My To-do List

Lamp:
     Install 5 or 6 bulbs

Table:
     Clean up excess glue
     Tighten up fastenings
     Sand and/or resurface table top

Chairs:
     Fix supports
     Tighten up fastenings

Glass Cabinet:
     Install1 light bulb
     Clean up glass
     Arrange tea accessories
     Set up Mrs. Tea

Radio:
     Make sure it’s working

Shelving:
     Arrange monthly kits

Cubbies:
     Determine sturdiness
     Arrange supplies

Digital Picture Frame:
     Load photographs
     Hang on wall

Closet:
     Install doors
     Paint doors

Trim:
     Finish installing
     Touch up with paint

Window:
     Install shades

Room:
     Vacuum
     Arrange accessories

Garage:
     Install weather stripping around door
     Sweep floor 
     Rearrange shelving
     Break down boxes for recycling

Dining Rm:
     Rearrange shelving
     Bring in 2 bookshelves (from stairs)

Bedroom:
     Arrange bedding in dresser

The Second Helping

It was such a nice sunny day yesterday I figured it would be the perfect time to get the second coat of stain on the garage door. I had worked on it last year, sanding off the old stuff and applying the first coat. Over the winter that got soaked in, so it really needed another.

It’s a fairly easy job, and only took an hour or so. The hardest part was getting the weather stripping off prior to painting – it’s screwed in with like a million screws, and I don’t have the power tools like Rob does, so had to make due with a good ol’ hand powered screw driver.

The door really soaked up the stain, too. Rob says I should do it each year, but that each year it will need less and less.

I also need to do the walkway and entry way, but that needs Rob’s air compressor to blow away all the debris so I can get a good layer down without dust in it.

When I look at pictures from before and compare them to now – wow… it really needed attention, and looks so good now.

Oh So Close!

I made a huge leap of progress on my craft room last night! I’m so excited about it…

Rob came over last night (rather late, I might add) and helped me bring up all the furniture out of the garage and into the spare room. The table barely fit thru the door, but with some rather ingenious maneuvering he got it in. I have it set up with one flap down (against the wall) and the extra leaf put in, so that I can set all 5 antique chairs around it. Both the table and all the chairs still need some attention, but they are at least usable if I’m careful with them.

Next to be put in place was the glass cabinet that used to set next to Stan’s chair out at the farm. It needs a light bulb and a good cleaning, but is otherwise good to go. I’m thinking I will put my tea pots and china cups in there, and if I can figure out how to fit it in I may even bring up my Mrs. Teapot (by the makers of Mr. Coffee) so I can serve tea while crafting with friends and family!

I put the antique-looking radio/cd/casset/record player on top of the glass cabinet. Mother says it had been Grandma Dorothy’s, but she had never even taken it out of the box. Do you think it will be safe enough to place my Mrs. Teapot on top of the radio? Or should I scoot it over and make room on the cabinet itself? I’ll have to think on that a bit.

The craft cubbies got moved up next. Down in the dining room I had them set up in a stair-type format, but that arrangement won’t work up in the craft room – so they are now just two cubbies high and 4 cubbies wide, forming a nice low “shelf” under the window. I put my Goldfish Plant on the shelf, and will have other nick-knacks and supplies as needed up there. Of course, I shall have to leave room for the most important adornment: my girls will love sitting up there to look out the window!

Mother had also given me a tall shelf unit from the Amish Treeforms place out in Wasilla which now resides next to the cubbies. It’s a beautiful piece, and will hold all the monthly kits that I have. That’s tonight’s chore: get everything in place, organized and cleaned up – both in the craft room and in the dining room. I may even clean out the garage a bit.

The finishing touches included hanging up the clock and placing the lamp on the table. We talked about installing the digital picture frame on the wall, but I may get my sister Heather to do that for me. She has one herself, so would know how to load it up and get it going. Rob has a flat screen monitor he’s going to loan me (thank you Trey!) which can be hooked up to the cable outlet, and he still needs to install the window blinds and closet doors.

Oh, and I have plans for getting my artist friend Lorna to pain the closet doors! I’m thinking a nice garden scene, with fireweed and what not would look just wonderful.

So, now the real question is: Does anybody want to come over and play with me? We can have a Craft Day together!

What a Week I’m Having!

That’s actually my favorite line from that old movie “Splash” starring Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks. The dentist who is trying to get proof that mermaids actually do exist has just been stabbed in the leg with the Novocain needle and is wobbling around with his arm in a cast and I think his neck in a brace even. Anyway, it’s a cute line.

