Let The Sun Shine In

I overslept this morning.  Big time overslept.  But the good thing is that when I woke, without peeking at the clock, I realized by the light in the room that I was late.  Like the fabled rabbit I was "late, late, for a very important date."  Well, maybe not a "date", but work. 

The days are getting longer, and the past couple days have been beautiful.  Full sun and gorgeous.  Today the sun decided to hide for the better portion of the day, but just when my mood was turning to a darker shade of blue, good ole Mister Sun peeked through and granted me a reprieve for my blah mood. 

I think I have said before that the dark doesn't bother me so much, and it really hasn't been as bad I imagined.  Last year when we arrived (a few weeks earlier than now) we were on the upside and all things were new and wonderful.  This year, while things are still wonderful, they are no longer new, and therefore reality has set in, a bit.  I do enjoy the lighter mornings, they make it a little easier for us, um, more resistant wakers to rise.  I'm not a morning person, putting it lightly, and it takes me a while to become my usual cheerful self.  By the time I leave for work now the sun is up, and I can see the mountains, the moose, and whatever else comes along my way.

Brent has decided to take up a new hobby.  Since he's about all things outdoors, it shouldn't surprise me.  However, he was resistant to it when we lived in Colorado, so it took me a bit off guard.  He's decided to try his hand at fly fishing.  I will say that I'm somewhat relieved, hopefully (with fingers crossed) it will give him a winter hobby that doesn't include dragging me out in the cold.

In addition to his new hobby, he's been keeping himself busy by chopping wood.  He's quite the efficient lumber jack, and all our wood has been chopped, split and restacked.  Now that the task is complete, I have no idea whate he'll do for the remainder of the winter.  Hmmm....maybe I should order him some fly tying gear...

Our tasks for the immediate future include keeping Ches entertained and well exercised, registering for next year's PFD- Permanent Fund Distribution, and enjoying all things that come with being residents of Alaska.  And then there are always taxes to file, of course.  I think I'll leave that particular task to Brent this year.

In addition, I am looking for work.  Additional work, that is.  I am quite happy where I am, but I would like to add some other sources of income to my life.  I have the time, and the patience, so I've been brainstorming.  My dear husband has his ideas of what I should do, but we'll leave them there, as ideas in his ever-storming brain.

I have been fortunate this winter to see more moose than I did last year.  While I haven't had the luck that Brent has, I have been seeing them out and about.  It never gets old seeing them, unless of course they're on the road.  That I could do without.

Time for me to catch up on soaps, and watch a little Jane Austen.  Friday tomorrow.  And more Sassy fun...

The First

Well, it seems it's been a while since I've been here.  I thought I'd have more time, and I guess I do, I guess my time management is the issue these days.  I have been busy, but just doing the good stuff, the fun stuff.  Cooking, taking care of my family and playing with our sweet Chessa girl.

The great news is that the sun is coming back.  It's noticeable now in the morning and in the evenings.  The lack of light in the evening never really bothered me much, but the mornings were a different story.  I was definitely lazier, sleepier in the mornings, and now I rise and (almost) shine with the sun.  But it's nice to see what's lurking on the sides of the roads when I go to and from work.  And the moose are a-movin'.

We celebrated our 1st Alaska Anniversary on January 10th.  We went back and read through the blog posts from our trip.  I remember the stress, the excitement, the sheer panic of the trip.  Looking back, it's the gutsiest thing I've ever done, and now it really doesn't seem like a big deal.  Makes me wonder...what's next for the Kings?  In the present, we are truly enjoying every moment in Delta. 

We love this area.  We've been busy making plans for summer travel, and seeing as much of Alaska as we possibly can.  Last year we spent a lot of time in the Delta area, and we're hoping to expand our travel range this year.  There are so many beautiful places in Alaska to see, I'm wondering what/when/where we'll choose first.  Hmmmm....

This also leaves me to ponder...who (**hint, hint**) is going to be the first to visit us in Alaska???  There's a lot of talk, my friends, but not a lot of action.  Yet.  Come on over....we have a lot of places to see and a lot of things to do.  And a freezer full of salmon to cook for you.

Work is going well for both of us.  We've been spending our time endulging Brent's current WWII infatuation.  We are watching a lot of war documentaries, including the ever-hard-to-swallow holocaust recollections.  I'm personally intrigued by this bit of history.  I think we're both looking forward to a European vacation in the future to see first hand (again, for me) the camps, the devastation, the emotion.

