Writing a Blog

It’s actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Not that choosing a topic is all that difficult; life is full of stories if you know how to spot them. 

The hard part is starting the story. How in the world to you begin? Quite literally, what are the first words to be used? I struggle with that every time.

My strategy, for the most part, involves just diving in and typing whatever comes to mind. More often than not, I have to go back and edit what I’ve said.

I look for grammatical errors, typos, and duplicate words – that sort of thing. I don’t normally use a thesaurus, relying mainly on my own vocabulary – but once in a while I will check it to see if it comes up with a better word.

Eventually, I have something “good enough” for posting. Not by any means perfect, but good enough.

What are some of your tips for a good story? How do you deal with the opening statement? Do you have any advice for an aspiring writer?

Scary Stuff

I’ve made a few decisions lately that are more than a little bit scary.

The first one is that Bryan and I are going to live together. Now, I have not lived with another person (my brief disastrous stint with a roommate doesn’t really count) for well over 30 years, so this is no small decision – but I think it’s a good one. If anybody can put up with me, it would be him. It remains to be seen whether I can put up with him!

The second one is that he and I are going to build our own house! These plans are a lot more fun since it involves me getting to design our Dream House complete with a Craft Room for me and a Shop/Garage for him.

In order to make these two plans work, we’ve come up with The Plan.

Step One: He has to sell the house he’s currently in.

        This involves a lot of remodeling and fixing up, as it is not in very good shape right now. Tentatively I’m giving him until fall of this year, 2016.

Step Two: He will move in with me in my current house.

        The money that he has been putting in to his house payments will be put instead into a bank account to be used as a down payment on the Dream House. I will continue to make payments on my house as usual with no change for either of us on money going out. A year or so will give us a fairly hefty down payment for the new house.

Step Three: We then start looking for property.

        Okay, I admit it: we’re already looking at property. We want more than 5 acres of wooded property with a creek running though it, preferably out in the valley. We’ve found some really nice plots up Buffalo Mine Road and off of Fishhook, just to name a few.

Step Four: We start building our Dream House

        By this time, we’ll have the plans nailed down (Hahahaha!) and will have an idea as to how it will set on the property. We want it to be as “off the grid” as possible, with solar panels, in-floor heating, the whole works. I’m hoping to be in the house by the by mid 2018, assuming all goes well (which it never does).

Step Five: We figure out the job situation

        I would very much like to quit working entirely or at the very least get a part-time job in Palmer; if I rent out my house in Anchorage that would provide a monthly income for me. Bryan is hoping to be able to work from home as well, with perhaps a drive in to the office once or twice a week.

Step Six: He gets his woodshop up and running to build all the furnishings

        He said he’s always wanted a Wood Shop, so I’m taking him at his word. I’ve got a list (of course I do) of all the bookshelves, cabinetry, tables, dressers, shelving, and whatnot for him to build. We can save quite a bit of money off the price of the house this way, and he gets to make things for me!

So. That’s The Plan… as I said to begin with, it’s scary stuff!

Yeah, He's a Keeper

I have two daily calendars (one is a Book a Day and the other is a Cat a Day) that I sometimes get a little bit behind on tearing off pages. This morning, I was catching up on this very important duty when I found the notes that Bryan left for me.

The first one was on the Book a Day page and said “Did you see the note in the cat calendar? No? You might want to take a look.”

When I went to the cat calendar, I found this note: “Happy Valentine’s Day! There just so happens to be a little something in the closet behind your chair in the library…”

Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever? 

He somehow manages to not only give me a Valentine’s Day gift when he’s half way around the world (literally, he’s in Australia right now) but he did it by getting into a closet that requires moving furniture into the middle of the room – all without me knowing about it in my own house.

The heart-shaped box was waiting for me in the closet, just like he said it would be. It’s big, too = about the size of an old-fashioned hat box. Inside are all sorts of goodies from my new favorite store, LUSH.

