Plan A was that Rob and my brother were to go ice climbing while Heather and I spent the day doing crafts. However, since things rarely go as planned, we had to switch over to Plan B: the 4 of us go out hiking up at Hatcher's Pass.
I have to admit that I was not very thrilled at the thought of going hiking. I am in full hibernation mode it seems, and the thought of hiking out in the freezing cold wind and deep snow was not my idea of a pleasant way to spend the weekend.
Thankfully, I was wrong on every count: the weather was wonderful, with clear blue skies and no wind at all. The company was great, too. Rob and I along with my brother Reed and his wife Heather – and we met up with Heather’s friend Audra and her dog Phoebe along the trail even. The trail itself was nice and easy, although if you stepped even 6” off the trail you did sink up to your hips in the deep snow. We know this because Heather accidently wandered off the trail and showed us!
It was perfect; just absolutely perfect.
We spent a good 2 hours up there before heading on back in to town to visit with Mother for a while. As always, we had stuff to exchange: I gave her some bread, a pair of socks, a pen, and some stickers for her cards – and she gave me some old photographs and a sack full of cat toys for my girls (who are in cat-toy heaven now with more toys than they know what to do with). We all sat around her table, sharing cookies and tea (or coffee, in Rob’s case), and talking about whatever came to mind.
Cookies and Tea are always good, and I would almost never turn that offer down, but I really did need some real food in my tummy – so our next stop was the grocery store to stock up on some fresh veggies and beer. Once we got back to Heather’s house, she cooked up the best stir-fry ever! It may have simply been that we’d all been out in the fresh air that afternoon, but honestly it was really good food.
Around 7:00 that evening I finally got Rob to take me out to Stewart’s house where I got to pick out a new gun! Stan left one for me in his will; all I had to do was choose – and there were plenty to choose from. I almost chose another shotgun for myself – a nice double-barreled one – but since I already have a shotgun and can barely shoot it anymore due to my back injury, I figured I should maybe get something else instead.
I chose the 1981 Winchester 30-30 that comes with a nice leather sling. It’s smaller than my shotgun, but I’m told it will kick much harder so I will probably have to have a butt-plate installed on it to absorb some of that impact. Also, since my neck is about 2 inches longer than a normal person’s, I can use the butt-plate to lift the gun up enough that I can actually shoot the thing, again just like my shotgun.
All in all, it was a great day.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Good Friends
I have such wonderful friends! I am so very thankful for each and every one of you – just wanted you all to know that.
This past week, I got to spend some time with a few of them:
Rikki and I had lunch at the Perfect Cup on Sunday. I met Rikki several years ago at one of the first Architectural Conventions I went to. She was a vendor selling Autodesk products, and I was working the registration table. We hit it off and have been friends ever since. She is quite pregnant now, so I got to hear all the latest news from the maternity ward. I am looking forward to the day when I can meet the little one!
On Monday I met up with my friend Anne for lunch at Terra Bella’s. She has a Gluten Allergy, and this place serves very tasty gluten-free food. Plus, it’s all organic – can’t beat that! I met her at that first Architectural Convention as well. She was on the planning committee, as was I, and also helped out at the registration table. Anne has been very helpful to me during my drama-infected roller coaster ride, giving me some very good advice and just being there so I could unload on her.
Then on Thursday, I got to have dinner with my friend Katie. Katie and I have been friends for well over 10 years. She works at the zoo and was the one who “convinced” me to sign on as a volunteer there. Rob joined us as well, so the three of us had a nice long chat. I am afraid it went a little long, however. It’s technically Katie’s lunch hour; I suppose a 2-hour lunch isn’t so bad if as long as it’s not made a habit.
This past week, I got to spend some time with a few of them:
Rikki and I had lunch at the Perfect Cup on Sunday. I met Rikki several years ago at one of the first Architectural Conventions I went to. She was a vendor selling Autodesk products, and I was working the registration table. We hit it off and have been friends ever since. She is quite pregnant now, so I got to hear all the latest news from the maternity ward. I am looking forward to the day when I can meet the little one!
On Monday I met up with my friend Anne for lunch at Terra Bella’s. She has a Gluten Allergy, and this place serves very tasty gluten-free food. Plus, it’s all organic – can’t beat that! I met her at that first Architectural Convention as well. She was on the planning committee, as was I, and also helped out at the registration table. Anne has been very helpful to me during my drama-infected roller coaster ride, giving me some very good advice and just being there so I could unload on her.
