and because of the time of year, in bloom with lots of bulbs.

There are also some shots from Brewers home opener weekend, our bare apartment and my glasses. I broke down and got glasses! Check them out!

2005-05-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

Bike path and the peeking capital.

2005-05-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

Justin lived in Ogg Hall (not house) his freshman year. The accommodations probably would have been better here.

2005-05-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ogg

2005-05-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Purple

2005-05-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Chancellor's House

2005-05-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

Little flowers

2005-05-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

Big Red House

2005-05-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

Story of the next house

2005-05-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

Frank Lloyd Wright

2005-05-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

A tree

2005-05-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

A flower

2005-05-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

Interesting architecture, especially for a house the students live in.

2005-05-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

The perfect porch for spending a warm summer evening.

2005-05-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

Flowers and Randall School

2005-05-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

Joy, Amanda, Kathleen and I at Amanda's Bridal Shower.

2005-05-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

Justin and Derek enjoy Brewers opening weekend.

2005-05-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Phil and I say "Go Brewers"

2005-05-06T18:30:00.001-07:00

Empty house.

2005-05-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

New glasses = less squinting

2005-05-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Extreme close-up

2005-05-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

Our yard sale - not much is left on Sunday.

2005-05-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

Justin reads and tries to stay warm.

The Girls Take Madtown

2005-04-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Erin and P.J. made the trek to Wisconsin. The weather was perfect and we had a great time! We walked on campus and down State Street during the day and at night. We made a stop over at the Memorial Union Terrace and the University Bookstore. We napped and watched "What Not to Wear." We sang some wicked karaoke! And now P.J. is going to call a drinking fountain a bubbler!

It was a blast sharing Madison, WI with a couple California girls.

2005-04-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

Erin, P.J. and I get ready to hit the town.

2005-04-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

Erin, P.J., Justin and I after a delicious meal at The Great Dane.

2005-04-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

The Wisconsin Capitol building

2005-04-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

Paul's Club, complete with tree.

2005-04-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

Waiting for a late night slice of pizza.

2005-04-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Breakfast at Mickie's Dairy Bar.

2005-04-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

State Street by day.

2005-04-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Cheesy!

2005-04-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Enjoying delicious, delicious beer and cider at the Terrace.

2005-04-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Union Terrace and Lake Mendota.

2005-04-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Enjoying cranberry/vodka at Monday's on State Street.

2005-04-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

Singing along at Karaoke Kid.

2005-04-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

P.J. belts it out.

2005-04-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

California Girls and honorary California girl, Kathleen.

2005-04-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, there is a boombox in his backpack.

2005-04-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

Waiting for Justin to pick us up is sooo funny!

2005-04-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Erin and P.J. are the newest Badger fans and my heart is still in San Francisco.

100 Bottles

2005-04-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

I've had a week to reflect on 100 Bottles of Beer and while some of the details are still fuzzy, I think over all it was a great contest. The Midwest was well represented with participants traveling from Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and North Prairie. I know that l enjoyed the spring sunshine, bottled beer, and watching homoerotic wrestling. And nothing was broken, with the exception of Mike's toes and Ben's head. Congratulations to Ryan Anderson, Ben Campbell, and Mike Josephs. Now it's time to look forward to the 7th annual contest.

2005-04-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone is calm and sober as they get in the zone.

2005-04-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Justin opens the contest with a prolific speech

2005-04-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

Justin gives this year's contest a thumbs up

2005-04-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Justin shows Ben his teeth, Ben shows Justin his grandma style

2005-04-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

Derek and Tim love the High Life

2005-04-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Law students and Dave unite.

2005-04-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

And the winners are . . . classy

2005-04-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Post-contest wrestling.

2005-04-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Justin tells Mike Josephs that he is a winner.

2005-04-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

Time for a nap?

Spring Break

2005-04-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Let me try again - I had written out a lovely description once before and my explorer froze and I lost everything.

I have to say that spring break begin in a stressful way for me and Justin, but for Justin mainly. He had spent half the week leading up to break competing at a moot court competition (fake appellate court) in Wilmington, Delaware. The plan was that he would fly out of Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, arrive in Madison on Sunday night and we would wake up and fly to L.A. on Monday morning. Unfortunately, for some reason that was never made clear to Justin, flights out of Philadelphia were delayed several hours and it was beginning to look like Justin wouldn't make it back to Madison in time to catch our 8:30am flight. He was entertaining the possibility of flying into Detroit, renting a car and driving over six hours to Madison. Luckily it never came to that and Justin was able to make into Madison with just enough time to retrieve his luggage and check-in for our flight to California.

From there on out the trip was lovely. The flight to L.A. was uneventful - except for a view of the Grand Canyon. Once in L.A., we met up with Justin's family and headed to the beach in Santa Monica. The water wasn't particularly warm, but the sunshine felt great. While in southern California we perused the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica and walked the Santa Monica Pier. We drove through UCLA and made a brief stop over at the law school. We ate lots of delicious food.

After Justin's family returned to Wisconsin, Justin and I checked out USC and the L.A. Coliseum and then made our way to the O.C. and spent a day at Disneyland. Justin met Mickey Mouse for the first time! From Disneyland we headed to my aunt and uncle's house in Huntington Beach. Justin also met them for the first time - lots of firsts for him. From there we headed north (after a pilgrimage to Newport Beach).

The hills along Highway 5 were a beautiful green and the fields were dotted with wildflowers. I do like them golden as well, but everything looked so fresh and clean (with the exception of Harris Ranch).

