Christmas Time In Alaska

Sigh, Thanksgiving ended and then the race is on :)
day one beg for help to get out the Christmas decorations.
day two no help all promises so go it alone after all time wont stand still and there are wee people waiting to see Christmas unfold.
day three sit for hours and unbox the tree and spread out each branch ( yep you got it its fake )
that same evening still waiting on help it finally arrives and mikes gf and i decorate it totally.
we put it on one of those huge laxy susans and we spin it around while one stands still hanging the lights and later the garlands. Once done we carefully lift it off the lazy susan and place it where we choose it to be centered on a rug so the wee people can lay there and admire it later on. and dream of christmas and all its magic.
Snow has fallen here which makes everything look like were living in a snow globe. its just so magical.
Christmas cards have been created this year on the pc and sent out as jpgs so those far away can print them out and have them faster.
plans have been put in place for the Christmas package for our son in the Navy and all seems to be alot better for us then the past few years gone by.
This year for the first time since 9-11 i am not going through the motions of Christmas staged and masked in fake smiles for anyone or putting on any shows for the wee people so as not to spoil there Christmas wonder. instead for the first time i actually feel like emotionally getting involved in it all. Like Christmas is going to not only arrive but things will be ok.
Even though this is going to be another year with out our son home sharing all the wonder with us.
So far presents have been bought and hidden waiting to either be wrapped or mailed off. when the wee people arent around to catch what is going on.
preperations have been made for all the family things we do each year too. the christmas eve menopoly game will need a new game soon to be boughten and then of course the Santa treats are being added to each shopping trip.
canned oysters
smoked cheeses
canned kippered fish
crackers of various types
salomy
fruits and cookies and drinks of all kinds
each year at Christmas Eve the adults sit and play games with the wee ones until they fall asleep and then sit and play menoply all night lone and munch on the santa treats until there about gone. each person waits until that time and goes off to wrap what they have to and comes back to continue playing until someone wins and then all go to sleep.

there are of course the other things that go one day after day during dec. such as the big ginger bread house challenge that began a few years ago. when we put out the ginger bread kits and challenge the kids to build one ginger bread house out of all kits and see what they come up with . this one was born out of buying only one kit and having them all complain they all wanted one of there own.
the christmas cd must be started with thanksgiving and then continued until jan 1st its when iget out the digital camera and take huge ammounts of pictures and then later put them all on a cd taking some to word and putting in what is going on and sending out that to all far away that wanted to be here but couldnt.
i gathered all the christmas books into one book shelf and added a few new ones this year too so all the family can sit and go through christmas project books when the wee people are out of school for the holidays and have some ideas on what to do to keep them all busy.
also put all the christmas dvds and vidieos in one spot so they can be found fast and played when they want. and of course piled the christmas music in one place so they can be put on when wanted.
its the same thing we do every year with a litttle added here and there. we havent faultered in it even in the past few years when Christmas was just going through the motions and our hearts werent in it. but this year is diffrent its more like it should be for all here.
There are evening sspent by the table with has been displaced by the tree but decked out in a christmas table cloth and sitting near it are brass candle sticks polished to a tee with candles in them and more on a side table . all light up and adding to a cozy atmosphere.
tiny houses grace my window sill andone ornmate hangs from the window top and a white proclen tree graces the rest of the sill.
The font window sports a huge yellow ribbon with three forget me nots on it for each soldier in our family not home this year and not home for along time since 9-11 along with an american flag my grandsons in another state sent me awhile back in the middle hangs one christmas tree wreath ( cant hang it on the door because of the high winds we get here)
lights hang off of it and when we plug it in everyone can see when they walk by the house.
like i said and so it begins. this Christmas season in all its awe and wonder.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE.
IF YOUR SERVING OUR COUNTRY MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU
I DO PRAY THIS YEAR CHRISMAS FINDS YOU ALL MAY THE MIRCAL BEGIN :)))))))))))))

LUNCH WITH THE BOSS

Yesterday hubby picked up the 6 yr old grand daughter from school we call her the boss. Into the truck we went and off to a day of shopping and lunch which i didnt mention as we drove off towards the bank to cash my pay ck.
The drive out to the bank is 12 miles from our house and her school which is very near by. On the way she sat quietly in the back seat and fell asleep.
A quick stop at the bank and then back to Mc Donalds for her favorite big kids happy meal. all the while she slept.
Once they handed over the happy meal i reached in the back and tapped her gently on the knee and said mandy here is your happy meal. One eye opened a tiny bit to look at me and the bag i had in hand. with that... a tiny hand reached towards the bag and took it. She quickly folded the top of the bag down and hugged it tightly to her chest and went back to sleep. All i could do was smile and think were is my digital camera LOL before i could finish thinking that thought she took that bag and mushed it up like a pillow and and moved it to under her head still sleeping and stayed that way all the way back home another 12 miles.
sigh mandy dont grow up to fast i enjoy the times i have with you. LOL
she was her uncle iras pin up girl when he went through boot camp. and for a few years after that .

awe sigh where did time run off too. seems only yesterday she was a tiny little thing just lerning how to walk and now she is busy riding school busses :)

Veterns day
yes this is late but then when am i not :)
i wrote this one in reply to an email i got . thought i would share this one here with you all. And then get back to comdey alaska soon . humor is after all the best medicine in times like these
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i stand in awe of the veteran that goes out to protect us ,comes back knowing things none of us can comprehend, lives with it till the day he dies, pays a price for protecting us no pay ck can even begin to touch.

the honor goes to those to those that stood up not mouthed up and did nothing.

the honor goes to those who gave and not those who gave little if nothing and yet whined about the cost.

the honor goes to those families waiting for a loved one to return but only get a knock on the door

the honor goes to the child left behind who knows full well a parent may never return who grows up and never knows how come the country won't honor the sacrifices made on their behalf.

the honor goes to those still willing to stand and protect even when an entire country is yelling adversities in their faces.

the honor goes to the vet and the solder who is still standing for us and our freedom no matter where and whom. with out them our world would be torn apart with out them our country would know more terrorism.

i for one will always honor not only the vet but those in active duty no matter where they serve. weather it be in a war zone or on our own soil. i for one will always honor the flag and honor the words that go with it even the words UNDER GOD weather those beside me refuse to. I WIll CONTINUE to support our troops as well as our President in any effort they make on my behalf and as a family memeber of the USA i will morn each loss as if it where my very own.

GOD BLESS THE USA AND OUR SOLDERS AND OUR VETS, NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE.OR WHOM THEY ARE.

hugs and love from me crissy in alaska

Happy Bithday Ira ( a cake made of love just for you)

Sometimes I sit here and just wonder where time went off too. How did it speed up so fast? Sigh………..
This year my son turned 24. This year my grandson turns 20 years old.
Breath. Crissy and remember you were young once too :)
I could sit here and write about all those feelings that go through my mind having a son in the navy these days isn’t easy. But then I am not alone.
Instead I want to speak of the good things that have happened and how much I appreciate them.
Ira turned 24 this year. It was his 4th Birthday away from home. With out his family near him or around him or there to share the moment with him.
I took the plunge and asked for a card to be created for him on line and I was totally amazed not only was it made for him but it was up and running in a matter of mins. What ever it took for the creator of the card to do the job. At first I thought ok this is nice I may see a few signatures and well wishes out of this for him. But then the next day I went in and looked around to ck it all out see how it was going ...make ready to print it out and place it in the mail.
I sat looking at the puter in total tears as I viewed the sigs in there ...all the not only happy birthdays but the thanks for serving our country… our nation. That was going on in there. I was floored by the total outpouring of love over my son in there. And I still am.
His card will be late this year but it’s going to be well worth the wait. You see when I finally printed it out there were 15 pages to it all. 84 sigs some of which were from people pouring out there hearts for our troops. It took them the better part of a week to finish signing his card on line :) family, friends of his and others that know only me lined up and stuffed my email box full of another signature has been added to your card. :)
When I put this one together there well be a total of 24 pages to send to him :) yes there is the one on the mm’s site too to add( 5 pages ) to it along with two other separate pages of personal wishes too.
Most of the sigs were from people who know me, know of him, don’t know him but wish him well.
This year I saw a special cake being baked on line just for him. And I am one very grateful mother for all of it and that much more richer in knowing someone out there not only thinks of him on his one special day but also thought about all of our troops no matter where they are through him.
This year I saw a cake made out of pure love made just for my son :)
This year I saw a cake made out of the love from our own for our troops :) just for him. :) Along with wishes from countries far away tooJ:)
WHEREVER YOU ARE MY SON I WISH YOU THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER. :)
As i know also that so many think of you and wish you well too:)