I got the following items: 

     Sex Bomb

     Tisty Toasty

     The Kiss Lip Scrub

     Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner

     Love and Light Hand Cream

     Soft Coeur Massage Bar

     Roses All the Way Soap

Animals I have known

Animals I’ve had in my life:

Thing & Djuna = my current cats.

The Alien, Floyd, Mildred and Gracie = all cats.

Ssadi = a corn snake

Grendle = a leopard gecko

Shakespeare = a Chinese Box Turtle

Athos, Aramis, and Porthos = frogs

Chaeron = an iguana

A multitude of mice (all dinner for the snake)

While living with my family, we had:

Honey, a cat, plus Wookie, Winnifred, and 4 other kittens

Pookey, originally named Ebony = a cat

Patches = a feral cat we “tamed” who promptly had 5 kittens under my bed

Jacob, Albert, Buster, Mamma Dog, Little Dog, Sasquatch, Puppy, Rabbit, Sam, Ninianne, and various other dogs

William, George, and Martha = rats

Teddy = a hamster

Numerous fish

Katie and various other rabbits

Thomas, Winchester, Shoshone, Baby, and various other horses

Jiminy the burrow

About half a dozen pigs

The same number of cows

Dozens of chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, peacocks, and guinea hens

Possibly six (if not more) goats

I seem to recall a few sheep in the mix, too

How many animals did you grow up with?

Djuna: my little girl

My resolution to write at least one blog posting per week has not exactly been kept: I only got 3 written last month. That’s not bad, but I can do better. With that thought in mind, I figured it would be a good time to talk about my little girl, Djuna.

As most of you know, Djuna is a Devon Rex cat who is 13 years old. About 4 years ago, she was diagnosed with Kidney Failure, but then proceeded to surprise everybody (the vet included) by doing just fine, thank you very much. I even dared hope they were wrong and she was going to live forever.

Sadly I was being overly optimistic.

About two weeks ago, she got really sick again and had to spend four days in the hospital at Pet Emergency Treatment. Those people are so nice; they immediately fell in love with Djuna (as they should) and took such good care of her. I saw continued improvement each time I went to visit her, so that by the time I got to take her home again her blood work showed amazing progress!

When they do blood work on a cat (well, on anybody, actually) with the purpose of checking their kidney functions, they look for three things: the Blood Urine Nitrogen (BUN) levels, the Creatinine (CREA) levels, and the Phosphorous (PHOS) levels.

For a cat:

Normal BUN should be from 16 to 36

Normal CREA should be from .08 to .24

Normal PHOS should be from 3.1 to 7.5

When I originally took her to the hospital on the 16^th:

Her BUN was at 211

Her CREA was 7.0

Her PHOS was at 19.5

When I brought her home on the 19^th:

Her BUN had come down to 85

Her CREA was down to 4.8

For some reason they didn’t look at the PHOS

When I took her to the vet’s on the 29^th:

Her BUN was at 61

Her CREA was at 4.1

Her PHOS was at 7.0

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that she will not last much longer. When pressed for a prediction, the vet said it was a matter of months, not years. I am helping to prolong her life by giving her a bi-weekly treatment of IV fluids with several other medications injected into the bag while she’s hooked up to it.

She hates her treatments, by the way, and so do I. I can’t do them without help, and Bryan has been wonderful in being there to hold her while I administer her treatments. Unfortunately Bryan is going away for a month, so I have had to scramble to find somebody else willing to help me; Lauren would gladly help out but does not handle needles well at all, so thankfully my neighbor across the way has agreed to help.

I will keep a close eye on her to insure “quality of life” is as good as it can be, and will not let her suffer unduly – but am very grateful that I get some more time with her as she is a sweetie pie.

Plastics: the Never Ending Story

I am inspired on this next posting by my friend Jan, who lives in London and just recently got back from an All-Girls Scientific Expedition on board the SV Sea Dragon which sailed across the South Atlantic Ocean from Senegal to Brazil via Ascension Island to study plastics in the ocean. I got to thinking about my own contributions to the plastic problem, and am trying to find ways to reduce my usage.

