Back to the cold

Well, sad to say we're back in Alaska and it's cold! Sure I know it's supposed to be cold in Alaska in the winter, but negative temps again, come on. To go from the 80's to subzero is just plain not fun.

Yes, Hawaii was great, fabulous, incredible, heavenly! It only rained once and that was at night. Doesn't get much better than that! The warm breezes, the sun, it was a much needed break from the frigid winter we've been having this year. And sharing it with my daughter - that's the best.

I'm sooooo screwed.....

This is solely for the humor of my family - my brother in particular. He will understand and appreciate my dilemna.

My alarm clock is broken. Well, not the whole alarm but at least the most important part of the alarm clock....the SNOOZE button. Yes, my precious, crucially important snooze button has simply decided to stop working! Now to some this might not be a big deal. But as I mentioned, my family is probably rolling on the floor laughing right about now. Yes, even J is chuckling about the whole situation. He's one of those people that wakes with the first buzz of the alarm and then gets out of bed and starts moving. To me, that's not natural. If we weren't supposed to use snooze buttons God would never have created them. I need to press the snooze at least 3 or 4 times each and every morning. It's my way of ever so slowly facing the morning. I'm not a morning person and need all the help I can get to drag myself awake. My family knows all too well just how much I depend on my snooze alarm each and every morning. I need my snooze button. I can't function without it.

Sympathy anyone?

Where did '08 go?

Wow, I can't believe it's 2009 already. It's so true about time flying by faster as you get older - not that I'm actually getting older!

It just seems that 2008 went be in a flash. But there were so many good things that happened. the ole' creating memories thing going on. A short trip down memory lane.......

My niece and nephew-in-law (is that a word?) made it to Alaska for vacation. It was L's first time to Alaska and we had so much we wanted him to see. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate for us to go fishing like we planned. That just means they have to come back up again!

S took her first ride on a 4-wheeler and I have to tell you - she's a natural! A bit nervious at first but before we knew it she was zooming around in no time like a crazed woman on a shopping spree.

It only took a few minutes of instructions and she was off and flying!

We had so much fun - laughing 'til we cried. Cried over memories. Laughing some more.

R started 1st grade and D is now in 5th grade. Lord, it seems like only yesterday they were babies.

I took my first fishing charter and it was great. We closed down the office for the day and headed to Seward. The boat I was on caught our limit! Our freezer has some tasty salmon in it. (Yes, that me, second from the left kneeling in front.) It was ate in the season so the weather was a tad wet but that didn't stop us from having a good time.

R and I made our trip to the North Pole to visit Santa. It was a wonderful trip. R knows about the Santa helpers that dress up at the local stores and he told me that this was the "real one". He could tell......

There was the trip in early June to S Carolina to a convention. I had forgotten how good it feels to walk barefoot in the sand!

And then the trip in late June to Texas for an OSHA seminar. And I can't forget the Vegas trip in October! A week of studying like crazy during the day and partying at night! Yes, I was tired when we got home but it was worth it.

Oh, and R joined the boy scouts! He and I spent a fun afternoon selling popcorn at one of the local grocery stores!

SM graduated from college in December! Hoooorayyyyy! Magna cum-laude no less. This is one proud Mom. I knew she could do it and I'm just darned happy for her. Graduation ceramonies will be in June. Ever the one to strive for more, she's already started taking classes for her Master's degree.

I'm sure there's loads more but I'm not sure at what point the blog will say "too much" and just dump me out. I'll close for now and hope this all posts!

Do you see that?

OMG, I've added a pic to the blog!!!! Ok, so it may not seem like a big deal to you, but for me....this is huge!

Counting down...

It's getting closer and closer! Pretty much done with all the shopping. Just the wrapping now. Tomorrow night is my Christmas party, Saturday is J's Christmas party, and Sunday is brunch with friends @ Josephine's. That's swanky place that's only open on Sunday's for champagne brunch.

Re-thinking 16 Unusual things...

In case you missed the post and comments below, my dear daughter reminded me of a few slightly unusual things about myself. Leave it to a daughter to notice every minor little detail.....you gotta love it!