Crissy in Alaska J

Living in Alaska may sound to some like living in the stone age any more or well some of the things I have written in here sounds like that to some people. But most of what I have written about are things that happened to me and my children over a 20 year time span some of it is clearly years old and others are more recent. I think I am saying this because though we have shopping malls here and a freeway and jets and the like. Our lives weren't dictated totally by all the modern things children and adults live with then or today.
anyway....... onward and up ward I go.
Back when we were busy living in tiny trailers we counted ourselves as lucky because there were other families living along the road side in cars or tents. I always felt like that is something I wouldn't want to do at all.
our days consisted of daily things like meals cleaning and then getting out. that is something we did allot back then. get out and go because no one wanted to stay in a tiny trailer all day long. We would venture to the malls and window shop knowing full well if you saw something you wanted you had to question yourself. Is this a want or a need? If it was something you had to have a necessity like a piece of clothing, TV, radio, dishes or the like then you had to stand there and think ok what am I willing to give up to make this fit in our tiny trailer. For me back then to spot the winter coat of my dreams was a big deal of am I willing to get rid of one I have ? Does this one keep all elements out or is this just a good looking fashion statement? needless to say I had one coat that did the job for all of it and though it was salmon pink and wasn't a fashion statement, that is the coat I kept for about 6 years.
of course with the children back then it was a huge change over about once every two months while they grew out of or wore out anything you bought them. Even then their cloths had to fit our life style. frilly things had to be kept carefully under control and could only be an outfit that could be mixed and matched with anything else. or it was just tee shirts and blue jeans and a pair of tennis shoes for all of us.
personally I am glad I went though the experience of living life like this it made me stop and realize that there is such a thing as wants and flat out needs. and I was able to sort them out and see them for what they were.
do I still live like this you ask? nope not on your life LOL though there are times I stand in stores and ck things out and use that rule still. but once out of the having to live like that in tiny spaces it didn't take long to fill up the house and bog it down with every want I could get my hands on for sure LOL I tell you what though given time doing that and living that way leaves you with a ton of things later on that have to be cleared out and either stored or given away. LOL
The children would go outside during the day and play with the other children in the trailer park. rain shine or snow didnt bother them much at all. laundry was carefully assigned to plastic trash cans lined up with each persons name on it outside. wash days were visits to the local laundry mat. water had to be boiled on the stove before you could do any dishes. showers were done in a pay stall up behind the offices to the trailer park. and all groceries were stored in the seats around the table.
like i said it was snoopies dog house. yep we had a tv and a phone and a vcr. evenings were games of dominos and scrabble. outtings were to the beaches and parks out fishing if we could, picnics and hikes in the woods. visiting friends that lived in apartments and enjoyed our company. it wasnt unsually to plan an outing and have dinner someplace else along the road and watch fish in a stream or eagles dancing in the sky. or watch whales in the bay. sometimes today when life gets in our way we sit and remember what it was like for us back then how much it was so peaceful and how much fun we had. though i am sure at the time we didnt think it was that often LOL
memories are like that we tend to forget the bad and remember only the good. sigh.
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count the car seats
one of the things we liked to do was take our children and our grandsons and head to the beach to go fishing. we would all pile up in the car kids car seats and all. the two grandsons were still in those back then. once to the location we choose to be at . we would get out all our stuff and haul it to the high tide area and then put the two grandsons carin their car seats with all or things and head down to the water and just spend hours fishing. walking along in the directions of the beach and see what we could catch. it was always fun when one of us got a fish too. reel it in, fight with it, land it... and then whom ever caught it would have to make sure it was cleaned before we took it home. papa would always make a good fish dinner out of it for all of us too. We would make a day out of doing this and stay until we couldnt stay any longer or it was clear we had to go fix dinner and get the kids to bed. And the two grandsons got to know what it was like to live like this. of course there both grown up now and hitting there 20s here soon too. But they have some of the fondest memories of living here in alaska with grandma and grandpa too. and that is what counts isnt it ?
(The two grandsons lived with our oldest daughter in a tiny trailer right next to us for a few years before she located an apart ment and we moved into a huge two bedroom trailer.)

lets make tea again :)
like I said entertaining children in small places takes some creative thinking. But papa always found a way to do that. We had made our minds up that living in tiny trailers didn't have to be a bad experience. So we set out to make it look like snoopies dog house on the inside. One of the things we decided was we didn't have a clue how long it would be before we were able to find a place with more space for all of us. Something with bedrooms in it and hopefully a bathroom and the like. We had most of our things in storage back then up on top of the tiny trailer. Paper plates were becoming boring and making do was getting out of the question for morals sake. So we dug through all of possessions and got out all his lovely crystal dishes and began using those with every meal. I sat and crocheted table cloths as well as curtins for the tiny trailer too.
Family time was an everyday thing with us. Especially at meals. One of the things papa did was make tea. All of us were totally fascinated by this. Papa had a glass tea pot back then and he would put that tea pot on the stove full of water with the tea bags in it and then turn on the propane burner while we sat at the table and waited and ate our meals. Once the tea began to boil he would put sugar in it and we would sit there and watch as the hot water made the sugar move around it was like watching a lava lamp to us and was always a high point to our meals and so fascinating to the children too.
Our tables were set with the nicest table cloths hand made of course along with all that beautiful crystal and matching silverware and the best drinking glasses we could find and an occasional candle. After dinner we all stayed for the board games too and then tucked into bed for the evening.

pancakes papa ?
When we first moved to Alaska some 20 years ago we lived in little trailers. None of the space inside was very big. Only one person could stand at the stove and do any cooking. And of course that was papa. The rest of us sat around the table while he did this. There was certianly no getting up while he was cooking too. With wiggly kids that is sure tough so he and i came up with a way around all this to keep the family happy.
The trailer park was surrouned by trees and bushes and a ton of those were blueberry bushes. So every week end morning papa would hand out cups to each of the children and send them off to pick blueberries of course this was only during the summer months here. But it worked out really well for all of us concerend. This gave him space to do the cooking and all of us adults the time to have am coffee with out always turning to a child and telling them to sit still.
I am sure too the kids had races to see who could fill their cup up first and get those berries to papa for the pancakes. I know each of them had fun and now that all of them are grown up i know they remember things like that too.

ducks in the tub
papa had gone out duck hunting and got some ducks. but this time when he came home his back went out on him so instead of saying he got ducks it was time for us to take him to the hospital. they kept him there in traction for a few days until he was well enough to send home.
during his stay he called home and said go out to the truck and get those ducks out for me ok pluck them and skin them and put them in the fridge or freezer for me please. ok not a problem I will send Pauline out right now for those ok. papa continues to talk and Pauline goes out to the truck to get the ducks. only she comes back in and says no way I am doing this sorry. but says nothing about what is going on. so papa getting upset says ok send ira out to fetch them for me. so I tell ira to go out there and get those ducks Pauline goes off to her room. pretty soon I hear ira yelling for me to come here. I yell back ira just bring them in there ok and put them in the sink. he said I cant ma you got to come see this. so I go to the door and take a look see. papa has hung up the phone and is gone doing his what ever. I stand on the porch and look down at ira who is holding a live duck. that is flapping its wings in his face and he is hanging on for dear life and only about 8 yrs old. he said ma there alive. I looked at ira and said no cant be papa shot them all. he said nope ma all three of them are alive !!! I grab the phone call papa back and tell him well good news is your ducks are ok now bad news is none of them are dead there all alive and well !!!!!! papa said they cant be I shot them. nope papa there all alive. what do I do now? he tells me to finish his job and kill all of them ring there necks. LOL meeeeeeeeee???????? nope not me!!!!!!! I tell him no I cant do that. I don't have that kind of heart. he said where are they I tell him ira took them all out and put them in the bathtub and he wants to keep them as pets. LOL well papa called a fiend of his and he came over to see what was going on and take care of it I was thinking he would take them away alive and maybe turn them loose. he shut the door came back out said ok all is well. and left. ira and I went in and found the bodies laying on the bathroom floor. it was so sad. but over and done nothing we could do. sigh.

