Two Years

I love this picture. One of my favorite places is sitting on the patio the garden and seeing Dad here walking back up to the house it is peaceful.

I can't believe that two years have passed. Two years, I feel like I am still recovering from all that happened so quickly. What an incredible time though. Each time I think about the weeks leading up to Dad's death I am amazed by the love and support we received.

"We are blessed"

We had come to Chicago to spend time with Memere.

The last day that we where there she recognized all of us. She asked about Ken's youngest kids. Often her words are quiet and hard to discern but she clearly said that we are blessed. I couldn't agree more. Both Paul and I are blessed by families and siblings that pray for us and are there for us. This is an incredible legacy. As we sat with Memere in Mass all of the prayers that she has said for her family became so real to me. She is a woman of God completely immersed in prayer and thanksgiving. Her face lit up as Hayden played the piano and she gripped Paul's hand. Surrounded by family her smile shone. What a gift to us all.

One Year Ago Today

I can't believe that it has been a year. It doesn't seem real and sometimes I think the distance makes it seem less real to me than to the rest of the family.

I miss Dad and his welcoming hug and the the cat play by play updates that he would give when I called home. Some guys, relive the game play by play and who did what and what resulted and who won. For Dad it was the cats: Blackie, Whitey and Orangie (a.k.a Cinder, Snowball and Pumpkin). "Blackies got Orangie down, Whiteys on the sidelines watching...whoa Whitey is in! Whitey is IN, and they are all rolling around. Blackies got Orangie by the tail..." It sounds corny, and it was, but I miss it.

Still healing and I'm still crying as I think about Dad being gone. 2008 was a difficult year, but refining. I was never more proud of my family and friends than in the time around Dad's death. There was so much that I learned about family and friendship as we prepared for the auction and sat around at the picnic tables on the patio with everyone that came to help. In short I am blessed.

I may have at times tears of sorrow but I find more joy in the incredible memories and relationships.

I put some video's that we showed at the Celebration of Life Service online. Next year I will put the rest up.

Lunch

Another BEAUTIFUL day! I am so excited for the sunshine. The trees have just all budded out and the bright spring green color is all around.

Paul picked me up for lunch today. I thought that we were going to walk around the campus park for lunch but he said that he had a surprise planned. I thought maybe the Thai Restaurant that we recently discovered; no it was something even better. A PICNIC! Ken, Autumn, Marah and Jack joined us for a picnic at the new park in Midtown for sandwiches a walk and golf practice.

Ducking from the Ducks

There have been an inordinate number of ducks circling our neighborhood lately. The quack, quacks ring out daily just after 5 pm. We had been wondering why there were so many circling around and could not figure out where they were landing.

Paul and I set out one recent evening to figure out this mystery. About a block away from our house there is a hidden dead end road. We didn't know that this road existed. As we walked up the road we saw ducks landing all over it. A person who lives at the end of the road had spread probably around 5-10 gallons of crushed corn over the end of the road. Hundred of ducks were there eating while hundreds more circled overhead. It was really loud and neat to see, we slowly made it up to within a few feet of the crushed corn. We stood quietly just watching and listening.

Then Paul got pooped on--I laughed at him. Then I got pooped on. Ewww, my poor hat. Being so close to all of the ducks and below the circling ducks is a dangerous thing.

I wish that I had brought the camera.

Running of the Reindeer

Paul and I joined a crazy crowd of “runners” downtown this weekend for the Running of the Reindeer.

People dress up crazy and then dash up the street and reindeer run around amongst all the running people. The major danger is being knocked over by people not the deer. The reindeer do run really fast though. Unfortunately, we didn't get any good action shots. Trying to take photos while running and watching for the people and the reindeer is too much.

The most exciting part of the event is when one of the reindeer turned around and charged into the group of runners. This is real Alaska winter excitement!

How do you like our costumes? Political Statement and practical--Paul thought of the idea. You can’t see but we each have a shovel on our back. (Shovel Ready is in note of the Shovel Ready Projects popping up all over the nation in response to the Stimulus bill.)

Wild Life and Wild Life

Quite the week here on the Eastside of Anchorage.

I thought that when we left the Spenard area we would be in a calmer area. Not quite so, this past week on the Eastside brought about a:

Double Murder--The Killer is now in custody
Pipe Bomb Scare--The road was blocked for around 7 hours and traffic was all backed up our street
Accidental Shooting--A drunk man was playing with his semi-automatic and accidentally shot his wife who was driving him home. She survived and their infant who was in the car is fine.

I am hoping that it was just a bad week.

Our place seems so quiet in comparison to all the hubbub in the neighboorhood. There is a moose who has been hanging out in front of our place. The picture was taken from our front door. We have a little squirrel who has discovered the bird feeder and is spending a lot of time trying to get the food. He is quite the entertaining little fellow.

The Nuthatches have left for the most part and we have all kinds of Hoary Redpolls at the feeders. This is an extra red colored one.

Views from home

Our Ride

Paul and I are now a one vehicle family. That vehicle is: “The Buick”.

While most of the population of Anchorage drives sporty (though dirty) SUV’s and every model of Subaru--we drive The Buick.

The Buick, according to the gear rack maker Yakima is “unyakible”. The Buick though has made up for its lack of sport friendliness by having an extra large back seat where we stow our skis. While other people take their skis off of the roof—we take them out of the back seat.

Of course, The Buick is not in as good of condition as when I drove up the AlCan Hwy in 2003. The shiny dual exhaust system was ripped off as we took a trip over a summertime access only mountain pass. Now it has a much more conservative single exhaust.

