Bagheera

My cat is wonderful!

I have missed not having one around to greet me when I come home, to purr and sit on my lap, to sleep with me. And this one does. Thank you Elizabeth, Andrew and Abby for giving me one of your favorite kittens! (And having him neutered plus sending him up to us!!)



And a big thanks to David for bring him to Alaska. And to Tawni who had to endure having a back pack that the cat sprayed before leaving SLC... They both seem to like MY cat...Sorry David.








He's a playful teenage kitten.

He likes the automatic kitty litter we have. He likes to sit back and watch the rake do its job. He likes to play in the litter crystals too...
















He decided that he liked playing with the ribbon around one of Kent's packages. He actually bit the ribbon and tried carrying it away to play with.




It's nice.



























I like this cat the way he is.













































Fortunately I was able to sidetrack him with good old yarn!



















It's nice to have a cat again. I'm hoping he doesn't wander off. I do wonder how he will be after he gets over his "teen years" and becomes an adult cat.


My cats always seem to have a personality shift then. I wonder why?

They Caammmme!

Tawni Chambers and David arrived safely on Tuesday, 15 December 2009. It was a crisp day. The fog was finally lifting and you could see the beautiful frost laden trees. However wonderful it was to see David and meet Tawni, (who is quite impressively beautiful, and how did David ever luck out meeting her?) I must confess I was more interested in what they brought me...my Christmas present from Elizabeth! Bagheera , the name of the panther from Jungle Book, is now MY cat. Both actually look a lot alike. I like the name but cannot pronounce it correctly as everyone that I tell about my cat corrects my pronunciation. I feel like I'm back in Norway...

Wonder why?

This cat's fur is more like velvet rather than soft cotton ball's like Scratch. He's also shorter hair which will be nice.

We did like Scratch. And we miss him.

Bet you don't wonder about that!

It's Never the Same, OH, but it IS!

I was starting to write this nice blog about David, Tawni and MY cat. Nothing big, life is great, love Tawni, love MY cat (even if I can't say his name correctly), it's cold here, excited for Christmas, etc., etc. When what to my troubling eyes did appear...my printer is no longer reading my SD memory card to download pictures. Why? David is here...

David has figured out why I couldn't download my pictures onto a digital frame. (I had plugged the memory reader into an USB extension rather than the computer...so it didn't have enough juice to receive and download pictures.) But with the good comes the urghhhhs! I tried to download pictures of the kids at Beluga Point and at James Cook's monument but... I usually do it on the printer's card reader but it says it's not connected to the computer... Where is the cord? Why is it NOT connected anymore? David, what did you do? And of course, David is asleep... Wait a minute, he just woke up but he is too tired.Can it wait until morning? Of course it can. Minutes later he is up. Tawni is still awake. He comes down. He finds the cord and makes sure I can download now. Somethings are figured out while other things that were working no longer are, WAIT they are again! YEAH!!!

David, also wanting to receive wireless connections has configured the router into our server. If you only have one computer and it's a desktop, you need to stay in one place and so it doesn't matter that the router is not in use. Now it IS nice that if we ever get a netbook or a lap top we can use it wherever we want to in the house. BUT the computer is not the same. The yahoo site looks different, it's acting slower, pictures are not coming up with the post...



Today is Saturday. Yesterday Tawni and Kent put up the tree. (Did David help? He usually refuses to help put the lights on the tree and decorate it but Tawnie is here and he needs to impress her?) Early this morning I went through several containers of Christmas decorations and put them out while everyone else was asleep.



These long nights are confusing their sleeping clocks. It stays dark until at least 10:00 and then the sun sets around 3:30 so if you're sleeping when the sun is down, you're getting lots of sleep... You think it's 7:00 because of the light only to find out it's 11:00.

Today they finally got going around 1:00 and we went to Beluga Point south of Anchorage after finding an open Wells Fargo and the Post Office. The tide was out and you could see the chunks of ice sitting on the shoreline.

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!!

And baby was it EVER cold today! David and Tawnie have discovered the windchill factor in Alaska means that what is cold (10 degrees F) is REALLY cold and that's at 3:30 p.m. The wind is blowing and it is freezing!

