Surprises...Surprises...Surprises

Sorry I haven't blogged in a couple days. The last few days have been particularly, um, boring. So, I decided to save my blathering nonsense for a day when I actually had something semi-interesting, and some fabulous pictures to show. Yes, FABULOUS pictures. Though the above photo isn't breathtakingly beautiful, it is the view from our front door, or driveway if you will. The snow came down, but not in the big, fluffy flakes I would have preferred, but in the small icy particles that seemed to cover the trees like a sheer on a window. Everything was hazy and gray, but pretty, in my opinion.

Today Brent got off early because he worked late last night. So after he got home we decided to run some errands in town. Earlier in the week I had received a notice that a package had arrived. Some jeans I ordered from JCPenney for Brent, I assumed. Then today we got another notice stating that we had another package to pick up marked PERISHABLE. Perishable? I looked quite confused. So we ran the necessary errands and off to the post office. We picked up package #1 which was indeed the jeans that he had been waiting for, and package #2? Well, it was marked from...SCHMIDT'S. Schmidt's Meat Market in Nicollet, MN makes the best summer sausage I've ever tasted. Ever. It's the ultimate treat. Who from? Denise. My friend and (former) boss from MSBA. Wow. She rocks.

We have been here for one month, seventeen days. All the while I've been moaning and whining and complaining and grunting and groaning about one very elusive animal. Everyone I know has seen them, most of the time, up close and personal. And while I did catch a very quick glimpse of the big one down the road, I usually get the backside. I was beginning to get a complex, I mean really, what was the message I was missing? Kiss my rump? Here's the mooses behind? This is the best I get? Ha! So, my friends, you will be as surprised as I to see what we caught a glimpse of today...

A MOOSE!

OR TWO!

They were amazingly willing to be photographed. Of course, it did help that we caught them at snack time munching on the branches of the bushes. But even after I rolled down the window to get a clearer shot they just stood and watched us with equal curiosity, or so it seemed. All the while munching away on the buffet before them. Score! I am now a very happy girl.

And this is the glorious box of meat. LOL! Oh my. That sounds horrible. But really. It was a wonderful, and thoughtful, and greatly appreciated surprise. There are 3 varieties of summer sausage, 2 packages of jerky, 3 varieties of beef sticks, and 2 farmers sausages. Wow. What a treat! Brent and I snuck a little treat from the box before we transferred some of it to the freezer, but I'm sure we'll be sampling more of it...soon! Thank You so much Denise! Your thoughtfulness is truly and greatly appreciated!

And this is Chessa Luna sitting and waiting for her sampling from the box of meat! She sniffed and sniffed the box all the way home. After I had emptied the box I set it by the front door to go out and Ches just sat and licked the box. Poor thing. I did give her one of her own treats...or maybe two.

Also, I wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kari (Brent's sister) in Wisconsin! We're hoping you have a wonderfully happy and special day!

Have a happy day!

Blow Baby Blow

Hoooweee. It was windy today. And that wind was cold. Brrrr. The actual temperature was nice in the 20's but that wind cuts right through you. I'm also assuming it's the wind that has left me feeling oh-so-chilly indoors as well. I generally wear a tee and sweats around the house. No socks. But I've been wrapping my tootsies up because it chilly. Apparently according to the long-timers that Brent works with this is one of the nicest winters they've experienced. I personally think they're full of bologna! Ha!

Ches and I took a couple of walks today. We wandered down the snowmachine path next to the road and Ches had the scent of something she liked and pulled me right over into the snow. Splat! Before I even knew what hit me. Unfortunately for me there was someone driving by, and I'm sure they got a very good chuckle out of it. I got up, brushed myself off, and huffed my way home. With Ches in tow. Oh, she knew she was in trouble.

When Brent got home from work tonight we ate dinner and headed out for a drive. We were barely down Tanana Loop Ext. and what did we see? A nice, big, fat moose. No camera, of course, but at least I got to see her. You almost don't recognize them because they are huge. Unbelievably huge. She was pretty in that awkward preteen with knobby knees way, and I can't wait to see more of her. From a distance. lol.

It was a nice night. The sky was cloud filled, but not covered. The sunset was beautiful with peaks of pink and orange. I guess you'll just have to come and visit in order to see it... lol.

Happy day!

Blah

Hello Everyone,

The past couple of days have been fairly uneventful. I've just been taking care of household duties, like a good wifey, and taking the usual walks to the mailbox.

In addition to the St. Bernard down the road, there is also a large pitbull in the area. Brent almost hit him/her on the way to work Monday a.m. and I've seen him chase cars past the driveway. Little did I know that he was a pitbull. I'm sure that he/she is a very nice dog, however, the dog scares the $*** out of me. I try to be very fair, but the breed has a reputation, and since Ches has been attacked by a breed of the same family, I'm really, really leary.

