The migraines started when I was about 12 years old. I'm 43 now, so that means for the past 31 years I've had anywhere from 2 to 3 migraines a month.
I remember the very first one. Mother told us to clear the driveway of rocks - anything bigger than our fist was to be tossed into the ditch. Unfortunately, I got in the way when my oldest brother tossed a good-sized one. It hit me on the side of the head, knocking me down.
I'm not saying he caused the migraines, not by any stretch of the imagination. I'm also not saying he hit me on purpose, although he was the typical older brother delighting in tormenting his younger siblings. But the rock did hit me, and it did trigger the first migraine.
A head injury in my past may also be playing a role in my tendency for migraines. When I was about 5-years old I fell off some playground equipment, crushing my skull and sending me in to a week-long coma. One very interesting side effect of the accident: my hair grew 6" in 3 days. Mother says you could just sit there and watch it grow. Of course, they had to shave it all off for the surgery that put my skull back together. Still, that's pretty crazy.
Anyway, regardless of the "cause" of my migraines, I get them.
I've had just about every side effect you can imagine. I get photophobia & phonophobia occasionally. I get nauseous and pass out occasionally. I don't get the aura very often, but lately my eyes loose the ability to focus when I have a migraine. Occasionally I smell things that aren't there (oddly enough, it's always hamsters I smell). Sometimes when I try to talk my words come out all garbled up, like somebody mixed up the letters in each word. I've even had a couple of what the doctor called Migraine Strokes, which thankfully were short lived and as far as I can tell did not cause any permanent damage.
There is a lot of medication out there, and I've tried just about every one of them. Some just plain don't work, some work at first but then my body adapts to where they no longer work. I get a lot of weird side effects from them as well: anything from lowing my already-too-low blood pressure to hallucinations and heightened phobias.
As for medical testing, I've had several MRIs, a PET scan, an EKG and an EEG, as well as many others that I've forgotten the names of. I've had neurological exams, psychological exams, IQ tests, the whole shebang. The one thing they all have in common is that they've turned up nothing. The joke in my family is that "They took a picture inside Ruth's head and didn't find a thing!"
What it all boils down to is this: I have migraines. There is no cure, and they don't know what causes them. They can't stop them, so I just have to find a way to live with them.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Book of Stan
I had an interesting conversation the other evening, with Stan - my Mother's partner.
On a tangent: here is another example of a family gotten too big. I don't know what to call Stan! He and my mother are not married, but they have been living together for the past 15 years or so. I could choose to call him my stepfather, but that has too many negative connotations for my peace of mind. I typically just call him Stan.
Getting back to our conversation: we were talking about his stories and how I thought he should record them for posterity. He has lived a very interesting and full life, and when he passes away he will leave behind several children & grandchildren who would love to have something to remember him by.
My grandmother on my mother's side did this. She had a tape recorder that she used, relating any story from her past that happened to pop into her mind at the time. My cousin then typed them up, leaving her grammar & speech patterns in tact, and bound them up into booklets for everybody to have.
She passed away quite some time ago, but I have this book of hers that I can read through occasionally and remember her. It's full of stories from the depression, from living in the Dust Bowl, from raising her children. It's really fascinating stuff - even though, to her I'm sure it was just every day life.
I offered to get Stan a tape recorder and to type up the stories for him, just like my cousin did for my grandmother. He wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but after a while I think (I hope) he warmed to it. He really does have some interesting stories to tell. Perhaps I can even get Mother to tell her stories!
I think everybody should do this: what might seem like normal daily drudgery to us will be interesting and amazing to our grandchildren. It doesn't have to be an actual book with a publisher and editor and all that. It can be just random stories, in no particular order, written in your own words, and hand copied for family members.
Hmmm... I think I'll make that one of my goals for this year: to write The Book of Stan!
On a tangent: here is another example of a family gotten too big. I don't know what to call Stan! He and my mother are not married, but they have been living together for the past 15 years or so. I could choose to call him my stepfather, but that has too many negative connotations for my peace of mind. I typically just call him Stan.
Getting back to our conversation: we were talking about his stories and how I thought he should record them for posterity. He has lived a very interesting and full life, and when he passes away he will leave behind several children & grandchildren who would love to have something to remember him by.
My grandmother on my mother's side did this. She had a tape recorder that she used, relating any story from her past that happened to pop into her mind at the time. My cousin then typed them up, leaving her grammar & speech patterns in tact, and bound them up into booklets for everybody to have.
She passed away quite some time ago, but I have this book of hers that I can read through occasionally and remember her. It's full of stories from the depression, from living in the Dust Bowl, from raising her children. It's really fascinating stuff - even though, to her I'm sure it was just every day life.
I offered to get Stan a tape recorder and to type up the stories for him, just like my cousin did for my grandmother. He wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but after a while I think (I hope) he warmed to it. He really does have some interesting stories to tell. Perhaps I can even get Mother to tell her stories!
I think everybody should do this: what might seem like normal daily drudgery to us will be interesting and amazing to our grandchildren. It doesn't have to be an actual book with a publisher and editor and all that. It can be just random stories, in no particular order, written in your own words, and hand copied for family members.
Hmmm... I think I'll make that one of my goals for this year: to write The Book of Stan!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Human Anatomy & Physiology
My class is progressing nicely, now that I'm back in to it.
Theoretically, I should have been doing it all throughout my enforced "vacation" (otherwise known as Unemployment) but just could not get motivated.
Now that I'm back at work, I have a structured lunch hour - the perfect time to read thru the book and study up for the tests. I take the tests on my home computer, but read the material here at the office.
I am holding an average of about 88% so far, which correlates to a B+. Not bad for somebody who never went to college!
Chapter One gave me an introduction to the human body.
Chapter Two taught me about the chemical level of organization.
Chapter Three covered the cellular level of organization.
Chapter Four talked about the tissue level of organization.
Chapter Five was about the Integumentary System, or the Skin
Chapter Six moved on to the skeletal system
Chapter Seven focused on the axial skeletal system
Chapter Eight focused on the appendicular skeletal system
I'm just now finishing up Chapter Nine which covers the joints. The next chapter will be on muscles and muscle tissue.
This is truly fascinating stuff, and I have great respect for people who take this class for real (as opposed to simply reading thru the book at home and taking on-line open-book tests off the internet like I'm doing).
This is HARD!
Theoretically, I should have been doing it all throughout my enforced "vacation" (otherwise known as Unemployment) but just could not get motivated.
Now that I'm back at work, I have a structured lunch hour - the perfect time to read thru the book and study up for the tests. I take the tests on my home computer, but read the material here at the office.
I am holding an average of about 88% so far, which correlates to a B+. Not bad for somebody who never went to college!
Chapter One gave me an introduction to the human body.
Chapter Two taught me about the chemical level of organization.
Chapter Three covered the cellular level of organization.
Chapter Four talked about the tissue level of organization.
Chapter Five was about the Integumentary System, or the Skin
Chapter Six moved on to the skeletal system
Chapter Seven focused on the axial skeletal system
Chapter Eight focused on the appendicular skeletal system
I'm just now finishing up Chapter Nine which covers the joints. The next chapter will be on muscles and muscle tissue.
This is truly fascinating stuff, and I have great respect for people who take this class for real (as opposed to simply reading thru the book at home and taking on-line open-book tests off the internet like I'm doing).
This is HARD!
Open House
NVision has been in this location for just under a year. They bought the building and renovated it for their own occupation on the fourth floor, leaving the remaining 2 floors as tenant space (the first level is parking spaces).
Now that they are (cross your fingers) done with the renovations, they decided it was time to host an Open House. They invited over 200 people from all the companies they work with - as well as ones they don't. It was quite the shin-dig, with catering services and everything.
The biggest effort on our part was getting the place cleaned up for it. Two separate companies had merged together to form NVision, and they had boxed everything up to move in.
What they didn't do was UNbox everything. Stuff was pilled up in every available space, and was shuffled around from here to there periodically when somebody needed something from one of the boxes.
Bill, one of our bosses, made it a company directive that "everything needs to find a permanent home, and it all needs to be straightened up" giving us about 2 days to accomplish this miraculous feat.
We did finally get things straightened up so that by the time people started arriving it looked really good. Our hope is that we can keep it looking this good - which will not be easy as most of the people are used to leaving messes behind them as they go about their daily business.
Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating with us the day of the Open House, so barely a quarter of the people invited were able to attend. Still, we had a good 50 or so show up; more than enough to fill the place. I recognized a few faces from past experience with other companies, but I have to admit that most of them were completely new to me.
We had a ton of really good food, most of which got divvied up afterwards and taken home by employees rather than consumed by guests. I think I am the only vegetarian in the office, so most of the food was not for me. We do have one lady who is allergic to gluten, so she couldn't eat most of the food either. I heard no complaints, regardless. It was all very tasty.
I had invited my family to come see where I work, and thankfully my brother Stewart drove Mother in so they were both able to attend. With the roads as bad as they were, Mother would not have attempted it on her own - and rightfully so. Stewart is a very good driver, though, so they had no problems other than finding a place to park once they got here.
The Open House was scheduled for just a few hours around lunch time, but - as we knew would happen - people hung around for hours, so our day was fairly shot as far as work goes. It was a good day, though - well worth all the effort that went in to it.
Now that they are (cross your fingers) done with the renovations, they decided it was time to host an Open House. They invited over 200 people from all the companies they work with - as well as ones they don't. It was quite the shin-dig, with catering services and everything.
The biggest effort on our part was getting the place cleaned up for it. Two separate companies had merged together to form NVision, and they had boxed everything up to move in.
What they didn't do was UNbox everything. Stuff was pilled up in every available space, and was shuffled around from here to there periodically when somebody needed something from one of the boxes.
Bill, one of our bosses, made it a company directive that "everything needs to find a permanent home, and it all needs to be straightened up" giving us about 2 days to accomplish this miraculous feat.
We did finally get things straightened up so that by the time people started arriving it looked really good. Our hope is that we can keep it looking this good - which will not be easy as most of the people are used to leaving messes behind them as they go about their daily business.
Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating with us the day of the Open House, so barely a quarter of the people invited were able to attend. Still, we had a good 50 or so show up; more than enough to fill the place. I recognized a few faces from past experience with other companies, but I have to admit that most of them were completely new to me.
We had a ton of really good food, most of which got divvied up afterwards and taken home by employees rather than consumed by guests. I think I am the only vegetarian in the office, so most of the food was not for me. We do have one lady who is allergic to gluten, so she couldn't eat most of the food either. I heard no complaints, regardless. It was all very tasty.
I had invited my family to come see where I work, and thankfully my brother Stewart drove Mother in so they were both able to attend. With the roads as bad as they were, Mother would not have attempted it on her own - and rightfully so. Stewart is a very good driver, though, so they had no problems other than finding a place to park once they got here.
The Open House was scheduled for just a few hours around lunch time, but - as we knew would happen - people hung around for hours, so our day was fairly shot as far as work goes. It was a good day, though - well worth all the effort that went in to it.
The First of the Year
I gave my first presentation of the year last week to The Anchorage Audubon Society. I talked about my Mongolia expedition, showing my slides and telling them about what we did.
It was not the best attendance I've ever had with them, due mostly to the fact that the weather was somewhat less than ideal. Not that it was cold, thank goodness. It had warmed up just that morning so we were finally thawing out.
That was the problem: we were thawing out.
The roads were barely drivable due to the ice, and people's homes were flooding out all over the place. In fact, roads were being flooded out as well as houses, so some intersections were nearly impassable.
About 20 people braved the elements though, so I went ahead with my presentation.
On a more positive note: a local celebrity did the introduction for me! Locals will recognize Mr. Whitekeys as being the inspiration behind the Whale Fat Follies that used to premier at The Fly By Night Club each year; a favorite spot for tourists (and Alaskans, too) to get a rather colorful take on the local news. Mr. Whitekeys is an avid birder and is currently on the board of directors for the local chapter of the Audubon. He is a very nice man, and was very courteous to me.
The meeting was held at the BP Energy Center, a building providing meeting space to non-profit organizations here in town as a community service by BP. It's a very nice building, and the room we were in had seating for at least 100 people as well as a nice big screen to project my pictures onto. About the only thing I could complain about was the fact that I was so close to that big screen I could barely see it. Plus, trying to reach up to point at things during my talk was pretty much impossible: it was just too big.
As always I talk too much, so they had to rush me along when it got close to time to stop. I had planned on showing a bunch of pictures that Dr. Reading (the scientist I worked with out in Mongolia - see previous postings in this blog) had sent to me of various birds he's come across over there. We barely had time to quickly flip thru them, and no time at all for them to come up and look thru all the books, pamphlets, and other material I had laid out for them up front.
But, they all seemed to have enjoyed themselves, so I guess it wasn't a total flop. Not a bad way to start out my year as the Alaskan Field Representative for the Earthwatch Institute.
It was not the best attendance I've ever had with them, due mostly to the fact that the weather was somewhat less than ideal. Not that it was cold, thank goodness. It had warmed up just that morning so we were finally thawing out.
That was the problem: we were thawing out.
The roads were barely drivable due to the ice, and people's homes were flooding out all over the place. In fact, roads were being flooded out as well as houses, so some intersections were nearly impassable.
About 20 people braved the elements though, so I went ahead with my presentation.
On a more positive note: a local celebrity did the introduction for me! Locals will recognize Mr. Whitekeys as being the inspiration behind the Whale Fat Follies that used to premier at The Fly By Night Club each year; a favorite spot for tourists (and Alaskans, too) to get a rather colorful take on the local news. Mr. Whitekeys is an avid birder and is currently on the board of directors for the local chapter of the Audubon. He is a very nice man, and was very courteous to me.
The meeting was held at the BP Energy Center, a building providing meeting space to non-profit organizations here in town as a community service by BP. It's a very nice building, and the room we were in had seating for at least 100 people as well as a nice big screen to project my pictures onto. About the only thing I could complain about was the fact that I was so close to that big screen I could barely see it. Plus, trying to reach up to point at things during my talk was pretty much impossible: it was just too big.
As always I talk too much, so they had to rush me along when it got close to time to stop. I had planned on showing a bunch of pictures that Dr. Reading (the scientist I worked with out in Mongolia - see previous postings in this blog) had sent to me of various birds he's come across over there. We barely had time to quickly flip thru them, and no time at all for them to come up and look thru all the books, pamphlets, and other material I had laid out for them up front.
But, they all seemed to have enjoyed themselves, so I guess it wasn't a total flop. Not a bad way to start out my year as the Alaskan Field Representative for the Earthwatch Institute.
Wacky Weather
Man, we're having some Wacky Weather lately!
For weeks, the temperatures have been well below zero - now all of the sudden they're way up in the forty's! People are flooding out all over the place and roads are just one big sheet of ice made even slicker by a coating of water on top.
Here's a funny thought: I think we must be the only state in the Union that closes schools down because it got warm!
My brother's house, out in the valley, had it the worst in my family. He was down to about 39 below one day then all the way up to 43 above the next! That's a 82 degree temperature swing - all in 24 hours!
Mother's farmhouse flooded out down in the basement for the first time in how many years? Thankfully, she didn't loose much - just the bookshelf she was painting for me, wouldn't you know. She was able to keep ahead of the water, sopping it up with rags and bailing it out on a daily basis.
My house is on a rather steep hill, so flooding was not a concern. The ice, however, most definitely was a concern! I have a hard time getting into my garage on good days as it is. With all that glaciation going on, it was darned near impossible. I have to get a good running start at it, and just hope & pray I am able to stop the car before hitting the back wall once I do make it up.
Even so, I have to say it is so nice to be warm again finally!
For weeks, the temperatures have been well below zero - now all of the sudden they're way up in the forty's! People are flooding out all over the place and roads are just one big sheet of ice made even slicker by a coating of water on top.
Here's a funny thought: I think we must be the only state in the Union that closes schools down because it got warm!
My brother's house, out in the valley, had it the worst in my family. He was down to about 39 below one day then all the way up to 43 above the next! That's a 82 degree temperature swing - all in 24 hours!
Mother's farmhouse flooded out down in the basement for the first time in how many years? Thankfully, she didn't loose much - just the bookshelf she was painting for me, wouldn't you know. She was able to keep ahead of the water, sopping it up with rags and bailing it out on a daily basis.
My house is on a rather steep hill, so flooding was not a concern. The ice, however, most definitely was a concern! I have a hard time getting into my garage on good days as it is. With all that glaciation going on, it was darned near impossible. I have to get a good running start at it, and just hope & pray I am able to stop the car before hitting the back wall once I do make it up.
Even so, I have to say it is so nice to be warm again finally!
A Birthday Party
The Alaska Zoo celebrated our polar bears' birthday this weekend.
They claimed it was their 10th, but I don't think so. For one thing, the two polar bears are not the same age: our female is 3 years older than our male. And it can't be the 10th celebration of the two of them, because we've only had the male about 3-4 years now. But I honestly can't remember exactly how old they are without digging in to my research papers, so I'll let it stand for now. Off the top of my head, I think that Ahpun (the female) is 11 and Lyutyik (the male) is 8 - but I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that.
Regardless of their age, they did have a good party.
Attendance was good, thanks in part to the weather cooperating with us. For weeks we've been breaking records for cold temperatures - but at the last minute they came up to a more reasonable level and people could get out and enjoy themselves without freezing to death.
Some of the volunteers and zoo employees spent several hours ahead of time creating the snow-packed "cake" for them: three tiers standing a good 10-12 feet tall, decorated with fruits & vegetables and colored with food colorings. As always, a toy was hidden deep inside for them to "discover" as they demolish the cake.
On top of the cake was a whole (raw) butterball turkey! Lyutyik went right for that, dragging it off to the side for his own consumption. He pretty much ignored everything else and spent the entire time working on that, leaving Ahpun to pick thru all the other goodies.
Several colorful packages were made for them this year: cardboard boxes wrapped with colorful paper and filled with goodies like peanut butter, fish scraps, and peanuts. Ahpun made short work of opening them to get the goodies out.
For the party guests, we had a few tables set up around the polar bear exhibit offering various forms of entertainment, from coloring pages & mazes to "Make Your Own S'Mores!". We even had a table of polar bear artifacts set out for people, displaying an entire polar bear hide, a skull, and several radio collars.
I sat at the Hot Chocolate table, selling the cups for $1.00 each. Unfortunately I ran out of hot water after about 45 minutes so had to spend the remainder of my 2-hour shift saying, "I'm out of hot water - but our coffee shop will have more." Eventually, I snagged a zoo employee with a radio to call the volunteer coordinator and let her know I needed more. She came right over once she knew, but I could have sold a lot more than I did.