In addition to war documentaries I've been taking advantage of my spare time to do some cooking and baking.  This weekend a made a large pot of ciopinno.  Since I'm relatively new to eating fish or seafood I was impressed that I even decided to cook it.  Ciopinno is a tomato-based seafood stew.  I made ours with crab, scallops, shrimp, mussels and clams.  It looked good, but wasn't really my cup of tea.  Brent, however, loved it.  So guess what he's eating for the next month??? lol.

Saturday and Sunday we got out and soaked up some sun.  It was lovely.  Sunday was warm, balmy almost, which is funny since the rest of the nation is having uncharacteristically crappy weather.   I really hope that means we aren't going to have a crappy summer.  I will really be sad if that's the case.  lol.

So, that's what we're up to.  How about you?  I promise to post pics soon... :)

Back to life...Back to reality

Can you hear it?  The lyrics to the popular 90's song in your head...sing along... :)  lol.  Anyway, It's my first week back at my normal schedule.  I have to admit, I've been a little schlumpy (yes, that's a word...google it...lol) and slow.  But I'm hoping to get back to normal soon.  Very soon.

My job on Ft. Greely ended on New Year's Eve.  Fitting, I think.  Out with the old, in with the new.  Perfection.  As I packed up my things to leave, I couldn't help but feel just a little bit sad.  It was grueling, it was tiring, and don't get me wrong, I'm happy it's over.  However, I did enjoy the work, I liked having lunch with my hubby everyday, and I am going to miss the G's, the Benjamins, the MOOLA!!! lol.  However, as the old adage goes, money isn't everything, and I'm happy to be back at Durham Realty.

New Year's Eve I packed up my desk and headed home, for a long winter's nap.  It was fabulous.  When I woke we ate a nice dinner of moose ribs, au gratin potatoes and bleu cheese coleslaw, prepared by my loving husband.  When the feast was finished we packed up and headed out to Jeff & Courtney's for a little fun in sun moonlight.  When we arrived I kind of wished that we hadn't had such a lovely dinner as the ladies had knocked themselves out and prepared a veritable feast.  Next time... we visited, laughed, enjoyed some lovely caramel chickory and bundled up to enjoy fireworks on a frozen pond, in the middle of Nowhere, Alaska.  It was bliss. 

Friday we just laid around like slugs, did laundry and I cooked.  Yes, this should be documented, I have done so little of it over the past couple months.  It was nice to be semi-lazy and get some things accomplished in the house.

Saturday morning we packed up bright and early and headed for Fairbanks.  Operation Organization was in full swing.  That is until we arrived in Fairbanks.  I have handled the lack of variety here very well, I think.  I tried for weeks/months to order a desk.  Nope.  No cigar.  No shipping to Alaska.  Pfffft.  Jerks.  But I nearly lost my marbles when I tried to find an economical solution to my lack of organization.  To put it lightly,  I was really frustrated.  However, in the end Sam Walton came to my rescue and I found a doable solution.   And we scored a great deal on a leather club chair for the living room.  Which led to the issue of lack of space to haul everything we needed to haul.

Brent had made plans with a friend, Trevor,  to hunt little bunny fufu (sad, tragic ordeal) that evening, so I decided to head back to Fairbanks for more storage goods.  Luckily Brent's friend, Trevor,  is married to my friend, Amy, so I convinced Amy to ride back with me. Thank goodness I did.  She spotted a wily moose that darted out in front of me, in time for me to hit the brakes and avoid his gigantic butt.  Bullwinkle lives!  So, I managed to score some loot and get home, safe and sound, in one piece. 

Sunday Brent set about assembling furniture, burning boxes and other fun stuff.  As you can tell by the photo below Ches was thrilled at the prospect of sitting inside, doing um, about anything.  Lol.  Poor girl.  She did get out in the woods to explore and hunt wascally wabbits, her new favorite past time.  Those poor little rabbits...Oy.

One of the things that I love most about Alaska is the moose.  I could see them every single day and it would not be enough.  They're so large and wobbly looking that it's hard not to love these dopey characters.  They're very large, and so quiet, that you can literally turn around and there they are.  Standing in the driveway.  These two younger bulls seem to be out on a Sunday stroll.  They meandered through the stand of trees in the center of the yard until Brent tried to sneak outside to get a better shot of them.  With the knowledge that he was outside they took off like lightening, big galloping lightening, and one of them totally diggered in the driveway.  Priceless. 

I'm happy to be back to life as it was. 

Sending a prayer to my Grandma Blanche who is recovering from a stroke.  Sending you lots of love and hugs.

Happy New Year!!  Wishing you all a very happy 2010!!