Our little squirrel has taken the bait that Brent placed out by a tree he has seen him in, and I've not seen him on the porch since last week's food stealing incident. I kinda miss him cavorting on the porch, but I know all too well how much damage the little buggers can do.

Last night I hooked up and loaded our new printer/scanner and loaded some free card software that came with it. Eh, it's cutesy, if you get one and think it's lame, it was FREE. Ha! Unfortunately I have an external CD drive that runs on the USB so I had to keep switching back and forth between the drive and the printer. Ugh. I need a new computer. Have I mentioned that I have a mini? It's a whole 9". Okay, so in some ways it's great, but in other ways it's very, very challenging.

So, the funniest thing about my life right now is that Brent is in a phase of giving me assignments to do each day while he's at work. It's really quite funny. I'm sure that he thinks I just sit here and twiddle my thumbs all day, but whatever makes him happy. He has plenty of time to look up the dump hours, and what not, but I truly don't mind doing them. I just think it's funny, hilarious really. The sad thing is, I'm a list maker, I wonder where I get that from (MOM)? My lists have lists. So I make a list of the sheer purpose of being able to cross the item off the list. Have I mentioned I used to have a life? Ha!

Today most of my day was spent doing wifely duties and battling a headache that turned into a migraine. Ugh. Every time I think I just might be getting over them, and then not-so-much. I did try a new chicken recipe which was eh, okay, and made the effort despite feeling so blah. Thankfully I just have the headache hangover now. Those of you who have migraines know what I mean by headache hangover, and it has nothing to do with alcohol. Though maybe I should try that next time! Ha!

Have a happy day!

p.s. Brent saw 5-FIVE-FUNF moose on the way home from work. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Sheesh. That's it-I'm throwing in the towel.

Driving Miss Chessie

Happy Sunday! Today was a clear, sun-filled, chilly day of 12 degrees here in Delta. Brent surprised me this morning by making me breakfast. While I love to cook it's always nice when he cooks a little breakfast.

While I cleaned up the kitchen we watched Horton Hears A Who, which is a delightful little film. So cute. I really enjoyed it. It has a great message, and I'm thinking I may need to buy this one and add it to my collection.

After I had cleaned the kitchen I decided it was time to dirty it again. I put a roast, green bell pepper, onions, and pepperoncini peppers in the crockpot for Italian Beef sandwiches for dinner. Then I roasted a batch of old bread for homemade bread crumbs, and then boiled up a chicken carcass and veggies for some homemade chicken stock.

Since it was so lovely we decided to take a drive, just the three of us, and see what we could find to capture for you. Here it goes...

Welcome to Delta Junction!!

We decided to start out South of town since this is the area that we have spent the least amount of time exploring. It was a beautiful drive and the Wrangell Mountains were especially pretty today. I managed to catch a few different shots in the pictures both above and below, but I don't want to bore you to tears, so I only posted a couple.

After leaving the Wrangells we headed back out to the Clearwater Lodge area. The above photo is taken of the Clearwater River in Clearwater State Recreation Area. This is actually a boat launching area. The water was open and clear, Ches really wanted to go for a swim, but we kept her out. I have a feeling we'll be visiting here in the summer.

Ches and I on the banks of the Clearwater River.

Brent and Ches went off to explore the woods beyond where my boots would take me. I made the unfortunate mistake of only wearing a vest and Uggs, I should have had my snow boots and coat on. Next time I'll be better prepared.

As we left Clearwater State Recreation Area I was complaining about not seeing any moose, again. And was pleasantly surprised when we came upon this herd of caribou. They were quite far out in the field but I managed to zoom in to get a pretty good view. I have photos of about half the herd. The other half were grazing behind a clump of trees. It was nice to see them, as this is the first herd we've seen since the long drive to get here.

After dinner we decided to take advantage of the quickly fading light and took a drive down Tanana Loop. The mountains were beautiful and though we didn't see any moose, or other wildlife, it is beautiful and breathtaking just to be out there. The above photo is of the Alaska Range at dusk. The sun was sinking quickly behind them and they stood like ghosts on the horizon. I couldn't resist snapping a pic.

We hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Ours was great and relaxing! Have a happy day!

Are you Alaskan?

This week went really, really fast. I don't know if it was because Brent had Monday off, or just because I'm settling in to some sort of routine.

Brent got off early on Friday since all of his co-workers took the afternoon off, and he's not allowed to work on his own yet. So, he came home a bit early. We started off the afternoon with a nice family nap. I didn't really need a nap, but since I'm over the age of 4 I'm rarely going to turn one down.