The cutest thing I saw while I was there was this little girl. She came up to my table and dug around in her little purse until she came up with 4 crumpled dollars, telling me that she was buying hot cocoa for her brothers and sisters.
"That's so nice of you! You must be the big sister, to take care of them like that." I said.
She agreed, saying "I may be small, but I'm seven years old!"
"Well, you're a very good big sister." I told her.
I really wondered how she was going to get four cups of hot cocoa down the stairs to where her siblings were at the craft tables, not to mention the fact that I wondered if they even wanted hot cocoa - particularly if they were younger than she was!
Thankfully, her mother arrived and convinced her that they could all share two cups. I gave her back two of her dollars and she was happy with that.
They claimed it was their 10th, but I don't think so. For one thing, the two polar bears are not the same age: our female is 3 years older than our male. And it can't be the 10th celebration of the two of them, because we've only had the male about 3-4 years now. But I honestly can't remember exactly how old they are without digging in to my research papers, so I'll let it stand for now. Off the top of my head, I think that Ahpun (the female) is 11 and Lyutyik (the male) is 8 - but I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that.
Regardless of their age, they did have a good party.
Attendance was good, thanks in part to the weather cooperating with us. For weeks we've been breaking records for cold temperatures - but at the last minute they came up to a more reasonable level and people could get out and enjoy themselves without freezing to death.
Some of the volunteers and zoo employees spent several hours ahead of time creating the snow-packed "cake" for them: three tiers standing a good 10-12 feet tall, decorated with fruits & vegetables and colored with food colorings. As always, a toy was hidden deep inside for them to "discover" as they demolish the cake.
On top of the cake was a whole (raw) butterball turkey! Lyutyik went right for that, dragging it off to the side for his own consumption. He pretty much ignored everything else and spent the entire time working on that, leaving Ahpun to pick thru all the other goodies.
Several colorful packages were made for them this year: cardboard boxes wrapped with colorful paper and filled with goodies like peanut butter, fish scraps, and peanuts. Ahpun made short work of opening them to get the goodies out.
For the party guests, we had a few tables set up around the polar bear exhibit offering various forms of entertainment, from coloring pages & mazes to "Make Your Own S'Mores!". We even had a table of polar bear artifacts set out for people, displaying an entire polar bear hide, a skull, and several radio collars.
I sat at the Hot Chocolate table, selling the cups for $1.00 each. Unfortunately I ran out of hot water after about 45 minutes so had to spend the remainder of my 2-hour shift saying, "I'm out of hot water - but our coffee shop will have more." Eventually, I snagged a zoo employee with a radio to call the volunteer coordinator and let her know I needed more. She came right over once she knew, but I could have sold a lot more than I did.
The cutest thing I saw while I was there was this little girl. She came up to my table and dug around in her little purse until she came up with 4 crumpled dollars, telling me that she was buying hot cocoa for her brothers and sisters.
"That's so nice of you! You must be the big sister, to take care of them like that." I said.
She agreed, saying "I may be small, but I'm seven years old!"
"Well, you're a very good big sister." I told her.
I really wondered how she was going to get four cups of hot cocoa down the stairs to where her siblings were at the craft tables, not to mention the fact that I wondered if they even wanted hot cocoa - particularly if they were younger than she was!
Thankfully, her mother arrived and convinced her that they could all share two cups. I gave her back two of her dollars and she was happy with that.
Craft Corner
Heather and Lauren came over this weekend and spent the afternoon with me. We had fun putting together my new Craft Corner! I'm very excited about this... it will be so nice when it's all finished. I'll have everything organized so neatly, and will be able to create the BEST cards ever!
I had purchased these "storage cubes" ahead of time from Michael's Craft Store: 2 each of 4 designs. They are designed to fit together in various arrangements, each one being about 15" square. Some have shelves, some have drawers, some have a mixture of each. I had several 50% off coupons to buy them with and the store had them on sale as well, so I ended up getting them all for a very good price.
Heather and Lauren spent the evening putting them together while I spent the time getting the corner ready. I had a lot of junk to go thru, tossing out what I really didn't need to keep and organizing the remainder into more logical piles. The iron shelving unit got moved over to the opposite wall, making room for the cubbies, and the piles of stuff got organized onto it. Pictures had to be rehung in a new arrangement, with one picture being relocated to another room entirely.
Speaking of pictures, I also had eight of my own photographs framed. These are photos of various trips I've taken over the years: two from Mongolia, one from Costa Rica, one from Nova Scotia, and the rest from around Alaska (Seward, Hope, Hatcher's Pass, and Eagle River). They got hung up above the where the new craft cubbies go, and I must say they look good. The level we used to mark where to put the nails wasn't exactly level, but I think no one but myself will notice.
The best part of our afternoon together was watching the cats play. They were all excited about having company, plus all the boxes and packaging material tossed into the corner of the room provided great entertainment. Both Thing and Djuna were in rare form, darting around at top speeds like wildcats and checking out each and every part both before and after construction. Alien even woke up to come see what was going on. All three cats are passed out from exhaustion today, I'm sure!
There are just two cubbies left to be put together: the two hardest ones, of course! Heather and Lauren had to go home at a reasonable hour, so were not able to finish up last night. Heather will stop by tonight to get them done, and then I can get my table and countertops cleaned off.
I had purchased these "storage cubes" ahead of time from Michael's Craft Store: 2 each of 4 designs. They are designed to fit together in various arrangements, each one being about 15" square. Some have shelves, some have drawers, some have a mixture of each. I had several 50% off coupons to buy them with and the store had them on sale as well, so I ended up getting them all for a very good price.
Heather and Lauren spent the evening putting them together while I spent the time getting the corner ready. I had a lot of junk to go thru, tossing out what I really didn't need to keep and organizing the remainder into more logical piles. The iron shelving unit got moved over to the opposite wall, making room for the cubbies, and the piles of stuff got organized onto it. Pictures had to be rehung in a new arrangement, with one picture being relocated to another room entirely.
Speaking of pictures, I also had eight of my own photographs framed. These are photos of various trips I've taken over the years: two from Mongolia, one from Costa Rica, one from Nova Scotia, and the rest from around Alaska (Seward, Hope, Hatcher's Pass, and Eagle River). They got hung up above the where the new craft cubbies go, and I must say they look good. The level we used to mark where to put the nails wasn't exactly level, but I think no one but myself will notice.
The best part of our afternoon together was watching the cats play. They were all excited about having company, plus all the boxes and packaging material tossed into the corner of the room provided great entertainment. Both Thing and Djuna were in rare form, darting around at top speeds like wildcats and checking out each and every part both before and after construction. Alien even woke up to come see what was going on. All three cats are passed out from exhaustion today, I'm sure!
There are just two cubbies left to be put together: the two hardest ones, of course! Heather and Lauren had to go home at a reasonable hour, so were not able to finish up last night. Heather will stop by tonight to get them done, and then I can get my table and countertops cleaned off.
Monday, January 12, 2009
A Dozen Frightened Peacocks
About 6 years or so ago, a friend brought to my attention an add in the papers listing 12 peacocks free to a good home. I forwarded it to Mother, who agreed that this was exactly what she needed. So off we went to pick them up.
The shelter they were temporarily housed at was located way out passed Big Lake, which just happens to be one of the coldest spots in the area. As it was December, when the sun sets at 3:00 in the afternoon, it was quite cold and dark by the time we headed out there after work. I think the temperature was down in the twenty or thirty below range.
Mother had saved up feed sacks to put the birds in, slicing breathing holes in them with a knife. Like most animals, the birds would - theoretically - calm down once their eyesight was blocked, and the sacks would make it easy for us to stack them in the back of the Bronco like cordwood. The birds would be safe, comfortable, and compliant till we got them home to Mother's barn.
When we arrived at the shelter, the owner took us around back to the shed where they kept them. It was small, roughly 4-feet square, with barely room enough for the birds and their shedmates: 3 doves.
Peacocks are very bid birds, by the way. Until you get right up close to one, you just don't realize that. They also do not like being chased after by three strange humans, nor do they enjoy being stuffed into sacks, however safe it may be for them.
Picture if you will a very small shed filled with a dozen screaming peacocks who are throwing feathers and shit (yup, that is one of their defense mechanisms: no one wants to eat a bird that is covered in shit) all over the place. Throw three doves into the mix that are also screaming and throwing feathers & shit around. Now place three adult human beings in there and turn the temperature way down so that everybody's breath fills up the place an impenetrable fog, obscuring visibility down to barely a few inches in front of your face, and you get a fairly good idea of what we had on our hands.
We got it down to a science eventually: you grab on to anything you can get your hands on and just hang on for dear life, stuffing madly into a sack all the while trying to protect your face from bird wings, claws, beaks, and shit.
Towards the end, we had maybe three or four birds left to catch. Mother and the owner of the shelter had a few of them cornered, so I had backed off to the opposite corner to give them room to maneuver the bird(s) into the sack(s).
Apparently the remaining birds had the same idea: get as far away as possible. This meant finding the tallest perch they could fine as far away from THAT corner as they could get, all the while protesting as loudly as possible, which I'm sure involved sound waves capable of causing permanent damage to my eardrums.
Unfortunately, that tall perch I mentioned just happened to be my head.
As calmly as I could, so as to not startle the surprisingly LARGE bird clinging to my head with claws the size of a velocoraptor's, I called out to Mother, "Um... I could use a little help over here!"
Mother and the owner both turned about and said, "Oh my gosh!" and came rushing to help me.
Finally, exhausted and elated, we got the last bird stuffed into a sack and loaded into the Bronco, and headed back to the farm.
Along the way, we started to thaw out.
Neither one of us said anything for a while, but you could see both of us stealing glances at each other and making awful faces. Finally mother said, "Boy, peacock shit really stinks when it's thawed out, doesn't it?"
We were covered in it, from head to toe! Thank goodness Mother's farm house has two showers.
The shelter they were temporarily housed at was located way out passed Big Lake, which just happens to be one of the coldest spots in the area. As it was December, when the sun sets at 3:00 in the afternoon, it was quite cold and dark by the time we headed out there after work. I think the temperature was down in the twenty or thirty below range.
Mother had saved up feed sacks to put the birds in, slicing breathing holes in them with a knife. Like most animals, the birds would - theoretically - calm down once their eyesight was blocked, and the sacks would make it easy for us to stack them in the back of the Bronco like cordwood. The birds would be safe, comfortable, and compliant till we got them home to Mother's barn.
When we arrived at the shelter, the owner took us around back to the shed where they kept them. It was small, roughly 4-feet square, with barely room enough for the birds and their shedmates: 3 doves.
Peacocks are very bid birds, by the way. Until you get right up close to one, you just don't realize that. They also do not like being chased after by three strange humans, nor do they enjoy being stuffed into sacks, however safe it may be for them.
Picture if you will a very small shed filled with a dozen screaming peacocks who are throwing feathers and shit (yup, that is one of their defense mechanisms: no one wants to eat a bird that is covered in shit) all over the place. Throw three doves into the mix that are also screaming and throwing feathers & shit around. Now place three adult human beings in there and turn the temperature way down so that everybody's breath fills up the place an impenetrable fog, obscuring visibility down to barely a few inches in front of your face, and you get a fairly good idea of what we had on our hands.
We got it down to a science eventually: you grab on to anything you can get your hands on and just hang on for dear life, stuffing madly into a sack all the while trying to protect your face from bird wings, claws, beaks, and shit.
Towards the end, we had maybe three or four birds left to catch. Mother and the owner of the shelter had a few of them cornered, so I had backed off to the opposite corner to give them room to maneuver the bird(s) into the sack(s).
Apparently the remaining birds had the same idea: get as far away as possible. This meant finding the tallest perch they could fine as far away from THAT corner as they could get, all the while protesting as loudly as possible, which I'm sure involved sound waves capable of causing permanent damage to my eardrums.
Unfortunately, that tall perch I mentioned just happened to be my head.
As calmly as I could, so as to not startle the surprisingly LARGE bird clinging to my head with claws the size of a velocoraptor's, I called out to Mother, "Um... I could use a little help over here!"
Mother and the owner both turned about and said, "Oh my gosh!" and came rushing to help me.
Finally, exhausted and elated, we got the last bird stuffed into a sack and loaded into the Bronco, and headed back to the farm.
Along the way, we started to thaw out.
Neither one of us said anything for a while, but you could see both of us stealing glances at each other and making awful faces. Finally mother said, "Boy, peacock shit really stinks when it's thawed out, doesn't it?"
We were covered in it, from head to toe! Thank goodness Mother's farm house has two showers.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Family Movie Nights are an ongoing event in our family, and one we all enjoy greatly. We’ve really been having fun with the movies, too. Here are two of the most recent ones:
Heart and Souls
Hollow-hearted yuppie Robert Downey Jr. gets hot-wired to the ghosts of four people who died as he was being born. Their time in limbo is drawing to a close, just when his girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue) grows tired of his commitment phobia. To fend off being dumped, Downey must help the phantasmic four (Tom Sizemore, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard and Charles Grodin) fulfill their final wishes.
Bandits
Bank robbers Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton battle over the affections of a woman (Cate Blanchett) they kidnap before one of their big heists. Adding insult to injury, they then force a TV show host to cover their 15 minutes of fame while they go on a bank-robbing spree -- Blanchett in tow -- and gain notoriety as "The Sleepover Bandits."
In light of these movie picks, I am actually thinking of changing my pick to a different movie. I had thought to show this movie:
The 11th Hour
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary on the global environmental crisis paints a portrait of a planet at risk while also offering some exciting and radical solutions for making life on earth sustainable. Tapping the brains of leading scientists and thinkers -- including Stephen Hawking and Mikhail Gorbachev -- the film ultimately delivers a hopeful message: Our planet may be in crisis, but that doesn't mean it's too late change.
But am now thinking we would enjoy either of these two instead:
Practical Magic
Sisters Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) Owens are modern-day witches whose love lives are complicated by an unusual curse: Men who fall in love with them meet untimely ends. Against the advice of their eccentric aunts, Frances (Stockard Channing) and Jet (Dianne Wiest), and even in the face of a murder investigation, the sisters continue to try their hands at romance in this romantic comedy.
The Core
The Earth's inner core has stopped spinning, and scientist Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) must discover the cause before the world literally falls apart. He and a group of brilliant researchers burrow deep into the Earth's center in a subterranean vessel piloted by Maj. Beck Childs (Hilary Swank) and Col. Robert Iverson (Bruce Greenwood). There, they'll detonate a device that they hope will get the world to turn again ... before it's too late.
So many choices!
Heart and Souls
Hollow-hearted yuppie Robert Downey Jr. gets hot-wired to the ghosts of four people who died as he was being born. Their time in limbo is drawing to a close, just when his girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue) grows tired of his commitment phobia. To fend off being dumped, Downey must help the phantasmic four (Tom Sizemore, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard and Charles Grodin) fulfill their final wishes.
Bandits
Bank robbers Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton battle over the affections of a woman (Cate Blanchett) they kidnap before one of their big heists. Adding insult to injury, they then force a TV show host to cover their 15 minutes of fame while they go on a bank-robbing spree -- Blanchett in tow -- and gain notoriety as "The Sleepover Bandits."
In light of these movie picks, I am actually thinking of changing my pick to a different movie. I had thought to show this movie:
The 11th Hour
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary on the global environmental crisis paints a portrait of a planet at risk while also offering some exciting and radical solutions for making life on earth sustainable. Tapping the brains of leading scientists and thinkers -- including Stephen Hawking and Mikhail Gorbachev -- the film ultimately delivers a hopeful message: Our planet may be in crisis, but that doesn't mean it's too late change.
But am now thinking we would enjoy either of these two instead:
Practical Magic
Sisters Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) Owens are modern-day witches whose love lives are complicated by an unusual curse: Men who fall in love with them meet untimely ends. Against the advice of their eccentric aunts, Frances (Stockard Channing) and Jet (Dianne Wiest), and even in the face of a murder investigation, the sisters continue to try their hands at romance in this romantic comedy.
The Core
The Earth's inner core has stopped spinning, and scientist Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) must discover the cause before the world literally falls apart. He and a group of brilliant researchers burrow deep into the Earth's center in a subterranean vessel piloted by Maj. Beck Childs (Hilary Swank) and Col. Robert Iverson (Bruce Greenwood). There, they'll detonate a device that they hope will get the world to turn again ... before it's too late.
So many choices!
Lunch with Anne
Lunch with my friend Anne this weekend, at the Middle Way Café, served three purposes.
The first was to finally meet her new boyfriend, Sam. He is a very nice guy = I approve! I’m sure she needed my approval, and would have dumped him on the spot had I not approved. And yes, I’m being sarcastic. Thankfully, we’ll never have to test that particular hypothesis because I do in fact like him. I am also very happy for her in having found what seems to me to be the last decent guy in the entire state of Alaska – but that could just be my 20+ years of frustration speaking. We won’t go in to that at this time.
The second was to exchange Christmas gifts. I had found a few models for her; in the hope that it might be something she would enjoy doing. She is very crafy and is always coming up with unique and off-the-wall art projects for herself. These models, of various famous buildings around the world, may prove to inspire a few more crafty ideas: who knows? In return, she made for me some of her absolutely scrumptious chocolates! Thank goodness she only makes them for the holidays; otherwise I would be a much rounder person than I am. She also included in my gift bag some German chocolates sent to her by her parents, which I will have to hide from my cat Djuna who apparently REALLY likes German chocolate (who knew?). I also received a book on Living Green, which will come in quite handy as I continue on my personal quest of reducing my carbon footprint, thereby reducing my heating & electricity bills in the process.
The third purpose in meeting with Anne this weekend was to discuss my 20-hour layover in London this coming November. I know – I have many months ahead of me to get things planned out. But, I am SO EXCITED I could just spit. Anne has been to London many times, and knows exactly where I should go in my limited time, so has lined me up with a walking tour and a list of things to check out (see previous posting on this blog).
After lunch, and after Sam left to get his car worked on at the garage next door, Anne and I retired to the bookstore to browse the travel section. We pulled just about every London Travel Guide they had and sat down in at a corner table to go over them. We chose the perfect one for me; a pocket sized one containing not only a map of the area, but also a map of the underground as well as a listing of possible hotels and places to eat. Added to my purchase was a travel guide on Kenya as well as the book “Out of Africa” and we parted ways.
It was a good day.