Take a look around you: what do you see? How can you change things around you so that there is less waste?

Here’s what I see:

I get up in the morning and go to brush my teeth – using a plastic toothbrush with paste out of a plastic tube.

I take a shower to wash my hair using shampoo and conditioner out of plastic bottles.

I brush my hair (or comb it) using a plastic brush & comb set.

Heck, even the shower curtain is plastic – as is the toilet seat, the outlet covers, and god knows what else.

Right there, I can eliminate plenty.

I am now using shampoo bars and toothy tabs from Lush, and am looking for a good wooden brush/comb set as well as toothbrushes made of bamboo. I hope to find a shower curtain that is durable yet NOT plastic. Sadly I can’t do a thing about the building materials in my bathroom, so will just have to make sure that my own house is built as “naturally” as possible.

And that was only one room/one event in my life! How much more can I change for the better? How about in the kitchen?

I bought pouches made of nylon in three different sizes to be used instead of zip-loc baggies. They’re washable in either the washing machine or in the dish washer (or in my case, by hand) and they will last a lot longer than their plastic counterparts. As an added bonus, they come in cute fanciful patterns to liven up your day!

There are – of course – the reusable bags that fold up into tiny packages that are used at the grocery store instead of the plastic bags they hand out by the gazillion.  That one is basically a no-brainer, and there’s no reason AT ALL why everyone on the planet would choose not to use them.

What are your recommendations?

Ringing In The New Year

So, how did you all celebrate the New Year?

I had a fabulous weekend, myself. Bryan and I drove up north almost to Delta Junction and stayed at The Lodge at Black Rapids.  Oh my goodness – what a beautiful place that was! I highly recommend it.

The Lodge at Black Rapids

The weather was somewhat less than desirable, however. In fact, the wind blew pretty much the entire time we were there. We had hoped to get out and do some hiking, but only managed a small foray down to the old lodge to see if we could see the in-resident ghost.

We did not see the ghost, but we did get to see the progress they are making on restoring it. One day soon, they hope to hold musical events there, perhaps open a small coffee shop and/or a touristy-type store. They work on it piece by piece as they get the funding, so it will be a slow progress – but they are at least making the attempt.

The lodge itself is a stunning piece of artwork. The logs were all hand cut by a group of high-schoolers who were attending a class on how to build a log cabin. They used wooden pegs instead of nails, even! And for the shingles, they managed to use pieces of slate rock, each one nailed on by two copper nails so they wouldn’t stain the rocks over time.

Our room was on the third floor, so we had a pretty good view of the mountains behind the lodge. Rather a tease, actually, since the wind was blowing so hard we couldn’t get out there. But it was a fine view, none the less. We had access to the common area so I was able to get out my crafting kit that I brought along: we sat and made cards for hours each day! And yes, Bryan made cards right along with me.

The meals were all quite good. Their “cook” is actually a family of three: husband, wife and son. They accommodated my dietary preferences with no problem at all, and were quite happy to do so. Meals were served family style, with all the guests eating together (each on our own table, though) so we all got to know each other fairly well.

For New Year’s Eve, they had planned on serving a five course meal and then heading out to a bonfire out back to shoot off some fireworks – but the weather put a stop to that. Instead we all sat and listened to the live music they had: Hurricane Dave sang songs and played his guitar for several hours. The following evening actually lightened up enough for us to shoot off the fireworks so at least we got to see them even if it was a day later.

All in all, it was a great weekend: one of the best New Year’s ever, I’d say.

Happy New Year 2016!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll no doubt be saying it again sometime in the near future – but I really am going to try to keep my blog going better than I have been. In fact, I’m making it one of my resolutions this year!