After we woke we decided to head into town. Brent headed out onto the porch and was surprised by Buddy (yes, the squirrel). It seems that Buddy found Ches' extra large bag of dog food on the deck and decided to help himself to the buffet. Brent jumped back, Ches charged forward, and Buddy scrambled up the porch support and proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs. Brent covered and ran, and took his butt chewing with a giggle. You can't help but laugh at the goofy little thing.

As we were driving into town Brent decided that Buddy was indeed "a woman" and we needed to change the spelling of her name. Funny guy, huh? So now Buddy is known as Buddie. :)

We cruised into town and picked up a couple things at the IGA, then rented some movies from Nanci's Castle. It's the movie place in town, just in case you're wondering. Then we took a drive around and scouted out some new places. It really is a beautiful area up here, and I cannot wait until it's warm enough to get out and explore it deeper and further.

While we were driving we headed out to the Clearwater Lodge area. If we were ever to buy something, THIS is the area I'd want to live in. It's gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. It reminds me a little of the lakes area in Minnesota, near Bemidji, maybe Brainerd. The trees snug right up to the road, and you're convinced at any moment a big, ambling moose will emerge from the evergreens. Alas, no moose. But it was a great drive.

This morning Brent got the brilliant idea that we should go register our vehicle and get our drivers licenses. Well, as it turns out you have to test here in Alaska. The last time I took a drivers test, or even looked at the book, was when I was 17 years old. Brent being the go-getter he is, plopped his rear end down in the chair and failed the test miserably. Now that's payback!

In the meantime I decided to register the Envoy. Turns out, however, that I forgot the first born at home and despite the fact that I had my passport, drivers license, registration, proof of mailing address, I didn't have proof of PHYSICAL address. Yes, we have two addresses. It's so ridiculous and confusing.

Since we had struckout on licensing anything, we headed for Fairbanks. We set out in search of a printer and some other smaller things, and we were hoping to find a table & chairs and a storage piece for the TV. No such luck. Although I did bring home a printer. We are definitely feeling more comfortable in Fairbanks.

I drove the 90 miles to Fairbanks. The roads were so-so, and while in Minnesota I wouldn't have driven more than 10 miles in that condition. However, here it's just the way it is. I still drive slower than the native Alaskans, but they pass me with ease and speed.

The Fairbanks area got some snow it seems since last weekend. This is a photo of the Tanana River at dusk. I still can't help but thing how beautiful it is. It truly is magnificent.

The sunset was glorious. It flared over the evergreens and seemed to consume the entire skyline at this point. The color bounced off the cloud cover and seemed to just radiate.

I saved the best for last. Sunset over the Tanana River. The glow keeps going on and on and on beyond the scope of the lens. If only all days could end with a sunset this glorious!

Have a happy day!

Gorgeous Day

Today was a gorgeous day here in the Northland. It was about 34 degrees, which is awesome because Northern Minnesota was in the -20's. Awesome. The wind was low and now that we are settled and the house is clean Ches and I spent a lot of time outside.

This morning we actually had some sun, and while the clouds moved in this afternoon it was still beautiful and calm. I truly thought we just might get some of that precipitation that was predicted. I was happy that it stayed away.

We meandered around the farm, and down to the neighbors to see the piglets. I was shocked to learn that they had already placed them up for sale. For pete's sake they were just born on Saturday! I'm used to keep those little buggers around until they hit 40 pounds, but not here. They are hot ticket items. I wish I had a place to put a pig. Hmmm. I do have that extra bedroom...

After leaving the neighbors we checked the mailbox and the field for moose. We wandered down towards Jack Warren highway, but one of the neighbors has a Saint Bernard and I'm not too anxious to meet him. As we wandered back towards home Ches heard a noise in the woods and alerted. I stood still, unable to move. I never did see what it was but I'm suspecting a grouse. I have read too many "don't leave your house without a weapon" stories. I have totally freaked myself out. Totally.

I think the most interesting moment of the day was as Ches and I were sitting here. I shut off everything electronic to read today, in an effort to cut our next electrical bill. (Yes, it was that high.) Anyway, I was reading, listening to the poor little dog next door try to dig his way to China when there arose a clatter on the porch. I had an inkling that it was my buddy, the squirrel from Tuesday, so I chose to ignore him. I continued reading, when all of sudden there was a major ruckus on the porch, and I thought maybe squirrel buddy and his posse were crashing my pad.

As it turns out, there was only one squirrel. My buddy. He had discovered Ches' balls on the front porch. The orange orb had caught his attention and he was having a ball...literally! I laughed hard, then went for my camera. As I opened the door the ball fell off the porch and Buddy was attempting to get away with Ches' ball. When I came out the door he dropped the ball and ran, looked back momentarily, and then scolded me from the safety of his tree. It made for good humor for the day!