The first was to finally meet her new boyfriend, Sam. He is a very nice guy = I approve! I’m sure she needed my approval, and would have dumped him on the spot had I not approved. And yes, I’m being sarcastic. Thankfully, we’ll never have to test that particular hypothesis because I do in fact like him. I am also very happy for her in having found what seems to me to be the last decent guy in the entire state of Alaska – but that could just be my 20+ years of frustration speaking. We won’t go in to that at this time.
The second was to exchange Christmas gifts. I had found a few models for her; in the hope that it might be something she would enjoy doing. She is very crafy and is always coming up with unique and off-the-wall art projects for herself. These models, of various famous buildings around the world, may prove to inspire a few more crafty ideas: who knows? In return, she made for me some of her absolutely scrumptious chocolates! Thank goodness she only makes them for the holidays; otherwise I would be a much rounder person than I am. She also included in my gift bag some German chocolates sent to her by her parents, which I will have to hide from my cat Djuna who apparently REALLY likes German chocolate (who knew?). I also received a book on Living Green, which will come in quite handy as I continue on my personal quest of reducing my carbon footprint, thereby reducing my heating & electricity bills in the process.
The third purpose in meeting with Anne this weekend was to discuss my 20-hour layover in London this coming November. I know – I have many months ahead of me to get things planned out. But, I am SO EXCITED I could just spit. Anne has been to London many times, and knows exactly where I should go in my limited time, so has lined me up with a walking tour and a list of things to check out (see previous posting on this blog).
After lunch, and after Sam left to get his car worked on at the garage next door, Anne and I retired to the bookstore to browse the travel section. We pulled just about every London Travel Guide they had and sat down in at a corner table to go over them. We chose the perfect one for me; a pocket sized one containing not only a map of the area, but also a map of the underground as well as a listing of possible hotels and places to eat. Added to my purchase was a travel guide on Kenya as well as the book “Out of Africa” and we parted ways.
It was a good day.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Books About Africa
Can you recommend any books to read before I head out to Kenya?
Right now, I'm reading "Imperial Reckoning" by: Caroline Elkins. It’s very well written, but has uncomfortably disturbing content.
I just recently finished "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families" by Philip Gourevitch. This is another very well written one with disturbing content. It’s not necessarily set in Kenya, but is a neighbor of theirs (Rwanda).
On the shelf to be read is "Unbowed: a Memoir" by Wangari Maathai. She is the first African woman, and the first Environmentalist, to win the Nobel Peace Prize, back in 2004.
These will give me a fairly good understanding of Africa and/or Kenya, as well as the people who live there. But I love to read, and have months ahead of me - so am always looking for more information.
Some time ago I read "The River" by Edward Hooper. Perhaps I should get that back out and read thru it again, since there is so much HIV and AIDS there.
Right now, I'm reading "Imperial Reckoning" by: Caroline Elkins. It’s very well written, but has uncomfortably disturbing content.
I just recently finished "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families" by Philip Gourevitch. This is another very well written one with disturbing content. It’s not necessarily set in Kenya, but is a neighbor of theirs (Rwanda).
On the shelf to be read is "Unbowed: a Memoir" by Wangari Maathai. She is the first African woman, and the first Environmentalist, to win the Nobel Peace Prize, back in 2004.
These will give me a fairly good understanding of Africa and/or Kenya, as well as the people who live there. But I love to read, and have months ahead of me - so am always looking for more information.
Some time ago I read "The River" by Edward Hooper. Perhaps I should get that back out and read thru it again, since there is so much HIV and AIDS there.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Fourty Below
Man, is it ever cold outside!
This isn't the coldest it's ever been, but it's been cold a very long time. We're actually breaking a few records for the longest cold streak.
Thankfully, my car does alright in the cold. It starts right up and goes, even though it complains a bit while doing so.
I feel sorry for the local homeless people. Can you imagine being out there, with no where to go and no warmth to be had anywhere? The only thing I can think of that is in their favor is that they are mostly native people; they have the cultural advantage of generations worth of being used to the cold. They fare much better in it than us white folk would, and that's for sure.
My brother's house registered fourty below. My mother's farm hovers aroun 29 below. Here in Anchorage, we're bottoming out at about 16 below.
That's just too damn cold!
This isn't the coldest it's ever been, but it's been cold a very long time. We're actually breaking a few records for the longest cold streak.
Thankfully, my car does alright in the cold. It starts right up and goes, even though it complains a bit while doing so.
I feel sorry for the local homeless people. Can you imagine being out there, with no where to go and no warmth to be had anywhere? The only thing I can think of that is in their favor is that they are mostly native people; they have the cultural advantage of generations worth of being used to the cold. They fare much better in it than us white folk would, and that's for sure.
My brother's house registered fourty below. My mother's farm hovers aroun 29 below. Here in Anchorage, we're bottoming out at about 16 below.
That's just too damn cold!
Monday, January 05, 2009
Tickets
I had some time on my hands today at lunch so I thought I would check on the price of tickets to Africa. A friend had told me that the best price she could find was with Delta Airlines. I have to admit that I was skeptical about that: Delta Airlines has not been, in my experience, the best at anything.
But I checked them out regardless. I am willing to travel with just about anybody so long as they’re inexpensive. The best price I could find on their website was somewhere around $2500.00 not including taxes. That’s a bit higher than I’d budgeted for – but if I had to, I could do it.
I don’t remember how I got there, but somehow I ended up on the website for CheapTickets.com and figured I’d check them out while I was at it.
I found a ticket for $1002.00 not including taxes!
You can bet your bottom dollar that I bought that ticket right then and there! My final price turned out to be $1,763.17 with all the taxes and travel insurance tagged on to the price. Still – come on: that much of a difference?
And they’re good airlines, too. I’m traveling on Alaska Airlines from here to Seattle, then switching over to British Airways from Seattle to London and then on to Nairobi.
Best of all is that I get a 20-hour layover in London! Of course some of that will be spent sleeping – but some of it can be used to do some sightseeing!
Does anybody have any suggestions? Where should I go, with limited time & money? What should I absolutely not miss?
I’m so excited!
I’ve paid my deposit on the expedition. I’ve got my tickets taken care of. Now all I need to do are reserve some hotels, get my visa for Africa, and take care of the inoculations!
But I checked them out regardless. I am willing to travel with just about anybody so long as they’re inexpensive. The best price I could find on their website was somewhere around $2500.00 not including taxes. That’s a bit higher than I’d budgeted for – but if I had to, I could do it.
I don’t remember how I got there, but somehow I ended up on the website for CheapTickets.com and figured I’d check them out while I was at it.
I found a ticket for $1002.00 not including taxes!
You can bet your bottom dollar that I bought that ticket right then and there! My final price turned out to be $1,763.17 with all the taxes and travel insurance tagged on to the price. Still – come on: that much of a difference?
And they’re good airlines, too. I’m traveling on Alaska Airlines from here to Seattle, then switching over to British Airways from Seattle to London and then on to Nairobi.
Best of all is that I get a 20-hour layover in London! Of course some of that will be spent sleeping – but some of it can be used to do some sightseeing!
Does anybody have any suggestions? Where should I go, with limited time & money? What should I absolutely not miss?
I’m so excited!
I’ve paid my deposit on the expedition. I’ve got my tickets taken care of. Now all I need to do are reserve some hotels, get my visa for Africa, and take care of the inoculations!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Maid Service
One of the many hardships I had to endure in my time of unemployment was the loss of my monthly maid.
Boy, I sound so pretentious, don't I? But really, it was quite distressing.
However, after taking a look at my financial state now that I’m working again, I determined that I can once again afford the luxury. Believe me, once you’ve had it, you’ll find almost anyway you can to get it back.
I am doing quite well, though. I had money saved up ahead of time, and was given a severance check when I was let go. All of that on top of stringent budgeting means that I can afford to relax a little bit.
I may even be able to get my blinds that I’ve been wanting: the energy-efficient ones that help to hold the heat in so well.
I’m a happy camper!
Boy, I sound so pretentious, don't I? But really, it was quite distressing.
However, after taking a look at my financial state now that I’m working again, I determined that I can once again afford the luxury. Believe me, once you’ve had it, you’ll find almost anyway you can to get it back.
I am doing quite well, though. I had money saved up ahead of time, and was given a severance check when I was let go. All of that on top of stringent budgeting means that I can afford to relax a little bit.
I may even be able to get my blinds that I’ve been wanting: the energy-efficient ones that help to hold the heat in so well.
I’m a happy camper!
Monday, December 29, 2008
A Tangled Web
My family is getting large enough that I am beginning to not know what to call people.
Take for example my brother. He married a girl, who then became my sister-in-law. Well, she has a sister: what is she to me? And now, that sister is getting married: what will he be to me?
Another example is my sister's son: he would be my nephew. He married a girl a while back: what is she to me?
Also, my sister's daughter - otherwise known as my niece - had a baby boy. What is he to me?
Can anybody tell me?
And then, there's my sister-by-choice. She's been a part of our family for 25+ years, but is not related to us by blood. I made up her title because I don't think there is one for her. Well, she went and got married and had two kids. What do I call them?
And last but certainly not least, there’s my Cousin Chris: who isn’t really my cousin but is instead my cousin’s son.
It’s so confusing.
Take for example my brother. He married a girl, who then became my sister-in-law. Well, she has a sister: what is she to me? And now, that sister is getting married: what will he be to me?
Another example is my sister's son: he would be my nephew. He married a girl a while back: what is she to me?
Also, my sister's daughter - otherwise known as my niece - had a baby boy. What is he to me?
Can anybody tell me?
And then, there's my sister-by-choice. She's been a part of our family for 25+ years, but is not related to us by blood. I made up her title because I don't think there is one for her. Well, she went and got married and had two kids. What do I call them?
And last but certainly not least, there’s my Cousin Chris: who isn’t really my cousin but is instead my cousin’s son.
It’s so confusing.
Christmas Day
After opening gifts at my sister’s house, and after having just one more piece of Christmas Stolen, I packed up my stuff and headed on over to the farm for the day.
Mother had all kinds of good food baking in the oven when I arrived – the whole house smelled so good!
She stopped me in the entryway, however, and took me out to the barn to check on her girls first. Her girls happen to be a bunch of chickens and three turkeys. And not all of them are female, either. But – they are fun to watch, regardless of their gender.
Mother had gotten rid of all her chickens not two months ago, and had thought that she was done with trying to keep the birds alive through the winter – but a friend had a slight emergency and had to leave the state for a few months. He needed somebody to look after his flock, and who better than Mother! Heck, some of his flock was originally hers anyway. So, now she’s back into chicken farming – and although she complains, it’s fairly obvious that she loves it.
When we finally got back to the house, I hauled all my packages into the office where Mother had her “system” in place: huge boxes with family names written on the sides. Each person bringing packages placed them in the appropriate box, so that later on we could easily hand them out to whom they belong. I divvied up my packages and went back in to the kitchen to help Mother with all that food.
People started arriving one after another, shortly after that, till eventually all 21 of us were there: Mother, Stan, Dorothy, Stewart, Julie, Kelly, Danny, Tara, Laurel, Corbin, TJ, Gareth, Robin, Jamie, Noel, Hank, Katy, Lauren, Me, Reed, and Heather! The only one missing was Cousin Chris, who had gone home to Montana for the holidays.
It was a great day, full to overflowing with good food, lots of good conversations, and even a little bit of drama thrown in for good measure.
The drive home that evening was horrible, though. A blizzard had started blowing in around noonish, and was just getting it’s stride going by the time I headed home. It wasn’t the worst weather I’d ever driven home in (that honor belongs to Noel’s surprise 40th birthday) but it was no picnic.
I made it home, though, a little too well fed but happy.
Mother had all kinds of good food baking in the oven when I arrived – the whole house smelled so good!
She stopped me in the entryway, however, and took me out to the barn to check on her girls first. Her girls happen to be a bunch of chickens and three turkeys. And not all of them are female, either. But – they are fun to watch, regardless of their gender.
Mother had gotten rid of all her chickens not two months ago, and had thought that she was done with trying to keep the birds alive through the winter – but a friend had a slight emergency and had to leave the state for a few months. He needed somebody to look after his flock, and who better than Mother! Heck, some of his flock was originally hers anyway. So, now she’s back into chicken farming – and although she complains, it’s fairly obvious that she loves it.
When we finally got back to the house, I hauled all my packages into the office where Mother had her “system” in place: huge boxes with family names written on the sides. Each person bringing packages placed them in the appropriate box, so that later on we could easily hand them out to whom they belong. I divvied up my packages and went back in to the kitchen to help Mother with all that food.
People started arriving one after another, shortly after that, till eventually all 21 of us were there: Mother, Stan, Dorothy, Stewart, Julie, Kelly, Danny, Tara, Laurel, Corbin, TJ, Gareth, Robin, Jamie, Noel, Hank, Katy, Lauren, Me, Reed, and Heather! The only one missing was Cousin Chris, who had gone home to Montana for the holidays.
It was a great day, full to overflowing with good food, lots of good conversations, and even a little bit of drama thrown in for good measure.
The drive home that evening was horrible, though. A blizzard had started blowing in around noonish, and was just getting it’s stride going by the time I headed home. It wasn’t the worst weather I’d ever driven home in (that honor belongs to Noel’s surprise 40th birthday) but it was no picnic.
I made it home, though, a little too well fed but happy.
Christmas Eve
It’s always been a tradition for me to spend Christmas Eve out at my sister's house. I've been doing this for over 20 years, ever since the girls were born.
It started out in part as a babysitting job: my sister Noel and her husband Hank are both in the choir at church and needed somebody to sit with the babies during the midnight mass. It’s also a way for me to enjoy family life without having to actually HAVE a family (meaning kids). I have loved every year of it. Now that the girls are older, it's more an opportunity for me to spend some time with each of them.
I took off right after work and arrived just in time for Christmas Eve Dinner with Hank’s parents at a nice Italian restaurant. After our meal – which was scrumptious - we headed off to church for the early service. Both Noel & Hank, and this year Lauren as well, headed downstairs to warm up with the choir while I hung out upstairs, helping Katy with folding programs for the evening's service.
Rachel, my friend from high school, showed up with her little one shortly after we got started. Since Rachel is in the choir also, we agreed that Elly should sit with me in the audience for the service. I also had Katy and her friend sitting next to me - lots of company this year!
After that, we headed over to Hank’s parents' house to celebrate my sister's birthday (yup - she was born on Christmas) with presents, goodies, and tea/coffee. The dogs came with us and even got to open their own presents - causing a minor squabble over whose toy was whose. Apparently the puppy still doesn't quite understand the concept of sharing!
By then it was time to head back to the church for the midnight service. I chose to stay home, as did Katy, so she & I got to catch up on all of her goings-on at college. I crawled into bed shortly after that, since I am most decidedly NOT a night owl, and didn't even hear the others return home.
The next morning, Noel & Hank got up early to let the dogs out for a potty break and to put the turkey in the oven. I heard them putzing around in the kitchen so got up to join them. Normally, the girls would be the first ones up - frantically urging the adults to WAKE UP so they could open their gifts - but, as my sister noted, apparently ages 18 & 20 are the magical ages where sleeping in is more preferable to early wakening: they didn't get out of bed till nearly 9:30.
When they did finally get up, we proceeded to open our gifts at a nice, leisurely pace - munching on the Christmas Stolen and drinking special Christmas Tea/Coffee in the process.
It was a great holiday!
It started out in part as a babysitting job: my sister Noel and her husband Hank are both in the choir at church and needed somebody to sit with the babies during the midnight mass. It’s also a way for me to enjoy family life without having to actually HAVE a family (meaning kids). I have loved every year of it. Now that the girls are older, it's more an opportunity for me to spend some time with each of them.
I took off right after work and arrived just in time for Christmas Eve Dinner with Hank’s parents at a nice Italian restaurant. After our meal – which was scrumptious - we headed off to church for the early service. Both Noel & Hank, and this year Lauren as well, headed downstairs to warm up with the choir while I hung out upstairs, helping Katy with folding programs for the evening's service.
Rachel, my friend from high school, showed up with her little one shortly after we got started. Since Rachel is in the choir also, we agreed that Elly should sit with me in the audience for the service. I also had Katy and her friend sitting next to me - lots of company this year!
After that, we headed over to Hank’s parents' house to celebrate my sister's birthday (yup - she was born on Christmas) with presents, goodies, and tea/coffee. The dogs came with us and even got to open their own presents - causing a minor squabble over whose toy was whose. Apparently the puppy still doesn't quite understand the concept of sharing!
By then it was time to head back to the church for the midnight service. I chose to stay home, as did Katy, so she & I got to catch up on all of her goings-on at college. I crawled into bed shortly after that, since I am most decidedly NOT a night owl, and didn't even hear the others return home.
The next morning, Noel & Hank got up early to let the dogs out for a potty break and to put the turkey in the oven. I heard them putzing around in the kitchen so got up to join them. Normally, the girls would be the first ones up - frantically urging the adults to WAKE UP so they could open their gifts - but, as my sister noted, apparently ages 18 & 20 are the magical ages where sleeping in is more preferable to early wakening: they didn't get out of bed till nearly 9:30.
When they did finally get up, we proceeded to open our gifts at a nice, leisurely pace - munching on the Christmas Stolen and drinking special Christmas Tea/Coffee in the process.
It was a great holiday!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Help Me Please!
Here’s a couple questions for you – Let’s see how many responses I can get from the world out there. But, first: some background to better understand my questions.
I am going on a scientific expedition to Africa in November of 2009. This is with Earthwatch, which – as you might know from reading previous blog postings – I happen to be the Alaskan Field Representative for. Not that I get to go on these expeditions for free, or anything. But I do get to talk to people about Earthwatch and get them all excited about it like I am myself.
Anyway, my questions are:
1. What is the temperature going to be like in November over there?
I will be in Kenya, in the Samburu region. I’m told that is almost directly ON the equator but has a high elevation. I’m expecting it to be hot and muggy, but for some reason I seem to recall somebody telling me that it would actually be cooler up there than one would think.
2. How does one train for high elevations when one happens to live at low elevations?
The expedition briefing says that the elevation ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 feet. The problem is that I happen to live at only 300 feet, and the highest point I can get to without serious climbing gear is about 1,500. So, what should I do?
I’m climbing stairs at work, to start with. I only work on the 4th floor, so it’s only three flights of stairs. But, I do it 4-5 times a day – that should count for something.
I also have intentions of loosing these extra pounds I’ve been carrying around lately. We’ll see how that goes.