In my case, it would be more descriptive to say “What a Weekend I Had!” but that didn’t really fit the movie reference.

Saturday morning, I was supposed to give the Discovery Tour at the zoo, but just couldn’t face dealing with tourists so was not looking forward to it. Thankfully, just as I got to the parking lot, I got a call from Rob who invited me to join them for a late breakfast.

After helping Rob cook biscuits and gravy for 4, we gathered up a few of the neighbor’s kids and headed out to the go-carts. The kids had a great time racing around the tracks while Rob and I had fun watching them from the sidelines. Boy, it was expensive, though! It’s only $5.00 a ride – but each ride is only about 10 minutes long, and there were 4 kids. They each went 3 times, so that was $60.00 for about half an hour’s entertainment.

But then it got REAL fun! We dropped the neighbor kids off back at their house and took off for a hike on one of my favorite trails: South Fork Eagle River! It was raining, so the parking lot actually had a few spaces open, and there weren’t that many people on the trail itself. I had forgotten to bring my rain coat, but since I tend to overheat when I hike anyway I was just fine with the waffle-weave Henley I had on and was able to give my button-down shirt to Trey, who was shivering in his t-shirt.

I had such a good time up there! My head was feeling good, my legs had just the right amount of burn to them, and the rain was just a light continuous misting. It was awesome!

We even made it all the way to the bridge finally! I’ve been on the trail numerous times over the past few years, but have never actually made it that far before. Although, truth be told, just the kids and I made it – Rob and his friend Dustin took a side trip up the mountain to see how far they could get in that direction.

On the way home, we all stopped off at a Japanese restaurant for some sushi and saki (okay, the kids did NOT get any of the saki – just Rob and I) then we stopped off at Freddy’s to get some movies and ice cream.

To end our day we all plopped down on various chairs & couches, ate our ice cream, and watched “The Adjustment Bureau” starring Matt Damon.

On Sunday, I got another phone call from Rob inviting me over for breakfast – this time we had sourdough pancakes with pecans and caramel cooked into them. Yum! The sourdough starter he uses is taken from my Mother’s starter, which is taken from my Sister’s starter, which is apparently taken from somebody else’s starter, and so on – and is supposedly a very old sourdough starter.

While they were getting things ready for the day, I borrowed Rob’s computer and downloaded the latest software update for my Kindle (my computer at home didn’t want to do it, for some strange reason) and even managed to buy some more gear (boots and shoes) for my Peruvian Expedition!

Once everybody was showered and organized and all that, we took off for downtown. Rob and Trey and the neighbor’s boy walked down to the Delany Park Strip to see the car show (over 300 cars expected to be entered this year!) while I took off to the 5th Avenue Mall with Sierra and the neighbor’s girl for some shopping. Two hours later, we regrouped in the Town Square Park to compare stories and make plans for the rest of the day.

This is where I threw in the towel. I really don’t enjoy shopping so had been rather worn out after two hours of it, and I knew that Rob really needed to spend these last few days with his kids by himself (no tag-alongs needed) – so I went home and they took off for dinner somewhere.

At home, I got laundry done, cooked up a batch of soup for my lunches, snuggled with my girls for a bit, and relaxed with a glass of wine and a so-so movie before going to bed for the night.

All in all, it really was a great weekend.

I Changed My Name

Well, not really – although, to be honest, I’ve been thinking about doing just that.

What I mean on this posting, however, is that I’ve changed the name of my blog. Did you notice?

I have felt for quite some time that “Blog of a Zoo Volunteer” just didn’t accurately describe my blog – but it’s taken me this long to figure out how to change it.

Hopefully it won’t mess up all of my followers (to whom I am dumbfoundedly grateful – I have no idea why you follow me but appreciate the sentiment, and your comments too).

Le me know if there are any complications as a result – I’ll do what I can to fix them.

Pharmaceutical Scam

One of the more negative side effects of switching jobs is that – once again – I have to go through the probational period before my new insurance kicks in. Thankfully, it’s only two months due to Treeline’s very generous offer of extending my old coverage by one month. Still, two months without insurance can be… shall we say - a nuisance?

Case in point: my daily medication prescription is very close to running out - I probably have a couple week's worth left. As most of you know, the price of drugs can be astronomical without insurance, so I prepared myself for the sticker shock that I just knew was going to hit me when I refilled it.