When Brent got home we were standing outside in the yard, playing with Ches, and we just talked about the day. It turns out we both had moments where we just looked up and said "can you believe we live in Alaska?" It's not something that we planned, but it's turning out to be a really great experience. I'm excited for the future.

Have a happy day!

Changes

The past six weeks feels like a whirlwind. Now that life is finally settling down, and we're beginning to feel slightly more settled in our home away from home. I thought I'd take a little time to reflect on how life has changed for me/us in the past six weeks.

1. My MAC lipglass has been replaced by Carmex. It's less sticky, and much cheaper and practical.
2. I used to get up every morning and race to get ready and drive 30 minutes to work. Now I wake up at 4:30 to pack Brent's lunch, and race back to bed after he leaves.
3. I used to eat out 3-4 times a week. I have eaten out 3 times in the last 6 weeks.
4. I finally have time to cook, and I do, all the time.
5. I used to wear heels nearly every day, now I wear Uggs every day.
6. I used to watch the Bachelor, Brothers & Sisters, and Desperate Housewives with my friends, now I watch alone, on the computer, after Brent's gone to bed.
7. I used to have 1 channel. Now I have 100's.
8. I had more stuff than I could imagine. Now I have just enough. Except those couple key pieces of furniture.
9. I wore 2-3 outfits a day. Now I wear 1 outfit for 2 days. (If I get dirty I change-sheesh).
10. I had 2 blogs that no one read, and now I have over 2800 hits on this blog. (HOLY CAT!)

Thanks for reading and keeping tabs on us! Now, if you have any requests, be sure to post them in the comments section. I'm making a list...

Some pics

This is a photo of the mountains on Sunday a.m. on the way to Fairbanks. They were beautiful and I wish I could capture all the color that creeps up. The sky is always full of pinks and blues in varying shades. Breathtaking.

I didn't quite get these in chronological order. This is a photo of the bridge over the Tanana (like Banana with a T) River on the way back to Delta Junction from Fairbanks. With the mountains in the background, I thought it made a beautiful picture.

This the Alaska Pipeline that runs along the Richardson Highway near Delta Junction. This was taken on the way to Fairbanks before we crossed the Tanana River.

This is the Tanana River in the evening. It is HUGE, and I'm really looking forward to watching it change in the summer. It is unbelievable how far it reaches. Truly beautiful.

This guy is my favorite. He greets you and waves as you travel through North Pole, Alaska. He's so huge, that I had to zoom way out to get him in the picture. I can't wait to visit his village on one of our next trips.

This is my buddy the squirrel. He caused such a ruckus yesterday that I had to get a picture of him on my blog. He made so much noise that I swore it was an animal at least twice his size out there. I hope he comes around more often. Although I'm a little afraid he might get shot, the neighbors aren't as fond of him as I am.

I forgot to tell you that Monday while Brent and I were hanging out getting the house in order we heard something hit the house. It hit so hard that it shook a picture frame off my window ledge. I thought for sure one of the trees had come down.

Brent snuck outside to see what it was and there was a pair a grouse along the side of the house. They spooked so we didn't get a photo of them, but they were absolutely gorgeous. Hopefully we'll be able to catch a photo of the pair soon. They seem to like to hang out here.

Have a happy day!

Long Weekend

Hello, Hello! The photo above is a photo of the Alaska Range. We took a drive on Friday afternoon as Brent is off early on Fridays. Since it had been a fairly long week for both of us we took a little drive to just get me out of the house. Phew. The Alaska Range was beautiful both Friday and Saturday due to clear skies.

Since I was driving on Friday Brent was in charge of the camera. We "caught" this large moose on film, but as you can see the image is a little blurry. I guess the moose was a little too quick for us!

This, my friends, is Donnelly Dome. It lies about 23 miles from Delta Junction, and Brent was telling me how pretty it was so we had to drive out past Ft. Greely to see it. He was right. It's pretty majestic, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in the summer. As you can tell we had a nice time taking in the scenery.

Saturday a.m. we had planned a huge trip to Fairbanks. I was super excited to FINALLY get out of this house for more than an hour or two. Brent was also planning to take me out to a nice seafood dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day. Yeah, that didn't happen.

We got up uber early. 5:15 a.m. to get on the road and get our shop on. Brent went out to start the vehicle and look everything over only to find that our tensioner bearing was out. Needless to say, no going anywhere. Our serpentine belt was smoking. That is not a good thing.

I dare say that this was the first time I had my "we'll never live rural again" pity party. It was challenging. We called two auto parts stores here in town. Neither had the part in stock. Of course. Then we called an auto rental place in town to rent a vehicle to drive to Fairbanks to pick up the part, and of course, nothing was available. So, here we sat. For the foreseeable future.