I am going on a scientific expedition to Africa in November of 2009. This is with Earthwatch, which – as you might know from reading previous blog postings – I happen to be the Alaskan Field Representative for. Not that I get to go on these expeditions for free, or anything. But I do get to talk to people about Earthwatch and get them all excited about it like I am myself.
Anyway, my questions are:
1. What is the temperature going to be like in November over there?
I will be in Kenya, in the Samburu region. I’m told that is almost directly ON the equator but has a high elevation. I’m expecting it to be hot and muggy, but for some reason I seem to recall somebody telling me that it would actually be cooler up there than one would think.
2. How does one train for high elevations when one happens to live at low elevations?
The expedition briefing says that the elevation ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 feet. The problem is that I happen to live at only 300 feet, and the highest point I can get to without serious climbing gear is about 1,500. So, what should I do?
I’m climbing stairs at work, to start with. I only work on the 4th floor, so it’s only three flights of stairs. But, I do it 4-5 times a day – that should count for something.
I also have intentions of loosing these extra pounds I’ve been carrying around lately. We’ll see how that goes.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Day One
I survived my first day! I’m tired, but happy.
I started at 8:00 today, but from here on out my days will start at 7:30 and end at 5:30. I’m on a schedule where I work 9 hours each Monday thru Thursday, then just 8 hours on one Friday and not at all the following Friday.
The only bad thing about that – well, actually there’s several bad things. One is the traffic on the way home. I’ll be smack in the middle of rush-hour traffic on the main artery in town. I won’t actually get home till around 6:30, and since I go to bed at 10:00 that barely leaves me about 3 hours to get all my chores done AND snuggle with all three of my kids properly.
I’m sure I’ll get used to the schedule eventually.
The other thing I consider bad about this schedule is the fact that I will have to somehow keep track: is this my Friday off, or is this my 8-hour Friday? And to make matters worse, I get the feeling that they sometimes ask you to come in on your day off and work anyway. This will definitely take some getting used to.
But, the work is interesting. So far, I’ve worked on an addition to the culinary arts school in Seward and a warehouse storage area for Change Point (a local church). I have volunteered my help to consolidate some sort of office standard, and have mentioned (several times) that I want to be one of the first to be trained on Revit, whenever they get the program in house.
The people are all very nice. It’s a small office, so I only have about 12 names to try to learn. I’m so bad with names! I think I know about 3 so far… I hope.
My little cubicle is on the East side of the building, so I have the most beautiful view of the mountains! It is truly spectacular – particularly this morning with the bitter cold, the hoar frost all over everything, and the morning fog shrouding the area. It’s almost too beautiful – makes it very hard to concentrate on my work. It's better than the view on the East side, though: they get to watch the homeless people all huddling together trying to stay warm.
I brought in a plate of home-made fudge (thank you Mother!) for my first day of work. It was half gone before 10:00, so I think it was a success.
I started at 8:00 today, but from here on out my days will start at 7:30 and end at 5:30. I’m on a schedule where I work 9 hours each Monday thru Thursday, then just 8 hours on one Friday and not at all the following Friday.
The only bad thing about that – well, actually there’s several bad things. One is the traffic on the way home. I’ll be smack in the middle of rush-hour traffic on the main artery in town. I won’t actually get home till around 6:30, and since I go to bed at 10:00 that barely leaves me about 3 hours to get all my chores done AND snuggle with all three of my kids properly.
I’m sure I’ll get used to the schedule eventually.
The other thing I consider bad about this schedule is the fact that I will have to somehow keep track: is this my Friday off, or is this my 8-hour Friday? And to make matters worse, I get the feeling that they sometimes ask you to come in on your day off and work anyway. This will definitely take some getting used to.
But, the work is interesting. So far, I’ve worked on an addition to the culinary arts school in Seward and a warehouse storage area for Change Point (a local church). I have volunteered my help to consolidate some sort of office standard, and have mentioned (several times) that I want to be one of the first to be trained on Revit, whenever they get the program in house.
The people are all very nice. It’s a small office, so I only have about 12 names to try to learn. I’m so bad with names! I think I know about 3 so far… I hope.
My little cubicle is on the East side of the building, so I have the most beautiful view of the mountains! It is truly spectacular – particularly this morning with the bitter cold, the hoar frost all over everything, and the morning fog shrouding the area. It’s almost too beautiful – makes it very hard to concentrate on my work. It's better than the view on the East side, though: they get to watch the homeless people all huddling together trying to stay warm.
I brought in a plate of home-made fudge (thank you Mother!) for my first day of work. It was half gone before 10:00, so I think it was a success.
Monday, December 15, 2008
I Have A Job!
It’s official – I have accepted a position at NVision Architecture! I start work tomorrow.
It would have been today, but I had already told the zoo I would help out with 400 students coming to learn about Tigers.
This morning I contacted the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and let them know I was no longer interested in their lead position. Then I called the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation to let my friend know that I would not be working for them either.
Then I let NVision know that I would be in first thing tomorrow morning, ready and willing to work.
It’s a beautiful thing… although I must admit = I have a huge migraine today. I’m sure it’s the stress of starting over again.
It would have been today, but I had already told the zoo I would help out with 400 students coming to learn about Tigers.
This morning I contacted the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and let them know I was no longer interested in their lead position. Then I called the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation to let my friend know that I would not be working for them either.
Then I let NVision know that I would be in first thing tomorrow morning, ready and willing to work.
It’s a beautiful thing… although I must admit = I have a huge migraine today. I’m sure it’s the stress of starting over again.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Celebrate!
To celebrate my impending employment – regardless of which one I end up choosing – I treated myself to a bit of online shopping tonight!
Mother gave me about 10 new pairs of pants a few weeks ago (well, new to me at least) so I decided to get some tops to go with them. Eddie Bauer is my favorite place to shop, although I must say their website is not as fun as the actual store. However, I ended up choosing two shirts and two sweaters – all of which were on sale! They should arrive by Christmas.
Next I went to the Victoria’s Secret website for some much-needed underclothes. I’m embarrassed to say how long it’s been since I bought new ones – I’ve just been making due with what I had on hand. Again, I hit the sales table and ended up with some pretty bras and panties – although that probably qualifies as “too much information”.
I had to stop myself from hitting the bookstore – that has always been my reward of choice, as is evident by the stacks of books located on just about every flat surface in my house. I so need more bookshelves. I actually caught myself storing books in my car a while back!
The grand finale of my celebration consisted of heating up a brownie and eating it with a cup of Market Spice Tea while watching CSI New York.
Mother gave me about 10 new pairs of pants a few weeks ago (well, new to me at least) so I decided to get some tops to go with them. Eddie Bauer is my favorite place to shop, although I must say their website is not as fun as the actual store. However, I ended up choosing two shirts and two sweaters – all of which were on sale! They should arrive by Christmas.
Next I went to the Victoria’s Secret website for some much-needed underclothes. I’m embarrassed to say how long it’s been since I bought new ones – I’ve just been making due with what I had on hand. Again, I hit the sales table and ended up with some pretty bras and panties – although that probably qualifies as “too much information”.
I had to stop myself from hitting the bookstore – that has always been my reward of choice, as is evident by the stacks of books located on just about every flat surface in my house. I so need more bookshelves. I actually caught myself storing books in my car a while back!
The grand finale of my celebration consisted of heating up a brownie and eating it with a cup of Market Spice Tea while watching CSI New York.
When It Rains, It Pours
I had 2 – count them, two! – job interviews today!
The first one was with ASRC, or Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (as in, Big Oil). A guy I used to work with way back in my Fluor Daniel days is the manager of the EIC group (electrical, instrumentation, and controls) and had recognized my name when my resume made its way across his desk.
In fact, he had tried a few years earlier to get me to work for him - but at the time I was happily employed and didn’t want to switch gears.
He invited me to lunch with him at the Peppermill restaurant, just on the other side of the parking lot to his building. We had a nice lunch (I ate an Ahi Tuna sandwich that was truly scrumptious) while catching up on old times and going over the job parameters.
After boxing up the leftovers and paying the bill, we headed over to his office to go over the particulars.
The building he works in is relatively new, and is really a nice building. It has a good feel to it when you’re walking down the hallways, even though they are stuffing as many cubicles as they can into an open space – a concept that managers love but worker-bees tend to hate.
The work I would be doing is basically the same as what I did in my pipeline days – it wouldn’t take that much of a learning curve to get back in to the swing of things. I’d have to learn their layering system, their plotting styles, and all that sort of thing - of course. But I’d have to do that no matter where I end up. At least at this place it’s got a familiar ring to it.
I saw quite a few familiar faces while walking around: people I had worked with both here in town and down in Valdez. Quite a few of them recognized me in return, even! One guy actually said, “You used to have red hair!” in reference to the grey I now have. Oh well… he’s a guy – what more can you expect?
The offer that was made to me was quite impressive, and very tempting. Not to mention the fact that they would like me to start today if at all possible (it’s not). But – since I had another interview scheduled for today that I still had to go to, I told them I would decide once I knew what I had to choose from and get back to them.
So, off I headed to my second one of the day: at NVision Architecture.
This company is located in a building that’s not quite so nice and is in a part of town that is trying to clean itself up but hasn’t quite gotten there yet.
Inside is very nice, however. The floors are poured concrete made to look like marble = very classy. The interiors and special features are obviously created to impress clients, and are very warm & inviting.
I like it!
I sat in the conference room with the lead architect and spoke to him for about half an hour. Apparently, he has spoken to other people about me (that’s always an uncomfortable thought) so had an idea as to my capabilities already – he mostly needed to hear what I had to say about things before making up his mind officially.
He did say that I had some of the best references that he’d ever come across before! That’s quite the complement, I think. People think well enough of me to actually recommend me for employment – even without me asking them to!
This firm is considerably smaller than ASRC; they have 12 people right now and are hoping to ramp up to about 16. There’s no chance that they could come even close to the pay-scale that Big Oil offers, but they are offering slightly more than I was making at my last job.
I haven’t made up my mind officially yet.
Do I work for Big Oil, make buckets of money, have awesome benefits and loads of work (mandatory 16 hours of overtime each week) for years to come?
Or do I choose the work I went to school for, where the jobs are not guaranteed and the work load fluctuates regularly from “pick-your-nose boredom” to “oh-my-god this-has-to-be-finished-tonight”?
Call me crazy – but I think I’m actually going to turn down financial bliss.
Either way, I start on Tuesday!
The first one was with ASRC, or Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (as in, Big Oil). A guy I used to work with way back in my Fluor Daniel days is the manager of the EIC group (electrical, instrumentation, and controls) and had recognized my name when my resume made its way across his desk.
In fact, he had tried a few years earlier to get me to work for him - but at the time I was happily employed and didn’t want to switch gears.
He invited me to lunch with him at the Peppermill restaurant, just on the other side of the parking lot to his building. We had a nice lunch (I ate an Ahi Tuna sandwich that was truly scrumptious) while catching up on old times and going over the job parameters.
After boxing up the leftovers and paying the bill, we headed over to his office to go over the particulars.
The building he works in is relatively new, and is really a nice building. It has a good feel to it when you’re walking down the hallways, even though they are stuffing as many cubicles as they can into an open space – a concept that managers love but worker-bees tend to hate.
The work I would be doing is basically the same as what I did in my pipeline days – it wouldn’t take that much of a learning curve to get back in to the swing of things. I’d have to learn their layering system, their plotting styles, and all that sort of thing - of course. But I’d have to do that no matter where I end up. At least at this place it’s got a familiar ring to it.
I saw quite a few familiar faces while walking around: people I had worked with both here in town and down in Valdez. Quite a few of them recognized me in return, even! One guy actually said, “You used to have red hair!” in reference to the grey I now have. Oh well… he’s a guy – what more can you expect?
The offer that was made to me was quite impressive, and very tempting. Not to mention the fact that they would like me to start today if at all possible (it’s not). But – since I had another interview scheduled for today that I still had to go to, I told them I would decide once I knew what I had to choose from and get back to them.
So, off I headed to my second one of the day: at NVision Architecture.
This company is located in a building that’s not quite so nice and is in a part of town that is trying to clean itself up but hasn’t quite gotten there yet.
Inside is very nice, however. The floors are poured concrete made to look like marble = very classy. The interiors and special features are obviously created to impress clients, and are very warm & inviting.
I like it!
I sat in the conference room with the lead architect and spoke to him for about half an hour. Apparently, he has spoken to other people about me (that’s always an uncomfortable thought) so had an idea as to my capabilities already – he mostly needed to hear what I had to say about things before making up his mind officially.
He did say that I had some of the best references that he’d ever come across before! That’s quite the complement, I think. People think well enough of me to actually recommend me for employment – even without me asking them to!
This firm is considerably smaller than ASRC; they have 12 people right now and are hoping to ramp up to about 16. There’s no chance that they could come even close to the pay-scale that Big Oil offers, but they are offering slightly more than I was making at my last job.
I haven’t made up my mind officially yet.
Do I work for Big Oil, make buckets of money, have awesome benefits and loads of work (mandatory 16 hours of overtime each week) for years to come?
Or do I choose the work I went to school for, where the jobs are not guaranteed and the work load fluctuates regularly from “pick-your-nose boredom” to “oh-my-god this-has-to-be-finished-tonight”?
Call me crazy – but I think I’m actually going to turn down financial bliss.
Either way, I start on Tuesday!
Bear Cubs at the Zoo
As most of you know, the elephant that used to live at The Alaska Zoo has moved down to sunnier weather and now resides in California with a herd of 5 others of her kind. She is, I am sure, a lot happier now – but the problem remains in Alaska of what to do with her old enclosure.
We haven’t quite figured that out yet.
Temporarily, however, half of it got turned into a holding pen for our two bear cubs this week. I got to help out for a few hours while several of the maintenance staff, along with the director and the curator of the zoo, got the place ready for them.
We put up fencing all around, about 8 feet tall with 3 feet of thick black plastic on top (to stop the cubs from climbing out). We placed several toys in strategic places, to keep them occupied. We constructed a “den” out of hay bales. We filled two big tubs of water, partially in hopes that they might get the hint and take a bath. We even gave them a nice big snow pile to roll in. Basically, we made it as cozy and inviting as we could for them.
They got moved in the very next morning. I wasn’t there to see that, so I’m not entirely sure how they did it – but I suspect they just got them crated up in portable carriers similar to what you would put a dog or cat into for transport.
The two cubs are orphans (not related to eachother) and had apparently been on their own for a while because by the time we got them, they were severely malnourished and dehydrated, requiring a lot of medical attention. They are both underweight – by this time of year they should be about 150 pounds, at least, and yet both are not much more than 50 pounds.
One good thing about that is that makes them a lot easier to crate up and transport across the zoo, from the infirmary to their new home in the old elephant house! They will live there until they are ready to go to their new permanent home in Memphis, Tennessee – probably sometime next fall.
Putting two little cubs into a new environment can be quite stressful – both on the cubs and on the zookeepers! One can never be 100% sure that all the escape routes got blocked – so a babysitter is needed for the first few days.
That’s where volunteers come in! I spent most of Tuesday in there with them, keeping an eye on their activities and making sure they didn’t get where they shouldn’t be. I also got to talk to any zoo patrons who happened to stop by, which really wasn’t that many. It was cold and snowing outside, and word of the cubs’ new exhibit hadn’t hit the news yet.
Mostly what I did was homework. I sat up in the viewing area with my Human Anatomy book and did a whole chapter! I have to say, that viewing area isn’t the most comfortable place I’ve ever done homework in: concrete floors, a hard wooden bench, and barely enough heat to keep warm with.
It’s perfect for the animals, however. They were feeling just fine; sprawling out for the occasional nap in between their inspection of the new place. They didn’t seem to be too interested in getting out – most of their time was spent destroying the cardboard boxes we’d scattered around for them. They also destroyed the den made of hay bales, and the snow pile took all of 5 minutes to destroy, after which it simply melted down the drain.
If you’ve ever had the good fortune (or bad, depending on your point of view) of running across bear cubs out in the wild, then you know the sounds they make. It’s really not describable – you have to hear it to believe that such an awful sound actually came out of that little teddy bear looking thing.
Now put that sound into a building made of concrete and bounce the echoes all over the place and you get an idea of what I heard all day. The girl cub kept trying to get closer to the boy cub – but the boy cub wanted nothing to do with the girl cub (they have girl kooties!) and would start to scream at her whenever she came into sight.
I have a feeling that by now, they are quite comfortable in their new home, and are more active and vocal – well worth a trip to the zoo to visit them!
We haven’t quite figured that out yet.
Temporarily, however, half of it got turned into a holding pen for our two bear cubs this week. I got to help out for a few hours while several of the maintenance staff, along with the director and the curator of the zoo, got the place ready for them.
We put up fencing all around, about 8 feet tall with 3 feet of thick black plastic on top (to stop the cubs from climbing out). We placed several toys in strategic places, to keep them occupied. We constructed a “den” out of hay bales. We filled two big tubs of water, partially in hopes that they might get the hint and take a bath. We even gave them a nice big snow pile to roll in. Basically, we made it as cozy and inviting as we could for them.
They got moved in the very next morning. I wasn’t there to see that, so I’m not entirely sure how they did it – but I suspect they just got them crated up in portable carriers similar to what you would put a dog or cat into for transport.
The two cubs are orphans (not related to eachother) and had apparently been on their own for a while because by the time we got them, they were severely malnourished and dehydrated, requiring a lot of medical attention. They are both underweight – by this time of year they should be about 150 pounds, at least, and yet both are not much more than 50 pounds.
One good thing about that is that makes them a lot easier to crate up and transport across the zoo, from the infirmary to their new home in the old elephant house! They will live there until they are ready to go to their new permanent home in Memphis, Tennessee – probably sometime next fall.
Putting two little cubs into a new environment can be quite stressful – both on the cubs and on the zookeepers! One can never be 100% sure that all the escape routes got blocked – so a babysitter is needed for the first few days.
That’s where volunteers come in! I spent most of Tuesday in there with them, keeping an eye on their activities and making sure they didn’t get where they shouldn’t be. I also got to talk to any zoo patrons who happened to stop by, which really wasn’t that many. It was cold and snowing outside, and word of the cubs’ new exhibit hadn’t hit the news yet.
Mostly what I did was homework. I sat up in the viewing area with my Human Anatomy book and did a whole chapter! I have to say, that viewing area isn’t the most comfortable place I’ve ever done homework in: concrete floors, a hard wooden bench, and barely enough heat to keep warm with.