Sooooo, let's try this again:

1. Yes, I am slightly obsessed with odd vs. even #'s. Volume controls have to be set on an even # (2-4-6-8------20-22-24---). Temperature controls are the same. Virtually anything numeric. Don't tell me it's 73 degrees, that won't do.

2. Plastic bags of any kind - and paper too for that matter. I fold them all. Literally everything has to be folded. Used wrapping paper that is being thrown away will get folded flat before it goes in the trash.

3. I guess the pantyhose thing could be included in #2. Pantyhose can be folded neatly into a square, believe me - if you want a lesson come on over to my house. But that also includes ALL underwear. Nothing, and I do mean nothing goes into my drawers without being folded.

4. Ice cream. What's unusual about that? Well, I don't like it real hard, frozen. I scoop out a bowl and put it in the microwave for about 10 - 15 seconds. No, it doesn't melt, it just gets a tiny bit soft on the outside. Reminds me of soft serve back in Ohio.

5. Coffee cups must be clear glass. It is the preferred way to drink in my house. And don't even think about giving me coffee in a Styrofoam cup....that is cause for death or at least a rude no thanks and a nasty "down the nose" look. But really, it does taste funny to me. When not at home I prefer to have my coffee in my travel mug. I'll even take it into a restaurant with me.

6. Travel mugs - yes, I collect them and have one with me all the time. I even have to test purses to see if the travel mug will fit inside. If it doesn't, then don't buy the darn purse! But not just any travel mug. They have to be stylish. Take a walk around Starbucks and chances are I have one of them in my cupboard.

7. Light switches MUST be down when turned off. You know, a room with two or three switches, one on either side of the room. I will go crazy trying to figure out how to have the lights off and both switches down.

8. I'm obsessed with time. Not tracking - just knowing what time it is ALL the time. And it's not good enough to have one clock in a room. I'm sitting in my office and besides my watch (always have a watch on) there are four (yes 4) different clocks. If I wake up in the middle of the night I can't go back to sleep until I check the time. The only room in my house that does not have a clock is the guest bathroom and I'm shopping around for one. Just haven't found the right one yet.

9. I can't stand excess 'stuff'' in my car. It drives me crazy to leave something in my car, even just for a few hours or overnight. It's not like it's going to multiply or grow legs and stomp around.

10. Do NOT put your rear end on a table of mine. That includes picnic tables. dining room tables, coffee tables, end tables, etc. That just puts me over the edge to have someone's a-- where my food could potentially be placed. It used to be the same way with my kitchen counters but I've lightened up on that one due to the grandkids. Come on, they need to sit on kitchen counters!

11. Cans, jars, bottles, boxes, etc, must have the label facing out in my pantry and cupboards in my kitchen. OK, same way for in the bathroom. yes, I line them up.....

12. All clothes must face left in my closet. (left sleeve closest to the door)

13. I can't stand to have anyone touch my feet. Safe to say I've never had a pedicure.

14. Covers must be folded a certain way on the bed. I can't explain it - you know, the top of the sheet must be folded over the top edge of the comforter. Does that make sense? I can't go to sleep at night until the covers are just right

15. Numbers in general. I'm constantly counting, adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing random #'s in my head. Not huge numbers - any number that pops into my sorry brain will do. Pass a speed limit sign - I'll start doing math. The sad part - I hate math.

16. This may not seem unusual to some people but, I'm afraid of heights. I mean standing on a chair to reach something on a high shelf - scares me to death. I've done some really dumb things trying to prove I'm not scared only to find myself stuck on of all things - a roof, hugging a chimney, or a ladder plastered against the outside of the house. I freeze and then can't get down - it can take hours!

So there - I guess I'm not so boring after all. But it does look like I'm a tad weird!

16 things....(pass it on)

So I saw this posted this on SM's blog & suggested that 'everyone' join in so...........here are 16 unusual things about me.................

1.
2.
3.
4.
...........

Ok, so you're really not going to believe this but I can't think of anything unusual about me. Boring that's me.

Sorry folks!

Can socks be fun?

