I'll be taking a few days off from blogging to enjoy the New Year and get some stuff in order, including cleaning, laundry, organization, etc.
Happy New Year peoples!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
AK to MEX
Peoples, I am feelin' good today! D reminded me last night that we will be in MEXICO in like 12 DAYS. Can you feel my EXCITEMENT? It is manifesting through my use of ALL CAPS.
This 10 degree below zero weather is just fueling my Mexico frenzy. Last night I spent 45 minutes going through my (meager) stash of hot-weather clothes - and I'm still not even close to being packed. Meanwhile, D will grab some t-shirts and shorts the day before we leave and call it good.
Let's see, what else is nice around here -- we're gaining daylight again now that the winter solstice (December 21st) has come and gone. That means we've officially started winter, which is interesting because I could have sworn that we've had 3 months of it already. Now we've got another 4 months to go! Then comes one month of spring and finally our 3 glorious months of summer.
The cold weather comes with blue skies -- last week I pulled out my sunglasses for the first time since, oh, about October. That may seem weird but when you go to work in the dark and come home the same way, there is no use for sunglasses.
I wanted to share the bad photo below because you can see the sun starting its decline in the sky. We're looking due south -- can you guess what time it is??
The time is 12:25 pm!
Man, everytime I get the chance to look out my office window it hits me that I am so lucky to have such an amazing view.
This 10 degree below zero weather is just fueling my Mexico frenzy. Last night I spent 45 minutes going through my (meager) stash of hot-weather clothes - and I'm still not even close to being packed. Meanwhile, D will grab some t-shirts and shorts the day before we leave and call it good.
Let's see, what else is nice around here -- we're gaining daylight again now that the winter solstice (December 21st) has come and gone. That means we've officially started winter, which is interesting because I could have sworn that we've had 3 months of it already. Now we've got another 4 months to go! Then comes one month of spring and finally our 3 glorious months of summer.
The cold weather comes with blue skies -- last week I pulled out my sunglasses for the first time since, oh, about October. That may seem weird but when you go to work in the dark and come home the same way, there is no use for sunglasses.
I wanted to share the bad photo below because you can see the sun starting its decline in the sky. We're looking due south -- can you guess what time it is?? The time is 12:25 pm!
Man, everytime I get the chance to look out my office window it hits me that I am so lucky to have such an amazing view.
Monday, December 29, 2008
The aftermath
Yay, happy holidays everyone! We had a great Christmas here in Alaska. Everybody slept in, watched some tv and then dug into the presents. I got everything I wanted - how often does that happen?
Apparently the cats went out and bought me a big bottle of wine - they even signed the package...Little Dude has very bad handwriting. And Drift got me a fishing vest -- what a nice puppy.
Drift received a candycane-shaped bone from D's parents - he LOVES IT. D gave it to him and Drift threw it up in the air, chased it around and ripped off the plastic casing. He was ecstatic! He hasn't been that happy since Em and Randy gave him the birdie.
Santa also brought him an extra large birdie. It's about 3 times the size of the original. All that ripped up wrapping paper in the photo was from Drift's present-opening frenzy. He likes to open his own gifts.
Apparently the cats went out and bought me a big bottle of wine - they even signed the package...Little Dude has very bad handwriting. And Drift got me a fishing vest -- what a nice puppy.
Drift received a candycane-shaped bone from D's parents - he LOVES IT. D gave it to him and Drift threw it up in the air, chased it around and ripped off the plastic casing. He was ecstatic! He hasn't been that happy since Em and Randy gave him the birdie.
Santa also brought him an extra large birdie. It's about 3 times the size of the original. All that ripped up wrapping paper in the photo was from Drift's present-opening frenzy. He likes to open his own gifts.
Below zero
It's waaaaaay below zero here -- and it's supposed to stay that way for the next week. Brrr! Does anybody want to come visit?
Pulling your weight
Drift has a nifty pulling harness that he wears reluctantly -- although he does have happy ears here in this photo. He could probably fly around the room with those big flappy things.
Ah, that's better -- this is his "please take harness off NOW!" face...
Getting some exercise outside in the driveway. Drift is pulling a long piece of heavy wood.
Go Drift Go!
If he gets good, Drift may be able to enter the Fur Rondy dog weight pull someday!
Friday, December 26, 2008
One Cool Thing - 12/26/08
Can you guess what these adorable "toadstool" appetizers are made from?
Via Hostess with the Mostess...
Via Hostess with the Mostess...
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
More Discovery Channel
The Discovery Channel loves Alaska -- and once again they've been filming all over the state for the popular "Alaska Week" which will run in the spring.
I blogged about DC's visit to my workplace this fall, but here's some more gossip about a not-so-reality show to be part of "Alaska Week."
I blogged about DC's visit to my workplace this fall, but here's some more gossip about a not-so-reality show to be part of "Alaska Week."
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Fallin' thru the ice
Oh my...that'll teach 'em to drive on the "unofficial" ice road!
This is the best part of the article:
"The ice road is not a road in the eyes of the Department of Transportation.