Then on Thursday, I got to have dinner with my friend Katie. Katie and I have been friends for well over 10 years. She works at the zoo and was the one who “convinced” me to sign on as a volunteer there. Rob joined us as well, so the three of us had a nice long chat. I am afraid it went a little long, however. It’s technically Katie’s lunch hour; I suppose a 2-hour lunch isn’t so bad if as long as it’s not made a habit.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Fur Rendezvous 2011
This weekend was the start of the annual Fur Rendezvous, a celebration of the miners and trappers that colonized this area. Back in the day, this was when they all gathered together to sell their furs and socialize a bit. Nowadays they have such events as The Running of the Caribou, the Out House Races, Dog Sled Races, Snowshoe Softball, Ice Sculpture Contests, and various Arts & Crafts shows throughout the two-week event.
Pretty much every single Fur Rondy (as the locals call it) in the past 40+ years has been bitter cold, with temperatures well below freezing – and this year was no exception. Although, I must say, it was actually one of the warmest ones in my memory banks: I do believe the temps only got as low as perhaps 10 below, although I did not have a thermometer with me so am only guessing.
Saturday was spent with Rob’s Snowshoe Softball games, so we didn’t get to do much else. We were both quite exhausted by the end of the day so just went home and slept it off. I honestly don’t know why I was so tired: I didn’t do a thing but sit there and watch. Perhaps it was the cold weather – that does seem to take it out of a person.
Sunday, after a breakfast of pancakes down at the IHOP, we finally got to see some of the sights around town.
Our first stop was at the University Mall. They had a coin collector’s show set up, along with the CanStruction competition. Both were not quite as impressive as I’d hoped for, but the coin show did spark my interest in my own collection again. I’m going to have to go thru and take inventory to see what I have. Who knows – maybe I have that ONE coin that’s going to ease all my financial woes?
Hey… It could happen!
From there we headed over to the Antique Car Show. Rob is really in to restoring old cars and happily fell into a nice long conversation with one of the guys there; talking about all the cars they'd ever restored and comparing experiences. I was content to sit in the corner and watch all the people since I really have no interest at all in cars other than to say “Ooo, a red one!”
We did eventually move on, heading downtown to view the ice sculptures. The wind had picked up again by then so we didn’t linger very long – but they did have some very impressive entries. It always amazes me that someone can do such intricate work with a chainsaw and a hunk of ice/snow.
By this time we were hungry again, so on our way to view the Native Arts & Crafts exhibit we stopped off at a little café and had some really good sandwiches. The crafts were very impressive; I think we even got some ideas for summer projects even – not that we’d be half as good as these artists are. Still, it will be fun to try our hand at a few things.
The crowd downtown finally got to us so we opted to head to the Northway Mall on the outskirts of town to see the woodworkers show. Wow… what incredible work!
The first thing we saw was the most beautiful hand-made wooden canoe that was being raffled off: one ticket for $5, or 5 tickets for $20 – proceeds to go to the local woodworkers club. There just happened to be an ATM conveniently located just around the corner, so Rob went ahead and purchased 5 tickets.
Boy that would really be something if he won! It really is a beautiful piece of work.
All the other entries in the show were equally impressive, ranging in skill levels from the beginners to the experts. Interestingly, the chain that kept the crowds back from the tables holding all the entries was made of wood. It was one continuous chain all carved out of one piece of wood. I have no idea how long that took to create, nor how long the original piece of wood was.
It doesn’t seem like much when you read thru all this, but honestly we were exhausted by then so again just went home and crashed into bed.
But it was fun! We just might do it again next weekend…
Pretty much every single Fur Rondy (as the locals call it) in the past 40+ years has been bitter cold, with temperatures well below freezing – and this year was no exception. Although, I must say, it was actually one of the warmest ones in my memory banks: I do believe the temps only got as low as perhaps 10 below, although I did not have a thermometer with me so am only guessing.
Saturday was spent with Rob’s Snowshoe Softball games, so we didn’t get to do much else. We were both quite exhausted by the end of the day so just went home and slept it off. I honestly don’t know why I was so tired: I didn’t do a thing but sit there and watch. Perhaps it was the cold weather – that does seem to take it out of a person.
