Marian Call in Concert

I treated myself to a night out on the town this weekend. Rob was off ice fishing with his buddies, and I was really not interested in hanging out in my house because of the whole roommate issue – so I got tickets to a jazz concert at The Organic Oasis.

I arrived about 40 minutes early (I am chronically early for everything, it seems – heck, I was even born early) so ordered my dinner and wrote a few letters while waiting for the music to start. The Organic Oasis has probably the best salads in town, in my humble opinion at least. Their yam stew is pretty tasty, too. Add to that a nice hot mug of Yerba Matte tea, and I was quite content to sit there and wait.

They had their normal layout of tables and chairs but added numerous folding chairs to the mix, and even so ended up with several people standing up at the walls to watch. Tickets were just $15 a head, but even so I’m thinking they made a pretty good profit that night.

Finally Marian Call came on stage, wearing a “slinky dress” as promised. She is normally a “jeans and sweater” type of girl, so this was rather unusual for her. She looked quite stunning, I have to admit. Accompanying her on stage was the standard electric guitar player, a base player, a piano player, a drummer, and a tenor saxophonist = all of whom were very good, and got plenty of opportunity to strut their stuff. The only thing missing was her old typewriter (circa 1930s?) which she uses as a percussion instrument occasionally.

Marian sang quite a few well known songs as well as several that she wrote herself. One that got a lot of audience participation was “I Wish I Were A Real Alaskan Girl” (or something like that) wherein she talks about how tough a real Alaskan girl is, able to skin a bear – fix a flat – and eat Rudolf for breakfast and Bullwinkle for lunch. She also made mention of the popular bumper sticker that states Alaskan Girls Kick Ass, and when she brought up the fact that a real Alaskan girl has long flowing hair on her legs I had to laugh as I realized it’s been probably a good 6 months since I last shaved.

Another song that was well received was about Karaoke. I have no idea how she managed to do this, but she stood up on stage and belted out some of the WORST singing I’d heard in a long time, as typically you would find when listening to the general (drunk) public singing Karaoke. It was hilarious, because she’d switch from her beautiful voice singing the verses to that awful caterwauling at full volume for each chorus.

If you ever have the chance to listen to Marian Call sing, I highly recommend it – but in the meantime, you can look her up on the internet and download her songs from there.

New Digs for an Old Rut

For the past few years I’ve been carrying all my letter writing materials (pens, cards, address book, stamps, and labels) in an old Victoria’s Secret bag I got when I went to Seattle with my sister and her daughter about 6-7 years ago. The bag was already quite old when I started to use it for writing my letters each Sunday; it finally fell apart this weekend, giving me the perfect excuse to buy something I’ve had my eye on for quite some time now.

I got me a brand new Star Trek Lunch Pail (the original series with Captain Kirk, Spok, and the whole crew) from Hallmark! It’s so cool.

As an added bonus, it had actually been marked down from the original price.

Next time you see me at The Perfect Cup on Sundays, sitting at my corner table drinking my cup of tea, you will see my lunch pail proudly displayed on the table next to me.

Rearranging The Furniture

I’m going thru a lot of changes lately. I’m not very good with change, so I’m fairly stressed out even though I know it’s all good and I’m actually the one initiating this change.

Rob came over the other day and helped me change out my old computer desk. It was just about ready to fall apart as it stood there, so we were just in time. In fact, it actually did fall apart when we started to disassemble it. It’s now a pile of broken pieces in the garage waiting to be hauled away to the dump.

A good friend had given me her old computer desk which was much nicer than my old one, so it is now in place and looking so fine! That meant, however, that I had to find an alternate place to file all the paperwork one acquires in life, since the new desk doesn’t have a filing cabinet drawer in it like the old one did. So I had to clean out the desk upstairs that has been unused for the past 10 years or so, and was just gathering dust.

Mother gave me one of the beds from the farm, so that is my next big change. It’s a queen size bed; my old one is a double size. Since I had to clean out the desk anyway, I went ahead and rearranged my bedroom a bit to squeeze in the bigger mattresses. I will again call upon Rob to help me move things around, since there is no way I can do it by myself, and in the process I will give him the double sized bed for his daughter’s use.

Once my spare room empties out (End of March – just hang on till the End of March!) I will be rearranging the heck out of that room, too! I plan on asking my sister to help me paint it some fun colors – maybe a soft terra cotta orange, or a quiet avocado green? – and get some nice wooden blinds and a pretty valance for the window. I have an old wooden table waiting for me in the garage that will go in the room after Rob fixes one of its legs and helps me refinish the top. I’ll add the 5 antique chairs Mother gave me to that, as well as the lamps, end tables, bookshelves, and craft cubbies – and voila! Instant Craft Room!

I’m actually pretty excited about it.

The Job Situation

Sigh.

The job I’ve been counting on fell thru. It was with an architectural firm, and they currently are “experiencing a lull” so are not hiring at this time.

Yeah, where have I heard that before?

But they do still have my resume on file and will contact me when/if things pick up.

Again, where have I heard that before?

Honestly, it’s enough to make one just give up on the whole industry! What I’m doing instead is accepting the fact that I will be working for less than unemployment wages for the next few years, and will just be happy that I have a job at all. It’s not that bad of a job, either.

They are getting a new program; I will have to learn it in the next few weeks, before the season picks up. I’m fairly excited about that, except that I know it will take me even farther away from ever getting a “real job” in the future.

I’m still putting out an ad for pet sitting, and am currently working one of those jobs as we speak. Tommy is a huge orange fluffy boy who is just the sweetest guy. He’s here at my house till his human can find a place to live that will accept both a cat and a dog. Thing and Djuna are not very happy about having a yucky boy in their house – but they’ll get over it, I’m sure.

So, I guess it’s not all bad news. Just not what I wanted…

I Just Want My House Back

My roommate is being a very mean and vindictive person. It seems like she goes out of her way to irritate me with all the petty things she can dream up. Her latest: she thawed a hunk of meat in the fridge. Nothing wrong with that, per se, except that she neglected to put in on a plate so it ended up bleeding all over the fridge – and I had to spend an hour cleaning it up. This is the THIRD TIME she’s done that! You cannot tell me a 50-year old woman who cooks all the time doesn’t know that meat bleeds! Even a vegetarian knows that.

To be honest, I have to admit that my tolerances are stretched extremely thin at the moment. There has been a lot going on lately, and I really didn’t want a roommate to begin with. But my last roommate didn’t give me nearly this much trouble so I know it’s not just me.

As soon as this one leaves I will never have another roommate, not ever.

Well, at least not for a year or so; that’s how much money I have saved up to pay for my house bill. After that, we’ll have to see what I can come up with. Theoretically I should have a real job by then, with good pay and full hours. Of course that’s what I said two years ago, so I honestly don’t hold out much hope on that side of the equation.

The refinance went thru, so now my payments are $170 lower each month: you gotta love that! In fact, there was no payment at all for February, so I get to “stockpile” the rent money and have just a little bit more breathing room out of the situation.

End of March: all I have to do is survive till then.

April 1 I have my Mother and sister coming over to help me clean the carpets and paint the walls in there (I’m thinking a nice terra cotta color, or perhaps an avocado green). Then I’ll get Rob to help me decorate (oddly enough, he’s better at that than I am). Then I’ll set up the antique table and chairs I have in waiting for me in my garage, move the craft cubbies up from the dining room, and be good to go! Heck, I may even set up a nice heated bed for the girls in there.

This Makes Me Sick To My Stomach

So, Stan’s two daughters came up for the memorial. Apparently, neither of them had been very close to him. He’d been up here in Alaska for over 25 years, but they had only come to visit him once each. Neither of them ever sent a Birthday Card or a Christmas greeting.

Anyway, a week prior to their arrival for the memorial they phoned Mother, the realtor, the lawyers, and the neighbors so often that they all stopped answering their phones. They also called each of us, asking for money and rides and a place to stay. They ended up staying at the farm and driving his truck while they were here. I don’t know who picked them up at the airport, or who took them back either.

While they were here they continued making phone calls all over the place, their main objection being to cut my family out of the entire process as much as possible. They thru accusations out left and right about us all, and tried to get Mother taken off as executor of Stan’s will. They even managed to “steal” Mother’s lawyer out from under her, since he couldn’t represent both at the same time.

Worse yet, they managed to pack up and steal well over 4000 pounds of stuff from the farm. We are only just now realizing what’s been taken: antique furniture that Mother bought in Mexico when my brother was born almost 50 years ago, shooting medals that Mother had won in her Colorado days, a full size quilt that my Great Aunt Kathryn made as she lay dying from cancer, tools from the shed out back, 2 lawn mowers, the wood stove that was in the barn (which didn't even work, but left a big hole in the roof in the taking of it), gun cabinets belonging to other people. The list goes on…

One of the more shocking things taken: they very carefully went thru the rolodex and took hundreds of address cards, some of which had account numbers and personal information, all gathered by Mother and Stan over 20+ years. They left all the blank cards, which meant they very carefully looked at each one to make sure they got them all – then they tried to hide the rolodex behind a built in bookshelf.

They even vandalized the farm before leaving! There are broken windows and the place is just trashed.

Just the other day an obituary showed up in the paper: written by them, not by us. They very skillfully cut out a whole 25 year period in his life by not even mentioning Mother, any of us kids, or even the grandchildren (Stan was the only Grandfather most of them had ever known).

My brother is livid. He may very well go down to Oregon and physically get all that stuff back - and break some kneecaps in the process. I do know he is threatening to press charges. I support him 100% and will do anything and everything I can to help him – not to get the stuff back, but to … I don’t know, get even? Make them pay for what they’ve done to my family? Try to make them see just how awful they are?