'It’s not a DOT responsibility,' Howard Thies, maintenance and operations director for the northern region of DOT, said when contacted Monday. 'We are the Department of Highways, Aviation and Public Facilities; there’s no rivers in there. It’s not our problem.' "
Take THAT, stupid reporter!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Unhappy holidays
I am so SO glad that we decided to stay home for the holidays. As much as I would have loved to see my family at Christmas, this and this is why I don't fly in late December anymore. There are a limited amount of flights out of Alaska and at any busy time of year (holidays, summer, etc.) it's a crap shoot whether the flight will be late and/or cancelled, or if you'll get a flight at all.
I feel sorry for all those people in Seattle and Portland but I've been there too -- running to customer service to get re-booked with the other 200 people from my flight or frantically dialing the 800 number and praying to get a real live person. But as far as airports go, the SeaTac is a pretty nice one to be stranded in. Lots of good food and shopping...
I feel sorry for all those people in Seattle and Portland but I've been there too -- running to customer service to get re-booked with the other 200 people from my flight or frantically dialing the 800 number and praying to get a real live person. But as far as airports go, the SeaTac is a pretty nice one to be stranded in. Lots of good food and shopping...
3 Cool Things - 12/22/08
Egg Pants -- ever see super cute things that have absolutely no use in your household but you WANT IT EVER SO MUCH? This is my current dilemna with the Egg Pants by Lizkin Design. I do not eat soft-boiled eggs but who knows, maybe I would if I had the proper pants for them. God forbid that eggs go around naked!
Routan Baby Maker -- um, just check it out. You'll either think it's really awesome or extremely creepy. I will not subject you to the "baby" I made using my and D's photos.
Elf Yourself -- it's baaaaaack!
Routan Baby Maker -- um, just check it out. You'll either think it's really awesome or extremely creepy. I will not subject you to the "baby" I made using my and D's photos.
Elf Yourself -- it's baaaaaack!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Fleece scarf DIY
An easy but ever so cute fleece scarf project that will take you all of like 15 minutes to do. 
From Curbly:
No cool things
Work and life are keeping me too busy - so no cool things this week. And for the first time in a while I got hit with a migraine, so Tuesday was a pretty bad day. I did have a little time to knit this wool hat -- I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's my first time adding a contrasting color.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Fishy gifts
A few times a year I give little handmade gifts to my coworkers. This holiday season everyone is getting fish-shaped soap that I made, along with some cute tags that I designed to go along with the general fish theme. I think you can click on the photos to see them larger...
More cold weather
Still clear, still cold and still amazingly gorgeous outside. This photo is from our bedroom window yesterday around 3:15 pm. I was sick and got to see the sunset from home.
On my way to work:
5 degrees today...better than below zero:
On my way to work:
5 degrees today...better than below zero:
Monday, December 15, 2008
Clear and cold
We had lovely clear weather this past weekend, with beautiful blue skies and vivid pink sunrises. But clear skies mean lower temperatures and the hoar frost made a comeback, big time! I'm not sure I have ever seen it this thick before...
Pet Photography
Cool Pet's Eye View Digital Camera, which attaches to a collar and takes photos of your pet's activities throughout the day. It would be interesting to see what the pets do while home alone -- but I suspect that Drift's photos would just be of the door to the pantry where we keep his food or the carpet, because he sleeps all day. The cats are probably all over the place.
So the camera reminded me of this cool guy who made his OWN camera - before it was all trendy for pets to be photojournalists - and attached it to Mr. Lee, his roaming cat.
So the camera reminded me of this cool guy who made his OWN camera - before it was all trendy for pets to be photojournalists - and attached it to Mr. Lee, his roaming cat.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Winter ruminations
My sister is still in town, so I get dropped off at work and then she does random Risha things all day -- shopping, visiting with friends, eating at my favorite restuarants without me and probably bank-robbing and red light-running too for good measure.
She mentioned today on the morning commute how dark it is here and with the heavy cloud cover, we never really see the sun all day! It's just gloomy. I know that I already blogged about how craptastic it is here right now, but having someone else confirm it for me is...just sad.
On a lighter note, D and I are going to the movies tonight...we never go anymore since my friend Netflix delivers a film every couple of days, but one of the bigger theaters in town just dropped the price of EVERY movie to $3!
She mentioned today on the morning commute how dark it is here and with the heavy cloud cover, we never really see the sun all day! It's just gloomy. I know that I already blogged about how craptastic it is here right now, but having someone else confirm it for me is...just sad.
On a lighter note, D and I are going to the movies tonight...we never go anymore since my friend Netflix delivers a film every couple of days, but one of the bigger theaters in town just dropped the price of EVERY movie to $3! We suspect that they are trying to compete with the highly succesful but always crowded Bear Tooth Theater. Bear Tooth has only one screen but you can get local beer on tap and eat yummy food while watching the movie. It's the sister facility to the Moose's Tooth, best pizza in AK!
3 Cool Things - 12/12/08
In the spirit of winter, I present...headgear!
(what, you were expecting something else?)
Head band - not sure why I like this so much, but it looks oh-so classy compared to the other winter headbands out there.
(what, you were expecting something else?)
Beard cap -- For the man (or slightly weird woman) who feels the need to express their affinity for beards and mustaches in cold weather.
Head band - not sure why I like this so much, but it looks oh-so classy compared to the other winter headbands out there.
Pumpkin hat -- Can't forget about the kiddos - here's a hat for your favorite little munchkin:
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