some dogs just wont stay where you put them
papa decided he had had enough of going duck hunting and shooting ducks that fell into the water and he couldn't get them. so he went to the pound here and found this Chesapeake golden lab retriever mix. dash was about 6 months old when he brought him home. now mind you this is a gal never grew up with any animals at home. never a pet one. so when he brought dash home Pauline and I freaked out big time this is one huge dog and he is all teeth as far as were concerned. ira got along with dash right off though. isn't that like a man though? Pauline and I spent a few days avoiding dash as much as we could though and eating our meals at the table with our arms lodged around out plates and our faces as close to them as we could LOL things calm down and we all got friendly. and time moves on. dash becomes a major part of all our lives and papa has him well trained. dash becomes our friend and is one loving member of our family and a well trained duck dog. he goes every where with papa and papa likes it that way. only thing is papa is driving this old beater truck and the shell on the back is something made out of plywood and has actual doors on the back that you can open up . that is where dash does his traveling at.
papa and him went some where and well dash seemed to know once that truck stopped it was time to jump out and maybe go home. there were no windows in the back so he couldn't see exactly where they were at. papa is on the free way and he had to stop suddenly and get out of the way of something going on in the middle of the road. like a box or something. all papa knows is it only took a few seconds and he drives on. only what he didn't know was dash thought it was time to jump out and he did only when he finally does papa is back to moving and well the lady behind him said all she saw was two doors open up and this big yellow dog jump out into mid air at her and then she put her breaks on as fast as she could to avoid hitting him as he flew towards her and went ass over head tumbling onto the road LOL papa brought poor dash home after a quick stop at the vets and dash had road burn so bad on his bottom end the fur was warn away LOl needless to say dash never traveled in the back of the truck again nor have dusty and evy.
we had to give dash up a few years later we couldn't keep him because the owner of the trailer park said dog goes or you do. papa was never so broken hearted over doing this but he found him a good home and made sure the new owner was good to him as he was. I guess dash has puppies all over town still and we are reminded of it once in awhile when we run into someone that knew him and says this is one of dashes kids.
he was one heck of a dog and sure made us all dog lovers too. :)

honey i am stuck again
i tell you this man can find some creative ways to spend his time getting out of work sometimes.
this time he and his buddies head out to the duck flats there taking a boat to a small island off shore and setting up a duck blind and digging in for the day. not a problem and they will be back later on before dinner. its his day off and tomorrow he has to work . i go about my busniness and dont give it another thought. dinner time comes and my cook isnt home and i am wondering what is keeping him and what to do about dinner. i think i finally broke down and got a pizza ordered in. time marches on and no men though and i am getting worried. i get a call from someone telling me this story.
seems they did what the set out to do i think there were 4 of them papa and his buddies. dug in made there duck blind and got to telling stories and passing time. well none of them figured on a big tide that day and i dont think any of them actually cked the books or if they did it wasnt telling them the truth which sometimes happens around here LOL they didnt take a boat out there as planned instead it turned out they hiked in. wouldnt have been a problem if they cked there times and the tides. but the tide did come in and fast. now this is a tiny piece of land out there not to big i think you could fit it into your front room LOL so here are 4 men stuck out there till the tide goes out in the wee hours of the am or the next day it had to be low enough for them to walk back in. one of them had a hand held and was able to call a friend and tell them what was up. but there was no way to retrieve them and they seemed to be ok but they were stuck for the duration and had to build a fire. LOL huddle down and keep warm. ran out of coffee and the whole bit. you could see their plight from the high way it goes right by the island LOL hey honey i see you honk honk sorry you missed out on dinner honk honk. LOL they came home later the next day with there story and now each time we drive past that island papa always looks out and foundly tells that story to me . sigh. i guess he had fun LOL there friend they got ahold of called all the bosses and said sorry this is where they are at and there stuck none of them is coming in until tide change later on today.

its only and eagle honey
papa comes running into the house tells me grab a blanket and lets go. i do as i am told not a clue what is going on. as we drive he tells me he was on his way home when he spotted this baby eagle in the middle of the road and it seems like its injured. so he wants to pick it up but needs the blanket and some help and then we will take it to the bird sanctuary. i think ok not a problem we can do this. so off we go. park the car and out he jumps and looks through the bushes for the eagle. i am out too but i dont have a clue where to look. suddenly papa comes back with this blanket in his arms and clearly you can tell he has the baby in it. he tells me to get into the car and shut my door. so he can put it in the back seat. i do as i am told and sit still waiting patiently for him to do what he is doing and think ok we wil be gone in a few. i wasnt taking a big look at the blanket or what was under it. i figured he knew what he was doing. i sure didnt. he gets done and jumps into the car. which is not a big one its one of those go cart size things a honda civic LOL i decide to take a look see . now i know eagles are not tiny things and i know this is a baby. but what in the world was my mind thinking. i turn around only to see this bird sitting in the back of the car and i am suddenly fightened of it and shocked to see how big this baby is. he was sitting there on the seat and his head was up to the back of the head rest on my seat. he was about 3 ft tall and took up 1/2 half of the back seat. i turned around fast and my heart is pounding i know what one of these can do if they get upset and this one isnt secured in the back either he is just sitting there and i know his wing span if he flapped those things could cause major problems too let alone that beak of his. but all he did fortunitly is sit there like he was enjoying the ride and saying hey this is cool i dont have to flap my wings to get anywhere LOL we got him to the shelter and they took him out of the back. fortunitly he was just about as wet as he could be and all he needed was some down time to dry off before he was set free again in a day. it was raining earlier before we ran into him and he couldnt dry off is all.
i tell you papa will pick up any hitch hiker LOL

duck hunting with papa
papa would always duck hunt with out me and this one year I decided I would tag along.
not a bad idea always show interest in your man right? let him know you care LOL
well he had this dog back them called dash he had really done a wonderful job training and him and that dog went every where together.
papa got me all bundled up and we head out with the dog to the flats . yep this is going to be the day we get closer for sure and have some good fun doing it too. I could about count the ducks he would shoot as we walked and was totally enjoying the view when papa suddenly got to one knee and aimed with his shot gun. I was behind both him and the dog about maybe 20 ft. well dash being a good dog looked at papa and then looked back at me. that dog knew I was a green horn when it came to duck hunting after all it was my first trip out with themLOL
dash suddenly runs towards me knocks me over and sits on me until papa is done taking his shot at the ducks flying over.
I spent the rest of that trip being dragged around by that dog being sat on and the like. LOL papa was taking another shot and told me to hold onto him don't let him move. being the good wife I was I did but the dog thought he should be next to papa so he dragged me over a huge log and across the sand before I could let go of him and right to papa's feet all I could do was look up spitting sand out of my mouth and say hi ya. :) papa never took me out again with him he knew that it was going to be a struggle he had one well trained dog and one woman that didn't know a thing and that dog knew it too LOL

deer hunting with papa
well here we go again me and my big I am going to take interest in my man theory LOl this time I talked him into taking me deer hunting. we couldn't go far so we headed out to Douglas island which is connected to Juneau via a bridge. we go up to the hills and are walking a nice trail with a nice board walk on it and I am chattering up a storm to him he is silent and watching things as we walk. we got to a clearing and he says look there is a deer stand up in that tree and I am going to put you up there and go up the hill a little ways see if I can spot anything. so he shoves me up in the tree stand and I do mean shove cause it was up high and I wasn't tall enough to reach the bottom branch before I could finish the climb to the stand. I got up there and it began to snow like nothing I had ever seen before. I huddle down and try to keep warm which is near impossible when your in a snow storm all the while thinking I am one nut case LOL I want to go home and drink hot coco and stay warm LOL it seemed ages before papa came back and got me out of that tree. we began to walk back down that trail and I couldn't see the board walk anymore that is how much it snowed while we were up there. I stepped wrongly and found myself feet on the ground but snow up to my arm pits. he found me a stick I still have to this day and handed it to me so I could use it to walk with . and lead me back down to the parked car put me in and away we went to back home. I caught a bad cold from that and I knew this gal wasn't going hunting ever again LOL

hiking with papa
one time papa thought lets take a good hike in the woods. not problem . hint hint you would think by this time I would have learned to say no honey I love you but I am not a woodsy woman right? nope not this woman. I said sure sounds good to me so he gabs the food up and Ira and me and we head on out dinner by a river he said and then a hike in the woods. well dinner was absolutely wonderful eagles dancing in the sky fish in the river and wonderful company. and then of course the hike. we head up the trail and I got the camera in hand I am going to take as many pictures of this event as I can so I can have them as good memories of this day for sure.
hours later we finally make it up to wind falls its breath taking and all that wonderful lake up there and the hike about did my feet and legs in. of course papa didn't tell me to wear good jeans you would think growing up here I would have known that right? nope not me short memory here LOL so we head back down. I am taking pictures like crazy and then I tell him this is one heck of a camera I haven't run out of film yet. he said nothing to me gins walks over takes the camera out of my hand and opens it to my horror. I am thinking there goes all those nice cool pictures I took LOl hands me back the camera and keeps on grinning. I take it look at it look up at him and think omg how in the world did he know it was empty not one roll of film in it LOL I take a look at that trail and say to me no way this gal is doing this hike again so I can take more pics either cause I am one worn out woman and these legs aren't going to hold me one more time around for that .