Brent called Napa back to order the part as they could have it here sooner. This time he spoke with the owner/manager who was a super nice guy that told him he would look for a bearing for him if he couldn't find the part in stock. We were told to call back later. Brent came in to look up exactly how to fix the issue. He downloaded a video and immediately crashed our computer. Grrr. It was not looking up to be a good day.

It turned out the My Hero down at Napa was able to get the part in on the truck that day, and despite the fact that the store closes at 3 p.m. on Saturday, he stuck around until after 4 p.m. so that we could get the part. So, we begged a ride off the neighbors next door, and got the part. Brent fixed the car in about 10 minutes and saved the day!!! Yay!

Valentine's Day was salvaged. Phew! We drove into town to the IGA picked up some salmon, steak and fixings and I came home and fixed us a dinner to not be forgotten. We added in some scallops and brownies, a little wine, and the day turned out pretty well, considering what it could have been.

Sunday a.m. went got up a bit later as I didn't sleep much. 3 hours total. We headed for Fairbanks, and straight to Lowe's. We hit up Walmart, Fred Meyer, Mattress Ranch, and Safeway as well. It was a very, very expensive weekend, but well worth the trip.

You would have loved the salesman at the Mattress Ranch. Uff da. You drive up to a warehouse painted to resemble a barn with animals painted all over it. It's really quite difficult to miss. As I walk in Tony Little's offspring is ready and waiting to push anything and everything down my throat. While I would have loved the $2500 bed he was trying really hard to sell me, I settled for the cheaper version closer to the front of the store. The sale didn't stop even as he was ringing me up, mattress pads, pillows, this and that. No thanks. NO THANKS.

We rushed home and the first thing I did was vacuum. Vacuum, and vacuum and vacuum some more. Awwww. You take so many little things for granted when you start over at zero. So Sunday and Monday we just worked around the house, Brent had Monday off for President's Day, and plugged away.

Today (Tuesday) I worked for hours with Dell trying to get this computer fixed. I seriously was contemplating just buying a new one, but we did get it fixed and it's working yet again. Thank goodness. Unfortunately I haven't had much time to play, update the blog, as I have been busy putting away all my stuff.

Ches and I had a little visitor today. We didn't have any big visitors like my friend over at Moose Nugget. But we had a little squirrel, a rather percocious fellow, who was causing quite a ruckus running up and down the porch, the supports, and I suspect he was trying to gnaw through the mesh and access my eaves. I did get a couple of pictures of him and our trip on Sunday but I can't find my USB cable for that camera, so that's my goal for tomorrow.

Have a happy day!

Putting my shopping shoes on

Hello Family and Friends,

Well, well, well. We are finally finding ourselves ready to go and do a little shopping. First item on the list is a bed. B-E-D. I've been googling and mapquesting to my heart's content, and hopefully we'll find a really good deal. The second item is going to be some clothes storage. Right now we have everything in tubs and it's nearly impossible to see and choose clothing. Which leads to a very boring wardrobe.

The weather has been pretty good. Today was lovely and sunny and the wind was down again. Ches and I had a lovely afternoon walk, but I'm still a little chicken to go too far from home. My biggest thing is that I'm just not sure how Ches will react. We'll see in time, I'm sure.

Brent scheduled our first halibut fishing charter today. He booked it through Boeing and we'll be going in June. It's a long time to wait, but I'm really, really excited about it. We will travel to Anchorage and we have asked Adam and Jennifer to join us. We're just waiting to hear if Jennifer will be around.

The most exciting thing that has been happening is that I keep getting stuck in the house. That makes me sound intelligent doesn't it? Lol. It's not that I can't open the door. It's that the weather keeps making the house shift so the door wedges itself closed. Earlier in the week I broke a blood vessel in my hand, today I was smarter due to experience and managed to free myself in minutes. It's pretty frustrating though.

The days are going well. Tomorrow afternoon we are going to Granite View Sports to pick up all of Brent's cold weather gear. He picked part of it out, and it's waiting there, but he has more money to spend. I think I might pick up one or two things for the house. They have a cute little gift shop attached that Mom would love. (wink, wink)

So, after getting our first electric bill I think I need to spend more time reading and less time watching television. HOLY SMOKE! I nearly fell over. Not pretty. We might have to start using more candle light, and we're fairly conservative as it is. That will be an adjustment. In addition to charging us for electricity they charge us $.03852 per kwh for a fuel charge. Ours came to $91.00. Yep, now can you imagine what our bill is?? Uff da. Oh well.

Have a happy day!

Got Gas?