Last year’s resolutions were:

     1. Loose as much weight as possible

     2. Cook at least one new recipe each month

     3. Renew contact with lost friendships

     4. Write at least 4 letters a month

The whole weight loss thing wasn’t entirely successful – I don’t think I lost a pound. Mind you, I also did not gain a pound – so it wasn’t a complete failure. I will change things up a bit this time, however, and simply focus on increasing activity levels thereby sneaking in some weight loss without calling attention to it.

The cooking one was great – I loved it so much it’s now a part of my normal routine. I could cheat and make it another resolution again, but honestly it’s what I do anyway. It’s one of the (many) things that Bryan and I enjoy doing together.

Sadly, I completely dropped the ball on renewing lost friendships. I did get to have lunch/tea with Anne a few times, and emailed Corissa once or twice – but that was about it. Oh, and I actually drove out to Meadow Lakes to visit with Rikki, even. But what I really intended was get me back in touch with Lorna – and I chickened out. Part of me is afraid to find out what caused her to disappear out of my life, because I’m suspicious that she may have had an encounter with a certain old boyfriend of mine who had/has a habit of being more than a little bit promiscuous. So, instead of tracking her down and simply asking her, I took the low road and decided that if she really wanted to talk to me she would.

The final resolution from last year was a resounding success. I typically wrote well over four letters a month – sometimes more than 10 letters even! And again, it will continue on into this year simply by default of habit.

So, now that 2016 is eminent I have come up with the following resolutions to focus on:

     1. Increase my step count daily

     2. Create an actual budget - and stick to it

     3. Write at least four blog entries per month (one a week)

     4. Drink at least two glasses of water a day

The budget thing has a story behind it (don’t they all?) and I promise I will delve into that in a future posting. For now, suffice to say that I am planning on buying property and having my own house built within the next few years.

Anybody else making resolutions this year?

Whiskey Wednesday

Suite 100, in South Anchorage, is the place to be on a Wednesday afternoon. Starting at 5:00 and running through to 7:00 each week they have what is called Whiskey Wednesday.

How cool is that? I get to sit and read my book while enjoying a bowl of seafood chowder and tasting some excellent whiskey each week.

This week’s featured whiskey was a Wild Turkey Russell’s Reserve 10-year Bourbon. According to the handout the sales rep gave me “Only a handful of barrels are selected in small batches from the middle section or “center cut” of the rickhouse by Master Distiller, Jimmy Russell and his son, Associate Master Distiller, Eddie Russell. The whiskey ages for a minimum of 10 years in the deepest no.4 char, or alligator charred, barrels for a richer color and deeper flavor.”

The whiskey was okay. Bourbon is not my favorite, exactly, so I don’t think I’ll run out and buy a case of it or anything; but it sure did taste good in the drink they created just for the occasion - a Bourbon Lemon Drop. I’m not sure why they called it a Lemon Drop since it tasted like orange, and even had some Cointreau in it with a slice of orange as a garnish. But – it was in the Lemon Drop glass, and it did have a rim of sugar around it. Regardless, it was good.

The sales lady was nice, and talked to me for a bit about the whiskey. She said she plans to do the Whiskey Wednesday each week all summer long.

Woo-Hoo!

You Just Have To Be Flexible

I had such plans for the weekend’s hike – but you have to roll with the flow, as they say.

Bryan was to have met me at my house at 7:15 but he forgot to set his alarm clock (I did not know that until later that evening) so I went on to the trail head by myself since I was supposed to meet somebody else there at 8:00 and didn’t want to be late. However, when I pulled in to the parking lot there was nobody there. It looked like I was on my own for the hike.

That’s when I noticed the pile of bear scat in the middle of the parking lot. I went over to inspect it and saw that it was a few hours old. “It’s probably safe enough; that bear is long gone by now.” I said to myself. 

Then I went over to the trail head to read the notices posted there – and found another pile of bear scat. When I inspected this one, I found that it was much fresher. Like, only maybe half an hour old. This one had me a little bit concerned (a lot) but I really wanted to go hiking… so I made myself a compromise: if I see one more pile of scat, I’ll turn around.

Sure enough, not 20 feet in was another pile.