It’s perfect for the animals, however. They were feeling just fine; sprawling out for the occasional nap in between their inspection of the new place. They didn’t seem to be too interested in getting out – most of their time was spent destroying the cardboard boxes we’d scattered around for them. They also destroyed the den made of hay bales, and the snow pile took all of 5 minutes to destroy, after which it simply melted down the drain.
If you’ve ever had the good fortune (or bad, depending on your point of view) of running across bear cubs out in the wild, then you know the sounds they make. It’s really not describable – you have to hear it to believe that such an awful sound actually came out of that little teddy bear looking thing.
Now put that sound into a building made of concrete and bounce the echoes all over the place and you get an idea of what I heard all day. The girl cub kept trying to get closer to the boy cub – but the boy cub wanted nothing to do with the girl cub (they have girl kooties!) and would start to scream at her whenever she came into sight.
I have a feeling that by now, they are quite comfortable in their new home, and are more active and vocal – well worth a trip to the zoo to visit them!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Holiday Concert at the Museum
I attended a Holiday Concert this weekend at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. I was actually supposed to go to our Family Movie Night that day, but it had been cancelled – in part because of this concert: my sister Noel was part of the event as she is a member of Cantora Arctica, the woman’s choir conducted by Janet Stotts.
The concert was really good. The museum is a very classy place, of course. The foyer is a very large two-story space, with the sweeping staircase and the water feature with glass blocks at the base. The acoustics were perfect for the music, and the holiday decorations added just the right final touch.
And may I say: the Christmas tree was beautiful!
It was probably 12 feet tall and about 8 feet in diameter at the base. I didn’t get close enough to see if it was real or not, but with the quality of fake trees these days, there’s really no reason to waste a perfectly good tree just for decoration purposes.
It was the garland that was really cool. Somebody had made hundreds of dolls, each one about 18 inches tall, and all dressed in traditional clothing from all over the world. The dolls all held hands, creating the garland, and wrapped the tree from head to foot.
I had my camera with me, and took lots of pictures, so if anybody wants to see the tree, or – more importantly – my sister, just ask!
Speaking of my sister: let’s get back to the subject of the concert (the whole reason for this entry in the first place!).
The program opened with a group called the Suzuki Students of Karyn Grove. I am not familiar with them, so am assuming that Karyn Grove is the name of a school – but it could have been the name of their leader. Either way, the group consisted of about 12 kids, ranging in age from 9 to 16, all of whom played violins.
They were amazing. They stood up there, in matching outfits, and played 26 pieces of holiday music = all without any music books in front of them! They did the entire show from memory.
Now, I can totally understand singing that many songs from memory. I do it every day, and have been doing so since almost before I could talk. But playing the violin! At the age of 9!!!
Truly impressive.
Cantora Arctica filed on stage next along with the Alaska Children’s Choir (also conducted by Janet Stotts). There were probably somewhere around 50-80 voices by the time they all got to their positions. There were kids lined 4-5 deep all the way up the stairs, with the youngest voices down on floor level in front of the adults.
The songs they sang were specifically chosen to showcase all the different age groups present, so that each group got to highlight their talents and be in the spotlight. There were several duets, some solos, and even a couple where everybody sang together.
Again, the acoustics in the museum are really quite beautiful, and the human voice can do some really amazing things when properly trained.
I was impressed, to say the least.
If you’re interested, Cantora Arctica is performing at another concert this coming Sunday, December 14, at the St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for children & seniors.
I highly recommend you going to hear them. You won’t be disappointed!
The concert was really good. The museum is a very classy place, of course. The foyer is a very large two-story space, with the sweeping staircase and the water feature with glass blocks at the base. The acoustics were perfect for the music, and the holiday decorations added just the right final touch.
And may I say: the Christmas tree was beautiful!
It was probably 12 feet tall and about 8 feet in diameter at the base. I didn’t get close enough to see if it was real or not, but with the quality of fake trees these days, there’s really no reason to waste a perfectly good tree just for decoration purposes.
It was the garland that was really cool. Somebody had made hundreds of dolls, each one about 18 inches tall, and all dressed in traditional clothing from all over the world. The dolls all held hands, creating the garland, and wrapped the tree from head to foot.
I had my camera with me, and took lots of pictures, so if anybody wants to see the tree, or – more importantly – my sister, just ask!
Speaking of my sister: let’s get back to the subject of the concert (the whole reason for this entry in the first place!).
The program opened with a group called the Suzuki Students of Karyn Grove. I am not familiar with them, so am assuming that Karyn Grove is the name of a school – but it could have been the name of their leader. Either way, the group consisted of about 12 kids, ranging in age from 9 to 16, all of whom played violins.
They were amazing. They stood up there, in matching outfits, and played 26 pieces of holiday music = all without any music books in front of them! They did the entire show from memory.
Now, I can totally understand singing that many songs from memory. I do it every day, and have been doing so since almost before I could talk. But playing the violin! At the age of 9!!!
Truly impressive.
Cantora Arctica filed on stage next along with the Alaska Children’s Choir (also conducted by Janet Stotts). There were probably somewhere around 50-80 voices by the time they all got to their positions. There were kids lined 4-5 deep all the way up the stairs, with the youngest voices down on floor level in front of the adults.
The songs they sang were specifically chosen to showcase all the different age groups present, so that each group got to highlight their talents and be in the spotlight. There were several duets, some solos, and even a couple where everybody sang together.
Again, the acoustics in the museum are really quite beautiful, and the human voice can do some really amazing things when properly trained.
I was impressed, to say the least.
If you’re interested, Cantora Arctica is performing at another concert this coming Sunday, December 14, at the St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for children & seniors.
I highly recommend you going to hear them. You won’t be disappointed!
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
He Is Not Ugly!
The other day, as I was carrying my little Alien out of the exam room over to the check-out counter at the vet’s office after his little medical emergency, there was a lady in the waiting room. She had a leash in her hand, so I’m assuming she was waiting for her dog to be returned to her.
As she saw me come out of the exam room, she said to her husband “Oh look! It’s a... small.... something...” her exclamation of endearment turning to uncertainty as she got a closer look at him.
I just shook my head sadly and said “He’s a cat.”
“Okay.” She said, as she nodded her head gently and looked at me as if I were clearly a crazy person that must handled carefully.
He’s not that weird looking… is he?
As she saw me come out of the exam room, she said to her husband “Oh look! It’s a... small.... something...” her exclamation of endearment turning to uncertainty as she got a closer look at him.
I just shook my head sadly and said “He’s a cat.”
“Okay.” She said, as she nodded her head gently and looked at me as if I were clearly a crazy person that must handled carefully.
He’s not that weird looking… is he?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Snow!
It started snowing last night and has not yet stopped. I’ve got well over a foot of snow so far, and have had to shovel my driveway twice just to get in and out.
The plows have been by several times so far, each time leaving a huge snowberm in front of my driveway. Thankfully, the neighborhood where I live is a really friendly one. When neighbors see you out battling a 3-foot berm, they generally come and help you out.
This year, my neighbors have most definitely earned the box of Northern Delights chocolate I try to get for them each Christmas – even though I’m unemployed and should conserve my spending. They are well worth it, let me assure you.
A little boy, probably age 12 or so, always comes around offering to shovel for me for the low price of $10.00. He’s not very good at it, but he is out there and any little bit helps – so I usually let him, if I have money at the time.
He actually woke me up this morning, ringing my doorbell at 10:00. Yes, I admit it = I was still sleeping at 10:00 in the morning. I had a bad migraine last night and took sleeping pills to try and get some rest. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!
He told me he would be back by tomorrow to shovel some more, if it keeps going. Looks like I will be hiring him again, because it does not look to be slowing down at all.
It sure is pretty though!
The plows have been by several times so far, each time leaving a huge snowberm in front of my driveway. Thankfully, the neighborhood where I live is a really friendly one. When neighbors see you out battling a 3-foot berm, they generally come and help you out.
This year, my neighbors have most definitely earned the box of Northern Delights chocolate I try to get for them each Christmas – even though I’m unemployed and should conserve my spending. They are well worth it, let me assure you.
A little boy, probably age 12 or so, always comes around offering to shovel for me for the low price of $10.00. He’s not very good at it, but he is out there and any little bit helps – so I usually let him, if I have money at the time.
He actually woke me up this morning, ringing my doorbell at 10:00. Yes, I admit it = I was still sleeping at 10:00 in the morning. I had a bad migraine last night and took sleeping pills to try and get some rest. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!
He told me he would be back by tomorrow to shovel some more, if it keeps going. Looks like I will be hiring him again, because it does not look to be slowing down at all.
It sure is pretty though!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
A Medical Emergency
I noticed yesterday that the Alien had a wet spot on his behind. It was as if he had diarrhea, but he didn’t. It concerned me; he is 17 years old, after all. I decided to keep an eye on him and if he got worse, I’d have to take him in to the vet.
Today, my sister and her daughter-in-law came in for a visit. When I took them upstairs to meet the Alien, we noticed that he was swollen back there. It looked pretty bad, but didn’t seem to hurt him all that much. He continued purring even when I poked around to see what was what. Even so, I knew he needed to have it looked at, so I called the vet.
Of course, they were booked solid all day. When I explained what was going on, they went ahead and squeezed us in between appointments so that we wouldn’t have to wait two days till Monday for him to be seen. I got Alien bundled up in his travel box with his portable heater and got him to the doctor’s office.
As luck would have it, we got to see the best vet there = Dr. Riley Wilson. He’s the zoo vet! He’s seen Alien before, and we like him a lot.
He knew right away what it was: a blocked anal gland.
At first he said that he’d send me home with antibiotics and Al would be fine. But, when I said that Al really doesn’t like taking pills, he changed his mind and had me take Al to the back room to try and drain the abscess manually.
In case you were wondering = Aliens really do not like to have their anal glands drained manually.
It was really bad.
Dr. Riley was amazed at the amount of puss. He even called to his assistants to come and see it, and they all kept saying things like “Cool” or “That’s awesome!”
Poor Al was not a happy camper even though they had given him a local anesthetic.
They got all that gunk out, flushed it out with a Betadine solution, and then topped it off with an antibiotic shot in the butt.
Dr. Riley told me that he was glad he’d changed his mind. If he had sent me home with Alien the way he was, he could have gotten really sick.
Alien is home now, snuggled up to his heating pad and nursing his sore behind.
Today, my sister and her daughter-in-law came in for a visit. When I took them upstairs to meet the Alien, we noticed that he was swollen back there. It looked pretty bad, but didn’t seem to hurt him all that much. He continued purring even when I poked around to see what was what. Even so, I knew he needed to have it looked at, so I called the vet.
Of course, they were booked solid all day. When I explained what was going on, they went ahead and squeezed us in between appointments so that we wouldn’t have to wait two days till Monday for him to be seen. I got Alien bundled up in his travel box with his portable heater and got him to the doctor’s office.
As luck would have it, we got to see the best vet there = Dr. Riley Wilson. He’s the zoo vet! He’s seen Alien before, and we like him a lot.
He knew right away what it was: a blocked anal gland.
At first he said that he’d send me home with antibiotics and Al would be fine. But, when I said that Al really doesn’t like taking pills, he changed his mind and had me take Al to the back room to try and drain the abscess manually.
In case you were wondering = Aliens really do not like to have their anal glands drained manually.
It was really bad.
Dr. Riley was amazed at the amount of puss. He even called to his assistants to come and see it, and they all kept saying things like “Cool” or “That’s awesome!”
Poor Al was not a happy camper even though they had given him a local anesthetic.
They got all that gunk out, flushed it out with a Betadine solution, and then topped it off with an antibiotic shot in the butt.
Dr. Riley told me that he was glad he’d changed his mind. If he had sent me home with Alien the way he was, he could have gotten really sick.
Alien is home now, snuggled up to his heating pad and nursing his sore behind.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day, full of good food, family, and friends! My day was spectacular!
I got to sleep in – although that’s not really a treat, since I sleep in every day now that I’m unemployed. But my cats enjoy snuggling with me in the mornings: Thing curls up at my stomach and Djuna lays out on my hips. Even the Alien comes in and joins us sometimes, although he can’t jump up on the bed anymore – I have to haul him up and get him situated under the covers with me.
When I finally got myself out of bed, I relocated to the computer room and got started in my daily routine of checking all the job banks and applying to any that catch my eye. I’ve sent my resume out to about 41 places so far – and have heard back from quite a few of them.
See previous postings for job interview status.
Once I got that out of the way for the day, I started getting things ready to take out to Palmer for the big dinner. I had two jars of apple cider, some mulling spices & a cinnamon stick, and a big pot placed in one big tote bag. I had the crock-pot and three packages of corn placed in another big tote bag. And last but not least, a bunch of miscellaneous items placed in a third big tote bag.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to drive all the way out there this time. My friend Lisa and her husband Mark said that I could catch a ride in with them! So, I headed on over to their house around 1:00.
Unfortunately, the turkey was being difficult. Lisa had gotten up early to put it in the oven, timing it so that it would be ready by the time I got there. However, something wasn’t right – and the turkey was still very much undercooked.
We waited another hour, hoping it would be finished by then – but it wasn’t.
In desperation, Lisa called Heather to ask her to have the oven preheated so that they could finish cooking it out in Palmer. We bundled the thing up, loaded the car with all our stuff, and headed on out – arriving only slightly late.
The house was crammed full of people when we arrived. There were so many cars in the parking lot they were backed up into the driveway even. I guess Lisa and I were the only ones to think of carpooling. Heather did several head-counts and I think the final tally was somewhere around 37 people, ranging in age from 6 months to 90 years of age!
Heather had her dining table and three folding tables set with napkins and placemats, so amazingly almost everybody got to sit down to eat. All the food was laid out on the kitchen counters, buffet style.
That poor turkey never did get cooked all the way thru – but they carved off the cooked parts and kept putting it back in the oven. We also had a nice big ham that was quite scrumptious (or so I’m told) so people did not go hungry for meat. I can’t even begin to list all the food we had – there was so much of it! All of it was good, and all of it got eaten.
Lisa and I left the party around 6:00, but I’m told a lot of people hung out till well after midnight. Quite the party!
I got to sleep in – although that’s not really a treat, since I sleep in every day now that I’m unemployed. But my cats enjoy snuggling with me in the mornings: Thing curls up at my stomach and Djuna lays out on my hips. Even the Alien comes in and joins us sometimes, although he can’t jump up on the bed anymore – I have to haul him up and get him situated under the covers with me.
When I finally got myself out of bed, I relocated to the computer room and got started in my daily routine of checking all the job banks and applying to any that catch my eye. I’ve sent my resume out to about 41 places so far – and have heard back from quite a few of them.
See previous postings for job interview status.
Once I got that out of the way for the day, I started getting things ready to take out to Palmer for the big dinner. I had two jars of apple cider, some mulling spices & a cinnamon stick, and a big pot placed in one big tote bag. I had the crock-pot and three packages of corn placed in another big tote bag. And last but not least, a bunch of miscellaneous items placed in a third big tote bag.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to drive all the way out there this time. My friend Lisa and her husband Mark said that I could catch a ride in with them! So, I headed on over to their house around 1:00.
Unfortunately, the turkey was being difficult. Lisa had gotten up early to put it in the oven, timing it so that it would be ready by the time I got there. However, something wasn’t right – and the turkey was still very much undercooked.
We waited another hour, hoping it would be finished by then – but it wasn’t.
In desperation, Lisa called Heather to ask her to have the oven preheated so that they could finish cooking it out in Palmer. We bundled the thing up, loaded the car with all our stuff, and headed on out – arriving only slightly late.
The house was crammed full of people when we arrived. There were so many cars in the parking lot they were backed up into the driveway even. I guess Lisa and I were the only ones to think of carpooling. Heather did several head-counts and I think the final tally was somewhere around 37 people, ranging in age from 6 months to 90 years of age!
Heather had her dining table and three folding tables set with napkins and placemats, so amazingly almost everybody got to sit down to eat. All the food was laid out on the kitchen counters, buffet style.
That poor turkey never did get cooked all the way thru – but they carved off the cooked parts and kept putting it back in the oven. We also had a nice big ham that was quite scrumptious (or so I’m told) so people did not go hungry for meat. I can’t even begin to list all the food we had – there was so much of it! All of it was good, and all of it got eaten.
Lisa and I left the party around 6:00, but I’m told a lot of people hung out till well after midnight. Quite the party!
Third Time’s a Charm
Of course, they also say “three strikes and you’re out”. I’m hoping that first saying is the one that fate is going to choose for me this time.
What I’m talking about it job interviews. I had my third one the other day.
Technically, it wasn’t really a job interview. They called it “an informal meeting” just to see if both parties really want to have a job interview. And oddly enough, they didn’t really want me for the job I’d applied for – they had a different job in mind.
The company is the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the job I applied for was the Computer Aided Design Technician III position. The one they wanted me to apply for is the Lead Computer Aided Design Technician, which is actually a management type job.
Both of the positions sound like good ones, and I do qualify for both of them – so which ever one I decide to go for will be a good choice. Unfortunately neither of them are in the architectural field. I’m not too happy about that.
I met the man who would be my immediate supervisor at the front desk promptly at 1:00 (I did not show up an hour early this time, thank goodness) and he showed me around the place. It’s a typical engineering office, with as many cubicles crammed into the office space as possible: very utilitarian, grey, and sterile. I’ve been spoiled these past few years, working in an office that prides itself on the working environment.
We sat down in his office and went over the particulars after the tour. He showed me some samples of the work being done, an organization chart of the company, some of the work that he himself had done, and gave pointers to me on how to make my resume more suited for the management job.
I feel pretty optimistic about this one – even though it’s not architectural, it is on the computers still, and they are using a 3D program that is similar to Revit. The pay is almost indecent and the benefits are most excellent.
My task now is to update my resume, resubmit it for the Lead position, and gather up three references. I should have all that done by early next week so will most likely hear from them the following week.
Cross you fingers and toes for me, but I think by the New Year, I just might be employed again.
What I’m talking about it job interviews. I had my third one the other day.
Technically, it wasn’t really a job interview. They called it “an informal meeting” just to see if both parties really want to have a job interview. And oddly enough, they didn’t really want me for the job I’d applied for – they had a different job in mind.
The company is the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the job I applied for was the Computer Aided Design Technician III position. The one they wanted me to apply for is the Lead Computer Aided Design Technician, which is actually a management type job.
Both of the positions sound like good ones, and I do qualify for both of them – so which ever one I decide to go for will be a good choice. Unfortunately neither of them are in the architectural field. I’m not too happy about that.