picnic on the lake
oh sigh, romance is in the air its spring time and all I can think is lets do something different lets have dinner some place interesting. we had this rubber raft and so papa says sure thing . lets head out to the lake out the road. so we put the raft on the car and took dinner and we left alone no kids. I am thinking cool a nice quiet romantic dinner for two and I know he is thinking the same thing
we got there fine, parked the car and took the raft off set our dinner in it and got in. begin to row to the middle the idea is to drift and eat dinner while were doing so and enjoy the time and the lovely view together right? all is well and we stopped rowing thinking here this is a good place to stop. we put the oars up and open our meal and begin to put everything on plates. looks really yummy to each of us. sigh. that is about the time the bugs hit us full force and I do mean bugs. they were all over the place us the food the raft you name it. its a wonder we could even see let alone stay in the boat LOL the food got left where it was and we took those oars and rowed back to shore as fast as we could bugs chasing us all the way. and we put that raft on the car and went home and ate dinner like any normal people at our own table with tons of bug bites all over ourselves LOL oh but for romance where in the world would we be huh :) I think we spent the next week with calamine lotion all over ourselves too LOL

shelter island fishing with papa
now this is the only way to go . yep fishing out on a good boat . were past the row boat thing the dingys and the like and into a skiff that is really good aluminum :) so we have a motor on it and we can now go places in it. cool deal. he puts me in the bow of it when were out on the water makes sure I have a fishing license too. and a pole to go with it though I don't actually fish. its a good thing to take me along because I am the one always gets the most fish while I am reading a book or napping up in the bow . LOL
but this time were out there and the whales come along. there out there playing around jumping and diving and the like. he tells me to look and see what there doing as he suns himself and watches the show. me I got on my knees and peek over the side of the boat. only to see this one young whale jumping not to far from us and I mean not to far. my eyes must have looked like saucers to him too because papa has this gin on his face like none I have seen before LOL
suddenly this whale I am sure sees me and takes a fast swim in our direction . I had seen this one just a min ago go under a smaller boat lift it up enough to knock the two men in it off of it and now I am watching with my heart in my throat as its taking a vee line right for us. I cant move and I cant think. I am so scared. papa is still sitting there ginning like the Cheshire cat in Alice and wonderland at me. and I am just not getting it at all. suddenly this whale isn't but a few feet from us and he looks like he is going to ram us for sure I don't know if I should scream or not and I can see a twinkle in the whales eyes. and almost a gin across his face. and then nothing he disappears under the boat beneath us as fast as a flash. and is gone. I think it took me the rest of that trip to regain my mind for sure LOL
oh but papa has another treat for me in store still. on our way back in he falls asleep on me at the front of the boat tells me I feel like I got to lay down for a bit ok. you just sit here and drift for a bit ok your going to be fine. yea right me thinks. and so with that he lays down. engine going I take over and head into the area where I know we have to go to get back to shore which is by that time about a good 12miles or so by water. but then I am out in the open with prince charming asleep at the bow this time playing sleeping beauty on me LOL the tide suddenly changes on us and that means waves. well I wouldn't have trouble with this if this were a fishing boat like my dads was but this is a skiff and its not actually that big of one either. I kept going and it seems the more I tried to get out of it the more we stayed in one spot. all the while thinking if only he would wake up. I spotted a bigger boat and now I am heading for that . I am going for help this guy isn't waking up and I am not taking any chances out here like this. what a time to take a nap. just a few more and we will be there just a few more is all and I will be safe again. I am heading to the boat and about there about to being waving to them when papa wakes up and asks me where were heading too and what I think I am doing LOL I tell you that was the worst 30 mins I ever spent in a boat so I think at that time . needless to say we went home the rest of the miles and were safe. we got home very late that night though . I think for a summer night it was pretty dark out then too. but I learned something you cant fool Mr. water man out on the ocean he knows exactly where he is even when he is asleep :)

papa and Fred decided they had had enough and went looking through the yard sales for a boat to put into the water. they must have hunted for weeks but finally they found one . it was a tiny dingy of a thing but big enough for two people and they dragged it home on the back of a truck. both of them so proud of there find for sure. going to take our skiff out on its maiden voyage. LOL
so they head on out kiss me good bye see you later around dinner time ok and off they went
time passes and suddenly before dinner here the two of them come again with out the skiff.
and this is the story they told us.
they drove out to st Theresa's shrine which is about 20 some miles out of town and put there skiff into the water and got in fishing poles tackle boxes and coffee and cups. rowed out a piece and sat quietly with there poles in the water. didn't take long before one of them had wet feet. well I guess one of them reached over and picked up a can or cup and bailed out the water on the bottom of the skiff. and they went back to sitting silently and fishing for a bit more. until one of them said they had not only wet feet but this time when they looked it was up to the seats and there ass was wet LOL about this time they both look down and realize there sinking fast so they jump out and swim to shore. well heck that wasn't the last of it kinda stings when you loose all your fishing gear but that wasn't all they lost. both of them had gotten paid that day and both of them had there cks uncashed in there wallets and both of them lost there wallets on the swim to shore. LOL took us about a week to get Darrell's re issued and about a month for Fred to get his done .

good morning Mr. bear said papa
Alaska is always a place that is full of wild life and Juneau is not an exception. the bears here which are black bears think this is there town and they can just walk around here anytime of the day or night they choose too. so the people that live here have learned to put up with it all.
well one morning papa is getting up and getting ready for work. he puts on the coffee and sits for a spell. to enjoy the peace and quiet of it all. once he is done and he sees the time he grabs his hat and heads for the door. opens it and finds this big black bear sitting on the porch right out in front of the door like nothing to this. the bears is looking at the mts and the sky and taking it all in. he turns to papa and that is when papa said ok and closes the door fast. goes in and thinks well I guess one more cup of coffee wont hurt. so he gets one and sits for a little while longer. thinking that will give the bear a bit of time to move on. once he is done with his coffee he moves to the door to leave again and opens it up . but Mr. bear is leaning on the door and enjoying the view still and abouts falls into the house when papa opens the door. papa sees this closes it again and thinks ok one more cup of coffee I guess and then we will see. well this goes on and on and this bear isn't about to move so the next time that papa does go to the door and opens it up he stands there alittle upset and tells Mr. bear. now look I got to go to work and your making me late. I know your enjoying the view early in the am and all that but you got to move on so I can get by. he said the bear looked at him like "man I got to move? but not just yet you should slow down and take a good look at all this beauty here!"papa closed the door and goes to the phone and calls his boss. says I am going to be late I got this bear sitting on the porch here blocking my way out so until he moves I cant even leave for work. ( now I know some people use some pretty lame excuses not to go to work on time but here in Alaska this one is one that is legit and not a problem because this sort of thing happens around here allot in the summer time ) papa sat down and kept on waiting. watched some TV drank about a pot of coffee and finally that Mr. bear got tired of the view or finished watching the sun come up and left . LOL