The will has a clause in it that states if anybody contests the will, they get $1.00 and that's final. In my mind, they both more than contested the will. I would love to see mother enforce that one on them both: they deserve it for what they’ve done.

Memorial for Stan

The memorial was held on Saturday over at the Grouse Ridge Shooting Range. It was very well attended, with a full house and lots of food. People came from all over: Palmer, Wasilla, Anchorage, Talkeetna, Oregon. I did notice, however, that just my family alone accounted for at least 5 tables full.

Anyway, it was good. There was a slide show of various pictures we’ve gathered of Stan and his family. People spontaneously stood up and talked, recounting their favorite stories of Stan. I read an email sent to us by my uncle from Oregon. There was even a 21-gun salute out back.

He will definitely be missed by a lot of people.

Rob and I have been working at the farm, helping Mother get it ready for its new owner. We spent a good 3 days last weekend hauling boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff out to various trucks – and still have more to go.

The entire contents of Stan’s gun room has been relocated to Rob’s garage so we can go thru it and organize things enough to start selling things. The guns have gone to my older brother’s house to do the same. Quite a bit of the outdoor equipment has gone to my little brother’s house till they can be dealt with, later on.

Probate on the will starts this week, but we don’t expect any major bumps there. It’s fairly straight forward, with no surprises or anything to cause undo distress.

The hardest part has been trying to wrap our brains around the fact that he really did die. It has put a lot of stress on the family and things have been said that are now being regretted. I am hopeful that we can overcome this eventually, but am also very disappointed. I really thought my family would never do this – but perhaps that was asking too much.

I know firsthand that the body can only take so much. I was hit with a cold – just the common cold – but man, it wiped me out. I started feeling the effects on Tuesday, went home early from work on Wednesday, and by Thursday I was begging people to put me out of my misery. My head hurt, my nose was clogged, I was sneezing every three minutes, my body ached, my throat was sore. Thankfully it left just as soon as it arrived so that by Saturday I could attend the memorial and look somewhat human.

What I Know So Far

For those of you who didn’t know him, Stan was the man who lived with my mother for maybe 20 years. They never married, so he’s not officially my stepfather – but he is the only Grandpa most of my nieces and nephews ever knew.

He passed away sometime this past weekend, either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Since it was what they call an “unattended death” the police are treating it as a homicide, even though they really don’t consider it to be one. They just have to treat it as such until they can prove otherwise.

All we know is that at some point he went outside. He wasn’t dressed to go anywhere, so we can assume he planned on going right back inside after doing whatever he had planned on doing. We think he fell and hit his head. We think he managed to crawl back to the front door, but had unknowingly left his keys back where he fell so was unable to get in. That’s pretty much where he was found, near the front steps.

His neighbor is the one who found him. She had gone over to give him a plate of food, as she has done numerous times in the past. Her husband called my Mother, who called my Brother and then headed over to deal with the police. I’m not sure who called my sister, but she ended up over there as well, along with the pastor of our church and his wife. All of them stayed till the wee hours of the morning till finally they were able to head back home.

The medical examiner took his body back to Anchorage and will conduct an autopsy to determine actual cause of death, but has said that it will take some time – like maybe a week or so. Meanwhile, the police are gathering evidence and putting together their reports.

We are all, slowly but surely, contacting everybody who needs to be contacted – although we’re having no luck getting hold of my cousin up in Fairbanks. I’ve got a few numbers to call to talk to my other cousins down in Montana; maybe they will have better luck reaching him from there.

The house is going to need to be cleaned up, since it is for sale. Rob and I are heading out there on Friday/Saturday to deal with a bunch of stuff. Mother and Stewart have been over there a lot these past few days, and are getting things done bit at a time. Stan’s sister Sonja has come out as well to help organize all of the paperwork that needs to get done.

We don’t know yet when or where the memorial will be held – but I’m fairly certain there will be one. He had a lot of friends who will want to pay their respects.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions:


What exactly caused his death? Was it the bump on his head? Had he broken his hip? Why didn’t he use his cell phone? He knew where the spare key was – why didn’t he use that? What does the flat tire on his truck have to do with anything? How long did he lay there till he was found?

We may never know for sure…

Rest In Peace Stan

Had a horrible shock last night.


I had just gotten home from a nice afternoon spent with the family out in Palmer: good food, good company, good movie on the big screen TV – when I got the call from my brother.

He told me that Stan had fallen, hit his head, and froze to death on the front step at the farm!

I honestly don’t know what to do. I would love to write up a nice posting in his honor, but just can’t seem to focus on anything much at the moment.

For now, this will have to do.

The Roommate Situation

Things came to a head the other day between my roommate and I. It wasn’t pretty. I ended up telling her that at the end of our contract I would not be renewing, and if she should happen to want to leave earlier, I would not hold her to the contract.

She emphatically (and rather rudely, I must say) agreed.

I only hope she actually does leave early. I am fully convinced now that I am not meant to live with anybody.

That being said, I actually have a possible replacement already. IF things don’t go the way I want them to with the job situation, and IF my finances don’t pan out, then I MIGHT consider having a friend move in.

Big difference: he’s a guy. I have had several people tell me that guy-girl roommate situations are a lot different, and the troubles are considerably less. Plus, he is a friend: somebody I know and actually get along with.

I’m still not convinced. I so do not want to have a roommate right now that I’m willing to cash out some of my savings in order to pay my mortgage.

We’ll see what happens…

A Very Good Day

Saturday was a very good day for me. I started the day off with getting Rob ready and out the door on time for his ice fishing trip. The crazy man is spending the weekend out at Lake Louise in ten below weather just to “slay some trout” as he puts it. Oh well, each to his own.

That was 5:00 in the morning, by the way. I went right back to bed and slept till 10:00 after he was gone! But, eventually, I did get out of bed. Even got dressed and everything! It was a day full of getting things done, which always makes me feel good.

First stop of the day was the bank: I had a few checks to be deposited. Sounds like I had oodles of money to put in my account, doesn’t it? Sadly no – although I had multiple checks, the total amount was not that impressive. Still, every bit helps…

After that, I headed over to the Natural Pantry for some shopping. I needed to replenish my vitamin D supply – a very necessary item for all Alaskan’s, particularly during the winter months when the sun spends at best only 4 hours up in the sky. I also needed more iron pills; I am borderline anemic, so am trying to fix that. Anyway, I managed to find all kinds of things I had to have, and was able to spend a good half hour wandering the isles.

I finished just in time to head down the hallway to where they were handing out free timers for engine block heaters. Rumor has it that January is supposed to be a really cold one this year, although how they know that I don’t know. Regardless, a timer is always a good thing to have on hand, just in case. And hey – they were free! Can’t beat that…

From there I ended up at AMH to get a birthday present/gift card. A certain somebody is going to get a day of ice climbing for his birthday! He already knows about it, so I don’t really know why I’m being so coy here. I’ve rented the crampons, ice ax, and boots for a day – and my little brother Reed has “volunteered” to take him out and show him the ropes. While they are out there doing that, Heather and I will be inside working on crafts and taking it easy with their cats. Not a bad day at all, I’m thinking.

Once I got that taken care of I drove downtown and stopped in at the Allure Day Spa to make an appointment for a massage. I received a gift certificate from my boss at work and will spend it this coming Tuesday (post to follow afterwards).

The spa is right next door to the 5th Avenue Mall, so my next stop was Eddie Bauer’s to spend my membership rewards. I went thru their sales rack and found the prettiest shirt with embroidery down the front; unfortunately the tag had been cut off so the check-out clerk couldn’t ring it up for me. I ended up having to pick a different shirt out – and honestly, I think I like this new one better, so I’m quite happy with the results.

A brief stop at the food court for a bite of lunch while reading my book (The Last Animals At The Zoo, by Colin Tudge) and I was back home again. Not an hour later, however, and my buddy Noah was knocking at my door. We took off to the theatre to watch “Tron” in 3D no less! He’s a computer geek so was really stoked about seeing this movie. It was good – but now I have to rent the old one, to refresh my memory of the beginning of that story!

Yup, it was a very good day.

The Latest News

Once again, I’m catching up via one big general post, rather than try to go back and hit all the highlights separately. Hopefully, no body minds too much. I really am going to try to post more often this year, but call it more of a goal than a resolution. That whole “New Year’s Resolution” thing never seems to work much for me. I do better with goals. So, to commence:

Christmas Eve

Rob and I delivered gifts that day. We started out at Stan’s house where we got to sit and drink our first cup of tea/coffee and chat for an hour. After that, we went to Mother’s house and got to eat a bite of lunch. We exchanged sacks full of stuff (there’s always “stuff” involved when I go to Mother’s house) then headed on into Palmer to stop in at Noel’s shop. She was quite busy, as expected – but we unexpectedly ran in to Kelly there, too. That changed our plans a wee bit, since we had planned on going to her house next. Instead, we headed out to Reed & Heather’s house and chatted with them for an hour or so. Then we doubled back and went up the mountain to Kelly’s place. I really wanted Rob to see her house, since it’s something like what he wants to have himself one day. We got the tour of all the renovations that Danny has been working on, and even got to meet Hank, the Cow Dog (he is ONE HUGE DOG!). We had planned on going to Stewart’s house next, but he showed up at Kelly’s house while we were there so we just extended our stay up there and got to chat with everybody. It was a very good day, albeit very long, and Rob finally got to meet all of my siblings.