Sunday, after a breakfast of pancakes down at the IHOP, we finally got to see some of the sights around town.
Our first stop was at the University Mall. They had a coin collector’s show set up, along with the CanStruction competition. Both were not quite as impressive as I’d hoped for, but the coin show did spark my interest in my own collection again. I’m going to have to go thru and take inventory to see what I have. Who knows – maybe I have that ONE coin that’s going to ease all my financial woes?
Hey… It could happen!
From there we headed over to the Antique Car Show. Rob is really in to restoring old cars and happily fell into a nice long conversation with one of the guys there; talking about all the cars they'd ever restored and comparing experiences. I was content to sit in the corner and watch all the people since I really have no interest at all in cars other than to say “Ooo, a red one!”
We did eventually move on, heading downtown to view the ice sculptures. The wind had picked up again by then so we didn’t linger very long – but they did have some very impressive entries. It always amazes me that someone can do such intricate work with a chainsaw and a hunk of ice/snow.
By this time we were hungry again, so on our way to view the Native Arts & Crafts exhibit we stopped off at a little café and had some really good sandwiches. The crafts were very impressive; I think we even got some ideas for summer projects even – not that we’d be half as good as these artists are. Still, it will be fun to try our hand at a few things.
The crowd downtown finally got to us so we opted to head to the Northway Mall on the outskirts of town to see the woodworkers show. Wow… what incredible work!
The first thing we saw was the most beautiful hand-made wooden canoe that was being raffled off: one ticket for $5, or 5 tickets for $20 – proceeds to go to the local woodworkers club. There just happened to be an ATM conveniently located just around the corner, so Rob went ahead and purchased 5 tickets.
Boy that would really be something if he won! It really is a beautiful piece of work.
All the other entries in the show were equally impressive, ranging in skill levels from the beginners to the experts. Interestingly, the chain that kept the crowds back from the tables holding all the entries was made of wood. It was one continuous chain all carved out of one piece of wood. I have no idea how long that took to create, nor how long the original piece of wood was.
It doesn’t seem like much when you read thru all this, but honestly we were exhausted by then so again just went home and crashed into bed.
But it was fun! We just might do it again next weekend…
Snowshoe Softball
Rob signed himself up for the Snowshoe Softball games at this year’s Fur Rendezvous Celebration. His first game was at 8:30 in the morning, so we bundled everything up and headed on downtown bright and early in the morning. His team was the first one out on the field so had several feet of fresh powder to deal with, not to mention the snowshoes that were probably 20 years old. But they all gamely strapped on their gear and took up their positions.
It was a riot! Have you ever tried snowshoeing before? It’s been a while for me, but I do remember it being a lot more work than it seems to the casual observer. And to have to run in the darned things is almost impossible, particularly in several feet of fresh powder. Most of the players kept losing their shoes mid-stride, causing some rather impressive face plants and tangled up legs.
Rob was actually one of the few who didn’t lose their shoes, but mostly because he had strapped them on with about 6 bungee cords on each foot. That doesn’t mean he didn’t do some face plants, however. As I said, it’s hard work running in those things.
The softballs they were using were a bright fluorescent orange color, the theory being that they would be easier to find in the snow. That wasn’t exactly the way it turned out, however. Pretty much every time the ball made it out into the field it would get lost in the deep snow, and they’d have to spend several minutes searching around for it. That did give the batter at least half a chance to actually make it to first base, however – so I guess it wasn’t all bad.
That first game was a long one, even factoring in the One Strike rule. By the time it was over (they lost) all the team members were completely exhausted. Thankfully their next game wasn’t until 2:30, so we had a chance to go home and switch out some gear. Rob had originally thought to bundle up, but having worked so hard out there in the ball field, he overheated.
The second and third games were basically a repeat of the first (they won the second, lost the third) with the exception being that the snow had been packed down by the previous games so was much easier to navigate. The wind picked up, however, dropping the temperatures way down. I managed to stay out in the bleachers for the most of it, but ended up missing the last 10 minutes or so because I just couldn’t take the cold anymore and had to go sit in the truck to warm up.
It was a riot! Have you ever tried snowshoeing before? It’s been a while for me, but I do remember it being a lot more work than it seems to the casual observer. And to have to run in the darned things is almost impossible, particularly in several feet of fresh powder. Most of the players kept losing their shoes mid-stride, causing some rather impressive face plants and tangled up legs.