I found myself at the grocery store the other day, so stopped by the pharmacy to ask exactly how much it was going to cost so that I could start saving up for it. I must say, I was stunned at her reply.

Care to take a guess?

I take a pill and a half each day, so a 3-month supply is 135 pills. With the old insurance’s 3-tier drug program, I paid just $10.00 a month – or $30.00 for the entire bottle.

The cost without insurance for the same amount of pills was…



Wait for it…



FIFTEEN DOLLARS!
That’s right = $15.00!

I don’t even know what to say about that. I’m happy, of course. But come on: it’s actually LESS without insurance than what I’d been paying all along?

I suppose the lesson for everybody to take home here is = Check your prescriptions! You might actually be able to pay less by not using your insurance coverage!

Getting a Ticket

Once again, my big brother has saved the day!

Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit. But really, he saved me well over $2,000.00 – and to me that pretty much counts as “saving the day”

He gave me 50,000 Alaskan Airline Miles so that I won’t have to pay for my ticket to Peru! I did pay for the transfer fees, but that was considerably less (like maybe a fifth of the cost) than what a round-trip ticket would cost, so I’m still way ahead of the game.

Now all I have to do is figure out exactly when I need to be in Iquitos, get the flights all figured out, and somehow get them to actually let me use the miles. I’m thinking I’ll just go to the airport and talk to a real person at the ticket counter. That is so much easier than trying to deal with it all myself, even if it will cost me an extra fee.

Me no hablo Espanol

As part of the preparations for my up-coming trip to Peru, I have decided to take Spanish lessons. I registered just last night; I’m so excited!

It’s an immersion program, as taught by Somos Amigos - I don’t know what that means just yet, but I’m sure it has some significance. I’m starting out in the Beginner’s class which meets each Wednesday night, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, September 14 thru December 7, with the week of Thanksgiving off.

The class cost $250.00 with an extra $35.00 for the book. I’ll have to go find a Spanish-English dictionary (they recommended the Oxford Dictionary) for the class as well. Hopefully Title Wave has a used one I can buy.

I didn’t think that was too bad a price: add it all up and divide it by the number of classes and it comes out to about $25.00 a night, or $12.30 an hour.

I used to speak Spanish back in my younger days, so realistically it shouldn’t be that difficult to find it again. That was a very long time ago, however – so don’t expect any miracles, please.

But even a little bit will help, I’m thinking.

And wouldn’t you know it – the teacher of the class is from Peru and has been to Iquitos numerous times! I totally plan to ask as many questions as I can think of during our time together.

Gearing Up

Now that I have officially committed to the Amazon Riverboat Exploration trip (I put my deposit down just last week!) I am starting on the fun stuff: Gearing Up!

While grocery shopping at Fred Meyers the other day I browsed thru the travel-sized sundries and found a few items I will need to take with me. I even found hand-held battery-operated mini-fans on sale! Earthwatch actually suggests having just such an item, so I went ahead and bought two of them (one pink and one green).

A trip to REI got me the mosquito repellant, sun screen, and electrolyte replacement tablets I’ll need. The head-netting, rain poncho, water purifying tablets, and compass/thermometer/whistle were purchased from the Sportsman’s Warehouse. Last but by no means least, a set of 42 colored pencils (8 of them in metallic colors) from Michael’s Craft Store will go nicely with the two Amazonian Coloring Books I purchased from Title Wave.

So much for the small stuff. I have several more expensive items to purchase, as well.

I need a pair of knee-high rubber boots, a pair of deck shoes, and at least two pair of light-weight pants (perhaps even the bug-resistant ones) = all of which I think I can get from REI, or maybe Sports Authority.

My digital camera is at least 6 years old: I’m thinking perhaps I should get a new one for this trip. I also saw that REI has a dry-bag specifically made for cameras = you put it in the bag and just take your pictures right thru the plastic. I might have to get me one of those. They also have a dry-bag specifically made for my Kindle that I might just have to have as well.

And of course, there’s still the ticket to get. As I watch, the prices keep going up and up and up… but I’m actually waiting to see if my brother can transfer some mileage to my account. That will save me loads of money, and is worth the wait.