Christmas Day

I headed back out to Palmer for Christmas morning with Noel and her family. I missed the opening of gifts, but was able to catch them all basking in the afterglow. I barely had time to walk into the living room before Lauren rushed over to show me her prize: a brand new iPad! She was beyond excited, and had to show me all the cool things it can do. She then spent the rest of the day setting up all her accounts and loading all sorts of programs onto it (like the Kindle ap, a few games, and her Amazon.com and Netflix account information). Katy was all excited about the new tooth brush she got. That sounds a little weird, but it’s one of those sonic tooth brushes and one that she really wanted. My prize for the day was the Victoria Secret Underwear that Katy got me! I’m really quite excited about them: they’re a size M, as opposed to the XL I had been wearing last year. I also got my all-time favorite tea from Lauren, Market Spice from the fish market in Seattle. And just in time, too: my stash had just run out that morning. Lunch with almost a formal affair, with a table full of really good food (Noel is an awesome cook) shared by Noel’s 4, me, Mr. & Mrs. Guinotte, and Stan. It was a very good day.

New Year’s Eve/Day

I fully expected my New Year’s celebration to be pretty much a repeat of all my past New Year’s celebrations: just me and the girls watching the fireworks out my library window while watching an old sci-fi movie on the DVD – but Rob surprised me by coming over to join me. I didn’t expect that, but was certainly happy to have him with me. We had thought to go downtown to watch the fireworks first-hand, but it was much nicer in the comfort (and warmth) of my home, my library, and my couch. New Year’s Day was spent doing a little bit of shopping followed by a movie at the Totem ($3.00 every movie, every day, all day) and dinner at the Firetap. Not earth shattering or super exciting, but a nice day none the less.

Pet Sitting

My pet sitting “job” has not really taken off like I’d hoped it would. I almost got a huge job taking care of 3 cats for about 5 months – but honestly am glad that fell through as it would have meant having them here at my house the entire time. 5 cats in one house is just way too many cats, even for me. I may end up taking care of one other cat while his humans sell their house and find a new one to buy. It may or may not happen, but if it does I’m sure he will be just fine here. I will have him in a kennel in the library during the day so as to not upset the girls too much.

Card Making

I am finally getting back in to making cards again. I was in a funk there for a while, and had just stopped doing it. I even canceled my kit-of-the-month thing, since there’s no reason to be spending that kind of money on something that isn’t getting used. I have about 6 months worth of kits waiting to be worked on, and lots of supplies for doing them free-hand, so I’m good for a while. I really enjoy doing it, and am so glad I’m getting back in to it. I have actually gone a little overboard, if such a thing is possible: in the last two weeks I’ve probably made 30-40 cards! Some of them are quite good, too – if I do say so myself. Good enough that my friend Katie has suggested that I sell them at the Zoo’s gift shop. I am seriously considering that, but will have to come up with a “line” of Zoo/Alaska related ones.

My Employment Situation

I’m still working part-time at the construction company, and still really enjoy my job. It’s distressing, however, because it just is not enough money to survive for very much longer. There is a job possibility hanging out there with an architectural firm who says they plan to hire somebody “around the first of the year.” The guy in charge keeps telling me that I’m at the top of the list, so I can only hope that this really does happen – and soon! This will mean several things: first, it will bring me back in to the architectural world; second, it will be a full time, year round job; third, it will mean that I can finally get rid of the whole roommate thing; and fourth, I can seriously start planning for my next Earthwatch expedition, and may even be able to consider going in November of 2011. Everybody PLEASE keep your fingers crossed for me!

Refinancing the House

My brother refinanced his house a while back and ended up getting a really low interest rate. This prompted me to try the same trick on my own house; so I gathered up all the paperwork and headed out to the bank to see what they could do. I had originally intended to go with 1st National Bank since it is an Alaskan based one and would keep my money closer to home – but they couldn’t give me anything worth the time, effort, and expense to make it worthwhile. I headed over to Wells Fargo, then, to see if they could come up with anything = and boy, am I glad I did. Apparently, because I am a long-time patron of their establishment, I qualified for what they call “a Fast Track Loan” meaning I was able to refinance my mortgage with no down payment, no closing costs, and no home inspection! Just 5 minutes on the computer with the loan agent, a ton of paperwork in the mail, and bingo – my loan is approved and I’m now at 4.25% and $150 cheaper. The last payment on the old loan was January 9, I have a grace-period in February (meaning no payment at all) and the new loan kicks in in March!

My Girls

Thing and Djuna are doing well. We had a warm spell these last few weeks, so I have been able to turn their electric blanket off and get it cleaned up a bit. They weren’t too happy to give it up despite the rise in temperatures, but they survived. Now that it’s turned cold again I’ve plugged it back in for them, and they are glued to it. Little Djuna gets so hot and sweaty her hair gets even curlier! I can barely get them up sometimes; they are so relaxed on that thing. They just get longer and longer, stretching out to their full lengths, and don’t even lift their heads to look at me when I come in to the room at night.

Rolling the Car

I rolled my car a week ago. That’s not as bad as it sounds: what I mean is that the mileage finally rolled over 100,000 miles. That’s not bad mileage for a car that is over 10 years old, I’m thinking. It’s considerably less than the “10,000 miles a year” average (based on tax and insurance figures) people normally expect. I was heading out to Palmer for Christmas when it happened.

Another Quote

The Search for the Giant Squid: the Biology and Mythology of the World’s most Elusive Sea Creature
By Richard Ellis

“No one has seen a giant squid feeding – in fact, no one has ever seen a healthy giant squid do anything at all – so until someone sees Architeuthis chasing something, the debate about its speed and strength will remain unresolved. Frederick Aldrich, probably the giant squid’s most devoted advocate, assumed that Architeuthis is a powerful, aggressive animal, which at least in one instance was able to plow a great furrow in beach gravel before it expired. Precisely how the giant squid hunts – of what it eats, for that matter – is not known, but Aldrich believed that its prey consists mostly of sharks, rays, and skates; not the diet of a weak hunter.”

Yet Another Great Read

I’ve finished the Whaling book and am now reading about the Giant Squid – a logical transition, since most of what we know about the Giant Squid comes from our whaling experiences.

The Search for the Giant Squid: the Biology and Mythology of the World’s most Elusive Sea Creature
By Richard Ellis

“Deep-water animals, whether fishes or cephalopods, usually have larger eyes than their shallow-water counterparts. Since Architeuthis has the largest eyes of any animal on earth, it follows that it must use these eyes to see where there is limited light. It does not follow, however, that the eyes are large simply because the squid is large. The sperm whale, which can reach approximately the sam length as the giant squid and, at least on some occasions, frequents the same depths, has an eye about 2½ inches in diameter, not much larger than the eye of a cow. The eyes of a giant squid can be as much as 15 inches in diameter, larger than an automobile hubcap. The eye of a blue whale, the largest animal in history, gets to be about 7 inches across.”

Breakfast with the Stars

Sounds like a new reality show for television, doesn’t it. But no, it’s not a make-believe situation staged for our viewing pleasure – this really is for real, and actually happened. I know, because it happened to me this weekend!

There we were, innocently eating our breakfast at a local diner, when who should walk in the door and sit down right beside me at the bar?

Hobo Jim, that’s who!

Oh, be still my beating heart.

Sigh…

No, really. I do love Hobo Jim. My whole family has been known to follow him around from city to city just to listen to him sing. He plays a mean guitar, let me tell you. And as an added bonus: he wears a very fine pair of cowboy boots.

Those of you who know me well, know that I have a definite soft spot for cowboy boots.

We got to talking and I happened to mention to him that we’d followed him around in the past.

“So, you’re a stalker, then?” he asked.

“Yes!” I grinned and said.

Nonetheless, he went back out to his truck and got me a copy of his newest CD! How cool is that?

Rob’s favorite song: Fishing for Chickens

Update on Things

Well, a lot has happened lately that I just haven’t gotten around to writing about – so once again you’re going to get it all in one lump sum. While that is probably not the best way to deal with things, and certainly doesn’t give me much of an opportunity to stretch my writing muscles in any creative sort of way, it does keep you up to date at least. I have dreams of keeping this thing current on a daily basis, but so far that doesn’t seem to cross the border into reality very much. Oh well, I’ll keep on dreaming and maybe someday it will be an actuality!

Cat Sitting

I had two jobs recently in my pet sitting endeavor: one was for my Sister-by-Choice as she and her family went outside to visit her mother over the Thanksgiving holiday. I looked after her house and her cat Tommy. The other was for a gentleman named Craig who had to leave unexpectedly for a short 5-day trip. He had multiple cats, both inside and outside. Both jobs were very easy to handle, and they even overlapped each other by a few days. I’m fairly certain I’ll be hearing from Craig again, as he mentioned that he would like to be able to leave more frequently so was glad to find a good babysitter. And let me assure you, these cats are most definitely his babies! I don’t think it’s possible to spoil a cat any more than he does.

Giving Blood

After a year’s waiting period due to my trip to Africa, I am finally eligible to give blood again! So, at the first opportunity I had I ran down to the Blood Bank and signed up to give. But wouldn’t you know it = they turned me away! Apparently you can’t give blood when you have a cold. They told me I had to wait until I had at minimum 3 days of feeling 100% before coming back in. So I waited the required 3 days and then tried it again – and this time they took my pint. I had no problems during the procedure; the lady taking my blood that day was very good at it, and I was still well hydrated due to the week-long cold I’d had earlier. Afterwards, however, was a completely different story. By the time I got home I was completely wiped out. All I could do was lie on the couch and watch movies with my girls. Later that night when I took the bandage off I found that I was still bleeding at the injection site, which was worrisome to say the least. It was still bleeding when I woke up the next day even! I’m all better now, but am wondering if maybe I didn’t wait long enough, or maybe it’s due to all the weight I’ve lost? Heck, it might even be the stress… who knows?