WT_....you might be asking about the odd title? Well, think about it, they keep our toes toasty, they can be a fashion statement of sorts, AND (drum roll please)............the grandkids think it is so cool to slide around on the floor with 'slick socks'! Yep, leave it to the mind of a child to remind adults of the fun of socks and hard wood (laminate too) floors. So D & R had a sleepover and I couldn't believe the giggling that was going on in my hall. D was shouting at R, "R, we have our acorns on and they are so slick on grandma's floor. Come on!" That was the sign for J and I to stay out of the way and D & R went whizzing by, back and forth and back again. Naturally I found myself sliding across the kitchen floor as I went about making dinner. We adults need to listen a little more closely to the young ones around us. They're sure to remind us of the simple pleasures of life.

Not much going on, work, work, and more work. Oh yes, only 4 more sleeps and R and I will be starting our first road trip - just the 2 of us. Yes, the great trip to the North Pole to visit Santa. Of course R wanted to know if there were any movie theatres in Fairbanks. Seems there's a new movie out he's wanting to see. Madagascar 2 (I think). D saw it early in the week with a group of her friends.

One more thing - I'm going to try to figure out how to update this blog a little more. It's a slow process. Guess I'm going to have to break down and ask SM for some help. I'll wait until this semester is over. I know she's buried in school work right now. (hint-hint SM....pencil me in on your calendar please....I need help). And just one more thing dear sweet daughter.....can you please (pretty please) load some Christmas music on my ipod? You know I'm challenged with that too.

Hope all is well with everyone. Keep warm!

Love you and miss y'all!

Notice anything......?

You got it...I'm finally breaking out of the mold here. I've been tired of the same background and general theme for some time but yet I had no idea how to change it. I've noticed several other blogs and how cool they look. You know, they just sort of pop! Well, this is step #1. I'll be taking this very slowly so that I don't delete the whole darned thing.

Stop back for more exciting updates! (OK, if you think this is exciting there is definitely something missing in your life!)

Love y'all!

Too long, I know....

So I check out the family blogs and nothing, nothing, nothing. And I'm wondering what's happened that no one is blogging. (Yes, SM did post recently, but it had been awhile) And then it hits me, yes the light bulb flashed...I'm not blogging either. How can I be disappointed with no news from anyone when I'm not sharing or at least posting something? So here is something.....

Beginning of October - Vegas was great. That goes without saying - Vegas is always great. The 90 degree weather was desperately needed. Especially when Alaska was experiencing the first real winter weather while I was in Vegas. Nope, I didn't empty my wallet in the slots. I only lost about $25 to those monsters! I did shake out my wallet at the local outlet malls. Lord, it was fun shopping in a wide variety of stores. Thankfully there were several of us from Alaska down there shopping so I didn't look like a complete idiot wandering the stores as if I never been shopping before. But really, you have to admit there is something lacking when we up here in the upper one (compared to the lower 48) get giddy/ mark our calendars / count the months, weeks, days / plan our schedules around a Target opening! It's nerve racking at times to go to the same stores and wander around as if something new and exciting is going to miraculously appear on the shelves. It's the same stuff on the same shelves as last week and last month. Have I whined enough about shopping? Ok, I'll move on.

Halloween is coming and that's cool. SM and the grandkids stopped in last Saturday on their way to a Halloween party and I have to tell you, those grandkids were adorable. I can't share a picture right now because the battery is dead (yep, DEAD) on my camera. It's charging so I'll share soon. But I ask you, where did the time go? I started thinking about my first Halloween here in Alaska. D was "Bear in the Big Blue House". As tiny as she was at 2 yrs old the costume was so bulky we had a hard time carrying her around but we couldn't pull her in the wagon cause the snow was so deep it was buried. And little R - he would go to 2 or 3 houses and was done with it all - he was too cold. Perfectly content to come back home and be warm & cozy. And the year the poor little guy was just plain too sick to even leave the house. Memory lane - I do love to travel that road.

The exciting news...............................R and I are going on our first road trip! We're headed to the North Pole! 2 yrs ago D and I made the trip to visit Santa and now R and I are going. He's getting pretty excited and I have to admit I can hardly wait. While he's a bit younger than when I took D, he's hearing rumblings at school that the big guy might not be real. I want him to see it all through the eyes of one who still believes. Now that D is 'so much older' and knows the whole story she thinks it's so cute that R still 'believes'. We leave on 11/20, it's a Thursday evening and we'll return Sunday evening.