Brown bears and Black bear visits.
Some how a few weeks ago i got recuited to help my daughter with her yard sale at her apartment which is located on a hill near the woods. Lots of blue berry patches grow around the apartment complex. Well we had a nice day of it not to many people stopped by but that was ok. The neighbors dog got loose. He is a puppy. So the natural reaction out of all around was to begin looking for him. There we were yelling his name when i walked over to the stairs leading to the parking lot and looked up and around and spotted this black thing in the bushes at first i thought there he is. then on second thought . Nope dang its a black bear. to big to be the dog LOL He was busy munching his way though the berry bushes on the side of the hill about 50 yards from where we stood. Being good Alaskans we moved to the middle of the parking lot to watch him . By this time there had to be about 10 of us standing there watching him. of course we also kept our eyes on the 12 egales swooping and flying around over head too. Now tell me where in American can you find such a show on a sat after noon right outside your own door ? Well maybe a few places. But this is one of them for sure.
A few days before that . my daughter had gone out to see what the ruckess what only to find a brown bear which is highly unusual around here in the same parking lot. She now has a redecorated car as a result of it. He broke the drivers door handle on her new car. Unfortunilty her insureance wont cover it. she said she has half a notiion to wirte to the gov and tell him his pets were not on a leash and broke her car door handle and request he pay for it, after all we do have leash laws and since the bears seem to be more protected them people are he should keep a tighter rain on his personal pets LOL of course most of us feel like that when it comes to the bears around here. and then once we say that we laugh. we know there is no way we could get them to see our point of view and laughing about the seriousness of it all or the bears period is about the best thing to do unless your so close to one you cant find a way out. then it gets tough. just hope it doesnt come to that ever. i worry about the kids up there too as the city has opted to stupidly place a dumpster right next to and not even 10 feet from the only play ground the children in that area have. talk about poor city planning on that one. and of course no ammount of complaining about it will make them change it .
well its late here so i best get to bed got to get up early in the am again and do another yard sale and a birthday party and who knows what other adventures as well.

ok, its been awhile since i have been in here. Sorry about that. But life around here is getting wild in a really wonderful way. Our son came home on leave from the navy before the 4th of July and ever since then this house has been busting at the seams with family and friends who want to see him and spend time with him. As he has been gone a year over seas. So forgive me if i am not in here much during this time.
What i can tell you is this. One night were all sitting around watching tv and this guy walked up to the front door. I couldnt see who it was though the forsted glass window. And thought it was one of my grandsons friends come to see him. So i sent my 5 yr old grand daughter to the door to answer it. As her and her ma and brother and sis were here visiting us that night for awhile. Well she opened the door and the next thing i hear out of here is "UNCLEEEEEEEE IRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!" and with that she leaped into his arms. Followed by the rest of us at home here too.All hugging him and kissing him and crying. Its a wonder we didnt knock him over. :))))
what i can tell you is this too. It didnt take him long to walk into his room and put down that duffle bag and then with in moments as seems to happen with all military on leave the dang thing seemed to explode its contents all over the room LOL i lovingly go past the room look in sigh and close the door. talked to his aopted brother who was in the service about this and he told me its normal dont worry about it happened to him all the time when he went home on leave.Said when he would get there he would roll all his thing neatly in a drawer and then after a day would think why am i doing this i dont have to i am home and then his duffle bag with spill its contents all over the room too LOL sooooooooo like i said i just smile and close the door. heck i am not going to complain its just so good to have him home (and safe and unharmed ) for even a month before he has to go back to base. I am also so dang tired too but heck this is alaska i can hybernate with the bears this winter to catch up on all my rest and enjoy the memories of having him home if even for alittle while.
catch you later and tell you more of our adventures of our son on leave and our life in wild and sometimes very funny alaska :)

your box arrived today, its sitting in the frontroom. but i got to tell you something :) when it arrived and our postman was wondering what was going on i told him it was yours, all the things you couldnt pack in your duffle bag LOL the kids were behind me and they knew it was from you to you or so it seemed, as the post man and i were getting it into the house. a little voice screamed from behind"HURRY UP GET IT IN HERE OPEN IT UP AND LET UNCLE IRA OUT!!!!!!!!! I KNOW HE IS IN THERE CAUSE HE SENT HIMSELF HOME TO US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " guess who screamed that one? if you said timmy or laura your dead wrong LOL if you said mandy pie you got it right on the nail head LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL she got very mad at me when i wouldnt open it up and let you outtttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! roflmao. all i can say is there is a little girl here wondering were your at . so you better hurry up and get here LOLOLOLOL
i love ya tons and i am glad your back in the usa. so is she but she is awondering where in the usa LOL cant seem to get her to get that one right. oh well you tell her next time you talk to her LOL good luck uncle ira ;)))))LOL
see you later hugs and prayers from me your ma :)))))))))


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My wonderful news

I can't speak now can barely type. My daughter called me this am and told me my son in the navy is back in the USA. So I won't be here to long.
This past year has been a tough on one our family with 3 sons in the military. Never knowing what will happen next. Its something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Though I am proud of them for what they had to do and stand firmly behind them in it all. Sleepless nights, endless days wondering where they are. What is going on if their ok or not. Or waiting for that one letter that would reach home finally and reading it over and over until the pages are so wrinkled there almost unreadable. Hoping for a phone call cringing when it rings. Not wanting to answer the door, afraid too. I never knew until I got news he was heading home how badly this all affected me. It was then I finally slept though the night. And smiled again and found laughter with out forcing it. Only then I began to do some of the things I used to do. And then I figured out some others I could get involved with something new instead of old.
Personally I am so glad for the net and all those that supported me though this ,put up with me when I froze up on them and couldn’t move. Prodded me back into living some sort of life again. And got me on my feet and were there for me when I cried or worried and told me everything would be ok. Though they knew at that time I couldn’t actually believe it. Asked about them all and worried right along with me. With out them I wouldn’t have made it this far for sure. They kept me going sometimes just through the motions of life itself and knew eventually those motions would be come real again. Those are the angels in my life. Those are the prayer warriors that god placed in my life when I first plugged in a web TV some 5 yrs ago. For such a time as this. The tears rolled freely down onto my computer keyboard this am uncontrollably nothing I could do to stop them. Relief from a mother’s heart to know one more of them is going to be ok. Well be home soon and I will get to once again hug the boy that left home ,joined the military and is now a young man :) but still my son. Thank you lord for your protection over this past year for keeping him and his brothers safe. For returning him home to me untouched and ok. Thanks for the angels you placed in my life. With that I will go wait for his phone call and listen to his voice, which I haven’t heard in over a month now. Nor have I seen him in a year. And eventually you will return to us his brother in the miltary,who is over seas as well:) right? :))))))))))) Ok I am gone going to go hug my sons dog ( actually our family dog he claims is his :) and share the news with him :)

Still painting :)

Today we hit the fabric store again. Personally l love all this help I am getting from the grand’s on this painting deal. Nothing like young imaginations for sure.
One thing about painting you can always do it over if you don’t like it. We have two tables to paint and we already did one with a sponge effect but pa wouldn’t let us do the other one in the chalkboard we wanted so we decided among ourselves to go find as many of those rubber stamps as we could in leaf patterns and do both tables with those. Took out the sponge and did the table in yellow in a smear effect and then took a tube of green paint placed it in a dish and showed the kids what to do then I just stood back LOL they took over in a drove because there little cousins came over to visit for awhile. And Walla we now have this table on its way with a nice green leaf pattern done by them. Several more colors of leaves down and we will be done. Should come out well too. And they are having a blast. Once we done with this one then we drag out the next one and make it almost the same. Though I doubt seriously they will be identical but the kids will always appreciate what they did as well as the adults that can sit and say decorated by the kids here. Ages 5 through 11 and there are 5 of them working on this project today. Then it’s on to recover plain old wooden knobs for dresser drawers here. I found out they can sure work with polymer clay too. Make some really cool patterns so will be having them do that and help me cover those wooden knobs we bought today. Along with working on quits too. And of course keeping up with summer homework. Got one on the leap pad working on reading each day, one on the black board working on letters and numbers and one reading up on abacuses and learning how to use that. Caring for pets and doing fun things and our summer is going to be one we will always remember for sure. We also let them pick out two different pieces of fat quarters each ,at the fabric store. So when we have a table to work on soon we will be planning our fist quilt too.
Not one funny story about Alaska for you that I can think of today. Sorry about that. Just having a blast with the kids here. Got to scoot got the patio swing covers to re dye in dark green.