Thanksgiving Dinner

Dinner this year was at my sister Noel’s house. She had just a few people over, so it was a nice quiet afternoon. She is a most excellent cook, too: I got to have grilled Portobello mushrooms instead of the turkey that everybody else ate! We normally have a huge family gathering but this year had decided to keep things simple and not go to such extremes with the holidays. I’m hoping that Christmas will be the same way. I love my family dearly, but 30+ people is a lot to deal with even when you’re related to them.

Breakfast at Mother’s House

The day after Thanksgiving Mother invited Rob and I over for breakfast. She invited the whole family, actually – not just the two of us. But we were quite happy to go as she was offering up her famous Sourdough Pancakes! We arrived just in time to get the last of the pancakes, and got to visit with my sister Kelly and her family (husband Danny, daughter Tara, sons Gareth and Robin, and grandson Corbin) for a while before they left. Then we sat and visited with Mother for another hour or so before taking off ourselves. It was a good day!

Dinner with Katy

My niece Katy came home for the holiday: she’s going to school down in Seattle this semester. She and I got to have dinner together the day she had to go back outside, which was really cool. Her father dropped her off at the restaurant (The Fireside Grille) and I dropped her off at the airport later that night. In between times, we chatted about this and that – and she got to meet Rob finally, too.

Lorna’s Art Show

My friend Lorna has some of her paintings up at Terra Bella’s this month; the opening reception was this past Friday evening. She had quite a lot of people show up, too, and even sold two of her pieces. Terra Bella’s put out a nice spread of munchies for people: smoked salmon with crème cheese and onions on crackers, hummus with chips or cucumbers, and chocolate chip cookies. I highly recommend you go see her paintings if you’re in the neighborhood – and while you’re at it, you can go to The Perfect Cup and see some of her photography hanging up on their walls too.

Christmas Party

Lorna invited me to be her guest at her company’s Christmas Party the other day, so I borrowed an outfit from my sister (YAY! I fit my sister’s clothing again!) and got all dolled up for the affair. It was fun: we each had a couple glasses of wine and watched all the people dancing. It was a catered event, of course, but I avoided all food so that I wouldn’t get sick like I usually do at these things. Lorna ate, though, and said it was quite good. She got her 5-year service award and had to go stand up on stage even. I’m wondering if my company will do anything for Christmas? The zoo’s party is coming up soon but I don’t know if I’ll be going or not. We’ll see…

Christmas Cards

I got my Christmas Letter done finally and all my cards addressed, stamped, and mailed out this weekend. This year I sent cards to:
     Alaska:  Anchorage, Palmer, Eagle River, Homer, Seldovia, Fairbanks
     USA:  AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IA, IL, KY, MD, ME, MI, MN, NE, NY, OR, TN, TX, WA
     The World:  Australia, Finland, Kenya, England

Who Knew?

The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea
By: Philip Hoare

“While I read illicit American comics under my bedclothes, fantasizing about a world of sleek-suited superheroes, new processes – sulphurization, saponification, distillation – extended and rationalized the use of whales in lubricants, paint, varnish, ink, detergent, leather and food: hydrogenation made whale oil palatable, sanitizing its taste. Efficiency ruled, in place of the early whaler’s waste. Whale liver yielded vitamin A, and whale glands were used to make insulin for diabetics and corticotrophin to treat arthritis. Nineteenth-century trains had run on whale oil; now streamlined cars with sleek chrome fins used brake fluid made from the same stuff. Victorian New Englanders had relished doughnuts fried in whale oil; now children with crew-cuts and stripy T-shirts licked ice cream made from it. Their bright shiny faces were washed with whale soap, and having tied their shoelaces of whale skin, they marched off to school, past gardens nurtured on whale fertilizer, to draw with whale crayons while Mum sewed their clothes on a machine lubricated with whale oil, and fed the family cat on whale meat. In her office, big sister transcribed memos on typewriter ribbon charged with whale ink, pausing to apply her whale lipstick. Later that afternoon, she would play a game of tennis while a whale-strung racquet. Back home, daddy lined up the family to take their photograph on film glazed with whale gelatin."

I’m guessing this is set in the early 70’s, since Britain began to ban whale products in 1973. Still, I had no idea so many products were made from the Whale? And the number of whales killed each year is staggering. It's amazing that any managed to survive at all.

I highly recommend this book, although it's not exactly an easy read.

Phone Service

I got my cell phone all hooked up with ACS; not because I particularly prefer ACS over any other service but because that’s who my brother told me to use when he gave me the cell phone. It wasn’t until later on that I thought about going with GCI, which is where I get all my other service from (internet, cable, and land line).

Wouldn’t it make more sense to keep it all bundled together, rather than have multiple bills coming in from all over the place?

So, I went to GCI and asked them about it. The girl behind the counter went thru all the options available, and showed me that the costs would be quite comparable – even though at first glance it looked like it would cost more.

But then I showed her my phone; that’s when she told me that GCI doesn’t work with that particular model and I would have to get a new phone. I don’t want a new phone! I just got this one, and I’m still getting used to it.

So that took care of that whole idea.

My next question to her was to see how much it would save me if I canceled my land line service: no point in having two phones. After going over all those options, we discovered that it would actually cost me more to drop it: when you bundle everything together like I have it now, it saves you quite a bit.

So, the end result is that nothing has changed. I still have my cell phone service with ACS and my cable/internet/land line service with GCI.

I do need to find out how much it would cost to have my cell phone service upgraded to include long distance phone calls, though. Wouldn’t you know it: the one number I call most often is an out-of-state number.

Massage

I have been feeling rather like a truck has run over me repeatedly lately, so thought perhaps a massage would help. Thankfully, I happen to know a very good masseuse: my best friend’s sister!

Her name is Rhoda Zanella, and she owns Heart in Heart In Hand Massage Therapy (907-746-7755)

She normally operates out of a chiropractor’s office in Wasilla, but also has an office in her house. Her rates are quite agreeable: $60 for 1 hour, $90 for 1.5 hours, and $120 for 2 hours. She can even deal with insurance, if you go thru the chiropractor first. Thankfully she was able to fit me in, so I headed out there this weekend.

Her house, by the way, is a gorgeous log cabin that she designed herself and helped her brothers build. I arrived just in time to join her for some salmon with fresh veggies. How could I say no to that? We chatted for a while and got caught up on the goings on of both our families, then went downstairs to get to business.

It has been quite a while since my last massage. I used to get them all the time, but with the weight gain and the lack of insurance, I stopped. Now that I’m skinny again I felt comfortable with the idea, even though my insurance won’t pay like it used to do.

I am so glad I went! Rhoda is very good at it, and I so needed it. I do have to admit that it hurt, however. I had a lot of knots that needed to be worked out, to say nothing of the rib that keeps popping out of joint.

But it’s a good kind of pain! And I really do feel a whole lot better now.

The Dog In Front Of Me

The other day, as I was on my way to work, I saw the most horrible thing.

It was on the day that the roads were so icy, people were driving slowly (appropriate for the conditions, but still slow) and were being extra-carful. The car in front of me had made it thru the light, but I had not; so I sat there and watched him make his way up the road.

Not 50 feet from the intersection, a dog ran out into the road. Its owner had just opened the door of their house. The dog ran straight for the road, and of course was run over. The car did everything it could to avoid the dog, but with road conditions being what they were it was impossible to do much.

It truly was a horrible sight to see: it actually took me a few seconds to realize it was a dog I had just seen run into the car. I thought for a moment that it was a coat (of all things).

The car stopped immediately, and two people got out. The owner of the dog met them and went to see what could be done, but the dog was most definitely gone. Nothing could have lived thru what I had seen.

I just sat there at the light with my hands held over my eyes, peeking thru the fingers at the scene in front of me.

Shudder!

To make matters worse, the day after that I saw 5 or 6 ravens at that very spot – so you know there was enough residual “stuff” left behind to occupy that many birds.

Again, I say - Shudder!

Mid Life Crisis

The other day my sister accused me of having a mid-life crisis. This was just seconds after I showed her my new tattoo, so it’s not entirely out of the question.

But it really made me think: am I going thru that mid-life crisis? I have done a lot of rather impulsive things lately. Things you normally would not expect from me, such as:
     I’ve lost over 40 pounds
     I’ve pierced my eye brow
     I’ve had a black widow spider tattooed on my arm
     I’ve climbed both the North Face of Mr. Alyeska and Flat Top
     Heck, I even went and got a cell phone

But honestly, I don’t think that’s what I’m doing. I think I’m just trying to counter a lot of the negative stuff that’s been going on with me lately. Things I haven’t had much choice in, but have had to endure anyway. And no, I’m not going to list them all out.

So if you do have to call it a Mid Life Crisis, then I say, “I’ve Earned It and I’m Going to Enjoy It!”

Another Earthwatch Presentation

I was invited by the Eagle River Nature Center to give another presentation last weekend. They requested that I talk about my travels to Mongolia and focus on the Mongolian Ger (what we know as a yurt) since they have one up at the center that people could go look at after the talk. I was more than happy to accept their invitation; I love that place and am happy to help support it. I am also always happy to talk about Earthwatch.

The drive up there is just spectacularly gorgeous. If you’ve never been there, I highly recommend you go. Just make sure you have your winter tires on: it’s about 10 miles up in the mountains past the Wal-Mart in Eagle River.

Be sure to bring your hiking boots, too, as they have lots of really nice trails you can explore – from a short half mile stroll to a more adventurous 6 mile loop. If you’re the out-doorsy type, you might even be interested in the 3-day hike thru Crow Creek Pass. I haven’t done that one, but I’m sure it’s wonderful too.

