Simulate this

It appears as if the streak of nice weather is finally (and sadly) coming to an end. Showers are predicted for the next week or so. Poop. We will have a rainy Memorial Day weekend. Nothing like boating and camping in the rain!

This morning I was able to escape my office and attend a media event in the sunshine. The company I work for donated a very large chunk of change to the Police Department for this crazy contraption:

It's a vehicle rollover simulator. Apparently Alaska sees many rollovers (most are young drivers) and APD wants to educate the general public about the importance of wearing seatbelts.

Good luck, dudes -- the kids at the middle school just laughed and joked around the whole time the simulator was doing its thing. It freaked ME out though. At 30 mph, the dummies went flying out the window once their seatbelts were unbuckled. You can just imagine what would happen at a higher rate of speed. Our Trauma Coordinator was at the event as well and she says they see a ridiculous amount of preventable injuries and deaths in the ER due to people not wearing seatbelts.

Backyard exploring

It's time to get out the patio furniture and flower pots! Here are my cheapo Adirondack chairs that I picked up at the end of last season (50% off!) for a song. They're not exactly the epitome of sturdy craftsmanship, but I got a good deal on the chairs and footstools so I'm not complaining. They do need to be sealed though and I'll get around to that sometime this month.

Little pinecones in our yard from the neighbors evergreen tree. I gathered about a dozen to display in the house and maybe incorporate into a craft project.

The rhubarb plant is starting to break through the layer of dead leaves, grass and mulch. We didn't get much from last year's crop but it was newly planted and I'm hoping for lots more at the end of this summer!

And finally our raspberry plants: we have four different sets of bushes in the yard. This is my consistently underperforming bush, but it has the most leaves right now. Go figure.

Weekend update

Another beautiful weekend! The girls and I took advantage of the nice evening on Friday to hit up one of our favorite pubs, Humpy's, for some local brew. Raspberry wheat, yum! And then I got up early on Saturday to run a ton of errands and felt tres' productive. I finally bit the bullet and purchased a new dishwasher to replace our old one. Not having to wash everything twice is going to be SO nice!

I tried to hit up Dirt Day on Saturday, but the line of cars into the event was ridiculous. Although it was disappointing to miss out on a discounted composter, I was cheered to think of all the people who are wanting to be more environmentally friendly. Hopefully I'll get a nifty composter one of these days.