Heat Wave

It's hot here in Alexandria. The temperature is around 87, but according to the Weather Channel it feels like 99. Add a nice bit of humidity to that and you've got some pretty cruddy weather. And of course when we woke up this morning it was hotter than tar in our townhouse, which could only mean one thing...the air conditioner had gone out. For anyone else this would be an inconvenience. For Ella this means the potential for big skin issues. So we called the main office to get our AC repaired. Luckily the girl in the office knows Joe and definitely knows Ella and her skin, so she personally called the repair guy and told him to move us up to next on their list. Thank you to Brookville Townhomes for hooking us up. Now Ella is much more comfortable. Until the AC was fixed she was a hot and cranky baby. Now she is sleeping peacefully.

This afternoon we are taking Ella swimming. Alexandria has a great indoor pool facility, so we are excited to get Ella cooled off in the water. She even has a new teal swim suit (she out grew her red cherry one unfortunately). Ella has also outgrown her baby car seat! Its time to upgrade to the new big girl one.

I couldn't let this week pass without saying a few words of rememberance for my former boss, Senator Craig Thomas. CT (as we all called him) passed away 1 year ago Wednesday. I had the pleasure of knowing and working for him for 4 1/2 years. I still miss him. He was an incredible man who was a true Wyoming cowboy and an advocate for the people of his home state. My favorite was when CT would hand me a book about 500 pages thick and ask for a 1 page memo. Of course that was always followed by a laugh. CT knew that living in DC was a novelty for all of us kids from Wyoming, so he would do all he could to give us the best experience possible. For me that included sneaking me and 2 other staffers in to a members only briefing so that we could meet U2 front man Bono (I have the picture to prove it). He also specially arranged a tour of the capitol dome for his staff. The key to this is that the only way someone can go on the dome tour is if the member goes with them, so he climbed up all 365 steps (I think that's how many there are) just so we could see the magnificent view from the top of the dome. He also personally took me and 3 other staffers to meet Lance Armstrong, and even took me and one other staffer to meet my mom's favorite, Pat Boone. And I have to mention that for the 4 1/2 years I worked for him, every single time we went anywhere together he opened my door and let me walk through first. A true Wyoming gentleman! I miss him every day!