Another Great Book

I am reading yet another great book:

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
     By Stacey O’Brien

“On Valentines Day 1985, biologist Stacey O’Brien adopted Wesley, a baby barn owl with an injured wing who could not have survived in the wild. Over the next nineteen years, O’Brien studied Wesley’s strange habits with both a tender heart and a scientist’s eye – and provided a mice-only diet that required her to buy the rodents in bulk (28,000 over the owl’s lifetime). She watched him turn from a helpless fluff ball into an avid communicator with whom she developed a language all their own. Eventually he became a gorgeous, gold-and-white macho adult with a heart-shaped face who preened in the mirror and objected to visits by any other males to “his” house. O’Brien also brings us inside Caltech’s prestigious research community, a kind of scientific Hogwarts where resident owls sometimes flew freely from office to office and eccentric, brilliant scientists were extraordinarily committed to studying and helping animals; all of them were changed by the animals they loved. As O’Brien gets close to Wesley, she makes astonishing discoveries about owl behavior, intelligence, and communication, coining the term, “The Way of the Owl” to describe his noble behavior. When O’Brien develops her own life-threatening illness, the biologist who saved the life of a helpless baby bird is herself rescued from death by the insistent love and courage of this wild animal.”

Even if you have no interest in owls, you should read this book. It is “a thoroughly engaging, heart-warming, often funny story of a complex, emotional, non-human being capable of reason, play, and, most important, love and loyalty.”

You Simply Must Read This Book!

I am reading the best book right now! This is definitely my new Favorite Author – I’ve read two others of his, and loved them all equally.

The Prince of the Mist
     by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Here is the opening paragraph:

Max would never forget that faraway summer when, almost by chance, he discovered magic. It was 1943, and the winds of war were dragging the world relentlessly toward the abyss. In the middle of June, on Max’s thirteenth birthday, his father, an eccentric watchmaker and inventor of dazzling if completely impractical devices, gathered the family in the living room to announce that this would be their last day in the lofty apartment perched high above the oldest part of the city, a place that had been their home ever since Max could remember. A deathly silence fell upon the members of the Carver family. They looked at each other, and then at the watchmaker. He had that smile on his face they all knew so well, the one that always meant he had bad news or another of his crazy ideas.

Expedition #4 = Fund Raising Event

So – I’m planning another Earthwatch Expedition (my 4th) and am asking for help getting there.

I will be heading off to Peru in February of 2012 for the Amazon Riverboat Exploration program where I will work with a team of biologists and other volunteers to collect information about the wildlife populations in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, along the Samiria River – a major Amazon tributary. A more detailed description of the work being done is included at the end of this post for those who are interested. If you want even more information, I’d be happy to talk to you.

One major hurdle is – of course – the costs involved. The expedition is just under $4,000.00 – airfare to and from Peru is roughly $2,000.00 – there will also be costs for hotels, taxis, and food along the way. All together, I’m looking at something like $7,000.00.

With that in mind, I have set up an Expedition Fund thru Earthwatch with the goal of raising the $4,000.00 needed for the expedition. Friends and family members can make donations (minimum $25.00 per donation) if they wish. Heck, complete strangers can make donations if they feel so inclined! Any and all donations will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

To make your donation: simply log on the Earthwatch website at www. earthwatch .org (no spaces) and hover over the tab labeled Expeditions; click on “set up an Expedition Fund.” In the middle of that page, click on “Login or Find a Fund” and enter my name in the search bar to the right of the page. It sounds complicated - but really, it’s not.

What you get: Not only will you get the personal satisfaction of being a part of the Earthwatch Mission (to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education in order to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment), you will also get to deduct your contribution from this year’s taxes!

What I get: Not only will I get to participate in actual scientific field research, I will also collect fodder for my Travelogue and my Blog as well as adding another presentation to my collection of public talks I can give!

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As an Earthwatch volunteer, I’ll help collect data on ungulates, macaws, wading birds, large-bodied primates, caimans, dolphins, giant river otters, manatees, river turtles, game birds, large cats, other large mammals and large fish. I’ll help research staff to sight animals, determine animal group sizes and composition, determine distance parameters, record information on datasheets, and weigh and measure animals. I’ll also have the opportunity to explore wildlife use and community-based conservation plans in local indigenous villages.

Macaw censuses will be conducted at points along the river and lakes accessed by an auxiliary boat.
Ungulate, primate and game bird censuses will be conducted by walking along forest trails.
Dolphin censuses will be conducted from an auxiliary boat floating slowly on the river or lakes.
Fish censuses will be done by fishing in the rivers and channels using auxiliary boats and canoes.
Caiman censuses will be conducted using the auxiliary boats in the lakes, rivers, and channels.
Giant River Otter and Manatee censuses: If these species are sighted during any of the terrestrial or aquatic surveys, they will be observed and information will be recorded.