I met the man who would be my immediate supervisor at the front desk promptly at 1:00 (I did not show up an hour early this time, thank goodness) and he showed me around the place. It’s a typical engineering office, with as many cubicles crammed into the office space as possible: very utilitarian, grey, and sterile. I’ve been spoiled these past few years, working in an office that prides itself on the working environment.
We sat down in his office and went over the particulars after the tour. He showed me some samples of the work being done, an organization chart of the company, some of the work that he himself had done, and gave pointers to me on how to make my resume more suited for the management job.
I feel pretty optimistic about this one – even though it’s not architectural, it is on the computers still, and they are using a 3D program that is similar to Revit. The pay is almost indecent and the benefits are most excellent.
My task now is to update my resume, resubmit it for the Lead position, and gather up three references. I should have all that done by early next week so will most likely hear from them the following week.
Cross you fingers and toes for me, but I think by the New Year, I just might be employed again.
My Good Deed for the Day
I went to the grocery store the other day to pick up the food I’d need for Thanksgiving Day.
As usual, I parked in the far back corner of the parking lot to avoid most of the crowd. As I walked up towards the store, I came upon an elderly lady unloading a cart full of grocery bags into her car.
“I’m heading that way – why don’t I return that empty cart for you?” I said.
She turned and just looked at me for a moment. Finally, she said “That’s the nicest thing anybody has done for me in a long time.”
I just thought that was so sad.
As usual, I parked in the far back corner of the parking lot to avoid most of the crowd. As I walked up towards the store, I came upon an elderly lady unloading a cart full of grocery bags into her car.
“I’m heading that way – why don’t I return that empty cart for you?” I said.
She turned and just looked at me for a moment. Finally, she said “That’s the nicest thing anybody has done for me in a long time.”
I just thought that was so sad.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Family Movie Night - Part 2
Our second Family Movie Night gathering was this Sunday, and it was another success.
The movie this time was to have been Mother’s choice – however, she didn’t want to choose one, fearing that nobody would like whatever she picked. My brother Reed suggested that they “go together” on the choice, since his is the next one. So, we ended up watching “They Call Me Trinity” this time, and will watch part two of the series next time.
The write-up on the boxed set calls these movies “Spaghetti Westerns” which I can only assume is similar to my favorite B-Grade Sci-Fi movies. I really do wonder how they came up with the term “Spaghetti Western” though. Does anybody have any input on that? Leave a comment below if you do.
Anyway, the movie was interesting – a lot of gun fights, cattle rustling, slap-stick comedy, and some pretty shabby horses. Unfortunately, the movies did not come with captions, so we could not turn on the “words”. There are way too many of us in the family who are hard of hearing, and couple that with my brother’s penchant for turning up the TV way too loud – it was very hard to understand most of what was being said.
It was till fun, though. We had quite a crowd, too: Mother, Stewart, Julie, Kelly, Tara, Noel, Hank, Reed, Heather, Tony & his wife (she’s from Thailand and I can’t remember her name), Gleo, and myself.
As always, the buffet was set with all kinds of food. We had tomato soup w/ black beans in one crock-pot; beans w/ meat and onions in another crock-pot; home-made bread with tuna spread; rice with almonds, pecans, cranberries, veggies, and lots of other good stuff; cookies; lemonade; and a big pecan pie for dessert.
It’s a good 100 miles round trip each time I go out to my brother’s house. In this time of high gas prices and no employment, I really have to think twice each time I want to head out that direction. It’s worth it for the family gatherings, though – and gas prices continue to come back down to a more reasonable level.
Another thing to consider is the road conditions. This time, they were horrible. It was so icy the entire drive; my car kept wanting to go sideways. I saw several cars in the ditch along the way, one of which was upside down!
Their driveway wasn’t any better: I almost got stuck on the way out. My big brother helped, though (my hero!), so I eventually made it back onto the highway and arrived home safe and sound an hour later.
The movie this time was to have been Mother’s choice – however, she didn’t want to choose one, fearing that nobody would like whatever she picked. My brother Reed suggested that they “go together” on the choice, since his is the next one. So, we ended up watching “They Call Me Trinity” this time, and will watch part two of the series next time.
The write-up on the boxed set calls these movies “Spaghetti Westerns” which I can only assume is similar to my favorite B-Grade Sci-Fi movies. I really do wonder how they came up with the term “Spaghetti Western” though. Does anybody have any input on that? Leave a comment below if you do.
Anyway, the movie was interesting – a lot of gun fights, cattle rustling, slap-stick comedy, and some pretty shabby horses. Unfortunately, the movies did not come with captions, so we could not turn on the “words”. There are way too many of us in the family who are hard of hearing, and couple that with my brother’s penchant for turning up the TV way too loud – it was very hard to understand most of what was being said.
It was till fun, though. We had quite a crowd, too: Mother, Stewart, Julie, Kelly, Tara, Noel, Hank, Reed, Heather, Tony & his wife (she’s from Thailand and I can’t remember her name), Gleo, and myself.
As always, the buffet was set with all kinds of food. We had tomato soup w/ black beans in one crock-pot; beans w/ meat and onions in another crock-pot; home-made bread with tuna spread; rice with almonds, pecans, cranberries, veggies, and lots of other good stuff; cookies; lemonade; and a big pecan pie for dessert.
It’s a good 100 miles round trip each time I go out to my brother’s house. In this time of high gas prices and no employment, I really have to think twice each time I want to head out that direction. It’s worth it for the family gatherings, though – and gas prices continue to come back down to a more reasonable level.
Another thing to consider is the road conditions. This time, they were horrible. It was so icy the entire drive; my car kept wanting to go sideways. I saw several cars in the ditch along the way, one of which was upside down!
Their driveway wasn’t any better: I almost got stuck on the way out. My big brother helped, though (my hero!), so I eventually made it back onto the highway and arrived home safe and sound an hour later.
Vegetarianism
Hello. My name is Ruth, and I am a vegetarian.
Sounds like I just joined some 12-step program, doesn’t it? Like it’s some sort of disease that needs to be healed, or a chemical dependency that needs to be overcome so that I can fit back in to the mainstream of society.
It’s not a religious belief, or a political statement. At least, for me it’s not. I simply don’t like the taste of meat. I was born this way. Mother told me once that even as a baby she had a hard time getting me to eat meat.
We were quite poor growing up, so didn’t have the luxury of fixing a different meal for each child at dinner time. This meant that we were expected to eat whatever Mother made for dinner, and no arguments allowed. She did let me take very small portions at least; I filled up on the veggies and had a bite or two of the meat, and that was good.
Now that I’m all grown up (what!?) I simply don’t have meat in my house.
It’s kind of funny, some of the reactions I get. Some people really just don’t get it, you know?
My favorite was one of my old shooting buddies (yes, I shoot trap = its clay pigeons, not real ones!). He had a hard time grasping the concept of not eating any meat. He kept asking, “What else is there?”
How about: Everything!
Another favorite is the people who “catch” me eating chocolate. They gasp, point at me, and loudly proclaim, “I thought you were a vegetarian!”
Duh! Chocolate comes from plants.
I’m not vegan, so milk is ok – although I really don’t care for milk chocolate: the darker the chocolate, the better for me.
I’m not even a super-strict vegetarian: I do like fish. It’s mostly the cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, etc. that I don’t care for. I swear: if I eat some, it actually makes me aggressive!
I suppose I could claim it as a cost savings strategy. It really is expensive to buy all that meat all the time. One year for Christmas I got my sister and her family a gift certificate to a local butcher’s shop. I thought that for the amount I gave them they would end up with several meals worth – turns out they had one (1) meal.
I have made the conscientious decision to buy local as often as possible, as well as organic. Unfortunately, the two do not often go hand-in-hand. But the Saturday Market is just down the street from me, and is open throughout the summer months. It’s not only healthy for me but for the planet as well.
I can feel good about that.
Sounds like I just joined some 12-step program, doesn’t it? Like it’s some sort of disease that needs to be healed, or a chemical dependency that needs to be overcome so that I can fit back in to the mainstream of society.
It’s not a religious belief, or a political statement. At least, for me it’s not. I simply don’t like the taste of meat. I was born this way. Mother told me once that even as a baby she had a hard time getting me to eat meat.
We were quite poor growing up, so didn’t have the luxury of fixing a different meal for each child at dinner time. This meant that we were expected to eat whatever Mother made for dinner, and no arguments allowed. She did let me take very small portions at least; I filled up on the veggies and had a bite or two of the meat, and that was good.
Now that I’m all grown up (what!?) I simply don’t have meat in my house.
It’s kind of funny, some of the reactions I get. Some people really just don’t get it, you know?
My favorite was one of my old shooting buddies (yes, I shoot trap = its clay pigeons, not real ones!). He had a hard time grasping the concept of not eating any meat. He kept asking, “What else is there?”
How about: Everything!
Another favorite is the people who “catch” me eating chocolate. They gasp, point at me, and loudly proclaim, “I thought you were a vegetarian!”
Duh! Chocolate comes from plants.
I’m not vegan, so milk is ok – although I really don’t care for milk chocolate: the darker the chocolate, the better for me.
I’m not even a super-strict vegetarian: I do like fish. It’s mostly the cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, etc. that I don’t care for. I swear: if I eat some, it actually makes me aggressive!
I suppose I could claim it as a cost savings strategy. It really is expensive to buy all that meat all the time. One year for Christmas I got my sister and her family a gift certificate to a local butcher’s shop. I thought that for the amount I gave them they would end up with several meals worth – turns out they had one (1) meal.
I have made the conscientious decision to buy local as often as possible, as well as organic. Unfortunately, the two do not often go hand-in-hand. But the Saturday Market is just down the street from me, and is open throughout the summer months. It’s not only healthy for me but for the planet as well.
I can feel good about that.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Namaste Shangri La
I tried to go to a talk on Global Climate Change today at lunch – but apparently I had the location down wrong. I showed up, but no one else did.
I was rather bummed about that – I had been looking forward to meeting the speaker, Jackie Poston from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. I had heard she was very interesting, and had thought to volunteer some of my time to the cause – since I have so much time on my hands lately.
I hung around till noon, hoping to run into somebody that might know what was going on – but finally hunger drove me off.
I decided to treat myself to lunch at a relatively new place called Namaste Shangri La (www.namasteshangrila.blogspot.com) and boy, am I glad I did.
It’s a small place tucked into a strip mall off of Tudor near Lake Otis: not the easiest place to get to, but well worth the effort. Inside, it’s painted an interesting shade of celery (?) greed and decorated with photos from Tibet and/or Nepal.
It was rather chilly, so the waitress seated me towards the back of the room so I wouldn’t get cold up front by the door. Unfortunately, I was seated directly underneath a light that reflected off the glass tabletop right into my eye, exacerbating the migraine that was just starting to form. That was no fault of the waitress, though, and I really should have moved over to another chair at that same table.
While I read thru the menu, I sipped a cup of Chiya: imported Indian tea brewed with aromatic spices. Mmmmm… that was almost better than my choice of meal – but not quite.
What I chose was the Canoe Potato – an Alaskan potato stuffed with mixed vegetables and paneer (home made cottage cheese) served in a rich sauce with nuts for garnish.
I highly recommend you try this place! But – it’s small, so go early to ensure you get a good table. And if you’re prone to migraines, don’t be embarrassed to switch seats, dummy!
I was rather bummed about that – I had been looking forward to meeting the speaker, Jackie Poston from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. I had heard she was very interesting, and had thought to volunteer some of my time to the cause – since I have so much time on my hands lately.
I hung around till noon, hoping to run into somebody that might know what was going on – but finally hunger drove me off.
I decided to treat myself to lunch at a relatively new place called Namaste Shangri La (www.namasteshangrila.blogspot.com) and boy, am I glad I did.
It’s a small place tucked into a strip mall off of Tudor near Lake Otis: not the easiest place to get to, but well worth the effort. Inside, it’s painted an interesting shade of celery (?) greed and decorated with photos from Tibet and/or Nepal.
It was rather chilly, so the waitress seated me towards the back of the room so I wouldn’t get cold up front by the door. Unfortunately, I was seated directly underneath a light that reflected off the glass tabletop right into my eye, exacerbating the migraine that was just starting to form. That was no fault of the waitress, though, and I really should have moved over to another chair at that same table.
While I read thru the menu, I sipped a cup of Chiya: imported Indian tea brewed with aromatic spices. Mmmmm… that was almost better than my choice of meal – but not quite.
What I chose was the Canoe Potato – an Alaskan potato stuffed with mixed vegetables and paneer (home made cottage cheese) served in a rich sauce with nuts for garnish.
I highly recommend you try this place! But – it’s small, so go early to ensure you get a good table. And if you’re prone to migraines, don’t be embarrassed to switch seats, dummy!
Predators and Prey in Denali National Park
I attended another interesting lecture last night. This one was part of the Fireside Chat Series hosted by the Campbell Creek Science Center titled “Predators and Prey in Denali National Park” as presented by Layne Adams, a wildlife biologist with the USGS-Alaska Science Center.
This one was particularly interesting to me since it so closely resembled the work I had done in Mongolia last year, on my Earthwatch expedition to study the Argali (the world’s largest mountain sheep). As I sat in those very uncomfortable chairs for well over an hour and a half, watching the presentation and listening to Layne speak, I got to relive my experiences all over again; only this time, I didn’t go home with a fractured kneecap and a dislocated jaw!
Layne has spent the past 20 some-odd years in the park, studying mainly the caribou/wolf relationship – but also moose, sheep, bear, wolverine, eagle… pretty much every possible connection. He looked at herd/pack size, birthing rates, calf/pup mortality rates, weather conditions, food sources, and competition rates – to name just a few aspects of his research.
Unlike the work we did in Mongolia, where everything had to be done either on foot or on horseback, Layne and his coworkers used helicopters and airplanes to facilitate the gathering of data. They typically would dart the animal from the air, then track it down on foot to attach the radio collar and gather the biological samples and measurements they needed.
They also looked at carcasses found occasionally; gathering data on mortality rates and causes, as well as diet and growth factors.
Weather conditions can be harsh in the Alaskan wilderness. Sometimes they had to work in snowstorms with 12 foot accumulations, as well as summer heat waves and massive mosquito swarms.
The biggest surprise he encountered in his work was the importance of salmon in the dynamics of the predator/prey relationships.
Typically, when you think about a wolf’s diet, you automatically think moose or caribou, not fish. And when you think about the Denali National Park, you just don’t think about salmon at the same time. And yet they are a huge presence.
Salmon follow the Yukon River up from the west, traveling as far as 700 miles to reach several spawning areas throughout the park. Biologists have done a considerable amount of research on the salmon, so they have a pretty good estimate of how many salmon spawn there: of the 4 runs that occur comprised of three different species, they estimate upwards of 260,000 pounds of salmon each year!
Layne did a biomass calculation, and believes that is the equivalent of 750 moose = as you can see, they are indeed an important factor in the park’s food chain.
The presentation ended with Layne stressing the point that predators and prey are both heavily dependant on each other, on the landscape, and on the seasons. Take away or modify just one of those factors, and you change the dynamics in ways that may be detrimental to the ecological balance.
This one was particularly interesting to me since it so closely resembled the work I had done in Mongolia last year, on my Earthwatch expedition to study the Argali (the world’s largest mountain sheep). As I sat in those very uncomfortable chairs for well over an hour and a half, watching the presentation and listening to Layne speak, I got to relive my experiences all over again; only this time, I didn’t go home with a fractured kneecap and a dislocated jaw!
Layne has spent the past 20 some-odd years in the park, studying mainly the caribou/wolf relationship – but also moose, sheep, bear, wolverine, eagle… pretty much every possible connection. He looked at herd/pack size, birthing rates, calf/pup mortality rates, weather conditions, food sources, and competition rates – to name just a few aspects of his research.
Unlike the work we did in Mongolia, where everything had to be done either on foot or on horseback, Layne and his coworkers used helicopters and airplanes to facilitate the gathering of data. They typically would dart the animal from the air, then track it down on foot to attach the radio collar and gather the biological samples and measurements they needed.
They also looked at carcasses found occasionally; gathering data on mortality rates and causes, as well as diet and growth factors.
Weather conditions can be harsh in the Alaskan wilderness. Sometimes they had to work in snowstorms with 12 foot accumulations, as well as summer heat waves and massive mosquito swarms.
The biggest surprise he encountered in his work was the importance of salmon in the dynamics of the predator/prey relationships.
Typically, when you think about a wolf’s diet, you automatically think moose or caribou, not fish. And when you think about the Denali National Park, you just don’t think about salmon at the same time. And yet they are a huge presence.
Salmon follow the Yukon River up from the west, traveling as far as 700 miles to reach several spawning areas throughout the park. Biologists have done a considerable amount of research on the salmon, so they have a pretty good estimate of how many salmon spawn there: of the 4 runs that occur comprised of three different species, they estimate upwards of 260,000 pounds of salmon each year!
Layne did a biomass calculation, and believes that is the equivalent of 750 moose = as you can see, they are indeed an important factor in the park’s food chain.
The presentation ended with Layne stressing the point that predators and prey are both heavily dependant on each other, on the landscape, and on the seasons. Take away or modify just one of those factors, and you change the dynamics in ways that may be detrimental to the ecological balance.
Another Interview!
I got called in for another job interview the other day! The company is called RurAL-Cap, and they are a day-care school for infants and toddlers. The position I had applied to was for a Teacher’s Aid.
I suppose you’re wondering why I would step so far out of my experience circle and apply for such a job. I am kind of wondering that myself!
But – I’ve had some experience (a very little bit) in that area, what with my work at the zoo and the volunteering I used to do at the schools on my lunch hours – so I thought perhaps I could do this sort of thing.
It would definitely be a change of pace for me. I am used to sitting at my desk all day long, doing my work with minimal social contact. There were some days where I hardly spoke a word at all, even to my coworkers! That sort of situation suits me quite well.
Working at a daycare would no doubt involve social contact – and then some! As a teacher’s aid, I wouldn’t be directly responsible for the children, but I would lend a helping hand with all aspects of running the various classes, and would have to deal with all ages, from students to parents.
The interview went relatively well, I thought, despite my lack of qualifications. The two ladies conducting the interview each took turns asking question they had prepared ahead of time. They each wrote down their comments on my responses, and were quite friendly. Questions ranged from “what would you do in ‘this’ situation?” to “what do you think ‘quality care’ means?”