My presentation was set for 2:00, but I got there early to ensure that I had time to set up the projector and have everything out and ready. I wasn’t sure what to expect in the way of an audience since it is such a drive in winter conditions. I was pleasantly surprised to see around 20 people sitting there listening to me! That’s probably one of my better attendance records for that place.

One of the guys from work even showed up. Patrick is very interested in the sciences, and I think I managed to hook him into the whole Earthwatch thing: he’s seriously considering going on the Mongolian Expedition himself someday. I brought some more information to work the next day to show him (and to set the hook more firmly).

I really hope he goes; I think he’d be perfect for it!

Zoo Boo 2010

It’s been a while, but I should at least mention the fact that I worked at the zoo on Halloween as they celebrated with their annual Zoo Boo event.

We set up at least 14 stations all over zoo grounds where kids could go trick-or-treating and have fun that night. We gave away tons of candy and other things like pencils, postcards, and glow sticks. We even had a big bon fire going to warm up at.

I don’t have the final numbers yet, but I’d estimate somewhere around 2,500 people came thru the zoo that night in just 3 hours. It was a madhouse!

Thankfully, the weather wasn’t as bad as it usually is at this time of year. I remember zoo boos in the past being held at 45 below! It was a more manageable 35 degrees this year. I had the added advantage of being assigned to the only station that was indoors at the Discovery Center! It pays to be the Volunteer Coordinator’s friend, I guess. I certainly wasn’t complaining.

Among other attractions that night was the Costume Contest: being inside at the Discovery Center meant that of course I wasn’t able to witness it first hand, but I did get to see a lot of the costumes as they passed thru my station – and I’m just glad I didn’t have to be one of the judges!

There were some really cool costumes; lots of Fairy Princesses and Ninja Fighters this year, with more than a few animals like a Giraffe and a Horse (that was my particular favorite). There was even a Robbie the Robot, although I’m dating myself by identifying it, I think.

It was a fun night for everybody, but I must say that many people really wore me out. I came home afterwards and snuggled up with my girls on the couch with a quiet movie and a cup of tea, and called it good.

I Finally Did It!

I have lived here in Anchorage for well over 15 years, and have never actually made it to the top of Flat Top.

This weekend, I finally did it!

According to the books Flat Top has an elevation of 3,510 feet, but trail head is most of the way up the mountain so the actual gain in elevation is only 1,350 feet. Still, it’s a very steep trail – and it was completely covered in snow and ice, which just made it that much more difficult.

I had my friend Noah pick me up so we would only have to pay one parking fee. Plus, my car doesn’t have its winter tires on yet, so I really didn’t know if it would make it all the way up there. As it turned out, his car didn’t have any on either – but he made it just fine.

We both dressed lightly, knowing that even though it was really cold at the trail head we would quickly heat up on the climb. I didn’t have the right gloves on, though. Those little cloth gloves I like so much really are not made to handle snow and ice: and I did have to actually handle it, too, pretty much the entire way back down was on my butt and hands.

Noah is a retired paratrooper with the army, and an avid mountain biker as well – so this was a piece of cake for him. He very gallantly went at my pace however, and even kicked toe-holds in the worst spots so that I could more easily make my way up. He made sure I stopped occasionally to ensure that my head didn’t explode from the exertion (well, that what it feels like it’s trying to do sometimes – not that it actually would explode) and kept handing me the water hose to keep hydrated.

With surprising ease, we actually made it to the very tippy-top!

First thing I did was text my Mother: I’m standing at the very top of Flat Top! The next thing I did was eat a protein bar and walk around the top and take in the view. OMG! What a view… unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me so couldn’t take any photos. Noah had his cell phone with him so got a quick shot of the two of us. Hopefully I can get him to send me a copy of it.

Then we had to make our way back down the mountain. That was a lot harder as the slope is really, really steep when you’re looking down at it instead of up at it. I developed a technique for some of the worst spots of crouching down and using my feet as sleds with my hands to help guide my descent. It worked really well, except that the snow and ice still managed to find its way inside my pants to thoroughly freeze my butt.

The entire climb took a lot longer than I expected it to. We started out at 11:00 and didn’t get home till around 4:00. I had planned on heading out at 10:00 and being home by 1:30 ish…

Oh my gosh, am I a sore puppy today. Rob laughed at me all day yesterday as we walked around town: every time we came to some stairs (which of course there were a lot of them) I would very gingerly easy my way down, biting my tongue the entire time so as to not groan.

But it’s a good kind of sore – the kind that reminds me at every step that I JUST CLIMBED FLAT TOP!

Hiking with Guns

Rob and I went out hunting this past weekend. It was more a hike with guns, truth to tell, but we had fun anyway. He’s been dealing with some nasty legal issues and just really wanted to “kill something” so we were on the lookout for “anything that hops or flutters.” Of course, we didn’t see a thing. Or rather, we did see it, we just didn’t shoot it.

We drove out way past Sutton to the old Gun Site Mountain Lodge, then turned off on a little side road to park the car and get out onto the trails. We had planned to eat lunch at the lodge but found it to be shut down, so our hike ended up being on an empty stomach. Neither of us had had anything more than half a pancake for breakfast that morning.

I say half a pancake: we had gone to Gwennies for breakfast on our way out of town. Rob had been raving about their sourdough pancakes on the way there, so we were both really looking forward to eating them. They turned out to be just awful = not even fully cooked and practically inedible. Oh well…

By the time we got to Gun Site Mountain it was well past lunch time and both of us were quite hungry. Thankfully, I had some power bars in my backpack: we each downed one of those and half a bottle of water, and we were on our way.

We walked for an hour or so through the frozen swamp till we found the perfect dead tree, then got busy with target shooting. Rob brought his .45 and his .9, while I had my .22 pistol. I hadn’t ever shot my pistol, so got a lesson beforehand. It’s a nice little gun, I must say. Old, too: my grandfather used to shoot it back in his Mexico days. Rob’s two pistols are much newer, and much bigger too. We had fun shooting off several rounds with each gun and completely obliterating the rotten stump we were aiming at.

Eventually we meandered back to the car, taking our time and enjoying the scenery. We drove down to the King Mountain Lodge for a late lunch/early dinner, then headed on back home.

Pumpkin Carving Party

I threw another Pumpkin Carving Party this last weekend. I’ve had them in the past and do enjoy having everybody over. Honestly, though – the real reason I have them is so that I can get everybody’s seeds to toast! I do love roasted pumpkin seeds…

This year, hardly anybody showed up so I didn’t get very many. But we had fun anyway. Mother and Heather both came in from Palmer, my hiking buddy Tina (we went to high school together, way back when) showed up, and Rob came as well.

Yes, that Rob. We’re still friends, even if we’re not dating.

Anyway, Mother brought 4 little squash thingies (what is the plural form of squash, anyway?), while Heather, Tina, and Rob each had nice big pumpkins. Heather and Tina each chose rather intricate patterns from the book Tina had, while Mother and Rob each carved free-style. All ended up with very cool jack-o-lanterns!

And of course, we had food. Can’t have a party without food! Mother made a big pot of chili with cheese and sour cream on the side. Tina brought a big veggie tray with ranch dressing to dip into. I had Hot Spiced Cider on the stove with some smoked salmon dip & little round bread pieces. Rob brought some rum to add to the cider even!

The cats even had fun, helping everybody with their carving and making sure we were all behaving properly.

Monday Night Dinner

I’ve been meeting my niece Lauren for dinner each Monday night these past few weeks. She’s back at UAA attending college again this semester, and this is my way of keeping tabs on her.

It’s been fun. We try to go to a new place each week, but since both of us are somewhat limited in funds, they have to be cheap places to eat. I also like to stick to this neighborhood so that Lauren might be able to ride her bike to any of the places we try later on, should she feel like getting a bite to eat on her own one day. We sit and chat about her school, go over her homework, study for exams, and catch up on each other’s goings-on.

I have a plan for keeping our spending to a minimum: with part of my dividend this year I am going to buy one of those big coupon books (The Northern Lights Coupon Book) that gives a bunch of two-for-one deals on restaurants all over town. Then, Lauren has said that she can contribute $5 for each meal while I can pick up the remainder of the tab.

The only problem with my plan is that the darned book hasn’t been published yet! Lauren’s semester at school will be over by the time it finally hits the shelf, knowing my luck. I’ll probably still get one anyway, in hopes that she’s able to continue with her schooling on into next semester.

Another Good Book

Here’s an excerpt from the book I’m currently reading. It’s quite good; I highly recommend it.


The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea
     By Philip Hoare

“Whales existed before man, but they have been known to us only for two or three generations: until the invention of underwater photography, we hardly knew what they looked like. It was only after we had seen the Earth from orbiting spaceships that the first free-swimming whale was photographed underwater. The first underwater film of sperm whales, off the coast of Sri Lanka, was not taken until 1984; our images of these huge placid creatures moving gracefully and silently thought the ocean are more recent than the use of personal computers. We knew what the world looked like before we knew what the whale looked like. Even now there are beaked whales, or ziphiids, known only from bones washed up on remote beaches – esoteric, deep-see animals with strange markings which biologists have never seen alive or dead, so little studied that their status is “data deficient’. New cetaceans are still being identified in the twenty-first century, and we would do well to remember that the world harbours animals bigger than ourselves which we have yet to see; that not everything is cataloged and claimed and digitized. That in the oceans great whales swim unnamed by man.”

Jury Duty

I got called for Jury Duty this week. Actually I got called for three different Jury Duties, but since I can only be in one place at a time they excused me from two of them. The one I ended up with was to serve as a petit juror for the Alaska Court System on a Criminal Case.