I was going to start this by saying it hasn't been a very interesting last couple of days. Yesterday was a typical Monday. Nothing really exciting happened. I did laundry and just picked up a little. Nothing really exciting was happening until I was catching up with my Sunday night shows about 10 p.m.

I was laying on the floor watching Brothers & Sisters on my laptop when the noises began. The gurgles and then it would kick on, and then the temperature began to fall. And folks, it was falling fast. Fast. It started in my toes, and before long I knew, something was very, very wrong. I looked over and sure enough EE2 showed on the front. It's 10 p.m. On a Monday. I have a sleeping husband, a sleeping dog, and I know he's gonna be ticked.

I get up and pace. But I know that no matter how much I don't want to wake him, I have to. I have to because I know by morning we'll have popsicles for toes, and frozen pipes. And he'll be WAY more ticked to not have water. So. I tiptoe to the door, slowly, slowly, quietly, quietly. I pop it open and in my best whisper voice I say "Honey, are you awake?" He says in his best patient voice "What's wrong?" And then I tell him the horrible, horrible news.

Being the fix-it man that he is he promptly jumps out of bed, and gets out his tools. He pokes, pushes, resets and nothing. NOTHING. Hummmm. Hummmmm. It kicks on AND...nothing. Crap. So, I call the landlords. Kathy rushes right over, she tries the reset, she tries to drain the trap, and nothing. NOTHING. Finally about 11:15 she brings over an electric baseboard and promises to come back tomorrow.

We all go to bed, and we thank God (and Audrae) for the electric blanket, once again. lol.

Brent gets off to work and I get up and shower anticipating an 8 a.m. wake up call. No dice. About 10 a.m. they come back to work on the heater. 3 hours later they discover that we're out of fuel. Great. At least it's not my fault. Turns out that the 100 gallons we"purchased" ended up in someone else's tank. So, Fred transfers 5 gallons so that we can bring the temp up from 51 degrees. And Kathy calls and nicely tells them to get out here pronto. Doesn't happen. The fuel oil was finally delivered about 7:30 tonight. But at least we'll be warm for a few more months. Goodness!

Other than that it was pretty uneventful. Brent had a good day at work, and the temperature is falling again. At 7:00 p.m. it was -27 degrees and falling. OH JOY! :)

Tomorrow is Wednesday and we're that much closer to our trip to Fairbanks. I'm really, really looking forward to it. FINALLY. A vacuum and and iron are high on my list of priorities. Sad, oh so sad, but true.

Do you have gas? lol. Have a happy day!

Sunday Stroll

This morning started with a dusting of snow. Brent, Ches and I wandered out to the field to catch our moose on camera, but much to our dismay, they were not there. So we strolled to the back 40 to catch them back there, and those darn things were hiding from us. I'm telling you, they're huge, you wouldn't think they'd be so successful at avoiding the camera.

Other than that we just relaxed. We watched a couple of movies. Burn After Reading should be renamed Poke Your Eyes Out While Watching. Horrid, horrid movie. Just not my thing at all. But I guess it might be just what someone else is looking for. Though I have to say that I will be seriously concerned about their sanity. It just was so...strange.

We also watched the Alvin and The Chipmunks movie. Very cute. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't riveting, but it did bring back a lot of fun memories from my childhood. And after the two horrible, horrible movies we watched earlier in the weekend. It was great.

After that we drove into town to return the movies and get money for washing laundry. Monday is laundry day in my small, small world. lol. Gas has fallen to $2.69 per gallon. And the temperature managed to reach 10 above. The days are getting longer, which is always good, and the moon is incredibly bright.

I'm looking forward to a good week. How about you?

Have a happy day!

Finally...A Moose

Well, I managed to catch them. 3 of them to be exact. Holy buckets were they close. I'm really happy that I was in the warmth and safety of my vehicle, and not standing on the road. Let me tell you, those bad boys are big. HUGE. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera along. Tomorrow morning we're hoping to catch one or two on film though. Let's hope.

Today has been a good and semi-busy day. Busier than my normal days I should say. We got up this a.m. and went to Granite View Sports to pick out Brent's cold weather gear. He picked out a bunch of stuff and when we got to the counter we realized that the final paperwork from Boeing wasn't complete yet, so we just left it there and he'll pick it up next week once the paperwork is done.

We tried to find a thrift store that some of Brent's co-workers had told him about, but we couldn't find it. I was bummed, but there's only so much to do. Then we picked up some videos at the castle and headed home.

After lunch we watched Disappearances, let's just say that was a waste of 3 bucks. Holy moses. Not good. Not good at all. Then we all got wrapped and bundled up and went for a nice, long walk through the snow in the field. It was a beautiful day with a high of about 5 degrees. So we walked and let Ches wear off some of her energy and then came back to the house.