Ungulates
Ungulates, including the white-lipped and collared peccary, red and grey brocket deer and lowland tapir, are the most important bush meat animals for the local indigenous people. Understanding their populations is essential to developing sustainable use strategies through community-based wildlife management.

Dolphins
Dolphins are an excellent way to determine the health of the river, since they are the area’s top predators of fish. Decreases in dolphin populations indicate over-fishing, while increases indicate recovery. Long-term monitoring of the dolphin population will be used to evaluate the multi-year health of the river ecosystem.

Macaws
Macaws indicate the health of the forest ecosystem as they feed on fruits and will only stay in an area if the forest is healthy and productive. If the macaws decrease this indicates a deterioration of the forest ecosystem, while an increase indicates ecosystem recovery.

Primates
Common species are the red howler monkey, brown capuchin monkey, squirrel monkey, tamarins, woolly monkey, saki monkey, white capuchin monkey and the rare spider monkey and red uakari monkey. Primate populations are good indicators for conservation, since they are very vulnerable to hunting and forest degradation.

Game Birds
Common species include the curassow, spix’s guan and piping guan. Game birds have been over-harvested in the past in many areas of Loreto for the bush meat trade. Their populations are recovering in some of the protected areas, and population studies need to determine their rate of recovery and the sustainability of their hunting using sustainable use models.

Caimans
Three species occur along the larger rivers and lakes in Loreto: the black caiman, common caiman, and smooth-fronted caiman. These animals were once killed for their skins to make shoes, handbags, belts, and other items. They are recovering along many rivers of Loreto and are again relatively common.

Giant River Otter and Manatees
The giant river otter was extensively over-hunted during the professional pelt period from 1940 to 1970. Currently, giant river otter populations are recovering in the Samaria and Yavari River basins. The manatee is a rare and endangered species that requires conservation action. They are not recovering as rapidly as the giant river otter and are vulnerable to local extinction.

Fish
Fish are one of the most important resources for local people and their sustainable use is linked both to the health of the ecosystem and the socio-economic wellbeing of indigenous communities. The abundance, diversity and age structure of large fish species, such as the paiche fish, will be monitored to determine the impact of local fisheries.

Let's Try This Again

Everybody keeps telling me I should treat myself to something extra special now that I have this wonderful new job, so I took their advice yesterday.

I got my eyebrow re-pierced!

This time I got a titanium piece rather than the surgical steel type I had the first time. Plus, it’s a different shape: more of a “bone” than a “ring”. And it got placed deeper into the brow, underneath and around the old scar tissue.

Hopefully these changes will help ensure that it stays in there this time! As you may recall, my last one was rejected and was eventually pushed out. This one will, hopefully, STAY PUT!

And it’s a beautiful shade of green! No one has said anything yet, but I’m just positive that it complements my eyes and makes them look greener – especially now that I’ve died my hair a nice fiery red!

Okay, that’s enough vanity… but really, I’m quite excited about it.

The New Job

The first week of work went quite well, despite that first day. I so hate “first days” - almost as much as I hate new jobs. Honestly, I thought I was going to throw up! But amazingly enough, I fit in there. I feel right at home already, and am getting along with everybody.

Boy, that makes it sound like it’s a big office with lots of people, doesn’t it?

There’s not: there are only 5 people, me included! GDM used to be the largest architectural firm in Anchorage, back in the day, with over 35 employees and two offices (briefly there were actually three: one here, one in Fairbanks, and one in Juneau). Now, however, they’ve been reduced to just 6: three architects, two drafters, a bookkeeper, and their front desk lady.

Okay… I can’t count. That made seven total, so you can make the adjustments.

I’m just plain exhausted, because even though I’m fitting in it’s still a new job and is therefore quite mentally taxing. Not to mention the fact that I’ve been continuing to help out at Treeline! 9 hours work at GDM followed by 3 hours work at Treeline makes for some very long days.

I felt so bad about leaving them in their busiest time (honestly, I applied for this job way back in November – their slowest time!) I offered to continue coming in till they found my replacement. Then of course, I had to volunteer to help TRAIN the replacement and make sure the workload didn’t get too overwhelming for him.