That’s when I decided that maybe I didn’t really want to hike this trail after all, and maybe a drive down the coast was a better idea.

And what a pretty day it was! I pulled over at several scenic overlooks, walked along a few trails by the ocean, and just generally had a nice day out.

Okay, For Real This Time

What I did on my summer vacation!

My flights for this expedition took me from Anchorage to Seattle for a small layover and then on to London for a longer layover where I got to meet up with my friends Jan and Crispin. I had not seen either of them since I was in Africa back in 2009 so I was very happy they were each able to meet me for dinner that night.

The next day I headed on over to Frankfurt where I got to meet up with a long-lost cousin of mine whom I had never met before. We had a wonderful afternoon walking around the old part of town and enjoying a scrumptious late lunch. Both Lis and her partner Bruno were very nice: I’m so happy I got to meet them both.

Finally the next day I made my way to Lanzarote, with a brief layover in Madrid, where I met up with 3 of my fellow Earthwatch volunteers on the same flight I was on. We ended up sharing a taxi to the hotel since we were all going to the same place. Which reminds me: I think I still owe somebody for my share of that cost!

Our official rendezvous was in the Hotel lobby that next morning and that’s where I met the other 3 Earthwatch volunteers. We all gathered together with our gear and waited until Dr. Chris Stevenson and his assistant Ivana Adzic showed up. We had so much gear, however, that they had to make two trips to get us all to the site where we would stay for the next two weeks.

Our home away from home was La Casa de la Caldera, a 250 year old beautifully restored building that combined traditional Canarian architecture with modern facilities. We roomed together two to a suite, each suite having two bedrooms and a kitchen/dining area. There was a courtyard in the center where we gathered for our meals, and a pool out in the back to cool off after a hard day’s work. Our meals were provided for us by a real-live French Gourmet Chef and were quite scrumptious.

The work consisted mainly of mapping out the valley where Chris proposed to base his work. This meant measuring all the “features” we could find: length, width, height, rock content, and GPS location. Ivana and Chris would then enter all that date onto an aerial view of the valley once we got back to the casa each night.

Since we were the first team to work on this project, we encountered a fair amount of obstacles along the way. The logistics of getting down into the valley was just one of them: it took several days before the car rental place could find us a vehicle that could handle the goat trail they call a road, which meant we had to hike in and out each time until then. By the time Team 2 showed up, after our Team 1 had gone home, they had all the problems worked out and it was smooth sailing.

The biggest obstacle, however, was the weather. With temps as high as 110 one day (the hottest on record for that area in over 30 years) and very strong gusts of wind the next (Ivana’s sunglasses actually got blown off her face!) we just had no way of knowing how the work would progress on any given day. I’m told that Team 2 did not encounter the heat problems, but did have their fair share of wind.

I got to have a few days to myself after the expedition ended so did a few touristy type things around the island. My journey home took me from Lanzarote to London to Amsterdam to Minneapolis and finally home.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I’m not sure how I’m going to write anything about those 3 weeks I had on vacation last month. How do you verbalize an experience that was indescribable? What words exist that can contain all the emotions felt and lessons learned? I shall have to try, however, as people keep asking “When will you have something up on your blog?” or “How soon will your website be updated so I can see the pictures?”

Thankfully for me – although not so good for anybody else – my website won’t be updated until fall. My brother is my “Computer Geek” and is the one who creates all those fantastic pages for me; but he works all summer long and cannot get to it until construction season comes to an end. This gives me plenty of time to come up with a plan, however: I will have all summer to sift through all 1,480 photos to choose just the right ones and then (somehow) articulate the events corresponding to the pictures. Until then, I get to create both my photo book (to match the photo books I have on all my other Earthwatch Expeditions) as well as a Power-Point Presentation on it.

I haven’t decided if I’ll create my photo book first or my power-point presentation first: either one will help the other, so it doesn’t really matter on that account. I should do the power-point first because I’ll be needing it soon for a presentation that I’m currently scheduling – but I have so much fun creating the book, I might just do it first anyway.