Once we made it to my parents' we were exhausted, but that didn't stop us from spending the next two days looking at wedding locations. We liked two of the 6 that we saw. Check out the websites and let us know what you think. Vine Hill House and Trentadue Winery

2005-03-30T17:27:00.000-08:00

We fly over the Grand Canyon

2005-03-30T17:25:00.000-08:00

Jacie, Dustin, Justin and James walk to "the coast"

2005-03-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

My toes try to get out of the cold water.

2005-03-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

Jeana dances in the Pacific.

2005-03-30T15:06:00.000-08:00

Jacie and Dustin play in the ocean

2005-03-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

The ladies on the beach in front of the Santa Monica Pier

2005-03-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

Justin's parents and I hang out on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica

2005-03-30T14:37:00.000-08:00

Justin and I made our way to USC

2005-03-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

Justin and Tommy Trojan

2005-03-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

While in the hood we stopped by the Los Angeles Coliseum.

2005-03-30T14:32:00.000-08:00

Inside the Coliseum

2005-03-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

Disneyland!

2005-03-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

Hi Pooh

2005-03-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

Matterhorn in Anaheim

2005-03-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

It's a small world

2005-03-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

$7 churro - ahhhhh - we'll take 2

2005-03-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

Justin looks for Club 33 in New Orleans Square

2005-03-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Justin at the Toontown courthouse

2005-03-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

We waited in line for an hour to see Mr. Mouse

2005-03-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

The O.C.

2005-03-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

Justin in Newport Beach

2005-03-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

Desending down The Grapevine

2005-03-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

"The Valley"

2005-03-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

Justin at Healdsburg Country Gardens

2005-03-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

Justin, Lynly, Dad and I check out the view from Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa.

2005-03-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

Dad and Cecil relax

2005-03-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

Justin and me on Easter morning

Wisconsin Basketball

2005-03-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

I finally made it to a Wisconsin basketball game and I got a pretty exciting one. Wisconsin led Indiana most of the game, but Indiana made it close right at the end. With 10 seconds left the game was tied 60-60. After a missed 3 pointer by Alando Tucker, Mike Wilkinson got the rebound, but missed the shot. Tucker then got the rebound and as time ran out he made the shot and Wisconsin won 62-60. It was definitely a tense 10 seconds.

Before the game I met Justin, Amanda, Kathleen, as well as Jon and Allison Hisgen at the Nitty Gritty, which is a restaurant/ bar a block from the Kohl Center. We enjoyed beer, nachos, chicken fingers, and fries and then headed over to the game. We sat in the very last row, but the view was pretty good, considering. It wasn't quite as intense as a Badger football game, but it was still a good time. I'm glad I can say that I did it. Now on to March Madness!

2005-03-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

Kathleen honks at crazy Wisconsin drivers.

2005-03-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Kathleen, Justin and Allison enjoy pre-game festivities at the Nitty Gritty.

2005-03-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

The other side of the table. . .Jon, Amanda, and me.

2005-03-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

Amanda, Kathleen and I stand outside the Kohl Center in the frigid cold.

2005-03-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

Go Bucky!

2005-03-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

The cheerleaders entertain us during a timeout.

2005-03-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

Kathleen's smiles from the last row of the Kohl Center.

2005-03-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Justin makes sure that Amanda doesn't fall.

2005-03-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

We smile in anticipation of the Badger win.

No more Mr. Snowman and Supper Clubs

2005-02-27T15:50:00.000-08:00

I'm sure there must be Supper/Dinner Clubs in California somewhere, but not in the volume you'll find in Wisconsin. Supper Clubs seem to have been around for some time and serve as gathering places for small Wisconsin communities. They are restaurants with bars, they may have had dancing in years past. Everyone stops at the bar when arriving to have a drink or two, even if the dining room is empty. (You can smoke in bars in Wisconsin.) Justin and I eat at supper clubs with his family; usually in the area where his dad grew up which is made up of small farming communities. Every time we are at the bar, someone recognizes Justin's dad. He hasn't lived in the area since he graduated from high school, but the rest of his family stayed nearby so the Hein name is familiar.

Today, we met Justin's Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and Parents at the Schaumburg Supper Club, near Fox Lake, WI. I had a Bloody Mary when we arrived. A group of women, who I assume were in their 70s or 80s, were also at the bar to celebrate a friend's birthday. The birthday girl was distinguished by her corsage. They eventually sat in the dining room for lunch, as did we when Justin's grandma, aunt, and uncle arrived.

The building is interesting. It's an old house that overlooks a lake and is surrounded by large trees. I imagine it would be green and lovely in the summer. Currently the lake is frozen and covered in snow and the trees have no leaves. (I did spy a couple ice fishermen on the lake.) The restaurant's owners live on the second floor of the house, with the bar and restaurant on the first. Today the owners' daughter was bartending for her father while he was playing golf on a frozen lake - I'd never heard of such a thing. The restaurant isn't particularly fancy, but is nice and they serve traditional American foods - steak, fried fish. However, I suppose the whole purpose of the place for many who meet there is to spend time with others.

On a side note, I would like to mourn the loss of our friend Mr. Snowman. He collapsed today in the 33 degree weather. He had a good run and will be missed.

2005-02-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Justin with his Uncle Ken, Aunt Cindy, Dad, Grandma Hein and Mom.

2005-02-27T15:43:00.000-08:00

With Justin's Mom and Grandma Hein

2005-02-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

Schaumburg Supper Club

2005-02-27T15:38:00.000-08:00

When we returned home we found that gravity and 33 degree weather got the best of Mr. Snowman.

2005-02-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

Justin kisses Mr. Snowman goodbye.

2005-02-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Mr. Snowman doesn't look quite as happy as he did last week.