I do believe I can safely hand the reigns off now, however. Brandon seems to be working out, and will eventually get up to speed on things. I’ll go back in on Monday just to check up on him; answer any remaining questions he might have, and ensure that things are going well. But then, I’ll just be”on call” as an emergency back-up only.

Whew! And I was complaining earlier about not getting the hours I needed!

Alarm Clock

So, for the first time in something like 2 and a half years, I’m going to turn my alarm clock on for tomorrow morning.

I haven’t needed it for so long because I’ve either been on unemployment and so did not need to get up in the morning, or I had a job that didn’t start until later in the morning and I could just wake up naturally.

Now –YAY! – I have a job that requires me to get up on time.

Not sure what I think of that.

Summer Update

Summer in Alaska

As always, summer is a busy time. You only have about 3 months to make up for the past 9 months of darkness, so you tend to pack everything you can think of into your days – leaving barely any time at all for the more mundane things, like updating one’s blog or keeping one’s house clean. So, once again, you’re getting the update all in one fell swoop.

Life is Good

When I compare my mental state now to what it was a year ago, I am well pleased to report a stupendous improvement. Things truly are looking so much better now: my personal life is improved, my roommate is gone permanently, and my financial situation is going to be improving shortly. Heck, even my house is improving! About the only thing NOT improving is my cat, Djuna – more about her further on down this posting.

Family Hikes

The family hikes haven’t been very well attended, but they’ve still been fun. We hiked one of my favorite trails last time: Winner Creek Trail, out in Girdwood. Such a beautiful place with towering cottonwood trees, tall white spruce, and even the occasional fuzzy hemlock, lush green ferns, lots of blueberry bushes, and this time we got to see a bear alongside the trail! This coming Sunday we will be hiking up in Eagle River on the Dew Mound Trail. I suspect I may be the only one going however, as the only feedback I’ve received on it so far has all be to say they will not be going. But that’s okay – I will hike it anyway. There are more hikes in the year that people will be able to go on.

Seward with Rob & the Kids

I drove down to Seward last weekend to meet up with Rob and his kids for two nights of camping out. That was so much fun, even though it rained each night. On Saturday, Rob and Trey spent the day out on a halibut fishing charter while Sierra and I spent our day in town. We went to the SeaLife Center (my favorite place to visit in Seward), walked the docks, went hiking up Mt. Marathon, and watched a huge sea otter play in the waters near where they were cleaning fish. On Sunday, all four of us went out to Exit Glacier. We hiked up to the glacier itself and then spent an hour or so skipping rocks in the river. All in all, it was a great trip.

My Best Friend

Kathryn is in town, up visiting from her home in New York. We got to spend a good 3 hours the other day catching up on all the news. It was such a nice day out that we went to Pt. Woranzof and  walked about 4-5 miles back towards Kincaid Park. Thankfully, the mosquitoes weren’t as bad as the last time I’d done that trail so we didn’t have to run from them and could just enjoy the scenery and company. I really do miss her, and am very thankful she takes time out of her vacation to come see me. I will have to return the favor one of these days and go visit her in New York!

My Craft Room

Work continues on the craft room – not nearly as quickly as I would like, but it does continue none the less. Rob and his kids were over just the other day to finish painting the walls. I really like the colors I chose! When you’re looking at color swatches that are an inch square it’s so hard to imagine what they’ll look like in your home, you know? Thankfully, they look great – and will look even better once the trim goes up.  Then I can move in the furniture and get it all set up and in use. I plan to commemorate the Grand Opening of my craft room by finally learning how to use all my Quilling supplies!

Thing and Djuna

As promised, here is an update on my girls. Djuna and I are getting used to the IV thing so that it’s actually going quite well. I am able to do the whole procedure on my own without any help from Rob – which is a good thing since he would not be able to come over each Sunday. Djuna doesn’t like it, of course, but she tolerates it and is showing signs of great improvement (her fur has turned thick and is even coming in on her belly). She will go back to the vet’s office soon for another blood/urine test to see how the kidneys are responding to all this fluid. Hopefully I can stop the IVs and just rely on the water fountain and canned foods. Disturbingly Thing was not feeling good last night, exhibiting some of the same symptoms that Djuna had. I’m fairly certain I’m just gun-shy and that she’s fine… but still, it would REALLY suck having both of them with kidney failure.