ShutterFly is the program I use for making my photo books. They do a good job and are fairly easy to work with. I’m hoping that my fellow Earthwatch volunteers will let me use a few of their photos for the book, since I don’t have any of myself. People keep telling me I should include myself in my books/presentations/webpages – but I never remember to actually take a picture of myself until after the event is over.

And see there: I’ve managed to write a post about my vacation without having actually said ANYTHING about the vacation! Is that talent, or what?

The Boreal Herbal Workshop

Taking a 3-day workshop not two days after returning home from vacation was probably not the best idea I’ve ever had. The Canary Islands are 9 hours ahead of us, so I was completely jet-lagged and kept crashing half-way through each day. But it was such a good class, and one that I had been waiting for; I just didn’t factor in the sleep deprivation and time change.

Beverley Gray was awesome, though. She is from Whitehorse and has an herbal shop there called Aroma Borealis. She is “an Herbalist, an Aromatherapist, a Natural-Health Practitioner, a Journalist, and an Award-Winning Natural Health-Product Formulator” At least, that’s what the back of her book says. The book is called The Boreal Herbal and it’s packed full of all kinds of good information. You can buy it online at Amazon.com, if you like – I’ve even found it at Titlewave here in Anchorage.

The workshop started with a lecture on Friday after work. She had a power-point presentation to show some of the different plants she uses as well as some of the actual plants that she had harvested not 30 minutes prior to the talk. She passed those around so we could all taste them (who knew you could eat spruce tips right off the tree?) and talked about all their different uses.

Saturday & Sunday she took us out into the forests for some hands-on lessons where we learned about the plants right there. We harvested a few of them and then headed on in to the classroom to learn how to make medicines with them.

The first thing we made was an infused oil using yarrow, horsetail and fireweed. The oil she used was a grapeseed oil, but you can use a nice olive oil as well. She heated it all up in a double boiler and then bottled it into little vials so that we each got to take one home.

The next thing she made was a salve, again using the grapeseed oil but this time simmering it with some spruce tips. Once it was done she added in some vitamin E oil and the bees wax, then poured it in to tiny little jars so we could each take one home.

On the next day we again went out into the forest for some more hands-on training and harvesting, then headed on back in to the classroom to continue “cooking” starting off with a cream. She used a grapeseed oil that had been infused with devil’s club this time, to which she added rose petals and some usnea (a lichen that grows on spruce trees) and sweetgrass. This all got blended together with the beeswax and vitamin E oil to create the smoothest, most luxurious cream. It was really fascinating to watch happen! Again she poured it in to tiny little jars so we could each take one home.

The final concoction for the workshop was a syrup made with honey, birch syrup, elder flower and brandy. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to use mine for – but it sure does smell good. I’m sure I’ll find a use at some point.

There was over 50 people in the workshop so there were a lot of questions. We all certainly got our money’s worth out because Beverley was more than happy to share all of her knowledge with us.

Bryan and I decided to each of us pick two recipes out of the book to make this summer, so I picked a tincture made with willow, aspen, birch, gentian, high bush cranberry, mint, red clover,  and wild chamomile (to see if that helps my headaches) and a dandelion petal mustard. Bryan wants to make Dandelion Wine and Pine Bark Crackers.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

        

Whiskey Tasting

Bryan and I went to a Scotch Tasting event last night.

It was held at a local hotel that sits right on Lake Hood, one of the biggest float plane airports in the world. We got to watch float planes take off and land all throughout the event, which was really cool. The lake is a pretty one, too, with lots of water birds. There is a trail that wanders around the lake with lots people walking their dogs or hauling gear to/from their planes.

Our host for the event was Dr. Tom Turner who believes it’s his mission in life to guide people towards their own personal discovery and understanding of the spirit. With over a decade in the industry, he enjoys all types of spirits but his heart belongs to whiskey, which is why he considers his role as Master of Whiskey for Diageo (www.diageo.com) the pinnacle of his career.