Rob was actually one of the few who didn’t lose their shoes, but mostly because he had strapped them on with about 6 bungee cords on each foot. That doesn’t mean he didn’t do some face plants, however. As I said, it’s hard work running in those things.
The softballs they were using were a bright fluorescent orange color, the theory being that they would be easier to find in the snow. That wasn’t exactly the way it turned out, however. Pretty much every time the ball made it out into the field it would get lost in the deep snow, and they’d have to spend several minutes searching around for it. That did give the batter at least half a chance to actually make it to first base, however – so I guess it wasn’t all bad.
That first game was a long one, even factoring in the One Strike rule. By the time it was over (they lost) all the team members were completely exhausted. Thankfully their next game wasn’t until 2:30, so we had a chance to go home and switch out some gear. Rob had originally thought to bundle up, but having worked so hard out there in the ball field, he overheated.
The second and third games were basically a repeat of the first (they won the second, lost the third) with the exception being that the snow had been packed down by the previous games so was much easier to navigate. The wind picked up, however, dropping the temperatures way down. I managed to stay out in the bleachers for the most of it, but ended up missing the last 10 minutes or so because I just couldn’t take the cold anymore and had to go sit in the truck to warm up.
Oh Happy Day!
My roommate is gone!
She moved out this weekend, and I have my house back. She hired professional movers to help her, since she had so much stuff, and had a big moving van out in my driveway the whole day.
I spent the day with Rob, only stopping in once to make sure my girls were safely locked in the library. While I was there I counted at least 5 guys, all tromping thru my house with their winter boots on, getting ice melt and snow all over the place. I completely stressed out just in the 10 minutes I was there, so I am very thankful that Rob let me hang out with him.
When I got home that evening she was gone.
She left a huge mess, though. He room has nail holes all over the walls, garbage all over the floor, several cables and extension cords left plugged in, and various other items left behind. The bathroom has things I don’t even want to identify left behind, and will need a lot of attention and elbow grease to clean up. The garage is littered with trash, used tape, parts of boxes, and miscellaneous debris spread out all over. Even the kitchen was left in a wreck, with food out on the counter and in the freezer, and the fridge is filthy. She even left a pair of boots behind at the front door.
I’m going to consider all the things she left behind as payment for cleaning up after her – since I was not smart enough to have charged a security deposit when she moved in.
Mother has said that she would come in one weekend to help me shampoo all the carpets. Kelly, Heather, and Rob have all said they would help me paint the walls. Rob has already changed the locks on my front door (the roommate did not leave her keys when she left, so that was the FIRST thing I did the next day).
Room by room, I am slowly reclaiming my house – straightening up and getting re-organized again.
Life is Good.
She moved out this weekend, and I have my house back. She hired professional movers to help her, since she had so much stuff, and had a big moving van out in my driveway the whole day.
I spent the day with Rob, only stopping in once to make sure my girls were safely locked in the library. While I was there I counted at least 5 guys, all tromping thru my house with their winter boots on, getting ice melt and snow all over the place. I completely stressed out just in the 10 minutes I was there, so I am very thankful that Rob let me hang out with him.
When I got home that evening she was gone.
She left a huge mess, though. He room has nail holes all over the walls, garbage all over the floor, several cables and extension cords left plugged in, and various other items left behind. The bathroom has things I don’t even want to identify left behind, and will need a lot of attention and elbow grease to clean up. The garage is littered with trash, used tape, parts of boxes, and miscellaneous debris spread out all over. Even the kitchen was left in a wreck, with food out on the counter and in the freezer, and the fridge is filthy. She even left a pair of boots behind at the front door.
I’m going to consider all the things she left behind as payment for cleaning up after her – since I was not smart enough to have charged a security deposit when she moved in.
Mother has said that she would come in one weekend to help me shampoo all the carpets. Kelly, Heather, and Rob have all said they would help me paint the walls. Rob has already changed the locks on my front door (the roommate did not leave her keys when she left, so that was the FIRST thing I did the next day).
Room by room, I am slowly reclaiming my house – straightening up and getting re-organized again.
Life is Good.
The Art of Writing a Letter
I’ve had several comments lately about the fact that I write letters each week. And I mean actual handwritten letters sent in an envelope thru the postal service, not typed emails or short little texts over the phone.