In case anyone is interested, winter has officially landed in Alaska. We're in single digit temps at night. Daytime temps manage to make it in the low 20's. No, I'm not complaining, it's Alaska. While we do have snow, don't tell SM - I'm hoping for some more real soon. I'm anxious to take the snowmachines out again!
Well, enough for now. Hugs and kisses to Ohio. Miss you all so much!

HELLO.................

Ok, where is everyone? I've checked the blogs and nothing. Come on, where are the latest updates on all the exciting things (and not so exciting things) happening?

Me, oh well, not much happening here. Rain, rain, and more rain. The temp is starting to drop into the 30's at night. At this rate snow (I'm sorry SM) is just around the corner. It's half way down the mountains already. We're way past the termination dust phase.

Bunko last weekend, a CAbi party this weekend. And I get to sell popcorn with R's boy scout troop. I'm actually looking forward to that....R is so excited about selling popcorn at the local Three Bears.

I leave for Las Vegas on 10/4 for a week of training. I know, you're thinking..how tough can that be? The training is supposed to be pretty intense. But it is Vegas, right? I may have to try out a slot or 2!

Marching on....

Just a quick update....
Our Ohio family is back home all safe and sound. It was wonderful to have them with us. We laughed so hard we cried and when Friday night came it was time for them to leave and it was just crying. leaving is always so hard, but the memories will last forever. Pics and more info later.
Love, hugs and kisses to Ohio!

Fish Anyone?

So I made it back from Seward alive. Didn't get sick, didn't fall over the side of the boat, but boy did we catch the fish! Of the 3 boats we (our company) were on, my boat was the only one that limited out on Salmon and rock fish....SCORE! While the weather could have been better - it wasn't miserable - and we got fish! It was well worth getting up @ 2:00 am and driving the 3-1/2 hours to get there.

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Boy, did I mess up on this one or what? I had promised that in my most recent post to add pics and I forgot until after I had hit the lovely "Publish Post" button. So I'm trying to get to my pics on my camera and transfer them over to my hard drive.....DO NOT ask what button I hit or clicked or pressed or whatever but I somehow managed to delete the whole %&*)&^&$ page! The entire folder is gone. I can't find it. So now I'm regrouping, grumbling, and cussing trying to see if by some miraculous chance I've saved the majority of them on my flash drive. Oh lord, this is not good!

Updates finally

Well, where do I start? We’re mid-August and as I’ve whined and complained before, we’ve had no summer. Ok, last week we had a couple of nice days. But even they didn’t last the entire day. Sorry, this year the weather has just been so discouraging. The leaves are already starting to turn on some of the trees and we’ve got leaves falling! This is just plain wrong. I’m afraid this doesn’t bode well for winter this year. I haven’t checked the winter forecast and I’m afraid to.
Work is busy as usual. Nothing exciting going on. Does having our CEO arrested by the FBI count as exciting? Ok, so it was a joke for his birthday. It was pretty funny – he was sooooo serious, scared – and was so professional about the whole thing. He was quiet and reserved – until he caught on to the joke. It was funny and he swore to get each one of us back! He enjoyed it so much he closed the office and let us all go home early, to enjoy his birthday!
J had a rough week. It all started last weekend – well no, it started several months ago when J went to the dentist for a root canal that ended up being some kind of medicated filling. Last Friday he bit down on a peanut (or cashew or walnut or one of them) and I guess it knocked the filling loose. Here comes the pain. It got worse on Saturday and by Sunday morning the side of his face looked like he had been in a boxing match – the losing side. Come Monday morning he was in the dentist office and by Monday afternoon they had pulled two teeth. Ok so he’s on the road to recovery, right? Wrong! Tuesday and Wednesday were worse. His face continued to swell and the pain just got worse. He’s back at the dentist Thursday morning and they do a root canal on a third tooth and more meds. The swelling is starting to go down and the pain isn’t nearly as bad. He has to go back to the dentist on Monday to fill the hole left in the side of his tooth. It’s been rough for him.
We’re supposed to be going fishing this Friday, 8/22. My boss has reserved 3 fish boats in Seward for the day. We’re closing the office (yes, again) and we’re all going down to Seward for the day.
Monday, 8/18, the grandkids are back in school. I can’t believe D is in the 5th grade and R is in the 1st grade. How time flies by. Seems like just yesterday D was going to kindergarten for her first day. They’re both growing up so fast.
The truly exciting news…….some of the Ohio family is coming to Alaska! Oh my goodness we are so pumped! So many things to do, where do we start? We only one week so we need to start some kind of plan but we don’t want to run them ragged. We’d be perfectly happy to sit around for a week and talk and talk and talk. And of course we know they’ll want to go off on their own at times so we don’t want to crowd them. It’s just so darned exciting to see them again. I hope they’re ready for pics and pics and more pics. I wish we could get the rest of the Ohio family up here but I truly do understand. Maybe someday…I’ll keep praying and dreaming!
Love and hugs and kisses to Ohio!