Free parking was provided for everybody called to serve but there was some confusion as the parking garage normally used by the court house is undergoing reconstruction at the moment, so they had to reroute everybody to different locations. Even though the instructions were quite clear as to where we go and how we handle the parking fees, there were still a lot of people who didn’t understand or got confused about what to do. I’m sure it caused no end of headaches to the poor clerks in the jury office.

Once I made it to the actual court house, I had to go through a security check. They had told us ahead of time not to bring any knives, guns, or weapons of any kind – but I forgot that I had my pocket knife in my purse so got flagged by the x-ray machine and was sent back outside to dispose of the knife. Rather than throw it away (it has a nice abalone shell handle and was my grandfather’s from way back when) I stashed it in a planter on the front lawn in hopes that it would still be there when my day was over. Thankfully, it was!

In the waiting room, I joined a throng of roughly 300 others waiting to see what the day would bring. We all filled out the required paperwork, listened to the instructions given by the clerk on duty that day, and settled in for the long haul. I brought along my Kindle and some tea, so kept myself occupied well enough, but it wasn’t too long before my name got called and I was sent up to a courtroom to begin the jury selection process.

I was joined by 49 other people, so the room was rather crowded. The Judge welcomed us and introduced the Defendant and his lawyer as well as the State counsel and the police representative charging the Defendant. He explained the process that was about to take place and had immediately excused 5 people from the case. I assume it was because of something they’d written in the paperwork we all filled out down in the waiting room. Then the clerk randomly chose the first 14 people and the selection process began.

They had a microphone that was passed on to whoever was called on to speak so that we all could hear. Each person was asked the same 9 questions to begin with:

     What is your name?
     What is your occupation?
     What is your spouse/children’s name and occupation?
     Where were you born and raised?
     What are your hobbies?
     Have you ever been in court?
     Have you ever served on a jury?
     Is there any reason you should not serve on this jury?
     Do you know any of the participants of this court case?

After each person answered these questions and the judge excused any who didn’t qualify, the lawyers each got up and asked their own questions. The State Counselor was first up since the burden of proof fell on him (the defendant is of course presumed innocent until proven guilty). He was easy going and not at all boring to listen to. His questions were voiced in a hypothetical voice and were easy to understand and therefore easy to answer.

That was not the case with the Defense Counselor: man, he was awful. He kept asking the same question 3-5 times to each person. They would answer him, and he’d say “OK, but do you think…” and then he’d ask that very same question again. They’d answer him again, and he’d say “OK, but do you think…” and then he’d ask that very same question again. It just kept going on and on, to the point where it was agonizingly ridiculous. If I were the Defendant, I’d be very worried.

Throughout all this questioning, we began to see what the case was about, and it was very disturbing to say the least. The Defendant was charged with Attempted Sexual Abuse against a Minor. It was even more disturbing when you take into account the Defendant was perhaps 45-50 years old and the minor in question was only 3.

Because the Defendant’s counsel was taking so long asking the same damn question 5 times for each potential juror (why oh why didn’t the judge put a stop to it?) the selection process took two days. Two days of agony sitting on an uncomfortable bench, listening to the same question over and over again, and waiting for my turn to be called up to the stand.

Finally I did get called and was excused almost immediately. I can’t say I’m sorry about that although this would have been the perfect time for me to serve on a case. Court is held only from 8:30 to 1:30, and since I work part time in the afternoons I wouldn’t have had to miss any hours.

I still have to call in for the remainder of the week, but the odds of having to go back to court are pretty slim. I think I just may be done for the year!

Doctors, Doctors, and More Doctors

October is the month for medical appointments, apparently. By the time this is over, I will be sick and tired of doctors I’m sure. But since I’ve been without for way too many years and it just kicked in on the first of this month, I’m having pretty much everything taken care of.

Tuesday was for the general practitioner. I had a physical, a pap smear, and a consultation on other problems. She gave me a prescription for anti-depressants (I am so tired of crying all the time, I just want this to be over and done with), a referral for counseling, marching orders for a mammogram, and instructions for taking supplements like Vitamin D and Iron. She also tested for just about every STD that’s out there, but that’s a whole other story and one I don’t really want to go into at this time.

Wednesday was for the dentist. My insurance only covers a cleaning at this point in time, so that’s what I had done. Once I’ve been on the dental plan for over 6 months I can get the rest of the work done: I need a crown and have a filling that needs fixed.

Thursday was for the eye exam. I don’t have insurance for vision but I do have my yearly PFD that just got deposited into my bank account today, so I’m using that to pay for it. I went to Lens Crafters at the mall and had an eye exam and bought my glasses that same day. Wouldn’t you know it, I need bi-focals. But hopefully, once my eyes get used to it, I will be able to see so much better and can possibly even get back into my card-making crafts. They were having one of their best-ever sales, so I ended up with almost $200.00 off.

Monday will be my first counseling session, assuming that I’m not called in for Jury Duty that is. I have my orders to call in that week, but my case number is rather high so I’m hoping that I won’t get picked for a few days at least. I really need to go to counseling way more than I need to go to Jury Duty.

The following Saturday is my appointment for the mammogram. The Imaging Center is celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) by offering free exams, so I am taking full advantage of that. One less thing for my insurance to have to deal with.

After that, we’ll just see how things fall out with all these appointments. I may or may not be done with most of it by then, and will just have to deal with the HRA plan at work to see how much I can get reimbursed after the insurance pays for their portion.

Black Widow Spider

Back in my college days (okay, it wasn’t really college: it was more like a technical school) I was bit by a black widow spider. Not a real pleasant experience, let me assure you. The anti-venom was even worse. I sported a dead spot about the size of a quarter for 6 months afterwards; yet now, years later, I have nothing to show for it. No scar, nothing.

So, I decided I should get a tattoo put on the spot where she bit me. It took me several years to find the perfect picture, but I finally did. Then I had to wait several months more for an appointment with the tattoo artist.

But now, finally – after all this time – I have a beautiful Black Widow Spider on my arm! I’m pretty excited about that, truth to tell.

Having a tattoo put on my arm wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It wasn’t painful at all, except towards the end when he filled in the body. I do have to admit, however, that 5 minutes in to the process my body started to go into full panic mode. He had to stop and go get me an ice pack for my neck and some apple juice to bring my blood sugar levels back up. I really thought I was going to pass out there for a few minutes, but managed to keep control of things.

20 minutes later, and he went back to work. I was fine for the rest of the appointment, and didn’t even have to wait on the chair for a while afterwards like I did for the piercing.

For the next week I am to wash it gently with mild soap and hot water and then rub Vitamin A&D Ointment on, it three times a day. I am to rub unscented lotion on it three times a day the week following that. The scabbing should be gone within 7-10 days, but I don’t even see any scabs yet – so maybe I won’t have any. It’s not that big of a tattoo, after all.

But it’s my tattoo, and I love it.

Girls Are Like Apples

“Girls are like apples...the best ones are at the top of the trees. The boys don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples that are on the ground that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples at the top think there is something wrong with them, when, in reality, they are amazing.”


I found that quote on a website where girls post questions for other girls to respond to. I copied it and sent it out to a bunch of people I know to get their reaction.

I found it interesting that almost all of the women thought of themselves as the apples on the top of the tree; not one of them associated with the apples on the ground.

That only makes sense, of course - no one wants to think of themselves as less than perfect.

Yet, to be honest, that’s exactly what I first thought : that I was one of the apples on the ground, good looking enough to catch some man’s attention at first, but not good enough to hold it so they toss me aside and go for the next one they see.

I also found it interesting that the one man who responded told me that men aren’t even looking for apples in the first place. They want “a real peach” not a “sour apple.”

Food for thought…

Diamonds

I was at the mall the other day, for my routine Letter-Writing session at The Perfect Cup. I had time on my hands so I stopped in at one of those jeweler chain stores to have my ring cleaned and inspected. After looking at it for a while, the girl behind the counter informed me that I needed to have the prongs replaced because the existing ones were wearing thin.

I went back a week later to have them do just that, having finally figured out how I was going to pay for it. This time a different girl helped me: she cleaned the ring again, filled out the paperwork, and inspected in thoroughly under a microscope.

She ended up finding a crack in the diamond, so had to call her manager to see what to do about that. They told her that they would not work on it because of the liability issues, so she recommended that I take it to a local jeweler to see what they said about it. So, just today I took a drive out to Michael’s Jewelry on 36th and Arctic.

Boy, am I glad I did.

They told me that not only were the prongs on the ring just fine, there was nothing wrong with the diamond at all. No crack, no chance of it falling apart on my finger, and no reason to spend any money on it.

They spiffed it up for me, double checked everything, and even gave me a rough appraisal on it. Come to find out the ring is worth at least $3,000.00!!!

Wow.

My New Roommate

My new roommate moved in this weekend. So far, she’s a very nice person. I think it will work out well this time around.

But boy, does she have a lot of stuff. I’m feeling very “invaded” at the moment; almost like she’s taking over the house. This will certainly take some getting used to. The kitchen is crammed to overflowing with her stuff – she likes to cook, so came with all her pots, pans, dishes, and supplies. I’ve given her a shelf downstairs in the garage, and it is full to overflowing as well. I lost track of how many boxes of stuff went upstairs to her room: I have no idea how she’s organizing everything.

At least the girls like her. They’ve been supervising the move to make sure it’s all inspected and kosher. They both slept like logs last night, too. They’re probably still sleeping, come to think of it.

Before she arrived, I had to get some furniture moved out of the room upstairs, and that’s not an easy thing to do when you have a bad back. Normally, I would ask Rob to help – but he’s made himself somewhat less than available lately, so I was rather in a quandary. Thankfully, one of the guys from work came to my rescue – for which I am very grateful. He had the bed taken apart and moved in no time.