It’s really not that big of a deal; I just love to write, and have several friends that enjoy receiving my letters. I’ve even gone so far as to make my own cards now instead of buying them like I used to. In fact, I’m now making my own envelopes even.
I wonder if I could make my own stamps… wouldn’t that be something!
Anyway, it all started back about 20 years ago when my Grandmother moved to Montana. She got set up in a nice little apartment that was close to my Uncle. It was just a one bedroom; big enough that she could live comfortably, and have guests over for tea occasionally – but still small enough that keeping it clean didn’t overwhelm her. It was in a fair sized complex that had a nice courtyard she could sit outside in the sun and socialize with the other residents.
One of her favorite things to do was walk down to the mailbox: she got to take some fresh air, chat with the neighbors along the way, and get a little bit of exercise each day.
Back then, I was buying cards. I would look for ones that had pretty pictures on the front, perhaps of flowers or animals. I would write about my day, how the family was doing, the things I’d done at the zoo that week, any interesting tidbits of news I’d heard – just little things like that.
She would take that card and show it to everybody she came into contact with that week. She’d display it on the table in her apartment, and even take it to the neighbor’s to have them read it. Believe me; those cards got a lot of mileage!
Grandmother has passed away now, but I still enjoy writing. I have two nieces in college that are on my mailing list. I have several friends spread out over the globe that get letters from me. I try to send everybody a birthday card, but am not quite as diligent as I used to be about that.
My only complaint would be that I don’t received nearly as many as I write. I suppose that’s why I have email and a phone!
It’s really not that big of a deal; I just love to write, and have several friends that enjoy receiving my letters. I’ve even gone so far as to make my own cards now instead of buying them like I used to. In fact, I’m now making my own envelopes even.
I wonder if I could make my own stamps… wouldn’t that be something!
Anyway, it all started back about 20 years ago when my Grandmother moved to Montana. She got set up in a nice little apartment that was close to my Uncle. It was just a one bedroom; big enough that she could live comfortably, and have guests over for tea occasionally – but still small enough that keeping it clean didn’t overwhelm her. It was in a fair sized complex that had a nice courtyard she could sit outside in the sun and socialize with the other residents.
One of her favorite things to do was walk down to the mailbox: she got to take some fresh air, chat with the neighbors along the way, and get a little bit of exercise each day.
Back then, I was buying cards. I would look for ones that had pretty pictures on the front, perhaps of flowers or animals. I would write about my day, how the family was doing, the things I’d done at the zoo that week, any interesting tidbits of news I’d heard – just little things like that.
She would take that card and show it to everybody she came into contact with that week. She’d display it on the table in her apartment, and even take it to the neighbor’s to have them read it. Believe me; those cards got a lot of mileage!
Grandmother has passed away now, but I still enjoy writing. I have two nieces in college that are on my mailing list. I have several friends spread out over the globe that get letters from me. I try to send everybody a birthday card, but am not quite as diligent as I used to be about that.
My only complaint would be that I don’t received nearly as many as I write. I suppose that’s why I have email and a phone!
Guess Who Got a Ticket
I was heading off to work the other day and got pulled over by a cop. I figured that he had seen me not quite stopping at that last intersection. Oh, I slowed down - enough to shift down to first gear (which is pretty darned slow) at least, but I did not come to a full and complete stop.
I pulled over at the nearest side street and waited while he walked up to my window. He was very nice, polite, and courteous.
“May I see your license and registration, please?”
I handed them over, having already gotten them out of the glove box & my purse.
Then he informed me that my windows were tinted to dark! He got out his meter to show me, even. According to state law, the left/right front side windows can’t be darker than 70% - mine were at 36%. The left/right rear side windows can’t be darker than 40% - mine were at 14%.
This was a $160.00 ticket!
Thankfully, it was a correctable ticket: all I had to do was have the tinting removed and then take the car down to the Anchorage Police Department and show them. If the car passed the meter test at that time, the ticket and the fine would be removed from my record.
Once again, Rob came to my rescue. He took me down to the parts store and we got some window tint removal goop and got to work on it. We did the right front window first, just to see how it was done.