Painting in Alaska
It was supposed to be a day of painting here. We all woke up to lists of things to get done. Shopping lists consisting of paint for the patio, an orbital sander so we could sand down the patio table and refinish it. As well as and assortment of other shopping items. Like paper plates and iced tea.
After several hours out running around gathering up all the things we thought we needed. And having a car full of kids and of course our dog that absolutely refuses to be left at home. We finally got home. But as things go it was the wrong kind of sand paper for the sander so out the door hubby goes with the grandson in tow to remedy that. And out I go onto the patio with the grand daughters to scrub down the patio deck of all the dirt and clutter of what was left of leaves and things to make sure it was ready to paint again. A chore I don’t actually like to do but one that comes up about every two years or so. Three of us hosing it down and running the deck brush over it and then were in for a while to relax while it dries. Started a game of scrabble with the older granddaughter. And in comes hubby. Seems he is announcing there is a huge water leak in the city main. Right on our street. So I go out to look. And yep there sure the heck is one. Right straight across the road from side walk to side walk and water pouring every where into the street and getting worse every min. the neighbors drive way was flooding fast as the curb was high enough to deflect it from our yard but was running straight down into there drive way , basement and yard. Which is set lower then ours. And there is this mt. like piece of cement that is in front of their driveway that is growing by the min looking as though it’s a volcano ready to burst any second. For fear of it doing so and cement being thrown in the air in any direction I take the kids into the house and wait for the city to show up and take care of their flood. All I can say is any thoughts we had of painting the patio deck were totally gone for the day. So we spent the day working on the table instead.
Got that just about done and here comes the rain. Hubby's words as we scrambled to grab all our things was that is the last time I will buy paint when it is sun shinning out LOL

The scrabble game was a blast though. My grand daughter laid down a letter s on the board on a triple word score and got 63 points geshhhhhhhh did I ever have a hard time trying to catch up with her on that one. Never actually did her last word for that game was the word win. Grrrrrrr last letters I pulled were rid and of all things shit. LOL tell you what that sure told me a ton about how my game was going LOL
Like I said life in my neck of the world is never dull.

The Big Bear Pie Store

Several years back when we were living in a trailer park one of our neighbors decided to spend a nice summer day baking fresh pies. We could smell the aroma from our kitchen windows. Wasn’t a bad idea until we got her phone call. Asking us for help. Seems she put the pies in her open kitchen window to let them cool down. Well her kitchen window was right by her front door. And along comes her first customer for pies. A huge bear. She called to say she has already given him one of her pies hoping he would go away. But he hadn’t yet left. Please come help her out. So hubby went outside ( brave man sure wasn’t going to be me ) and goes to shoo the bear away. By the time he got there the bear had gone and only after eating all the neighbors pies. LOL

Oh the trials of learning . LOL I have been looking around at the blogs on line and found some really good reading. Buttttttt have no clue how to make such pretty pages as I have seen as I go. Oh well in time I guess. Not even sure if I am doing this right or anyone is even bothering to read this but that is ok it's all more for me then anyone else. Oh yea sure you say she is sitting there writting all of this because she likes to talk to herself LOL And do you think she will figure out where the heck her spell ck is at . LOL
All joking aside and yes I did figure out where I can do this first and get spell ck.
I hate to grip cause I know others have far hotter weather then we do. So I won't even try. But yesterday it hit 78 here by 5 pm. Now that doesn't seem bad at all. Except I live about two blocks or so from the nearest body of water and our humidity here gets really high so when it hits78 its about the same as 100 in dry heat . We have even been known to push the 90's here too.
Our days are getting longer too. So it won' be long now and the sun will be out more and more during the evenings. I have seen it as bright as high noon at 1 am and then darkend for around 2 hours and then the sun comes right back up again. Our heat here does'nt go away either until the sun goes down. Most of the time were lucky our cooler moments are early in the am. Tide changes bring us some nice cool breezes that helps us get through it all though. So about twice during my waking days I get the chance to cool down a bit .
Well time to put on my running shoes so to speek and chase grandchildren around . If I get the chance to get back in again this week and blog my heart out I will be dang lucky. :) SOOOOOOOOO let the summer fun begin :)
Enjoy yourself where ever you are and what ever weather you have :)

Summer mode in Alaska ,

Tell you what Iunderstand how come we here hybernate like bears in the winter time .LOL Rule of thumb no matter where you live in alaska is this. if it is nice out, warm enough to venture out at all and sun shinning , it's concidered almost a sin to stay inside. Soooooo once the weather is nice no one is inside. Except for me of course for alittle while Tonger today.
wanted to work on email and this blog and then i will be out working on my tan.
this week saw our grandson graduating from high school. that was such a mess. they picked me up at 1. after dropping him off to get his cap and gown and family tickets. only to find when we got there no one knew where his cap and gown were located at so it was run in circles for an hour to find them. we were sent from person to person only to be sent on. geshhhh what a mess . when we did locate those then it was the case of the missing tickets. so he stood there watching the last of the family members go into the gym and knew even if he would walk his family being myself his auntie and gf wouldnt be able to get in. so he said lets leave i am not doing this with out my family. admirable yep not bad at all. one of the ladies that was taking tickets from people going in knew him and my daughter his auntie so after talking to her we were able to get in. soooooooo happy to say he walked got his deploma and graduated.

now as far as funny stories. i once got on a city bus with my children when they were younger it was one of the things we liked to do in the evenings take a bus ride and watch the sun go down. well one lady got on the bus and sat across from us this predated the tourist busses we have all over here in the summertime full of tourists. well time goes on and this lady decides to talk to me. that is ok i am not an unfriendly person. exept she had no intentions of being kind or talking nicely instead she wanted to complain. she told me it was horrible how people came to see our city and we didnt clean up. all this as a city sweeper went slowly by in the other lane going the opposit direction. i didnt say a word as i though ok here we go. she was loud enough everyone that was sitting near us including the bus driver could hear her. she went on to say she had been out to see our glacier and it was dirty as anything she had ever seen. and we should be ahamed of oursleves. i still sat there with out a word and tried not to bust up laughing. then she announced that everyone in our city should have gotten out there at spring time before our tourist's showed up and gotten up there with brooms and swept off all the dirt. and hosed it down so it would sparke like it should for our visistors. i remained silent. eventually she got off the bus leaving all of us regular city folks on the bus. the doors closed and then we pulled away and then all you could hear was a roar of laughter as we took off down the road. the bus driver turned around at the next stop light and told me you did a good job dealing with her so when are we all heading out to sweep that glacier and then broke out in laughter. LOL now if you dont happen to know anything about a glacier let me tell you now there is no way i will ever climb on one of those things for no one and sweep it of anything. those things are nothing but huge ice cubes that have deep cravaces in them you could fall into besides there to to cold for this grandma to even concider walking on . then of course there is the calving of them not even going to be on one when it decides its time to do that when a huge cunk of it falls off into the lake below.. :))))) tell you some people should for sure read there brocures before they visit another area or if nothing else learn something about the place and the culture there going to go see and leave there culture baggage at home where it belongs. LOL had she even bothered to stop at the visitors center at the glacier she would have taken the time to learn a ton of wonderful things about glaciers and what goes on LOL :) oh well made for a very interesting and funny time for us to say the least .
ok enough said i am out of here its sunshinning here and i want to go work on my tan. where ever your at you enjoy your day see you when i can :)

my great porcippine adventure.

about two years ago hubby and i went out shopping for a pot and pan rack to go over our stove in the basement. we found one brought it home and installed it. he said would be nice if we had all our cast iron pots and pans hanging from this . so i said sure would be let me dig them out of all the camping gear. so off i go over to the other end of the basement where we had this shelf that is about 5 ft off the ground where we keep all the camping gear. i grab the light cord to put the light on so i can see only it isnt working the light bulb is out. so i go to the next light to pull that cord and nothing again . i grab the flash light and think ok i can do this. point it ahead of me towards the shelf which i am now standing about two feet from facing it only to see this huge procippine sitting there on the camping gear looking straight at me. i jump back yell there is a porcippine here on the shelf. hubby says no it cant be must be a cat . he isnt moving to help me at all just talking to me from the stove area. i tell him no its not a cat i know what a blank blank cat looks like this is a procippine and its a big one. he comes over to see i am still backing away from it slowly. dont want this thing upset with me, i dont want a face full of quills. hubby sees what it is and gets me out of there asap. we go upstairs cause the thing was backing away too. and call the animal control. he gets off the phone says they wont come ,told me to call fish and game. said they no longer pull porcippines out of peoples houses. so he calls fish and game they tell him the same thing tell him to call the state troppers who pass him along to the city police. this is getting fustrating so i tell him call the animal control again tell them they have to help us .i cant have this here in the house with the children coming to stay today tell them i run a babysitting service for the kids and i need this out of here asap. so he does. and they agree to come over.
now our basement is all dirt with a 6 ft celing in places we were able at that to make space for something of a rec room , insolte it and the like ,but in actuality its still a dirt basement. not to cold in the winter with the help fo a stove down there. so the animal control people show up and the chase is on. around and around all of them go with flash lights in hand. they corner the thing in a corner and the next thing i hear is this scream out of one of the guys . he got a leg full of porcipine quills out of it all. poor thing. we later had to plug several holes in the walls where the cats had dug them to use as cat doors in the night and day to get in and out of. grrrrrrrrrrrr. i tell you life in alaska is never dull ,winter ,summer or fall.