As I left the house for my routine Sunday lunch at The Perfect Cup, she was actually heading out the door to bring ANOTHER moving van full of stuff!

Good lord, help me…

Who Knew!

Quite a few people complained about my decision to not send out Blog Update notices any more – so I changed tactics and went a different direction. I must admit, I’m surprised at the response I got.

I sent out an email asking people to let me know if they wanted to continue getting the notices – and got Twenty-Two responses.

Twenty-Two people actually read my blog!

Who knew my life would be that interesting, because from where I sit – it ain’t that grand.

But I am touched. Thank you all for caring enough to slog thru all the boring day-to-day stuff just so that once in a while you can glean something worth reading.

Pet Sitter for Hire

I put an ad out on Craig’s List the other day selling myself as a Pet Sitter for Hire. I figured it was an easy way to make some extra money now that I have both the time and the need for it. It wasn’t 3 days and I got my first job!

I took care of the nicest dog: she was a 7-year old German Shepherd – Husky mix named Ojos Locos (means: Crazy Eye in Mexican). Her human had to leave the statue unexpectedly, so needed somebody to walk the dog just for two days until a friend could take over.

It wasn’t the best job ever: I am more of a cat person, after all. And it was only two days worth. But still, she lived close to Taku Lake so we got to go down to the park twice each day for our exercise.

That’s quite a busy little park, by the way. The first day we were there we saw two kayaks in the lake, a bunch of ducks in the lake, a juvenile eagle fishing in the lake, and an elderly (rather fat) black lab fetching a stick his human kept throwing into the lake. Not to mention all the other dogs making the circuit around the lake with us.

Ojos did so well, too. She’s very polite and quiet: hardly ever said a word or pulled at her leash. The only time she ever made a fuss was when a squirrel ran past us. Apparently we hate squirrels. With a passion. Even the moose on the side of the trail didn’t elicit that much of a response!

Thick As Pea Soup

Anchorage has been blanketed in a thick fog for the past few days. Thick enough to have closed down the airport even. I look out my window and can’t see my next door neighbor. It’s like living in the Twilight Zone or something.

Very strange.

It does some very strange things to sound, also. The other night I was driving home from the movie theatre when all of the sudden I heard this very loud sound coming at me from every direction at once. I thought maybe my car was coming apart as I drove it. Obviously it wasn’t, or I wouldn’t have made it home in one piece to write this post. But it actually took me a while to realize what was going on.

Sadly, a woman was found dead this morning of a car accident. They believe that, while speed certainly was a contributing factor to her death, the fog also had something to do with it. Perhaps she just didn’t see the bend in the road until it was too late. She leaves behind twin 14-year olds.

My Life, So Far

My Job:

My hours have been cut back to just 20 hours a week due to the winter season. This means that I go in to work each day at 1:00 and leave at 5:00. This also means that any other job I may find will have to (hopefully) accommodate that schedule: not very likely. I am looking for a part-time job somewhere else to supplement my income, but might actually have to quit so I can go back on unemployment because I just can’t afford not to.

My House:

While I am so very thankful to have not had a roommate these past few weeks (I simply don’t think I could have dealt with one, what with all the emotional turmoil going on) I have once again put an ad out for another one. I need that extra income if I am to continue to make my house payments. I had hoped I could sneak by without on entirely, but at least I had this much of a break.

My Heartache:

I have learned a thing or two during all of this. One: each person who has a broken heart (and I know several at the moment) wants to believe that their pain is the worst ever, and that no other person on the planet has hurt as much as they do. They don’t want to hear about your own heartache, and really don’t want to hear that they need to “just get over it” and “move on”. Two: well… shoot… I can’t remember number two. I’m sure it was very interesting and thought-provoking. Maybe if I stew on it a little while, it will come back to me.

My House Chores:

I’m not getting a red door after all. I don’t have the tools or the know-how, nor do I have the strength to do it myself – and the one who was to have helped me has moved on. So, I returned the paint and got refunded the whole $8.00 and am just thankful that at the very least I did get my peephole installed. I did manage to finish up the garage door by myself but have given up on the roof and gutters. They will just have to wait till later: I simply don’t have the mental strength to worry about them at the moment.

My Blog:

I’m not going to send out notices any more for the updates on this thing. Those of you who are interested know where to go by now, and those of you who aren’t interested probably don’t want to keep getting my little nudges anyway.

My Cats:

Djuna has finally come back around to me. She’d been avoiding me like the plague these past few weeks: she really doesn’t like stress. So that means either I’m getting better or she’s getting cold. Probably the latter – I’ve actually had to turn the furnace on a few nights in a row! Thing and Djuna both love to snuggle up in my lap while I watch movies or whatever.

My Weight Loss:

I dug out my old ring the other day to see if it fit: and it did! I haven’t been able to wear it in well over 4-5 years. I’m quite happy about that. I’m still in a size 10 but am still losing weight – soon enough I will be back into an 8 again. That will put me at the size I was when I graduated from high school, and that ain’t bad.

Green Building Council:

I have stepped down as chair of the local chapter. They really needed somebody who could devote more time and attention to their cause than I have been able to lately. I thoroughly enjoyed it while I was up there – but know that they will be just fine without me. I still support the cause, and really wish them the best – but honestly I’m not even in the industry anymore.

Making Cards:

I stopped making cards lately, too. Honestly, I just have no interest in anything at all – but do want to take it up again. I do enjoy making them, and have plenty on hand to work on. I did cancel my monthly kit, however – no point in paying for something I’m not even using. If and when I get back in to it, and work through all the back-log, then I can always sign up again.

Get Over It:

I know this is a lot of negativity here. But honestly – I don’t care. This is how I feel at the moment, and I’m tired of worrying about what other people think. If you don’t like how I feel at the moment, well… too bad.

Back On the Market

My job at the construction company just went into winter-mode; meaning my hours have been cut back to just 20 hours a week. This will be until sometime in March or April, where they will ramp back up to full-time again.

In the meantime, I am back looking for a job. I would like to find a part-time job to simply supplement my income, but if I have to I will accept a full-time position and quit the construction company. If that does happen, I will either get re-hired again by them in the springtime, or simply continue on with whatever job I can find = it all depends on money.

It all boils down to the money.

Speaking of which, I’ve also placed another add for a roommate. I have a furnished bedroom with a private bath to offer for $600.00 a month, if you know of anybody looking for a place to live. I would prefer a female, but that is negotiable.

You know what would really be cool? I would LOVE to get a job down in Antarctica! I would go in a heartbeat… I don’t know what I would do with my house or my girls, but I would go.

Relapse

I feel quite foolish, I have to admit. My emotions got control of me a few days ago, and it wasn’t pretty.

It all started innocently enough. I was reading the paper on-line, just like I always do. I came across an article talking about the body that had been pulled from the Kenai River earlier that day. They didn’t know who it was, but said the man was roughly 40 years of age, and that he was being sent to the coroner’s in Anchorage for identification.

Now, a logical normal person would simply mutter to themselves “How horrible for that man’s family…” and move on to the next article in the paper.

But no – my Emotions immediately started yelling at me “Oh My God! That’s Him! He’s Dead! That’s why he’s not answering his phone! He’s Dead!”

I got myself so worked up about it I had to call my friend Katie to talk me back down to reality. She agreed with my logical side by saying that the odds of it actually being him were so low as to be almost impossible, but then also said that she could not say with 100 percent certainty that it was not him. There was that slim possibility that he had actually gone and drowned himself, either intentionally or accidentally.

She surprised me – twice over – by making a few suggestions.

First, she said I should do a drive-by to assure myself that his truck was in fact parked in his driveway. She did stress that she was only advocating ONE drive-by, and that if I found myself doing another one that it would be a really bad thing. If I should find myself doing yet ANOTHER drive-by I should consider myself a stalker and get professional help immediately.

Then she advised me to call the cops! She said if I explained my situation, and told them that I just had a gut feeling that it was him, they could then assure me that it wasn’t.

Needless to say I did neither of those things. Instead I just waited a day – both to give myself time to find my own way back down to reality, and to see what the next day would bring.

It brought him.

He actually came to my house to drop off the key I’d asked for.

I cried for two hours after he left, but was at the same time so relieved to see him alive and well.

It’s a crazy mixed-up world I’m living in right now.

A Much-Needed Reason to Feel Good About Myself

As mentioned in my previous posting, I have lost a bit of weight recently. While I am actively trying to lose weight, and have been for almost a year now, I do have to admit that these last few weeks have been so horribly stressful: I’m sure that has contributed in a very big way to my reduction in size. Regardless of how I’ve lost it, I am just going to go with the great good feeling of having actually lost over 30 pounds!

To celebrate, I treated myself today. I stopped in at Old Navy and got two new pair of pants – both a size 10. That’s 4 whole sizes smaller than I was a year ago! I only have one more size to lose to achieve my goal size. I am so very happy about that.

I also plan to stop in at Eddie Bauer’s tomorrow. I heard a rumor that they will actually take back ones you’ve worn that are too big and exchange them for ones that do. I’m hoping to prove that rumor true and walk out of there with several nice pair for work.

I also treated myself to a trip to the bookstore today, and got four really good books. Well, I haven’t actually read them yet, so don’t actually know that they’re good - but they at least look like they will be good books, and they all come highly recommended.

He’s just not that into you
     by: Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

Wesley the Owl: the Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and his Girl
     by: Stacey O’Brien

The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea
     by: Philip Hoare

The Windup Girl
     by: Paolo Bacigalupi

Seward By Train

I got to spend the day with my friend Lorna yesterday. She had a companion fare (two for the price of one) on a round-trip ticket on the Alaska Railroad to Seward and back, so we took advantage of that – and saved a nice $119.00 in the process!