August already?

Wow, where has the summer gone? Hopefully y'all had a summer. Here in Alaska we've had a total of about 1 week, maybe. This has got the be the worst summer by far. 2 days that hit 70 - even that's bad for Alaska. Most days have been in the 50's with rain, rain, and more rain. Heck, Fairbanks has so much rain they've declared areas a disaster.

Anyway, South Carolina in June was beautiful. Walking the shore and feeling the warm sand and the warm water was wonderful. Yes, it was hot - over 100, and I loved every sweaty minute of it.

Texas was a short trip mid-June. We had the combination of sun, heat, rain, high winds - all in 3 days! Wow, it was something. And the trip back from Texas was a trip all in itself! First, we were an hour late leaving Dallas/Ft Worth, for no known reason. By the time we got to Denver there was a huge storm and we couldn't land. We circled for about an hour and then were told we were diverting to Colorado Springs because we were running low on fuel - oh fun. By the time we got to Colorado Springs the storm had settled in there but we were able to land. We get into the terminal and were told we were being bussed back to Denver - WTF? We get on busses and ride all the way back to Denver and stand around for hours waiting in line to get hotel vouchers, taxi vouchers, meal vouchers, etc. The hotel was over 15 mile away and of course when we get to the hotel we're in the same long line waiting to get our rooms. Remember, this is the entire airplane waiting in line. The taxi ride cost $40 so we pulled our taxi vouchers. I got to my room @ 2:00 am and had to be back down in the lobby by 8:00 am to catch the shuttle back to the airport in time for my flight - not to Anchorage but to San Francisco and then to Anchorage. So rather than getting home Friday night @ midnight I got home about 10:00 pm Saturday night. Oh did I mention my luggage was lost in the ordeal? Thankfully it did show up in Anchorage.

Then there was the "Community Appreciation BBQ" we had in Adak. We closed the offices and flew all the employees to Adak for the BBQ. Quite the adventure. Coordinating the shipment of all the food, grills, necessities to Adak and then pulling it all together once we got there was daunting at times. But the sightseeing was wonderful. The attached photo was taken on Adak - unbelievable, huh? You would think you were on some tropical island at times. The scenery is great.

So, back home in Anchorage and we're back to the rain...LOL!

Ok, enough for now. Glad to hear others had good vacations and have enjoyed their summer!

If summer won't come to me......

As mentioned in my previous post, summer is finally here. Well, maybe. This week we have a chill in the air, the weather man keeps calling for rain so it's been cloudy all week. Hmmm, it almost feels like fall...please say it isn't so! I need some sun and some warmth. The thought has been lingering that I need to go somewhere, anywhere to have some real summer weather but with the price of airline tickets I'd need to get a second job just to pay for the darned thing which means I wouldn't have the time or the energy to travel. So I'm doing the next best thing, or maybe it's the best thing....get someone else to pay for the crazy airline ticket. Hey even better, don't take vacation time, get paid for traveling. Yep, go to a conference or 2 somewhere warm and sunny. So I leave on the 7th for South Carolina. I'll only be staying until Tuesday evening, but I'm not complaining....it will be warm, maybe even hot, I don't have to pay in fact I'll get paid to go to the conference...SCORE! But heck who wants just a little taste, huh? I'll come back to Alaska on the 12th, spend a week here (hopefully with nice weather) and then head to Texas on the 18th. Now that's going to be hot, I'm going to love it. Double SCORE!