Last Day – First Day

Today is my last day at Treeline Construction. That’s both sad and exciting, all at the same time. They really are a great company, and I’ve enjoyed my time with them. I got to meet some really nice people and learn a very interesting new program on the computer. But, my new job (which starts July 5^th) will also be a good one too, I’m sure. I don’t know the people I’ll be working with but have heard good things about them from somebody I trust. I’m nervous, of course (who wouldn’t be), and really do hate new jobs… but it’s all good.

Gues What

I got a job!!!!!

It's with GDM Architects; a smallish architectural firm here in Anchorage. I applied to them back in November, so was quite surprised to get their call last week asking for an updated resume.

Tuesday morning I went in for a brief face-to-face with the guy; he said that he'd get back with me for an actual sit-down interview later on in the week. Not two hours later, however, he called to say they'd decided to forgo the sit-down and just move straight in to hiring me.

It's 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, at a pretty descent rate of pay. I’ll get good medical, no dental, paid holidays and sick leave, a 401k, and all the other fringe benefits that come with a full-time job.

Best of all: I now get to go on another Earthwatch Expedition! Not right away, of course – but soon, I’ll be floating down the Amazon!

Giving my 2-weeks notice to Treeline Construction was hard. They really are a good company; I would have stayed with them if only they could have given me better hours during the winter months. The boss was very understanding, though. I offered to train my replacement, and even come in after hours and/or weekends for a while if need be, and he said they might just take me up on that depending on how the hiring process goes.

Oddly enough, they were just getting ready to give me a raise…

One Fabulous Weekend

I had such a good weekend! I’m quite worn out from it (I’m so old) - but it’s a happy kind of worn out.

On Saturday, I got to visit the Farmer’s Market just down the road from my house. It’s still early in the season, so there really wasn’t much to choose from. I did pick up a bunch of parsnips for this week’s soup pot, though; that should be interesting. I’ve never tried parsnips before: have you?

I headed off to the zoo once I took my parsnips home. The Discovery Tour starts at 12:15, but I wanted to get there early so I could browse the gift shop. I like to talk about some of the things available there in my tour, to encourage people to buy them.

My tour was really fun; I had one couple from Michigan and a single lady from Kansas. All three of them were in no hurry to go anywhere, so I didn’t have to worry about being on time. In fact, the girl from Kansas will be joining my family on our hikes this summer! It’s always good to find another fellow hiker.

Last year’s orphan brown bear cub was extremely active that day. I’ve never seen him play like that! He was in his pool, splashing around with his toy 50-gallon drum – then he’d jump out and race around the enclosure, attacking his ball or pouncing on the log – then he’d run back to his pool and do a belly flop into it. He was definitely enjoying the good weather we were having!

The tigers were fairly active, too. Normally you just get to see them napping up on their hilltop in a pool of sunshine, but this time they were up and walking around – even occasionally tussling with each other. They are such gorgeous animals; I’m always impressed with them.

Once I finally finished up with the tour, I drove out to my brother’s house in Palmer. I have a goal this year of climbing Lazy Mountain, and my sister-in-law is helping me get ready for it. We are starting small and working our way up: first was the Butte, next will be Flat Top, and finally I’ll tackle Lazy.

By the way, the name “Lazy Mountain” is a misnomer if ever there was one. Lazy Mountain is anything BUT lazy. It’s no Pioneer Peak, but still – it’s a major climb, especially if you’re not exactly in the best of shape (like yours truly).

So, anyway – my sister-in-law and I headed up the Butte that afternoon. It was beautiful out, with clear blue skies and all the lush green trees. It was also quite buggy: mosquitoes swarmed us the entire way. Despite the bugs, we managed to have fun – and made it all the way up to the top for a stunning view of the surrounding mountains & glaciers.

Sunday found me back at the zoo, this time for a special tour. My friend Kay is up from New York for a visit = she and I went to Africa together in November of 2009! It was so cool to see her again. We ended up spending over 4.5 hours at the zoo! She is a botanist (by hobby) so I was picking her brains on all the local plants while at the same time giving her all the information I had on the animals.

After taking a brief nap at home with my girls, we met back up again at the Snow Goose for dinner. We managed to spend another 2.5 hours talking, eating dinner, and just generally having a great time.

I had just enough time to give Djuna her IV treatment (all by myself this time!) before hopping in the shower and heading off to bed, exhausted but happy.

Baby Squirrel

I got to see the baby squirrel playing this morning!