one other time about oh maybe 5 years back or so give or take . were driving home from our daughters place after a night of playing uno with the family . have to cross the bridge to do so. and in the middle of the road is this black thing . an animal about the size of a german shepard. sitting on its hind legs in the middle of the road. we slow down and i ask what the heck is that? i couldnt tell in the dark. hubby says its a porcippine . we had to stop and wait for it to cross the road before we proceed. well this thing decided to use the walk way on the bridge going in the same direction as we were. we dove over the bridge and came down toward the stop light only to see a teen aged boy using the crossing walk for the bridge ,in the opposite direction. i told hubby we better stop and warn him there is a porcippine using that path. he is to tired says the kid will see him soon enough . i am alittle upset and were still driving. not slowing down. i look over my shoulder in the direction the kid is at only to see moments later he is jumping over the railing into the middle of the bridge . guess he saw the proccpine walking towards him :))))))) and off the kid ran LOL

The debate is still looming over my grandsons head today as to weather or not he is actually going to walk in the graduation. but if he does i took the time to call the high school and someone there said there holding 4 tickets for his family. its now all up to him the event will take place sat if he so chooses.

so on another note. wild life in alaska set aside for the am. and now its pets LOL as a grandma i have had to take on some pets over the years. one that i will talk about today is a hamster i bought my grandson at christmas time. now i am usually not into anything that even remotely looks like a reptile or a rat. but this is something i chose to give him because he has had these before. and i got rather tired of" everyone has a pet but me" this is a white dwarf hamster. and he livesin the book case in his little world cage in our frontroom, because he was keeping my grandson up at night with his wheel and mike was throwing pillows at him so i removed him and was told if he leaves my bedroom he isnt coming back. no problem . mr hamster cant help his habits so i took him in the frontroom in the middle of the night and looked around " where the heck do i keep him?" i was thinking. can't leave him here the cats will get him so i quickly made space in the childrens book case for him that used to be a what the heck is it called ,oh well for lack of words one of those dinner plate huts with closeing glass doors on it and several drawers below those. my mom used to keep her collectables in it and so did i until i began to babysit the younger set of grandchildren then i turned it into a keep your books in here your project stuff, crayons and movies and the like. games you name it . well i redid it all and now mr hamseter lives above all their books in there.
ok we have a dog , cat, two gold fish and two birds and of course mr hamster .
this am i am on the phone long distance talking to my grandsons ma down south in the lower 48 and sitting in my bedroom when this what looked like a white mouse goes streaking across the floor along side my bed. across the room from me. ok normal female reaction jump up in a panic and scream. add to that i hung up the phone in the middle of the converstation. leaving my daughter to wonder in another state what the heck was going on. i run into hubbies bedroom in a panic and tell him " help me i need help come quickly!' he looks at me with this look of " please discribe help to me " and away we go as were going i tell him i am not sure but its either mr hamster or a white rat in my room. LOL we get in there and i am of course the first one in and i see him run across the floor the other way. hubby didnt so he goes out to ck his cage and sees he isnt there and tells me i think its mr hamster ,so we hunt for him around the bed. he says well he isnt here are you sure it was him. seems like it should because i dont see him in his cage i will have to look more through the saw dust in there. he turns to leave the room and there goes mr hamster under the desk. hubby finally gets him in hand and puts him away. all the while telling him him had one heck of an adventure. we have no clue how long he has been out or where he has been or even if the family cat chased him all night LOL most of this hamster hunt i spent standing on the bed or chair. geshhhhhhhhhhhhh life in grandmas petting zoo . LOL
of course there was last summer , when i got roped into taking care of the class bunny. oh what fun that was. we turned him loose one day in the frontroom so he could get out of his cage and get exerscse. our cockerspaniel decided it was time to make him run so here is the dog chasing the bunny around in circles. along comes our simeese cat . walking boldly into the frontroom the rabit saw her and away they went the bunny is chasing the cat and the dog is chasing the bunny LOL if only i had a camera handy that would have been a wonderful kodak moment to catch. oh well they spent the summer doing that one on a regular basis. this year i refused to take any anamals to babysit for the summer . even though my grand daughter called me up begging me " but grandma there doves. i will help out" noooooooooooo and i stuck to it. we got enough here to care for as it is her mas birds have three little bitty babies .as it is we will have to begin hand feeding soon.
i did get back to my daughter on the phone and of course she laughed her but off about the mr hamseter thing . and also the high school to find out more about graduation this sat and of course my grandson on what he wants to do . i will have to know soon so i can pay for the cap and gown . right now its up in the air. somehow i dont think with the broken hand thing he wants to walk. and i of course wont force him too . he said if he doesnt he will ck into one of those picture sudios and have his picture taken in cap and gown for the family. his auntie told me this am he isnt feeling very well has a tummy flue going along with the hand . maybe its the meds they are giving him . but he did say he is cking in to see what is oging on at the high school so i will know more later. next post i will tell you a story about a procippine:)

awesome news today, i have a grandson here 19 yrs old has lived with us for 5 years. he moved out about two months ago on his own. hey the news around here lately just gets better all the time. will about two weeks ago he called me to say he didnt think he was graduating trom high school his year. i was dissapointed but told him ok well maybe next year :) we did our best to get him through the dissapointment he was feeling over it all because it was only 1/2 a credit he had stuggled with all year long in algebra . and we all knew he could do this. well i got a call from him today saying he had just gotten a call too. from the high school telling him he is in FACT graduating this year. yahoooooooooo i am so tickled pink for him . only catch is this. the high school here has limited space on events like this so each student is given only 6 tickets for their family members and they have to choose who can attend and who can't . been there done that one three years ago when my youngest son who is in the navy graduated from highs school here. well my grandson went on to say there are no tickets left. all of them are gone so they asked him if he wanted to walk and he said no if my family can't be there then i see no reason to do so. well i got to thinking about it and called him up and told him if you want to walk you do so. and i would like for you to do this. your the one that is graduating not us. we all know your graduating too. this is your moment and we know you want to share this with us . but you should do this its an awesome cerimony you will never forget. its your finalization to 12 years of schooling. a closer to one part of your life and and event that opens a new one. dont rob yourself of this just because your family couldnt go . he said he will call them in the am and see if he can still walk but told me the cap and gown cost alot i told him dont worry about that i will cover it for you if you want to walk then you walk ok. for yourself an no one else. heck there were times when we began this whole journey they told me he wouldnt make it with out speical education . he fought to do his schooling in the main stream and because that is what he wanted and i thought he could do this i fought along with him to make sure he did it his way. so hey he more then earned his deploma for sure. and with good grades. not awesome but they are bs. and c's what more could he ask for or me for that matter.
see i told you grip in the am log in the good things you want to happen and then go grab the day and once you have set aside all that bothers you in the end you will see some awesome things come out of what looked like a gloomy day. :))))))))))) ok now that i talked your ears off all day off and on i am out of here going to go ck my emails and enjoy my clam chowder soup for dinner :)))))))))) catch you all when i can and i have more awesome news to share or if i can think of something funny to add about life in alaska :)

my hubby and my brother who has been gone now for years, used to go looking for a boat to fish in. they haunted all the yard sales in town, read all the adds in the local papers and searched though all the notes on the for sales boards at the local grociery stores looking for a boat they could afford. well low and behold one sat afternoon in the summer of heck if i know what year they finally found a two man dingy they could afford. they were like little children with their new find . had to drag it around in a truck and show it off to everyone they could think of before they took it out on its maiden voyage at the shrine of st theresas, some 20 odd miles or so out the road. hubby was in his thirties then making my brother about the same age ,he was two years older then him. anyway, off they went on a nice sunny day to play in the ocean. time goes on evening comes and here come the two of them back home no dingy in tow. " where is your dingy i ask?" well here is what i got told. they took it out launched it got in. paddled out as far as they pleased and sat back fishing poles in hand to enjoy the moment and the possible fish they would catch and bring home to cook, smoke or what ever they choose. only the dingy had a leak and they did'nt know it. wasnt to long and their feet were getting wet from the water coming into the tiny boat. they took out their trusty cans and began to bail and then once they thought they had all the water out, back to fishing they went. more time goes by and more water arrives inside there tiny boat and out ocmes the cans again. but this time the water rushes in at a higher rate of speed. now its up to the seats and their britches are soaked , as well as their shoes and gear. it was hopless the dingy was sinking fast with them in it. well they bailed fast dove in the cold alaskan water and swam for shore. ok not to bad except that when they finished there tail of wow the next thing out of there mouths was they both had lost there wallets in the sinking of their boat . and in those wallets were their pay cks they had'nt yet cashed. dang it all anyway took us some time to get them re-issued and made for a rather tough month for my brother financially and of course needless to say they never bought a bargin boat again ever LOL