I gave honest answers, even when they asked me things like “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” (in an architectural office, sitting at a computer, turning out construction documents) and “what prompted you to apply for this position?” (facing unemployment for an undeterminable length of time)
Honestly, I highly doubt I’ll get the job. If they do offer it to me, then I would have to seriously wonder what kind of place they are to hire one so obviously under-qualified.
But, it would certainly be an interesting job – at least until I find myself a “real” job.
I suppose you’re wondering why I would step so far out of my experience circle and apply for such a job. I am kind of wondering that myself!
But – I’ve had some experience (a very little bit) in that area, what with my work at the zoo and the volunteering I used to do at the schools on my lunch hours – so I thought perhaps I could do this sort of thing.
It would definitely be a change of pace for me. I am used to sitting at my desk all day long, doing my work with minimal social contact. There were some days where I hardly spoke a word at all, even to my coworkers! That sort of situation suits me quite well.
Working at a daycare would no doubt involve social contact – and then some! As a teacher’s aid, I wouldn’t be directly responsible for the children, but I would lend a helping hand with all aspects of running the various classes, and would have to deal with all ages, from students to parents.
The interview went relatively well, I thought, despite my lack of qualifications. The two ladies conducting the interview each took turns asking question they had prepared ahead of time. They each wrote down their comments on my responses, and were quite friendly. Questions ranged from “what would you do in ‘this’ situation?” to “what do you think ‘quality care’ means?”
I gave honest answers, even when they asked me things like “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” (in an architectural office, sitting at a computer, turning out construction documents) and “what prompted you to apply for this position?” (facing unemployment for an undeterminable length of time)
Honestly, I highly doubt I’ll get the job. If they do offer it to me, then I would have to seriously wonder what kind of place they are to hire one so obviously under-qualified.
But, it would certainly be an interesting job – at least until I find myself a “real” job.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Bringing Back the Aleutians
The people at Alaska Geographic (www.alaskageographic.org) host a lecture series called Wildlife Wednesdays, held at the library once a month and featuring various talks on such topics as Polar Marine Mammals, Climate Change, and Life on Thinning Ice.
The lecture this Wednesday was titled “Bringing Back the Aleutians” and was given by Stacey Buckelew of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Steve Ebbert of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Steve began the talk by telling us a little bit about the organization he works for.
The Alaska Maritime NWR is comprised of over 2,500 islands, roughly 4.9 million acres and 47,300 miles of shoreline, mostly located in the Aleutian chain, the remote Pribilofs, and icebound lands washed by the Chukchi Sea. These islands provide essential habitat for some 40 million seabirds, representing more than 30 species. The refuge’s activities focus on long-term ecosystem monitoring, marine resource research, and invasive species management.
The main topic for the lecture was invasive species. Most people are aware of the rat problems but might be surprised to learn that other mammals are listed as invasive species as well, such as foxes (both arctic and red) as well as ungulates (such as cattle, caribou, and bison).
All of these animals wreck havoc on the native species that live on the islands, either by direct predation or by overgrazing, trampling of nests, or adversely affecting the plant diversity. And since Man introduced them, Man is attempting to eradicate them now. The refuge has several programs in place to address the issues and has seen some considerable success, mainly with the foxes.
Steve then turned the podium over to Stacey to talk about the rats, specifically on Rat Island.
Rat Island is located almost at the very tip of the Aleutian chain, about 1300 miles west of Anchorage, comprised of 6,861 acres of cliffs, mountains, and tundra. In 1780, rats escaped from a sinking Japanese fishing boat and made their way to this island. Nearly 3000 ships a year pass by on the shipping route between Asia and North America, so the rat population on Rat Island, as well as other islands, regularly gets replenished.
As a result, today there are virtually no remaining seabirds, very few land birds, and no native land mammals left.
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge partnered up with The Nature Conservancy and Island Conservation (as well as many other concerned groups) with the goal of Eradicating the Rat Infestation of Rat Island.
This was the largest undertaking ever attempted, with many challenges to face: the logistics of getting supplies, gear, and personnel out to the island, all the permitting required to conduct the eradication program, battling the extreme weather out on the chain, protecting the native species while eliminating the invasives, to name just a few.
The method chosen for the eradication was a type of poison, and anticoagulant, mixed into a pellet of grain which was then spread over the entire island, either by helicopter or by hand. They spread it out twice, to be sure to get every rat – and there were definitely rats on the island! Stacey said they did not have an accurate headcount prior to the eradication attempt, but she estimated perhaps tens of thousands of them.
Spreading the poison took place this past summer, but there is a two-year waiting period to be done still, before the eradication project can be declared a success. Scientists and Biologists will closely monitor the island to make sure every rat was taken, and see how the ecology responds.
If you’re interested, more information on the rat infestation problem and the steps being taken to mitigate them can be found at www.stoprats.org
The lecture this Wednesday was titled “Bringing Back the Aleutians” and was given by Stacey Buckelew of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Steve Ebbert of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Steve began the talk by telling us a little bit about the organization he works for.
The Alaska Maritime NWR is comprised of over 2,500 islands, roughly 4.9 million acres and 47,300 miles of shoreline, mostly located in the Aleutian chain, the remote Pribilofs, and icebound lands washed by the Chukchi Sea. These islands provide essential habitat for some 40 million seabirds, representing more than 30 species. The refuge’s activities focus on long-term ecosystem monitoring, marine resource research, and invasive species management.
The main topic for the lecture was invasive species. Most people are aware of the rat problems but might be surprised to learn that other mammals are listed as invasive species as well, such as foxes (both arctic and red) as well as ungulates (such as cattle, caribou, and bison).
All of these animals wreck havoc on the native species that live on the islands, either by direct predation or by overgrazing, trampling of nests, or adversely affecting the plant diversity. And since Man introduced them, Man is attempting to eradicate them now. The refuge has several programs in place to address the issues and has seen some considerable success, mainly with the foxes.
Steve then turned the podium over to Stacey to talk about the rats, specifically on Rat Island.
Rat Island is located almost at the very tip of the Aleutian chain, about 1300 miles west of Anchorage, comprised of 6,861 acres of cliffs, mountains, and tundra. In 1780, rats escaped from a sinking Japanese fishing boat and made their way to this island. Nearly 3000 ships a year pass by on the shipping route between Asia and North America, so the rat population on Rat Island, as well as other islands, regularly gets replenished.
As a result, today there are virtually no remaining seabirds, very few land birds, and no native land mammals left.
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge partnered up with The Nature Conservancy and Island Conservation (as well as many other concerned groups) with the goal of Eradicating the Rat Infestation of Rat Island.
This was the largest undertaking ever attempted, with many challenges to face: the logistics of getting supplies, gear, and personnel out to the island, all the permitting required to conduct the eradication program, battling the extreme weather out on the chain, protecting the native species while eliminating the invasives, to name just a few.
The method chosen for the eradication was a type of poison, and anticoagulant, mixed into a pellet of grain which was then spread over the entire island, either by helicopter or by hand. They spread it out twice, to be sure to get every rat – and there were definitely rats on the island! Stacey said they did not have an accurate headcount prior to the eradication attempt, but she estimated perhaps tens of thousands of them.
Spreading the poison took place this past summer, but there is a two-year waiting period to be done still, before the eradication project can be declared a success. Scientists and Biologists will closely monitor the island to make sure every rat was taken, and see how the ecology responds.
If you’re interested, more information on the rat infestation problem and the steps being taken to mitigate them can be found at www.stoprats.org
Thursday, November 13, 2008
My Day at the Farm
When I woke up and saw that the snow that had started falling the previous afternoon had continued on through the night, the thick heavy flakes accumulating up to almost 5 inches, I almost considered not driving out to Palmer that day. The roads would be horrible and my semi-depressive state wanted nothing more than to spend yet another day on the couch with my kids watching reruns of 90210 and 7th Heaven.
I’m so glad I went anyway. Turns out the roads weren’t that bad after all – at least, the Glenn Highway wasn’t bad. As soon as I turned off onto the Parks my anxiety levels shot thru the roof. By the time I pulled into Mother’s driveway my head was pounding from the stress of trying to keep my car on the road. I made it safely, however, and dealt with the headache by taking a dose of my pain meds.
Mother was downstairs in the classroom with Lauren, so I hauled my pile of books down to join them. Mother was sitting on one of the twin beds working on her plans to turn the old Colony Barn into a loft apartment. Lauren was sitting at the table working on a travel brochure for Ft. Wainright, an assignment in her Alaskan Geography class. I settled in on a corner of Lauren’s table and worked on my Methods of Building Construction homework.
After about an hour or so of quietly chatting and working it was lunchtime, so we put everything away, picked up the dog that is too old to climb the stairs by herself, and relocated ourselves to the dining room. Mother made us some toasted cheese sandwiches on homemade bread to go with our potato and onion soup – all of which tasted so good! There’s nothing like a homemade meal with family…
With both lunch and school work taken care of, Lauren was finally able to get the board games out. She particularly likes to play Rumicubes, a game somewhat similar to Gin Rummy only with tiles you lay down on the table for everybody to play off of. She, of course, won every game. But it was fun, none the less.
The snow never did stop coming down, so I decided I should head on back to town early enough to ensure that I had daylight the whole way, even if it took longer than usual to get home.
I had a great time!
I’m so glad I went anyway. Turns out the roads weren’t that bad after all – at least, the Glenn Highway wasn’t bad. As soon as I turned off onto the Parks my anxiety levels shot thru the roof. By the time I pulled into Mother’s driveway my head was pounding from the stress of trying to keep my car on the road. I made it safely, however, and dealt with the headache by taking a dose of my pain meds.
Mother was downstairs in the classroom with Lauren, so I hauled my pile of books down to join them. Mother was sitting on one of the twin beds working on her plans to turn the old Colony Barn into a loft apartment. Lauren was sitting at the table working on a travel brochure for Ft. Wainright, an assignment in her Alaskan Geography class. I settled in on a corner of Lauren’s table and worked on my Methods of Building Construction homework.
After about an hour or so of quietly chatting and working it was lunchtime, so we put everything away, picked up the dog that is too old to climb the stairs by herself, and relocated ourselves to the dining room. Mother made us some toasted cheese sandwiches on homemade bread to go with our potato and onion soup – all of which tasted so good! There’s nothing like a homemade meal with family…
With both lunch and school work taken care of, Lauren was finally able to get the board games out. She particularly likes to play Rumicubes, a game somewhat similar to Gin Rummy only with tiles you lay down on the table for everybody to play off of. She, of course, won every game. But it was fun, none the less.
The snow never did stop coming down, so I decided I should head on back to town early enough to ensure that I had daylight the whole way, even if it took longer than usual to get home.
I had a great time!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Family Movie Night - Part 1
Sunday was the first Family Movie Night for the season! We all met over at my brother’s house for dinner and a movie.
This season’s Family Movie Night series is slightly different from last year’s in that each person gets to pick a movie; as opposed to watching a series like we did last season (The Planet Earth and The Body Atlas). This time, I chose the movie: we watched “An Inconvenient Truth”. Next time, Mother will pick a movie, followed by Stewart’s choice, and then Kelly’s, Noel’s, Reed’s, ending with me again. I thought this would be a fun get-together for everybody!
We’re mostly meeting at Reed’s house, since they not only have a HUGE big screen TV to watch them on, but also have a nice big open space to fit everybody in comfortably. Heather says she likes having the family over as it gives her a “kick in the butt” to have her house clean and tidy! But, this season Noel has volunteered to host the event once; so when it’s her turn to choose the movie, we’ll be watching it at her house.
Food is always a big part of any family gathering – it’s a wonder we’re not all overweight! Somehow, my siblings have managed to stay slim & trim - I am not so lucky unfortunately.
This time, we had a big pot of beans & ham (sister Julie is a great cook: they were fabulous!), bread & tomatoes fresh from the greenhouse (thanks to Noel & Lisa, the minister’s wife), cinnamon rolls with lemon icing (Mother’s contribution), and lemonade or iced tea.
Watching the movie was Mother, Reed, Heather, Me, Stewart, Julie, Noel, Hank, Lisa, Kelly, and Tara.
This season’s Family Movie Night series is slightly different from last year’s in that each person gets to pick a movie; as opposed to watching a series like we did last season (The Planet Earth and The Body Atlas). This time, I chose the movie: we watched “An Inconvenient Truth”. Next time, Mother will pick a movie, followed by Stewart’s choice, and then Kelly’s, Noel’s, Reed’s, ending with me again. I thought this would be a fun get-together for everybody!
We’re mostly meeting at Reed’s house, since they not only have a HUGE big screen TV to watch them on, but also have a nice big open space to fit everybody in comfortably. Heather says she likes having the family over as it gives her a “kick in the butt” to have her house clean and tidy! But, this season Noel has volunteered to host the event once; so when it’s her turn to choose the movie, we’ll be watching it at her house.
Food is always a big part of any family gathering – it’s a wonder we’re not all overweight! Somehow, my siblings have managed to stay slim & trim - I am not so lucky unfortunately.
This time, we had a big pot of beans & ham (sister Julie is a great cook: they were fabulous!), bread & tomatoes fresh from the greenhouse (thanks to Noel & Lisa, the minister’s wife), cinnamon rolls with lemon icing (Mother’s contribution), and lemonade or iced tea.
Watching the movie was Mother, Reed, Heather, Me, Stewart, Julie, Noel, Hank, Lisa, Kelly, and Tara.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
What an Ordeal
Tula almost got the best of me today.
It started out on the wrong foot, and then almost got on the right track only to fall back on that wrong foot again by the end of our time together.
Kristen and I had to separate the two camels by ourselves this time. The male, while being only 2 years old, is very aggressive and unpredictable – on top of which, neither Kristen nor I are familiar with him and his tricks.
Trying to separate the two is almost impossible at the best of times. Tula doesn’t move very fast, and Knobby is quite literally trying to mount her at every possible opportunity – which annoys her and frustrates him.
Kristen went in the pen to put Tula’s halter on while I attempted to distract him in the opposite corner with treats over the fencing. He would come get an apple slice from me, then run over to the barn to put himself in between Kristen and Tula, making Kristen back off hastily in fear of her very life (okay, maybe not her life – but certainly some of her limbs were in danger).
I’d capture his attention again by rattling his feed bucket against the railing, causing him to run over to grab another apple slice from my fingers before running right back to Tula and Kristen.
Eventually, Kristen managed to get Tula’s halter on, but had great difficulties getting Tula to walk over to where she could close a gate between the two animals. We ended up having to have both of us in the enclosure, with Kristen distracting Knobby while I hurriedly closed the gate. Both of us just barely made it out of the enclosure, with Knobby hard on our heels: teeth bared and a wild look in his eyes.
Whew!
Then, of course, we had to battle with Tula and her walk. I tried my idea of going up to the greenhouse, and I must say = it worked beautifully! She walked all the way, without stopping, from her gate to the greenhouse. But, then she realized there was no party going on, and refused to budge a single step further. We even went and got some kids off the trails to come admire her for us, hoping to fool her into believing that we had that planned all along.
She finally relented and got walking again. So I decided to push my luck and go down the trail towards the eagles: I should have been happy with my little success and gone on home – but no, I had to ask for more.
There were all kinds of people on the trails today, it being a Saturday and all that, so Tula used every excuse in the book to not move. We finally grabbed Liz, her old handler, hoping she could get the darned camel moving. Liz gave me all kinds of pointers and advice, which I am very grateful for, but still we had a heck of a time with that damn camel.
I was getting frustrated, and Tula knew it. She actually reared up her head and bared her teeth at me. You could just hear her saying “I don’t have to. You can’t make me.”
Between Liz, Kristen, and myself – we eventually got Tula to walk about 2 steps in the direction we wanted her to go, then agreed that we could call that a win and turn around back to the camel enclosure. Which, by the way, was exactly what Tula wanted. She was more than happy to walk back to her barn, however I made her walk to the other end of her enclosure before letting her off the leash and giving her the grain bucket.
We talked to Shannon later on about our difficulties separating the two animals, and it has been decided that I will suspend all further walks until they can figure out a safer way to do that.
So, for now, that is that.
It started out on the wrong foot, and then almost got on the right track only to fall back on that wrong foot again by the end of our time together.
Kristen and I had to separate the two camels by ourselves this time. The male, while being only 2 years old, is very aggressive and unpredictable – on top of which, neither Kristen nor I are familiar with him and his tricks.
Trying to separate the two is almost impossible at the best of times. Tula doesn’t move very fast, and Knobby is quite literally trying to mount her at every possible opportunity – which annoys her and frustrates him.
Kristen went in the pen to put Tula’s halter on while I attempted to distract him in the opposite corner with treats over the fencing. He would come get an apple slice from me, then run over to the barn to put himself in between Kristen and Tula, making Kristen back off hastily in fear of her very life (okay, maybe not her life – but certainly some of her limbs were in danger).
I’d capture his attention again by rattling his feed bucket against the railing, causing him to run over to grab another apple slice from my fingers before running right back to Tula and Kristen.
Eventually, Kristen managed to get Tula’s halter on, but had great difficulties getting Tula to walk over to where she could close a gate between the two animals. We ended up having to have both of us in the enclosure, with Kristen distracting Knobby while I hurriedly closed the gate. Both of us just barely made it out of the enclosure, with Knobby hard on our heels: teeth bared and a wild look in his eyes.
Whew!
Then, of course, we had to battle with Tula and her walk. I tried my idea of going up to the greenhouse, and I must say = it worked beautifully! She walked all the way, without stopping, from her gate to the greenhouse. But, then she realized there was no party going on, and refused to budge a single step further. We even went and got some kids off the trails to come admire her for us, hoping to fool her into believing that we had that planned all along.
She finally relented and got walking again. So I decided to push my luck and go down the trail towards the eagles: I should have been happy with my little success and gone on home – but no, I had to ask for more.
There were all kinds of people on the trails today, it being a Saturday and all that, so Tula used every excuse in the book to not move. We finally grabbed Liz, her old handler, hoping she could get the darned camel moving. Liz gave me all kinds of pointers and advice, which I am very grateful for, but still we had a heck of a time with that damn camel.
I was getting frustrated, and Tula knew it. She actually reared up her head and bared her teeth at me. You could just hear her saying “I don’t have to. You can’t make me.”
Between Liz, Kristen, and myself – we eventually got Tula to walk about 2 steps in the direction we wanted her to go, then agreed that we could call that a win and turn around back to the camel enclosure. Which, by the way, was exactly what Tula wanted. She was more than happy to walk back to her barn, however I made her walk to the other end of her enclosure before letting her off the leash and giving her the grain bucket.