The event itself was a sit-down affair with 5 different Distiller’s Edition Whiskeys, each paired with a delectable appetizer.

The first course consisted of a cheese plate with a tiny slice of both brie and gouda, some chocolate covered blueberries, and some roasted pecans drizzled with honey; the whiskey was a smooth Glenkinchi.

The second course was a small dollop of Alaskan smoked halibut & salmon pate with shallots, lemon juice, sour cream, and cucumber on a bed of mixed greens; the whiskey was a deep smoky Lagavulin.

The third course offered up two jumbo shrimp with a roasted lemon and a spicy brandy cocktail sauce; the whiskey this time was a nice mellow Dalwhinnie.

The fourth course gave us some garlic hummus with onions, avocado, tomato, and herbs all wrapped up in iceberg lettuce leaves drizzled with chipotle aioli; the whiskey was Oban.

The final course of the evening (the fifth, in case you were keeping track) was a wonderful chocolate mousse with fresh Alaskan berries (strawberries, blueberries and blackberries); the final whiskey was a Talisker.

Tom was a very pleasant host, and very knowledgeable about “his” whiskey. He told stories of each one’s place of origin: how it was made and about the people who inspired it. It seemed to me that he had been to each distillery and had personally met each person who had a hand in the making of them, so his stories were quite entertaining as well as educational.

On our way back to the truck once it was over, I asked Bryan which one would he buy for himself (I had to clarify it was for HIM and not for ME): he chose the Oban. For myself, I think I would buy the Lagavulin.

Three out of Five Ain’t Bad

Anytime you make New Year’s Resolutions, it’s almost inevitable that you end up not keeping to them. I have actually done better than expected on most of mine, however. Unfortunately the ones that I am slacking on are the most “visible” ones.

Here’s what I originally resolved to do:

1. Loose as much weight as possible

2. Write at least 4 letters each month

3. Cook at least one new recipe each month

4. Renew contact with lost friendships 

5. Write at least 4 blog posts a month

The first resolution I have failed miserably on. In an attempt to keep to it, I not only joined a gym but also signed up for a personal trainer twice a month to keep me on track. I have been going as faithfully as my health will allow (Migraines do NOT like to work out) but have somehow managed to continue gaining weight rather than losing it. And no, it’s not muscle weight – trust me, its fat.

The second resolution has seen better success. I have not only written numerous personal letters to friends and family members, but also have taken part in the More Love Letters campaign each month. I have written so many letters in fact, I’m actually beginning to feel like I need to be making more cards just to stay ahead of myself!

My third resolution has been so much fun; I really have enjoyed this one. I have made a Moroccan-Inspired vegetable and chickpea stew, a Baked Almond Cheese ball, Chia Seed Breakfast Shakes, a Black Bean and Quinoa Casserole, a Quinoa Skillet Bread, a Couscous Black Bean Salad, and a Brussle Sprout Hash served with a fried egg on top.

To help with my goal of cooking new and exciting dishes, my guy got me a subscription to a Spice of the Month club that comes with recipes to try out each new spice! Below is what came in the mail this month:

Persian Cuisine in Celebration of Nowruz        

        Braised Lamb Shanks         

                Spices: Advieh Khoresh

        Baghali Polow with Saffron (a rice dish)  

                Spices: Saffron Threads

        Mast-o-Khiar (a savory yogurt dish)      

                Spices: Mast-o-Khiar Herbs & Spices

The fourth goal has been a little bit more difficult. The reason I made that resolution in the first place was to goad myself in to trying to find out what happened to a very good friend who just seemed to fall off the grid a while back. I’m not sure what happened: was it something I said or did? Or was it just something she felt she needed to do? If it is the later, I can respect that – I’d just like to know one way or other. I find that I am actually a tad bit afraid of what I might find out, however.

Finally we get to the fifth resolution: this blog of mine. I really did have every intention of writing more often, but as you can see I have let it slide these past few weeks.  I will continue to try however, so please bear with me and check back often.