ok lets get to the comedy of life here..........
i live in downtown juneau ok and in the summer it gets very interesting here. of course we have a huge tourist industry that bulges the poputation of our town to the edges during tourist months. from may to oct. each year. along with that comes life with the wild life here. black bears mostly some porcipines and a ton of eagles .
about two years ago i saw this huge picture like poster in a store window courious i went up close to see it and saw this black bear causually walking past the red dog solon in down town juneau at lunch time . there were people in all the windows peeking out to see this site as the bear lifted the lid on the trash can the city had near the door and took out a mac donalds meal someone had thrown in there . all i did was smile :)
a year before that hubby went to open the door in the am to leave for work. only to find this huge black bear sitting on our front step he said the bear looked like he was enjoying himself watching the mountians and the sun coming up. so he closed the door and got another cup of coffee. sat and drank it then figured maybe the bear was gone by now. went to see but the bear was still there. so off for one more cup of mud and then back to ck . he said this went on for awhile to the point he thought he would be late for work. then he got mad went to the door opened it up, inches from the bear he told that bear to please leave cause your making me late for work i cant even get past you. only to see the bear turn to him with a look of what the heck is work! ck out this sunrise here man slow down LOL needless to say this called for another cup of coffee and a phone call into work telling his boss i cant come in until this bear leaves the porch. not to long after that the bear did leave and all was well one more time in hubbys life :)
you just never know about bears here ,they dont care what time of day or night it is. they walk around as though they own the town and if your in there way you better move. we have seen them across the street from the court house and state legs building . of couse who would eat lunch there right got to hand it to those bears they know what tough meals those people would make LOL
oh but last year it got down right funny LOL
i was laying on the couch sleeping, sometimes i do that. fall asleep watching tv and dont move off the couch. i hear hubby moving around and think ok he is letting the dog out . not uncommon for this early in the am. but the next thing i hear is him leaving. i roll over and try to go back to sleep only the yelling has started. so i sit up . the yelling goes on. so i am now very couriuous as to what the heck is going on . about that time here comes hubby back in the door with the dog in tow. in his boxer shorts no less and nothing more. as it goes hubby had heard a bear at our trash box and gone to shoo it off. opening the door thinking ok i can handle this from here ,i yell he leaves, i go back to bed. WRONGGGG! instead of going as planned our chicken dog decides this is his moment of true courage and runs outside going between hubbys legs to get there. and off he goes down the street chasing the bear. who is running like his life depended on it. well hubby was worried about our chicken dog so with out thinking out he runs out side to retireve the dog .now its him chasing the dog who is chasing the bear in of all things his boxer shorts. LOl and in our neighborhood live ,across the street a dentist ,a preacher and a judge, a baker and lawyers. oh this is jucie for sure. good thing no one was awake or on the streets too or someone would have fainted from the sear laughter of it all for sure LOL dang good thing the bear didnt pass away from shock LOL

Don't even ask me what i am doing here ok. some of us just need a place to place thoughts rolling around in our heads . On that note i say when you wake up in the morning you should begin the day with writting down your goals and then your grips and leave them all there except of course your goals.
what is life in Alaska like for me you may ask? Interesting to say the least. i could sit and tell you some very funny stories about living here for sure. and eventually i will. But for now my concern is just this one day in my other wise mundain life LOL
It begins early enough for me up at sometimes 4, 5 or 6 and all with out the aide of an alarm clock something i trained myself to do years ago as a young mother. And now to think i am a great grandma at a very early age. leaves one to think where the heck did time run off too. i make the coffee ,sit with hubby and talk about possible plans not un- normal i think for most couples and then off we go to do the daily thing, work, care for kids, house work and the like . Only to end it totaly exahusted and so tired sometimes sleep evades us both.
iIwas thinking about chores the other day and wrote that when i was in my 20's i read an article about doing chores and it gave how many times in one persons life they would wash a drinking glass. LOL i went on to say i about stopped washing dishes at that time. and went out to buy paper cups instead. all the while thinking who are they really kidding so what. can't be right cause their talking about one drinking glass and what if that one drinking glass is broken along the way to the end goal their talking about. LOL
we all have dreams of life and how its supposed to go for us when we grow up. right? sometimes those don't come out just as we planned for them to go. ok i am rambling here for lack of a better term but trying to begin this blog is'nt and easy task. anyway, i watch my children and grands grow up and wonder sometimes if some of the things they are dreaming of for themselves in an economy such as it is will even come to light for them. after all the prices of things across the board are so steep its a wonder grown children can even leave home anymore until there ready to retire. makes one look at the american dream and how dead it really is. rent anywhere form $700 a month to heck i have heard of $4,000 seriously. and leaves me to wonder what the heck are you renting and what sort of job would you have to have to be able to rent that kind of place . The tolets must be made of gold LOL sure is'nt the run of the mill home for that much. And then of course the prices over and above all that to make sure you feed your face and have the bare eccentials of daily life. come on where are any of the kids trying to move out going to get that kind of cash.
ok date my in age, i remember when rent was 75 bucks a month for a flate and you got 5 bedrooms and all utilities with that too. All you had to do was plug in your tv and have your phone brought in and you were set. of course truth be know i was a starving student back then stuggling to make it though college. Now i am older by far and supposedly wiser and still poor as a church mouse LOL but the fact is i am still here. and that is what counts right?
i remember first moving back to alaska in the 80's and cking out the prices of cars, brand new of course. About passed out from laughter they wanted 12,000 back then for a brand new car. oh ,cool ,guess what not even going to give you a dime for one cause my first house i bought back in the 60's cost a whooping 12,000 totally, on a 30 year morgage and all we were paying was 112 a month for it back then. cars went for 2 grand brand new. no way was i going to hand over that kind of money for a car. which we all know begins to depreciate once you drive it off the lot so why throw money into something that isnt going to give back more then a meassily few bucks on your investment right? needless to say i have done alot of walking over the years and alot of never driving around though i do hold a drivers licence anyway LOL
but then i talked to my mother a few years later on and asked her how come she was so livid over the price she paid out in house taxes only to be told its horrible i found out in talking to her she paid out about 1.000 back then. not to bad said me to me. but then i in talking to her i found out her and dad paid 1,000 for their home in the 30's what a shocker that was i then understood what bothered her so much about house taxes for her it was a nightmare for sure because each year she paid the city the same price she paid long ago for the orginal price of her home. wowza what a shocker that is kinda makes you wonder where its all leading to when you grow old huh. gosh i sure hope it doesnt get that out of hand.
ok enough complaining aready :)))))))) what will today bring for me? the snuggles and compionship of a sweet grand daughter ,time ,to write in the blog. more rain of course. and then there is time to relax maybe i hope. seriously it happens once in a while in my hectic life :) the kids get out of school today yahooooo summer time and games, making quilts and nature walks taking pictures around town enjoying life as it is and what ever it brings my way. camping out under the stars ,maybe some fishing, living like huck finn and tom. Hey i can buy that one for sure. so what is important to me? placing all the things that bug the crap out of me down as soon as i can before i begin my day and then just grabbing the day and the things i wish i could do and running out there and making some of those nicer things happen. with that i will sign out. have a wonderful day where ever your at and enjoy your life to the best you can see you again when i find something to share :)
ps :what is going to make me happy? the best of all for me this month is my son in the navy comes home on leave for a month yahooooooo havent seen him for a year all this mess we have had every where boy its going to be a good month for sure. all bad thigs move on down the road this mom, grandma, great-grandma and of course wife is going to have a blast dungens crab feed here i comeeeeeeeeee:)))))))))) yahoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!