Last year the back of the car didn’t quite make it across the intersection before somebody took off and smacked the rear passenger side door in. The Buick then proceeded to repay the purchase price (and all of the maintenance and insurance ever paid) in an insurance settlement that totaled the car. A benefit of not many Buicks in Alaska is that the car costs too much to fix. Part of the proceeds paid for a door that Paul along with our friend and neighbor installed along with a few additional washers. It doesn’t work perfectly but it functions. I didn’t like driving around with a door of a different color and had it painted to match the specialty psychedelic green of the rest of the car.

While other vehicles sport studded tires, The Buick just drives slowly on its all season treads up the hills.

We do spend a lot of time thinking about “the perfect” car and what that would be. But for now, we put our skis in the back seat and Paul brings home pallets and firewood in the trunk.

You have to appreciate a fine car like The Buick.

Rumbling Weekend Update

North flank of Mount Redoubt and low-level vapor plume
Picture Date: January 31, 2009
Image Creator: Waythomas, Chris
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS.




Well the volcano has not blown—we keep waiting. There were no earthquakes that we could feel this past weekend but they are still reporting lots of tremors under Redoubt. Paul is very prepared and went out and got extra food and dust masks for us. I am sort of excited. I have never had a volcano day. Snow days are a thing to be treasured—so why not a volcano day? Everyone says though that it is not fun and everything just gets so dirty and scratched. We will see—the Volcano Observatory seems to think that it will blow.

We had some snow over the weekend and had the chance to go skiing. We skied over to a friend’s house for a party on Friday evening. The ice under the snow made skiing a bit more challenging but it was fun and I love seeing fresh snow on the pine trees in the moonlight. Beautiful Winter Night!

Saturday was ½ price day at the local thrift stores. I am working on some art pieces for a fundraiser called “Trash to Treasure” in May. I have $50 to buy things at the thrift store to turn into my treasures. I am working on painting some old canvases that I found and also found a few more glass containers for more terrariums. What fun out bargain hunting! Paul is working on a side table made out of golf clubs. I will post pictures of my before and after upcycled projects (Trash to Treasures) later. As least I will post pics of the projects that turn out ;-0

To everyone who's lost someone they love

Last weekend a friend of mine had a potluck at her home where her family and friends gathered. We gathered to talk about our loved ones who have passed away on the anniversary of her parents death. It was a sacred occasion and I felt honored to help her lead it.

We all shared stories and prayed that we may live lives that honor those who have gone on before. Then we wrote on balloons and released them into the sky. It was so peaceful watching them rise.

I still find myself tearing up at inopportune times (I have a fear of tears) as my mind suddenly says goodbye again. My heart hurts but I rejoice in the gift of time that we received.

Paul and I have talked a lot about death and life and I discover more and more how insightful Paul is. I am so thankful to have him by my side as I stumble through my emotions. Even more we relate in that we both lost a man that we loved and that is such a blessing. I remember my Dad talking to me about how he felt that Paul and I were a strong couple. In fact, sometimes I would joke with Paul in that Dad would only want to talk with him.

I have been listening to this song by Third Day, thinking about life and finding peace. The lyrics are (in part):

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus

Birds

I remember my Grandma coming to visit and how we would joke that as soon as she arrived and started to feed the birds they would just multiply in the matter of a day.

Last year when mom came to visit one of the first things that she did was go and get us a bird feeder. Being a competitive family we all placed bets on how many birds that there would be at the feeder the next morning. There were over 15. It was amazing and Paul and I really enjoyed watching the birds. Titana (the cat) also really watched the birds--with a calculating eye. It reminded me of Grandma's visits.

Now that we are moved into our new home in Anchorage we have hung up the feeders and are getting some little Nuthatches. They are such cute little birds. As I was standing outside contemplating where to hang the feeder one landed on the feeder in my hand.

It is still dark when we leave for work and come home so on weekends we really like to have a later breakfast and watch the birds enjoy their breakfast. I feel that I am carrying on a Stockland tradition.

FREEZE Weekend Update

Downtown Anchorage--an ice and snow FREEZE installation.


The cold has broken. Tonight it is supposed to be 20 degrees. That is the low! Yeah. We got out skiing this weekend--it was cold but fun. Our eyelashes were framed with ice. I will post Paul's pic later.

We had a fun weekend just hanging out with friends and having dinner at Ken and Sue's. We went downtown and saw the ice and snow sculptures and then went out for drinks and apps at Simon and Seaforts.

We found out that Chris and Annie are coming to visit in May! We are going to have a lot of visitors this year. Mary Claire, Roger, Chris and Annie, my Mom and Ellen and Dick are all making the AK excursion in 2009. It is a good thing that we have a guest room. It will be a fun summer.

It is Cold. Cold, Cold, COLD!!!

So of course I made the required New Years resolution to work out more and had great intentions. Then the cold struck. Not just any cold but severe cold we have hit -30a few nights and the tempature is seeming to hover around -15 for almost TWO weeks. We also live on the cold side of town which is 10-15 degrees colder than the rest of town.

Agh, it is not making me very happy :( The good news is that our neighboors and Ken just got Xcountry skis and I really want to go. The bad news is that skiing in this weather makes me want to go back to bed.

So now I am working on another resolution to be more positive. My positive thoughts (which I have had some time to think of while inside incubating) are:
-In our new place we don't pay for HEAT!!! Yeah! I am working to keep the temp at a cozy 71. I love saving $$.
-Since I haven't been out skiing I have started my next set of paintings.
-I have discovered this great website: www.etsy.com and have plans!
-I can't believe that we have been back in AK for a month. We have a great group of friends here that are very supportive.
-I have a job and got a raise!!
-The trees are beautiful all white and frosty. Usually, we only get to enjoy the wonderland effect for a day or two at a time but we have had it for weeks!