We talked to Shannon later on about our difficulties separating the two animals, and it has been decided that I will suspend all further walks until they can figure out a safer way to do that.
So, for now, that is that.
My Day at the Zoo
I’ve been walking with the camel for several weeks now. Tula and I are getting acquainted with each other, and are learning each other’s quirks.
The biggest problem I’m having is that she is basically an extremely stubborn animal, and she believes that she does not have to obey me. Shannon, the Curator of Animals, must be obeyed on sight apparently – all she has to do is walk passed us and Tula is walking like a pro. It’s kind of funny when it happens. The minute Shannon is no longer in view, Tula reverts back to her stubborn ways. She knows exactly what she’s doing!
Just yesterday Kristen and I went into the enclosure – once the 2 year old was separated out – and got Tula’s gear on and headed out for the trails. We did alright until we hit the wide open spot of the trails, in front of the coffee house. This is as far as Tula goes, according to her schedule. My schedule says we go to the Eagle’s enclosure – but we’ve only been there once.
I think I’m going to try a new tactic today: instead of aiming for the Eagle’s enclosure, I’m going to head back to the greenhouse and see if she will do that for me. She likes going to the greenhouse because that’s where birthday parties are held. She likes birthday parties.
I wonder if I can go a different route entirely? I’d like to take her back by the caribou – but that has quite a hill, and then we’d have to walk passed the tigers which might cause a stir. Maybe I’ll save that for summer time, when the trails aren’t as icy and slick.
After having taken our walk, I decided to walk around the zoo a bit. I hadn’t really taken the time to visit all the other animals in a while, and it was such a nice day.
The tigers were both out and about, enjoying the sunshine. They were pacing back and forth along the fence line. What amazing animals they are! Even from 10 feet up on the boardwalk, you could see the feline power in each move they made. The difference between a 4 year old tiger and a 17 year old tiger is very apparent!
Having the tigers up and about got the wolves, right next door, all in an uproar – literally! All six of them were sitting there next to the boardwalk, voicing their opinions about everything. They have such a wonderful voice, and it really sends a chill down your spine when all six of them start in on the howling.
The local hunters in and around Anchorage have been very generous this season, donating their used carcasses for our animals. The wolves get some really great treats, like a whole moose’s rib cage or all four legs, each Wednesday (or Treat-Day, as their handler calls it). They had the remains of Treat Day scattered all about their enclosure the day I was visiting with them. That means, of course, they had lots of ravens around, too. Man, those are big birds! I wouldn’t be surprised to see one make off with a whole leg!
Heading back to the infirmary, I got there just in time to help Shannon and several of the keepers unload a truck-full of supplies. We had an assembly line going: Shannon unpacked bags of feed off the pallets and handed them to me; I passed them on to a keeper standing in the doorway of the storage shed, who handed it off to another keeper (or three, by the time we were finished) working inside the shed to organize everything.
The bags of feed weren’t really that heavy (probably 25 lbs each) but there were certainly a lot of them! Shannon makes an order each month for all the food the animals will need for that month, and considering the fact that we have as many as 100 (plus or minus a few) animals at the zoo at any given time = that’s a lot of feed! My back was complaining all night long.
You should see the walk-in freezer in the kitchen! All kinds of meat and produce in there, including whole animals – like road kill or donated carcasses. You never know what you’re going to see when you walk in there. Not exactly a pleasant place for a vegetarian to visit, if you know what I mean!
After unloading all the feed, Shannon let me go with her to visit a brand new resident, over in the orphanage enclosure: a little brown bear cub! He’s very small and badly starved – but seems to be doing well, and is perking up nicely. He should be the size of a very large dog by this time of year, but he looks like a tiny little teddy bear instead. We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him, but hope that will good food and medications, he will survive and grow big & strong.
Shannon brought 6 bales of straw to his enclosure, to make a den for him. When she went into his space, he cowered in the corner and bawled at first – but then got brave and actually lunged at her, growling and snarling. That’s a very good sign! It means that just the two or three feedings he’s received so far are making a difference already!
So, hopefully the walk with Tula today will be a good one!
Cross your fingers for me…
The biggest problem I’m having is that she is basically an extremely stubborn animal, and she believes that she does not have to obey me. Shannon, the Curator of Animals, must be obeyed on sight apparently – all she has to do is walk passed us and Tula is walking like a pro. It’s kind of funny when it happens. The minute Shannon is no longer in view, Tula reverts back to her stubborn ways. She knows exactly what she’s doing!
Just yesterday Kristen and I went into the enclosure – once the 2 year old was separated out – and got Tula’s gear on and headed out for the trails. We did alright until we hit the wide open spot of the trails, in front of the coffee house. This is as far as Tula goes, according to her schedule. My schedule says we go to the Eagle’s enclosure – but we’ve only been there once.
I think I’m going to try a new tactic today: instead of aiming for the Eagle’s enclosure, I’m going to head back to the greenhouse and see if she will do that for me. She likes going to the greenhouse because that’s where birthday parties are held. She likes birthday parties.
I wonder if I can go a different route entirely? I’d like to take her back by the caribou – but that has quite a hill, and then we’d have to walk passed the tigers which might cause a stir. Maybe I’ll save that for summer time, when the trails aren’t as icy and slick.
After having taken our walk, I decided to walk around the zoo a bit. I hadn’t really taken the time to visit all the other animals in a while, and it was such a nice day.
The tigers were both out and about, enjoying the sunshine. They were pacing back and forth along the fence line. What amazing animals they are! Even from 10 feet up on the boardwalk, you could see the feline power in each move they made. The difference between a 4 year old tiger and a 17 year old tiger is very apparent!
Having the tigers up and about got the wolves, right next door, all in an uproar – literally! All six of them were sitting there next to the boardwalk, voicing their opinions about everything. They have such a wonderful voice, and it really sends a chill down your spine when all six of them start in on the howling.
The local hunters in and around Anchorage have been very generous this season, donating their used carcasses for our animals. The wolves get some really great treats, like a whole moose’s rib cage or all four legs, each Wednesday (or Treat-Day, as their handler calls it). They had the remains of Treat Day scattered all about their enclosure the day I was visiting with them. That means, of course, they had lots of ravens around, too. Man, those are big birds! I wouldn’t be surprised to see one make off with a whole leg!
Heading back to the infirmary, I got there just in time to help Shannon and several of the keepers unload a truck-full of supplies. We had an assembly line going: Shannon unpacked bags of feed off the pallets and handed them to me; I passed them on to a keeper standing in the doorway of the storage shed, who handed it off to another keeper (or three, by the time we were finished) working inside the shed to organize everything.
The bags of feed weren’t really that heavy (probably 25 lbs each) but there were certainly a lot of them! Shannon makes an order each month for all the food the animals will need for that month, and considering the fact that we have as many as 100 (plus or minus a few) animals at the zoo at any given time = that’s a lot of feed! My back was complaining all night long.
You should see the walk-in freezer in the kitchen! All kinds of meat and produce in there, including whole animals – like road kill or donated carcasses. You never know what you’re going to see when you walk in there. Not exactly a pleasant place for a vegetarian to visit, if you know what I mean!
After unloading all the feed, Shannon let me go with her to visit a brand new resident, over in the orphanage enclosure: a little brown bear cub! He’s very small and badly starved – but seems to be doing well, and is perking up nicely. He should be the size of a very large dog by this time of year, but he looks like a tiny little teddy bear instead. We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him, but hope that will good food and medications, he will survive and grow big & strong.
Shannon brought 6 bales of straw to his enclosure, to make a den for him. When she went into his space, he cowered in the corner and bawled at first – but then got brave and actually lunged at her, growling and snarling. That’s a very good sign! It means that just the two or three feedings he’s received so far are making a difference already!
So, hopefully the walk with Tula today will be a good one!
Cross your fingers for me…
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
I Did Not Get The Job
Remember that job interview I had last week? Well, I just got an email from them, basically saying “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Honestly, though, they were a lot nicer than that. They actually said “Your skills and reputation did not hold you back - if we had the necessary workload we would make you an offer of employment.”
I’m just disappointed in not getting the job.
It’s only been a month and a half – last time I was unemployed, it took 3 months to find a job. And I do have the funds to get thru almost 6 months of unemployment if I have to.
But I so hate not working!
Honestly, though, they were a lot nicer than that. They actually said “Your skills and reputation did not hold you back - if we had the necessary workload we would make you an offer of employment.”
I’m just disappointed in not getting the job.
It’s only been a month and a half – last time I was unemployed, it took 3 months to find a job. And I do have the funds to get thru almost 6 months of unemployment if I have to.
But I so hate not working!
Sunday, November 02, 2008
I voted – did you?
I joined the throng of people who voted early this election season.
My intention was to avoid the crowds, but apparently most everybody else had that same intention – there was a line wrapped all the way out the door and around the waiting area in the building where the early voting was taking place! They had it moving quickly along, though – so it really wasn’t that bad of a wait.
I am optimistic enough to think that this election might bring out a record number of voters this year, judging by the numbers so far. There’s a lot at stake, and I think people are more inclined to get involved now because of it.
It will certainly be an interesting one, and hard to predict the outcome.
If you feel comfortable telling the world - who did you vote for? I voted for Obama...
My intention was to avoid the crowds, but apparently most everybody else had that same intention – there was a line wrapped all the way out the door and around the waiting area in the building where the early voting was taking place! They had it moving quickly along, though – so it really wasn’t that bad of a wait.
I am optimistic enough to think that this election might bring out a record number of voters this year, judging by the numbers so far. There’s a lot at stake, and I think people are more inclined to get involved now because of it.
It will certainly be an interesting one, and hard to predict the outcome.
If you feel comfortable telling the world - who did you vote for? I voted for Obama...
Job Interview
I had my first actual job interview the other day!
One of the local architectural firms I had sent my resume to called me in to talk to me. We had actually spoken for about half an hour on the phone ahead of time, so I wasn’t sure exactly what was left to talk about, but I guess a little face-time was called for.
It was rather unexpected, really. I sent them my resume without their soliciting it, meaning it was a “cold contact” and not a reply to a job posting. I guess one of their employees recognized my name and told them to give me a call (and if I actually get a job there, I owe her big time!).
I have actually worked with the man in charge in the past on a few committees I’ve taken part in for the local AIA group (The American Institute of Architects, or www.aia.org) but he didn’t remember me until I pointed that out to him. I had also run into him several times at the conventions out in Girdwood, so I was relatively comfortable talking to him right off the bat.
I tried so hard to be on time for my interview. Those of you who know me well know that I am chronically early for everything. This time, I vowed to be ON TIME. And I would have been except that I had the wrong time down on my schedule! I thought the interview was to be at 1:00 but it was supposed to be at 2:00 instead, so I showed up an hour early.
Sigh…
They were kind enough to say that it was not a big deal, and went ahead with the interview anyway.
It’s a good company – they have a nice office, with a first-class feel to it. I think I would like working there. It’s a small company with only about 20 people, as opposed to the 38 people in the last office I worked in. But that’s ok – I like a smaller firm anyway.
They’ve done some impressive work, too. Looking at their walls while waiting for the interview, I saw that they had a part in the Seward Sealife Center even!
I’m fairly optimistic and hopeful…
One of the local architectural firms I had sent my resume to called me in to talk to me. We had actually spoken for about half an hour on the phone ahead of time, so I wasn’t sure exactly what was left to talk about, but I guess a little face-time was called for.
It was rather unexpected, really. I sent them my resume without their soliciting it, meaning it was a “cold contact” and not a reply to a job posting. I guess one of their employees recognized my name and told them to give me a call (and if I actually get a job there, I owe her big time!).
I have actually worked with the man in charge in the past on a few committees I’ve taken part in for the local AIA group (The American Institute of Architects, or www.aia.org) but he didn’t remember me until I pointed that out to him. I had also run into him several times at the conventions out in Girdwood, so I was relatively comfortable talking to him right off the bat.
I tried so hard to be on time for my interview. Those of you who know me well know that I am chronically early for everything. This time, I vowed to be ON TIME. And I would have been except that I had the wrong time down on my schedule! I thought the interview was to be at 1:00 but it was supposed to be at 2:00 instead, so I showed up an hour early.
Sigh…
They were kind enough to say that it was not a big deal, and went ahead with the interview anyway.
It’s a good company – they have a nice office, with a first-class feel to it. I think I would like working there. It’s a small company with only about 20 people, as opposed to the 38 people in the last office I worked in. But that’s ok – I like a smaller firm anyway.
They’ve done some impressive work, too. Looking at their walls while waiting for the interview, I saw that they had a part in the Seward Sealife Center even!
I’m fairly optimistic and hopeful…
Pumpkin Carving Party
I had the family over this year for a Pumpkin Carving Party!
As you know from my previous posting to this blog – Halloween is not my favorite holiday in the world. But it was a good excuse to have a family get-together, as well as a way to get a bunch of pumpkin seeds to roast! I love pumpkin seeds.
I told every body to bring their own pumpkin to carve as well as a snack to share, and I would provide the hot spiced cider, carving tools, and patterns.
The carving tools & patterns were actually left over from the last two or three pumpkin carving parties I’d had in the past, but I bought a few extra just in case. Patterns ranged anywhere from the standard “scary smiley face” to Frankenstein, the Mummy, or the Wolfman. Some people even elected to carve out their own ideas, eschewing the patterns altogether.
The hot cider was scrumptious, if I do say so myself. I used the mulling spices from Dean & Deluca (www.deandeluca.com DEAN & DELUCA's Mulling Spice Blend includes cloves, allspice, soft quill Ceylon cinnamon and dried orange peel) and had a big pot simmering on the stove for an hour ahead of time, so the whole house smelled yummie by the time people started to arrive.
I had a fairly good turnout, too: Mother came with two big pots of chili and some cupcakes & cookies. My friend Corissa came with some peanut butter rice crispy treats. My friend Anne came with some crackers and artichoke dip. My friend Barbara came with a mix of spiced nuts. Noel & Lauren came with… well, shoot – I can’t for the life of me remember what they brought! Kelly & Tara came with a huge bag of Kettle Chips. And last – but certainly not least, nor chronologically in order – Heather came with a cheese ball and some tortilla chips.
We had fun. People carved their pumpkins, ate lots of food, chatted with everybody, and had a relaxing afternoon – just what I intended.
And I got a nice big bag of roasted pumpkin seeds – again, just as I intended!
As you know from my previous posting to this blog – Halloween is not my favorite holiday in the world. But it was a good excuse to have a family get-together, as well as a way to get a bunch of pumpkin seeds to roast! I love pumpkin seeds.
I told every body to bring their own pumpkin to carve as well as a snack to share, and I would provide the hot spiced cider, carving tools, and patterns.
The carving tools & patterns were actually left over from the last two or three pumpkin carving parties I’d had in the past, but I bought a few extra just in case. Patterns ranged anywhere from the standard “scary smiley face” to Frankenstein, the Mummy, or the Wolfman. Some people even elected to carve out their own ideas, eschewing the patterns altogether.
The hot cider was scrumptious, if I do say so myself. I used the mulling spices from Dean & Deluca (www.deandeluca.com DEAN & DELUCA's Mulling Spice Blend includes cloves, allspice, soft quill Ceylon cinnamon and dried orange peel) and had a big pot simmering on the stove for an hour ahead of time, so the whole house smelled yummie by the time people started to arrive.
I had a fairly good turnout, too: Mother came with two big pots of chili and some cupcakes & cookies. My friend Corissa came with some peanut butter rice crispy treats. My friend Anne came with some crackers and artichoke dip. My friend Barbara came with a mix of spiced nuts. Noel & Lauren came with… well, shoot – I can’t for the life of me remember what they brought! Kelly & Tara came with a huge bag of Kettle Chips. And last – but certainly not least, nor chronologically in order – Heather came with a cheese ball and some tortilla chips.
We had fun. People carved their pumpkins, ate lots of food, chatted with everybody, and had a relaxing afternoon – just what I intended.
And I got a nice big bag of roasted pumpkin seeds – again, just as I intended!
Halloween
I know that Halloween is The Best Day Ever for some people, but for me – it’s really not that big of a deal. I never really dressed up as a kid, or went trick-or-treating or anything like that. We lived out of town “in the boonies” with the closest neighbor being miles away, so a typical Halloween for us would be a family affair consisting of a home-made piñata down in the basement followed by a taffee-pull up in the kitchen.
Now that I’m older, I’m even less inclined to dress up or go to parties. I was invited to my next-door neighbor’s this year, however. Rather a monumental occasion, actually: people who know me know that I never go to parties, so they never invite me. Well, he did invite me, so I went.
I hated it.
There was a bunch of people I don’t know, standing around in his garage (which he had decorated with cob-webs, ghosts, rats, and spiders) drinking beer and wearing costumes. I hung out for about an hour, and then made my escape back to my safety & solitude.
That was the week before the actual day of Halloween. I usually spend the day itself working at the zoo. They have Zoo Boo each year, where the kids can come trick-or-treating at the zoo, wearing their costumes and having a fun, safe, evening with the animals.
This year, unfortunately, I got sick and could not participate. It was probably one of the worst cases of food poisoning I’ve ever had. I believe it was some bad Thai food that did it. I was throwing up every two hours all night long Thursday night, spent the entire day Friday with a bad case of diarrhea, and by Saturday my entire body ached and I had a horrible migraine to top it all off with.
Needless to say, this was not the best Halloween I’ve ever had.
Now that I’m older, I’m even less inclined to dress up or go to parties. I was invited to my next-door neighbor’s this year, however. Rather a monumental occasion, actually: people who know me know that I never go to parties, so they never invite me. Well, he did invite me, so I went.
I hated it.
There was a bunch of people I don’t know, standing around in his garage (which he had decorated with cob-webs, ghosts, rats, and spiders) drinking beer and wearing costumes. I hung out for about an hour, and then made my escape back to my safety & solitude.
That was the week before the actual day of Halloween. I usually spend the day itself working at the zoo. They have Zoo Boo each year, where the kids can come trick-or-treating at the zoo, wearing their costumes and having a fun, safe, evening with the animals.
This year, unfortunately, I got sick and could not participate. It was probably one of the worst cases of food poisoning I’ve ever had. I believe it was some bad Thai food that did it. I was throwing up every two hours all night long Thursday night, spent the entire day Friday with a bad case of diarrhea, and by Saturday my entire body ached and I had a horrible migraine to top it all off with.
Needless to say, this was not the best Halloween I’ve ever had.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)