The neighbors were out with Hugs, their dog, but Ches wasn't feeling very friendly, so we decided to skip the introduction for the time being. She is so tempermental with other dogs. Hmmm. Maybe in the spring.

We decided to try out one of the local eating establishments tonight. Brent thought it would be nice to treat me. What a guy, huh? Well, let's just say that it was okay. Unfortunately, just okay. But I guess maybe I was expecting more? I don't know. I wasn't overly impressed. I think we'll eat at home for awhile.

So, I think we'll snuggle in, watch another movie and prepare for filming tomorrow morning.

I was wondering, what would you like to see? What do you want me to catch on film for you?

Happy Day!

Still Mooseless and Sleepless

This is what a moose looks like. No, I didn't take this picture. I just wanted to post it to remind all of you what they look like. I'm still mooseless. Grrrr.

I am also sleepless. Okay, not sleepless buy my sleep patterns are certainly messed up. I fall asleep about 2:30 a.m. give or take, and then awake at various times. I guess it could be worse. But it's really, really frustrating.

Today I managed to get out of the house for a while. I picked up a package at the post office, and then went to the grocery store, then home. This evening we took a bit of a drive. The moon is incredibly bright, so it makes seeing animals, or potentially seeing animals easier. We saw none.

While I was shopping and post officing Brent took Ches for a walk in the woods. He was quite a ways out in the field, and guess what? He saw a moose. A big, fat moose about 30 feet away from him. Of course I wasn't along, and of course he didn't have a camera along. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Seriously, they cut through our woods to get to the hayfield. At any given time if I got a few feet into the woods I could run into them, and if you take the number of times I take the dog out to pee I should have run into a few of them by now. Seriously. Now, I'd rather not come face to face with one, I'm pretty sure the moose would win if he/she decided to get owly, but still, I'd like to be close enough to snap a picture of the big bugger.

Maybe tomorrow...

Happy Day!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's

I finally got some zzzzz's. Hallelujah. I hit the hay at 8:30 p.m. last night and slept all the way through. It was glorious. 12 hours of glorious sleep. Then I went a hunting. And guess what. I saw one. ONE. But he/she was so far out in the field I couldn't get a picture. Oh well, at least I saw one.

Today was warmer so I managed to spend some additional time outside. Hallelujah! So we walked and played and chased. The sun was out today, and it was just a good day in general.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm going to venture out to the post office and grocery store and see what else I can find. Possibly find that thrift store I've heard so much about.

Stay warm!!! :)

A Day Late

Sorry folks. I'm a day late. I had nothing but time yesterday, but I had no energy to write.

I've been having issues with sleep. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I rarely have issues with sleep. I can usually sleep anywhere at anytime. Well, Tuesday night I didn't sleep at all. Not. A. Wink. When Brent's alaram whent off at 4:30 he came out and looked at me like I had 6 legs and 4 eyeballs. That's how rare it is.

So yesterday I took a walk to find the moose and obviously missed them again. Hence no photos. So I'm about to get dressed up here again, load up the camera and see what I find. We'll see.

Other than that it was pretty uneventful. Oh, about 2 a.m. there was a beautiful display of Northern Lights. It's amazing to me to watch it roll and shift across the sky. Absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely. So there's one reason I was happy to be up. Anyway, I'll be back later....

Off to hunt the elusive moose! Have a happy day!

Another Day...

Hello All!

No, I didn't get trampled by a moose. Unfortunately I didn't sleep well last night. It was 3 a.m. before I finally was able to drift off, and Brent's 4:30 alarm came much too quickly. I got him off to work and went back to bed from 5:30-9:00 a.m. Unfortunately I woke with a migraine.

Today was supposedly warmer here in the Northland. But it felt much, much colder. There must have been more humidity in the air, because it was bone chillingly cold. I took Ches out for our usual walk to the mailbox and she stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the road. I froze. I thought "oh hell, where's the moose"? Luckily, she was just cold and did her usual tripod stand and wouldn't move. I grabbed my mail and she pulled me, in true sled dog style, all the way back to the house. At one point I was nearly running she was in such a hurry! Crazy dog.

Tonight the moon is gloriously bright. You would think that we have a light on the shed because everything is illuminated. I can see all the way across the fields. If I were braver, and feeling better, I would venture out to the front porch for a better look. However, my chicken-livered self will enjoy it from the safety of the couch. The stars are out, but I don't see any Northern Lights. Bummer.