The mother has been helping herself to my bird feeder all spring, eating 4 entire cakes of suit all by herself. It gets expensive replacing them all the time, but seeing the little one playing this morning made it all worthwhile.

Do squirrels have more than one baby at a time? And where do they nest: in a hole in the tree?

I know which tree it is now, assuming the baby was playing near its home: it’s a nice tall birch tree in the back corner of my yard. That’s not exactly the type of tree that is easily bored into, so perhaps the nest is more bird-like. I can’t tell.

The baby is cute as a button, and so tiny! It is very fast, too, giving its mother a workout trying to keep up with it. It’s not exactly graceful yet, either. I saw it fall once, bouncing off several branches on its way down before finally catching itself and scrambling back up to mother.

Life: As Seen Through the Eyes of Ruth

Djuna and Her IV:

I’m getting much better at this and was able to give Junie her fluids almost by myself last night. Rob only had to step in to help once, holding the bag up for me so I could see the markings on it. I’ll adjust things a bit in my procedure so that he won’t have to next time. Junie and I were both much more comfortable with it, and the whole thing barely took 10 minutes. She really does feel better now, and is learning all about the water fountain, too. She’s able to drink from it without getting water up her nose even.

2^nd Hike of the Season:

The second “hike” of the season was not very well attended (again) but we had fun regardless. Mother met Rob and me up at Eklutna Lake for a nice leisurely stroll on the trails, and even managed to do some beach combing while we were at it. The weather was wonderful even though it was raining quite heavily in town that day.

1^st Discovery Tour of the year:

My first tour was this Saturday. I was rather nervous, even after the training session a few days prior, but managed to remember most everything and gave a good run I think. There were 9 people signed up for the tour: a family of 7 from here in Anchorage, and two sisters visiting from Nova Scotia and Maine. I need to work on the route I take: I only have 2 hours to talk and simply cannot show them the entire zoo in that amount of time. We ended up having to literally run to make it to the shuttle bus at the end.

Zoo Update:

We have a few babies at the zoo this year, most of them orphans. The most popular one would be the baby polar bear that was found up north and brought to us a week or so ago. She is cute beyond belief and is settling in to life at the zoo quite nicely. She will be moving on as soon as we can find a forever-home for her, but for now she is recovering in the infirmary. We also have 3 baby moose, 2 baby musk ox, 1 baby yak, and a new snow leopard that is one year old.

There’s lots of renovation going on as well. Expanding the polar bear exhibit to accommodate their future breeding is progressing well. They have the plans drawn up and are now focusing on raising the funds to start construction. At the same time, they will be redoing the old elephant enclosure to create a new habitat for our moose, and will be turning the old moose enclosure into a bigger area for the musk ox. The snowy owl gets a new flight pen soon, too, and the mountain sheep pen is being rearranged to make room for the mountain goat to have half of the rock wall. Repair work on the seal/otter exhibit is scheduled for this summer as well, so the harbor seals may end up back in Seward for a while, depending on how that goes.

Remodeling Update:

The remodeling isn’t going quite as quickly as I’d hoped it would. I got all the trim sanded and painted (thank you, Lorna!) and have just one more coat of dark green left to paint on the walls. Rob promised me that he and his son would come soon to finish the painting and install the trim. That leaves just the ceiling to do – and that can wait indefinitely. I plan on working out the furniture arrangement tonight using my trusty graph paper and measuring stick, and will hopefully get Rob to finish fixing the table and chairs for me so that I can move it all up there in the next few weeks. It’s going to be great, if I can just get there from here.

Homework for Katy:

My niece has a writing assignment for one of her classes in college (International Political Economy) and has chosen to write about Earthwatch. Since I am quite familiar with that company she has asked me to help her out. So – I have a homework assignment! It’s kind of fun, actually, especially since I know I’m not the one who is going to be graded on this… Anyway, she sent me a list of questions and I am going thru them one by one, writing up my experiences on each subject based on the three different expeditions I went on.  Once her paper is thru and she’s turned it in I’ll post my answers here for you to read: I think you might enjoy them.

My Job:

Today is my one year anniversary working at Treeline Construction! It’s a good job, despite the lack of hours during the winter months. I am hoping to fix things somehow so that I can continue working with them and not have to worry so much about paying bills this next winter. With a little of what I call “creative banking” I think I may actually be able to, but I’m still checking the papers each day for a part-time job, just in case. Maybe I can talk my vet in to letting me help out each morning?