I want to welcome a good friend, ok so it's my daughter's good friend, but I've gotten to know her and think of her as a friend of mine too. We try not to use full names and because we already have several 'J' floating around our family blogs we'll have to refer to her as JD.....welcome JD! Hope you enjoy blogging. I would put a link to your blog here but I don't know how to do that yet. Guess I'll have to get some more 'blog training' from S. She's knows I'm challenged with this stuff and is a great resource. That is, if I can get her on the phone. Is she talking to you again...I've called and she's not calling back...frustrating!

Well, I better head toward the bedroom. I have to be at work at 7 in the morning and this G-ma needs her sleep!

Finally!!!!!!!

I didn't think summer would ever get here, but finally we're having nice weather. Now keep in mind 50 and 60 degree weather is gorgeous summer up here. The days are getting longer and longer - still have daylight @ 11:00 pm.

Nothing exciting - oh wait, I did get a new car. How could I forget that....going from 25 mpg to 46-48 mpg! I traded in the Kia Amanti - (I did love that car) - for a Toyota Prius and I have to say I'm very pleased. It looks small but has loads of room. J said he even has leg room in the back seat, as if he ever sits back there...LOL. Well he did sit in the back when I took it for a test drive and he said it was fine. But I have to tell ya, doubling my gas mileage is heaven these days. The price of gas up here has gone over $4.00/gal. That really hurts with nearly a 100 per day round trip commute. The Prius drives and handles nice. I was scared to death because the day after I got it we had a horrible snow storm - 15 inches on April 25. It was crazy and I was sure I was going to end up in a ditch or something, but it handled great. The best part is that my dear little Prius has a name...."Zippy". S and the kids say I zip around in my little silver Prius so they now call it Zippy. When they're here and we need to run to the store - "Let's take Zippy!"

I've never named a car before, but I guess it's about time.

Last Thursday we went to a Trace Adkins concert. That was great. Being such a Country Western fan, I was a happy camper. Yes, we were in the nose-bleed section but the music was still good.

And then on Sunday we went to Gary Lewis and The Playboys concert. Ok, so I'm dating myself here - they were really popular in the mid-sixties.

Ok, so I think that's about it for now. There's probably more but I'll save it for later.

Mmmmmm, I need to devote a blog to the grandkids....they're growing so fast and are just so darned much fun.

Love to Ohio.....miss you so much! (Come visit Alaska for goodness sakes!)

Sadness......

We knew the day would come and we knew it would be tough....this past Saturday we had to put Minnie to sleep. Yes, her health has been detiorating for quite some time and we knew there was no hope of her getting better. That doesn't make it any easier for us. J was in denial for a long time but he finally accepted what was best for Minnie. He just wasn't able to actually take her to the vet. Thankfully my daughter went along with me for support. Our vet was so patient and understanding, explained everything. It was peaceful and painless for Minnie, she just relaxed and went to sleep. Minnie was 18 yrs old and had a good life. She was a good companion and a loyal friend...we'll miss her.

Not much going on....

So things in Alaska are going pretty much as expected. Snow, snow, snow - and then the warm weather comes to melt it off and give hope to spring, only to snow again and bury springtime hopes under inches and inches of the fluffy white stuff. Just snow and get it over with so we won't have our hopes dashed every other week.
J got a killer deal on two snowmachines (w/trailer) and we've been driving up to Hatcher's Pass on the weekends to enjoy them. They are great! It makes up for the lost springtime hopes. Ok, so I'm sure you're thinking - why buy snowmachines now when we're praying for spring? Like I said, killer deal! That's how it works here and I'm sure it's the same way everywhere. You can get some really great buys on things at the end of the season - clearance sale time. We might get one or two more weekends of fun with them before we'll store them away and get out the four-wheelers and motorcycles. You have to understand, summer is so short up here people have a tendency to soak up every waking minute we possibly can. Thank goodness for the really long days.
Thankfully we've heard the my sis-in-law has recovered from her surgery and she's back on her feet again. That's the tough part of living so far away. As close as we may be it's hard not being physically close at times like these. I'm just glad she has such a great hubby and daughter to be there for her.
Ok, let's see what I can get into today!