First he had to take my door apart so that we could get at the whole window. Then he sprayed the goop all over the tinting and covered it up with plastic so it wouldn’t evaporate off. After setting for half an hour (longer, actually, since we went upstairs and had dinner while it set) we peeled the tint film off. Surprisingly it came off rather easily; I expected a lot more difficulty. Then he sprayed the goop all over the window again, and set to work with a razor blade scraping all the glue off. That was the real messy part! But it worked, and soon enough the window was clean. Putting the door panel back on was tricky, since several of the clips had broken off when he removed it. A little glue strategically place, and my door was back to normal.
The next three windows went relatively quickly after that, since he knew what he was doing by then. And best of all, when I took the car down to APD it passed with flying colors and the ticket is history.
No More Ticket!
Of course, now everybody can see into my car – and I have zero protection from the sun while I drive. I’m going to have to get a pair of those hideous glasses that wrap completely around your face to block out the knife blade of sunlight as it flickers thru the trees.
But hey, I’m compliant to the law.
I pulled over at the nearest side street and waited while he walked up to my window. He was very nice, polite, and courteous.
“May I see your license and registration, please?”
I handed them over, having already gotten them out of the glove box & my purse.
Then he informed me that my windows were tinted to dark! He got out his meter to show me, even. According to state law, the left/right front side windows can’t be darker than 70% - mine were at 36%. The left/right rear side windows can’t be darker than 40% - mine were at 14%.
This was a $160.00 ticket!
Thankfully, it was a correctable ticket: all I had to do was have the tinting removed and then take the car down to the Anchorage Police Department and show them. If the car passed the meter test at that time, the ticket and the fine would be removed from my record.
Once again, Rob came to my rescue. He took me down to the parts store and we got some window tint removal goop and got to work on it. We did the right front window first, just to see how it was done.
First he had to take my door apart so that we could get at the whole window. Then he sprayed the goop all over the tinting and covered it up with plastic so it wouldn’t evaporate off. After setting for half an hour (longer, actually, since we went upstairs and had dinner while it set) we peeled the tint film off. Surprisingly it came off rather easily; I expected a lot more difficulty. Then he sprayed the goop all over the window again, and set to work with a razor blade scraping all the glue off. That was the real messy part! But it worked, and soon enough the window was clean. Putting the door panel back on was tricky, since several of the clips had broken off when he removed it. A little glue strategically place, and my door was back to normal.
The next three windows went relatively quickly after that, since he knew what he was doing by then. And best of all, when I took the car down to APD it passed with flying colors and the ticket is history.
No More Ticket!
Of course, now everybody can see into my car – and I have zero protection from the sun while I drive. I’m going to have to get a pair of those hideous glasses that wrap completely around your face to block out the knife blade of sunlight as it flickers thru the trees.
But hey, I’m compliant to the law.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Giving In to Temptation
I tried to resist. In fact, I did resist - for a whole weekend. But today, I finally gave in. I just couldn’t hold out any longer.
I went to the bookstore.
The bad news is that Borders is going out of business. They are closing down their Anchorage store, and will no longer be my supplier – unless I order online, of course.
The good news is that everything is on sale. Not so great a sale right now as they only just announced the closure. I’m sure as time goes on the sales will get more and more impressive. The supply, however, will continue to diminish so the odds of getting that specific book you’ve been looking for will diminish as well.
Like I need more books!
But I ended up getting three:
The Diamond of Darkhold
By Jeanne DuPrau
At Home: a Short History of Private Life
By: Bill Bryson
Seeing Further: the Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society
Edited by: Bill Bryson
I went to the bookstore.
The bad news is that Borders is going out of business. They are closing down their Anchorage store, and will no longer be my supplier – unless I order online, of course.
The good news is that everything is on sale. Not so great a sale right now as they only just announced the closure. I’m sure as time goes on the sales will get more and more impressive. The supply, however, will continue to diminish so the odds of getting that specific book you’ve been looking for will diminish as well.
Like I need more books!
But I ended up getting three:
The Diamond of Darkhold
By Jeanne DuPrau
At Home: a Short History of Private Life
By: Bill Bryson
Seeing Further: the Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society
Edited by: Bill Bryson
Monday, February 21, 2011
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.
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.
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.
Monday, February 14, 2011
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.
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…
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…
Sunday, February 13, 2011
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.
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.
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.
Monday, January 31, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
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…
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…
Monday, January 17, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
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…
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…
Sunday, January 09, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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