Monday, March 14, 2011

Old Dog, New Tricks

I'd start off by apologizing, again, for being neglectful.  Truth is.  It's been a long winter, and frankly, I don't think you'd want to hear what I have to say.  I can officially say that I'm beginning to think this winter will never end.  I don't know that it came particularly early, but for us, it's stunk.  The cold, the fire, the frozen septic, and chaos.  Our house STILL isn't fixed.  We did start using the stove out of necessity.  With fuel at about $3.60/gallon we would have been broke in no time.  Luckily, knock on wood, we haven't had issues.  

To say I'm frustrated would probably be the understatement of the century.  The fire happened weeks before Christmas.  It's March.  STILL not fixed.  As you might have guessed, customer service in this area is lacking.  I believe some folks would say that most people here have a case of "My Give-a-Damn's Busted".  Simply don't care.

To break up the monotony of February, Brent rented a snowmachine on President's Day weekend.  MWR was having a deal, so he rented a sled and got in a little caribou hunting, moose hunting and play.  It was darn cold that weekend, but he did have fun.  As you can tell, so did Miss Chessa.  She loves to ride.  And she thought she was pretty darn smart.  :)  Cash was scared of the sled, of course, and chose to run behind and bark.  Incessantly. 

A couple weeks ago we got some snow and a lot of wind.  Which made it nearly impossible for me to get my little sedan out of our driveway.  In fact, there were a couple days I had to have my friend, and boss, come and pick me up.  Nice.  

After some more frustrating and expensive encounters with local "business people" we decided to just go buy a plow and be done with it.  In the end it will be far less frustrating, and a lot cheaper.  And provides much more entertainment for the hubby.

In Mid-February I started a new job on post.   I went from working for one friend to working for another.  The transition from jobs has been fine.  The transition from work times has been quite another story.  Luckily with our schedules we're home and working together, and I even get to sneak in lunch dates with the hubster. Occasionally.  The new job is good, I'm enjoying the change, and despising being "the new person".  Hopefully I'll be completely comfortable soon.  Very soon.


As you can tell, everyone enjoys the new plow.  And since plowing is very hard work he takes his gaggle of girls (and Cash) with him where ever he goes.  Maggie (the neighbor's dog- front seat) is agile and frisky.  She likes to play games of leap frog in and out of the moving ATV.  Luckily Brent is adept at making sure that she doesn't get hurt.  By him anyway.


The sun is finally warming, and giving me hope that spring, or break up, will happen soon.  There's still entirely too much snow on the ground, and the temps aren't nearly as warm as I'd like them to be, but we're getting there.  Slowly, but surely.  The moose are lightening, which I'm assuming is a nutrition thing, and I'm hoping lots of them are cooking moose bambinos in there.

Soon we'll have to start watching for bear sign.  Hopefully even sooner than that we'll here the drip, drip, drip of melting white.  In the meantime we're embracing the last parts of winter and praying for a lovely summer.

Happy Nearly Spring!!

3 comments:

Susan Stevenson said...

It's not spring until I see the first pussy willow. That usually happens in April. I can't wait! I'm with you... winter is dragging on. Thank goodness March is a fabulous month in Fairbanks in regards to activities, etc. At least I'm getting out and enjoying life now. Up until now, I was sitting home preferring not to brave the cold. *sigh* This is a hard time of year.

Hayley said...

Oh Karla, I am sorry that you've been so frustrated this winter. It makes me really irritated when people don't do their jobs. I love reading your posts and hearing about what things are like in Delta Junction! Hope you get a little warmth soon!

Dawn said...

Hi Karla - So glad to see your post! Hadn't heard from you in awhile and I was worried. It has seemed like winter would never end in MN and WI too but, snow is melting!! They are saying 50 degrees today. It has been a long winter for us too and that has made me wonder how the heck people in Alaska do it!? I could never live up there in the winter. I need my sun and day light. Anyways so nice to read your post. Hoping warmer days keep heading your way! Take care -