Kent and I look a little more acclimated to the weather, don't we? There's a reason we store fat in the winter... I only wish it came off in the spring!










Getting back into the warm car, we went north to downtown Anchorage to see James Cook's monument.




It might have been an impressive sight if it were lighter and you could see further than two feet from your nose...





David IS a good cook. We have been sharing cooking responsibilities: David and Tawni one day, Kent and I the next. So far David's made curried beef, Kent has done a roast. Yesterday was leftovers from a PCA (Personal Care Attendant) Open House appreciation day my company held which included shrimp, tortilla/turkey/Swiss cheese wraps, ham croissant sandwiches, chips, cookies, cupcakes and drinks. It all tasted really good! I was able to bring some of the leftover wraps and shrimp home so David and Tawni were relieved of cooking duties yesterday. They were all relieved as the went to the Anchorage Museum all afternoon and were hungry when they came to pick me up at 5:30. Today was my turn and we went to the best Mexican restaurant that we can find in Anchorage-Pancho Villa's. Good food at reasonable prices (for Anchorage!). Don't I have this cooking routine figured out?

You know, I really love my job BUT it is tough working when you'd rather be home visiting, playing games, decorating, sightseeing, and so forth. Problems at work always pop up and need to be resolved. New plans come in and need to be presented to clients. I think I'll have the afternoon off only to have a busier day than usual...

So at the close of this post, the wondering thought is how to balance the now with not being home like I used to be. It would be nice to be home to play but... it is nice to have a job too. In this day and age where so many need jobs. I'm so thankful I don't have to wander far from home.

Valdez

One of the things I wanted to do in Alaska was catch a salmon. We were lucky enough to have some friends, Wes and Dorinda Van der Martin [if it's not Dutch, it's not much] that own a Chalet motor home and together we went to Valdez to do some fishing.

We wandered all over East/Central Alaska going from Anchorage to Valdez, a 6+ hour drive. We had gorgeous, sunny, autumn weather. The trees were beginning to change colors-mostly yellows but a few reds. We hiked up to the Worthington Glacier, touched the glacier, got our picture taken under a cave built between the rock and the glacier (an "n-flow"?). You could hear rocks falling, water dripping and never knew if it was going to collapse on you. The path to the cave was definitely not a groomed National Forest path...as there was none.

We saw Bald Eagles, bear cubs, Dall sheep, spawning salmon, jumping salmon, sea lions, and did you catch bear cubs [as in plural]? Valdez has a fenced, viewing area where the salmon spawn and in the evening we saw one cub on Saturday and TWO cubs on Sunday evening. I got pictures but haven't downloaded them yet. They are bigger than dots but...not too clear as I'm not patient when taking night pictures. But, Mother, you can tell they are bears!

As to the fishing... I'm left wondering why the people on our left caught some, the people on our right caught some. We were using the same type of lures. We got a couple of look, see, bites but we didn't catch any. Wes caught two nice sized silvers (which he gave us, aren't we lucky?)and a few carcasses (lots of dead salmon in the water) and even a small halibut that looked like it was too sad to eat and was thrown back in to the water. But nothing for Kent and I (nor Dorinda or Missy their BYU-ID daughter). But the sun was on our back, the high tide took the dead fish smell away and we were in a little bit of heaven. The Van der Martins stayed at a campsite and we had wonderful campfires and food. Kent and I stayed at L & L Bed and Breakfast. The Van der Martins took us back and forth.

Great weekend even if we didn't catch any fish! I'm left wondering if life could get better?

Happiness is Catching a Fish

Kent and some of his office went fishing out of Seward for a team building trip. Doesn't he look happy! He caught a couple of halibuts, some silvers and some sea bass. It's a good thing we got us a used freezer to be able to keep and store his catch. Guess who's having salmon for dinner tonight?

You know, it's very expensive fish by the time you calculate the boat (charter) fare, the processing fee, the non-resident fishing license (you have to live here for a year before being considered a resident), the drive down amd so forth but isn't it worth it?

Just wondering...