It was horribly early, though. Poor Thing did NOT want to get up at 4:30 in the morning. She protested loudly the entire time we were in the bathroom brushing our teeth and combing our hair. I’m fairly certain she went right back to bed the moment I left.

The train left Anchorage at 6:00 and we arrived in Seward around 11:00 – with some very beautiful scenery in between times! Lorna had her camera out, but mine never even left my backpack. Oh well, she took plenty of pictures for the both of us, and much better quality ones to boot!

Once in Seward, we donned our rain gear and started waking. First stop was at the Railway Cantina for a bite to eat. If you’ve never eaten there, I highly recommend it. They serve Burritos and Quesadillas with home-made salsa – and have quite an extensive selection of beer to choose from. Lorna chose the Garlic Quesadilla while I had the Smoked Salmon Quesadilla (minus the cheese).

Once our lunch was consumed we took off for the Seward SeaLife Center, which is always my favorite thing to do in Seward. The seabird exhibit is my favorite: I think we spent most of our time out there with all the birds! We did get to see the entire place, though – and had a good time. She got some really cool photos of the Wolf Eel, a handsome looking fellow if ever there was one.

I need to take a moment here to brag a little bit – I need all the confidence boosting I can get at the moment, so bear with me.

A year ago, I was in Seward about this same time of year with my then-roommate Trish. She and I also went to the Sealife Center, and while there I stepped up onto the scales where you are supposed to compare your own weight with that of the male Steller’s Sea lion, Woody. At that time I am slightly ashamed to admit that I weighed 196 pounds (my worst ever).

Yesterday I again stepped up on the scales and found that I now weigh 165 pounds! Yay!!! This means that I have been steadily losing weight at a rate of an average 2.5 pounds a month, and also means that I will reach my goal weight within roughly 6 months - assuming that I continue losing at the same pace.

And that ain’t bad!

Meanwhile, back in Seward, Lorna and I then walked the coastline back to the harbor and then proceeded to walk up and down each dock to look at all the boats. By the time we’d seen everything there is to see in the harbor, we decided that some fresh handmade Gellato sounded perfect, so stopped in at the Sweet Darlings store and got us a little bowl: I had the Fruit of the Forest flavor (blueberries, raspberries, and some other type of berry that I can’t remember) while Lorna tried the Blood Orange flavor. Both were just scrumptious and were exactly what we needed.

We still had an hour left before our train was due to depart, so we headed over to the bar for a drink and a game of Cribbage. I don’t have a cribbage board, so we just kept score on paper. I need to get me one, actually – must put that down on my list for tomorrow’s shopping spree.

The ride home on the train was just as nice as the morning’s trip had been. Lorna and I talked the entire way back: playing cards, drinking tea, and laughing. It was such a nice reprieve from my own personal troubles.

I got home and put myself to bed by 11:30 that night, tired but happy.

Sigh…

It’s been a long hard week, but with a lot of help from my friends, I’ve actually managed to get thru it. Now the real hard part begins: getting through the weekend.

Honestly, I could not have done as well as I have without my friends. I really want to thank each and every one of you: your help and support has been invaluable, as well as your patience and forgiveness. I do realize that my sob story is getting old, and I am doing everything I can to contain it – or at the very least be able to manage on my own.

The tears still hit me at odd times, showing up unexpectedly and completely unwelcomed. It’s rather odd, actually. One day I’m fine: I can talk about it and analyze things rationally and logically – then the next day just the mere mention of his name can send me over the edge again. Trust me; I can’t wait for that part to be over.

I have lined out a strategy designed to help me make sense of the whole situation, and think it is actually working. It will take time, I’m sure – but eventually maybe someday I’ll actually be able to look at a phone and not think about calling him! Won’t that be wonderful?

I sincerely hope that he is dealing with this as well, and that he isn’t just ignoring it in hopes that it will go away. He has a lot of pain and heartache of his own that needs to be processed and dealt with somehow. Men in general aren’t known for their proclivity to reach out for help; but I think that is what he needs to do. He is obviously not dealing with it well on his own.

If any of you out there knows him, perhaps you can reach out to him? No, that’s meddling - and is exactly the kind of things I’m not supposed to be doing.

It sure is hard to let go…

A Complete 180

I got an email from Rob yesterday stating that he never wants to see or hear from me again.

How’s that for a nice way to wake up in the morning.

Honestly, it took me by complete surprise. I was not expecting that at all. Hindsight being 20/20 and all that - I should have known; but I was blindsided.

He wouldn’t answer his phone, either. He’d hang up when he knew it was me, and eventually turned his phone off. I did finally get to talk to him about 10 hours later. That’s when he told me that his mind is made up and it’s final. I didn’t have a chance to talk at all, hardly.

So.

I bundled all his stuff together and took it over to his house. I just wanted him to tell me to my face, which he did. So I left him with these words:

“Always remember that I am your friend. And I’m so very sorry.”

---

Back at home, I was obviously distressed. I decided to distract myself by taking a walk about the neighborhood. That turned out to be not such a good idea. Apparently somebody saw me: I was crying and walking rather like a zombie not paying any attention to my surroundings. They got concerned: they didn’t recognize me as somebody who lives around here, and since I was obviously not happy they actually called the police!!!

By the time the police found me, I was sitting in my driveway leaning up against my garage just watching the traffic go by. I didn’t want to go back inside because then I’d be sitting and staring at the phone. The police parked two cars at my drive way and came up to talk to me.

Now really: the Police? I’m touched that a complete stranger would be so concerned about my welfare and that the police would take time out of their day to deal with such a trivial matter. But really: the Police?

They were very nice. They asked for my name, birth date, and phone number. They asked if this was my house I was leaning against. They made sure I wasn’t locked out, or that “he” wasn’t still in there (thinking I was perhaps afraid to go back in), asked if I had any friends they could call for me, and then left me with the assurance that I could call them if I needed somebody to talk to.

Really? The police?

Flower Child

It was such a nice day today! The sun was out, the sky was clear blue, the birds were singing, and all the kids were out on their bikes. I would have been on mine, too, except that something I had for lunch wasn’t agreeing with me so I really didn’t feel up to it. A walk around the neighborhood seemed like the perfect compromise.

While out walking, I came across a little girl riding her bike. She was maybe 6 years old, and just a cute as could be. Her bike was bright purple with pink flowers painted on it everywhere; her training wheels were white with pink stripes; and the clothing she had on were just about every color of the rainbow. Added to the whole ensemble was the fact that she had plastic flowers, of all types and sizes, attached to her bike in just about every imaginable place. She looked like a mobile flower arrangement!

She smiled at me as we passed and said, “Hi.”

So I greeted her back, saying “Hello. I like that bike. That is just beautiful.”

She smiled even bigger, and said “Thank You!” and then turned her bike around and went back to her mother.

Such a cutie…

Give Your Old Paint New Life

Give your old paint new life with PaintCare (http://www.paintcare.org/) a new non-profit program based out of Oregon established to manage the reuse, recycling and proper disposal of unused paint. Follow PaintCare's 5-point plan and save money, save the environment, and save storage space:

Buy the right amount

Be a wise consumer and buy only what you need. Check with your local paint dealer for instructions on how to determine the correct volume of paint required for your project. When you purchase the right volume of paint, it eliminates the need to store or dispose/recycle paint when the project is finished, and it might even save you a bit of money. When your painting project is complete, take a look in the can. If there is only a small quantity of paint left, use it up. Paint out the last inch-or-two of paint in the bottom of the can.

Store properly

If your project is complete and you still have a fair amount of paint leftover, be sure to correctly store the paint. Proper paint storage will eliminate safety concerns and keep your paint fresh for touch-ups or future projects. For best results, cover the opening of the paint can with plastic wrap and securely seal the lid. When you are sure the lid is leak-proof, turn the can upside down and store it in a place with a moderate room temperature to avoid freezing. Be sure to choose a safe location that is out of the reach of children and pets.

Reuse/Donate

Now that you have safely stored your leftover paint, don’t forget about it. Leftover paint can be used for touch-ups or for smaller projects. Record the room name on the lid for future touch ups. You can blend and mix smaller quantities of latex paint to use as a base coat on larger jobs. Perhaps, you know a neighbor or relative who could use your leftover paint; now, that’s being environmentally friendly!

Recycle

If you can’t make use of the paint yourself, donate your useable leftover paint to a worthwhile community association, theatre company, church group or other local organizations that may be in need of good paint. Perhaps, your community offers a paint exchange event or a special paint collection program. Many communities collect paint for reuse, recycling or as a last resort, proper disposal through local Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection programs. Check the “Earth 911” website, www.Earth911.org or 1-800-clean-up, to learn about reuse, recycling and HHW collection programs that may be available in your community.

Dispose Properly

If there is not a leftover paint collection program available in your area, you may need to dispose of leftover latex paint yourself. Air-drying of liquid alkyd or oil based paint is not considered safe. In regions that allow it, let your latex paint air dry in a safe location away from children and pets. A small amount of paint, less than ½ inch, in the bottom of a paint can is easily dried out by leaving the lid off. Once the paint is hard, discard the paint can with the lid off, preferably in a metal recycling program. If metal recycling is not available or the paint container is plastic, dispose of the container in the garbage. Larger volumes of latex paint can be dried in a box with absorbent material such as shredded paper or kitty litter. Recycle the empty can with the lid off and dispose of the dried out latex paint as garbage. If the paint in the can is solidified all the way through, it may be disposed of as garbage with the lid off to prevent the build up of pressure in the can.