Two Standing Ovations

The crowd didn’t hesitate: as soon as the last notes rang out, they were on their feet with thunderous applause. What an amazing concert that was!

We’ve been to several of concert this season:

        Mark Chestnut

        Tim McGraw

        Pam Tillis

        The Duhks

        Lunasa

        Julian Lange & Chris Eldridge

But I have to say, the Steep Canyon Rangers were by far the best! If you are at all a fan of bluegrass, I can highly recommend that you check them out.

They consist of 6 players, all of whom are superb musicians. Charles R. Humphrey III played upright bass. Graham Sharp not only plays the banjo but has also written over thirty of their songs. Michael Ashworth played what they called a Cajon Percussion Box. Mike Guggino was smokin’ hot on the mandolin. Woody Plat was the lead vocalist (although most all of them sang) and also played guitar. But Nicky Sanders completely stole the show on his violin. Good lord, was he ever good!

As their website says, “These days, it’s hard to talk about the Steep Canyon Rangers without mentioning Steve Martin. After meeting at a party and clicking immediately, Martin invited the band to tour and record with him. 2011’s collaboration Rare Bird Alert was nominated for a Grammy, and later that year, they won IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award.”

In fact, some of you may have been lucky enough to see them all (Steve Martin included) play a few years back right here in our very own Performing Arts Center in downtown Anchorage!

Sadly, I missed that.

Motherly Advice

“You gotta stick your tool in there and wiggle it around.”

That’s the advice my Mother gave Bryan the other day. It was all I could do to not burst out laughing! Taken out of context, it sounded quite racy – and I just knew Bryan heard it that way, too.

What we were actually doing, however, was prying little glass tiles off their display board using screwdrivers and elbow grease.

Mother has literally hundreds of them in her back shed, thanks to the salesman who found out that she would take all of his discontinued boards. She uses them for all sorts of projects, from mosaics to garden pathways.

I’m not quite sure what I’m doing with them, yet. I have a vague idea in my head that involves copper wire, glass tiles, and driftwood.

We’ll see what that turns in to! 

My Next Earthwatch Expedition

Purchase Tickets: 

     Check!

Make Hotel Arrangements: 

     Check!

Fill Out Paperwork: 

     Check!

Take Care of Inoculations: 

     Check!

Create Packing List: 

     Check!

Get Uber Excited: 

     Check! Check!

The 10-Minute Meal

Who knew you could cook an entire meal in just 10 minutes! And it’s a nutritious meal, too – not some burger/fry thing out of the freezer.

It goes like this: you come home from a hard day’s work. You take your pressure cooker out of the cupboard. You put some chicken pieces (or fish, or beef, or what have you) in. You chop up some veggies like carrots, potatoes, and onions – and throw those in. You pour some wild rice in there, and top it off with some water. You heat it up and get it to the right pressure. Then you head off into the bedroom to change into something a little more comfortable, like your sweatpants and a t-shirt.

By the time you get back to the kitchen, your meal is done.

The fine people at Zucchini’s Cooking Store cooked several such meals for us, to demonstrate the ease and convenience of the pressure cooker. By the time we all gathered round to eat the results, Bryan and I were sold.

The only thing left for us to do is figure out how we’re going to pay for the pressure cooker, because of course we have to have the most expensive one out there. Only the best will do, you know!

No, seriously – there’s a range of prices and sizes available. We just have to pick the right one.

The Aces Hockey Game

Me: Why are you cheering? That’s the other team’s goal, wasn’t it?

Him: No! That’s our team! We’re the ones in the blue shirts, not the black shirts!

Me: Oh.

Me: At least we have a cool mascot, like a wolf. Not like it’s a chipmunk or something.

Him: It’s a polar bear, not a wolf.

Me: Oh.

I’m not sure if he’ll take me to another game ever again! I can’t count the number of times I ended up saying “oh.”

On the plus side, we did win!