Despite my raging headache I was able to keep fairly busy today. I was feeling guilty for being sick (what's with that anyway?) so I cut up vegetables for quick and easy access, cut up cabbage and kielbasa for dinner, made a strata for tomorrow mornings breakfast, folded a couple loads of clothes, cleaned my tub, and scrubbed the floors. I did manage to lie down and rest my eyes, though sleep has evaded me still, until Brent got home, then I cooked dinner and went to bed for a while.

Brent has a big day tomorrow. A co-worker is bringing in some caribou for him to try so he's all excited about that. In addition, he has some union stuff to take care of so it will likely be a late night for him. That, of course, means a very, very long day for me. But that's okay, I'll find something to busy myself with.

Kathy stopped by and informed me that she saw 5 moose in the field across the road this morning. I will be grabbing my camera and going to try to capture a few on film. That's my one goal. TO CATCH A MOOSE. Darn it, I've been here almost a month, and no moose. I'm just a wee bit obsessed. Can you tell?

Happy Day!

Mundane Monday

Folks. It's cold. How cold? Cold enough to freeze up my dishwasher and my shower. It started yesterday a.m. after Brent showered. He showered, and the tub wouldn't drain. Hmmm. Then later in the day I went to empty the dishwasher to discover that it had run sans water. I don't think that's a good thing.

This morning I straightened and took the best sink shower I could take and called the owners. Turns out they were in Fairbanks, with truck trouble, and a sick 6 year old. I felt worse for them. I then proceeded to rain on their parade by passing on the above information. They took it in stride, and I think it helped that I was so calm and laid back about it.

Luckily we had water so I was able to do laundry. It simply amazes me how much LESS laundry I do in a week. It's crazy. I average about 4 loads a week. I was doing about 6-8 loads a week on average in Mankato. It really is amazing. Now if I only had some organization items to be able to put laundry away once it's washed, dried and folded.

In other news, we learned of a couple thrift stores. I want to buy multi-use pieces of furniture so that I don't have to move/sell another houseful of furniture. Plus with 750 sq. ft. you only have room for so much anyway. I'm hoping that Brent will take me to check it out and see what treasures we find. There is another one that is only open on Wednesday's but that does me little good as I'm stranded during the week. That's fine. We'll wait for Brent's two weeks off.

I have the down low on how to see the moose. Every day when I walk to the mailbox I see lots and lots of evidence (ie. poop and footprints) that the elusive moose have indeed been there. It seems that my late rising habit prevents me from seeing the moose. So tomorrow a.m. I'm planning to stay awake and sneek out, just my camera and I, to hunt the moose. Meese? Mooses? Nope. Just moose. That's weird. Anyway, I'm planning to leave Ches at home as it's been told by "they" that moose tend to attack because they view barking dogs as a threat.

Kathy also told me that if I should be chased to just head for the woods and run around the trees in circles because they can't follow me. GREAT. Good heavens. Good thing I really want to see a moose. I'll let you know how it goes.

Super Bowl Sunday

Well, hmmm, the Steelers pulled it off. Can you believe it? The Cards were picked by virtually the entire nation. Seriously, by all but about 8 states. Holy Moly. I can't believe Arizona blew it. BLEW IT. Did I watch? No. :) I managed to keep updated online, thank goodness, but we don't have network channels yet, so we didn't watch it. Which is fine.

Dad emailed earlier to let me know that the World Bowl was on. He thought the Vikings might win because the Twins weren't having a very good season. As you can tell my Dad has a great sense of humor, and knows ever so little about sports. :) At least he managed to choose to real Minnesota teams.

Today was cold. BRRRRRRRRRRR. I think the high was -32 degrees but it felt really, really cold. The front door won't stay shut unless we lock it, and I set a book on the window sill and it FROZE to the windowsill. Can you believe it? Holy buckets. So that book is ruined. And it was a good one! Ha.

All in all it's been a pretty lazy day. We made a trip into town for some coffee and some groceries. I also had to pick up change to do laundry tomorrow. So, can you tell it was riveting? lol.

I made a very good dinner tonight. Nothing big, but we used that lovely buffalo burger and made some great burgers. I'm seriously considering replacing the beef in my life with buffalo. Who knew? Dad, are you proud? Honestly, they were great. I'm looking forward to the next trip to Delta Meats and did you know that they have an olive and jalapeno summer sausage? Yummy.

The day was overcast (?) today. It was almost a little hazy, and more so in town. Now I know that there is ice fog, but I'm not positive what the exact definition is, but I do know that it wasn't nearly as bad as the ice fog we experienced in Fairbanks.

As I type Ches is expressing her boredom by intermittently licking my face and dropping the ball on the laptop. It makes a handy scenario for telling you all the boring details of my life.

Tomorrow Brent is back to work, and I am going to try to bundle up and get out for more than 38 seconds. We'll see how that works.

Have a happy day!