Grateful

It is 12:45 am, I am awake and I am hot. So I'm talking hot for Anchorage hot. It's actually about 50 degrees F outside. But it's 74 degrees F in the house. I finally found a window that has a screen on it that I could open up and get some cool, fresh air in the house. I know, in another few minutes the hot flash will have dissipated and I will be chilly. But we did have sunshine this weekend. And for us, it was hot.

I hear pops outside. They must be fireworks but we're not supposed to have any within the municipality. I was hoping I would be able to see them from the downtown site. But no. And that's actually alright. I remember the fireworks we had in Beijing. What joy and fun! The scars, the thrills, the burns, the deaf ears,the sulfur smell, the earth trembling and shaking underfoot, errant fireworks that skidded this way and that, under buses, under cars, under foot, in the grass that accidentally caught on fire, the guards that would come out with their fire extinguishers. It was great. It is not the same here. But I am so grateful to be here.

I am grateful to be back in the States. I am grateful to be a citizen of this great nation. I recognize that we have faults but I want to recognize so much that is right. I am proud to be an American. I appreciate the many rights such citizenship offers me. I see the flag blowing in the breeze and am filled with joy as my eyes still tear up. To be able to see MY flag flying in the breeze fills my heart. I remember all the drills and practices we did in Girl Scouts on flag ceremonies, raising, lowering and folding the flag. I remember stopping on the BYU campus when the flag was raised in the morning and the national anthem played, hand over heart. I remember watching the flag be raised and lowered while on military bases when I was in uniform, hand raised in a salute. I remember training my cub scout dens to appreciate the flag, how to fold it, raise it and lower it properly. This wasn't easy because we had to do it inside the school classroom as we lived in China. One of us would act as a flag pole while standing on a table or chair... I remember going with the Fryers to the US Consulate in Vietnam to have their Webelos raise and lower the American flag in "American territory".

How much we take it for granted here. It is our country, our way of life. We do not always appreciate all the lives that have been lost and sacrificed so that we could enjoy this way of life. In Beijing, people did not respect flags, their country's flag or any country's flag. To them it was just a piece of material. They would put them on the ground and raise them, lower them to the ground and leave them on the dirt as they went to another flag and then gather them into a jumbled mass to fold later. There was no respect, no ceremony for the symbol of their country. We must have respect for ourselves, for our symbols of who we are, of those who gave their lives for us, those who are giving of themselves for our ideals and opportunities. This is a blessed land, a blessed country.

I don't think we realize how rich we really are in this great country. Rich in traditions, land, opportunities, abilities to have and raise families, rich in medical milestones and miracles, rich in good food and religious beliefs. So many of us have more than one car, more than one dish, more than one dress, more than one pair of jeans. We have milk and fruit in our refrigerators and probably some ice cream in the freezer. And Tums, Maalox or Pepto Bismo nearby. We have our own beds, our own tv, and blankets. We have shoes and pets, lawn mowers and weed trimmers, gardens and water we can drink from the faucet. Running water and toilets. Hot showers and water heaters. Temples. Church buildings. Books and libraries. Safety.

We are a richly blessed country and I am thankful to be a citizen of it. These are my wandering thoughts. I'll bet you've been wondering about many of the same things today as we enjoyed having a day off of work, to barbecue, play games, relax and read books, watch movies and enjoy being friends and family. I love you.

She came back

I believe the moose came back yesterday while we were at work. How do I know? No, there were no moose hoof prints or scat around BUT my kohlrabi leaves have been eaten. They look like they were munched on by something BIG and I haven't seen a horse or a cow around. Luckily for us, the kohlrabi is a root vegetable so if she's going to eat something from our garden, it's the thing to eat. Plus, I thought I was buying broccoli not kohlrabi...as they have the same looking leaves. If you are wondering about kohlrabi, look it up. It's the sputnik-look vegetable. As long as she leaves the tomatoes and herbs alone I'm okay with "feeding her." She did leave our lettuce and flowers alone. BUT I really would prefer for her to eat while I'm at the house with my camera pointed at her. You gotta love Alaska! So if you're wandering our way, come on by.