It’s Here!
April 21st, 2008
Spring has finally arrived :) It was 65 degrees today and the snow is melting fast. On my short drive home from work through the housing area the streets and sidewalks were alive with people and pets. Little kids on tricycles, families walking together; garage doors open, releasing four-wheelers and motorcycles from their winter caves. The Spring air was filled with sounds barking dogs, laughter, the pounding of adolescent feet on the ground; sputtering motors, water parting as cars made their way through endless puddles that reflected shimmering sunlight.
Sunday after church Bren and I drove to town in search of The Prom Dress and it was actually a very enjoyable experience. We had a lot of fun. In the past, clothes shopping with Bren never ended well, both of us were always reduced to a mess of anger and tears. The difference now is that she is no longer stuck in the No Girl’s Land that is out of the Girls section but not quite in the Juniors. My baby is almost all grown up and fitting in women’s clothing quite nicely. I would post a pic of The Dress now, but Bren would not approve. You will have to wait until May 3rd.
Quick Nightcap
April 18th, 2008
Bren’s need to write a five-page alternate ending to Lord of The Flies for English tonight totally trumps my desire to blog, so I won’t complain. Maybe in the near future I’ll get a little laptop of my own and leave Brenna’s alone. She’d be thrilled.
Hm
April 17th, 2008
Last night’s non-existent post was brought to you by by the letter “B” and the number 15. There is a computer hog living under this roof. I mean besides me.
Man, it’s 3-below this morning and we got another dusting of snow last night. Spring, O Spring, where art thou? Did the groundhog see three more months of winter way back in February?
Hm.
Moving — Again
April 13th, 2008
Is it my imagination, or did the girls look like they had fun last night? (Hint: the bikini top-wearing fashion statement is related to me in some way). Amazingly enough, Bren got to sleep by 3 a.m. and was rested enough to keep from falling asleep in church this afternoon.
While I sat in the truck this morning waiting for Bren to emerge from her friend’s house, I rolled the window down so I could smell and feel the cold air. It hit me just how much I am going to miss about Alaska. I love the cold, I just don’t like the brutal frigid air. After I took this pic I hung my hand out the window and tried my best to memorize how good it felt. I know soon enough I will be hanging my sweaty hand out the window, letting it float on the hot Missouri summer air.
Winter Blues
February 7th, 2008
It’s nearly eleven a.m. on this incredibly frigid day in the middle of this incredibly frigid week. I’m sitting on t couch in the living room, feet up on the coffee table (coffee within reach), laptop on my lap. Bad Dog Neezy is sprawled out on the love seat snoring across the room. The Atlantis Space Shuttle launch is being broadcast live on Fox News. My feet are really cold.
“It’s Not That Cold”
December 18th, 2007
Thank you all for your prayers :o) Being the good mom detective I am, I concluded that Bren had a case of mild food poisoning (nuff said on that one). The “weird” feeling is a hand-sized spot on her leg that is numb, and I think I figured that one out as well.
I can’t sleep when Bren is ill, so I was up at 3 a.m. reading the news online and decided to check the local weather forecast. I laughed out loud when I saw the high for Thursday is predicted to be 33-below zero Fahrenheit. (I think I also mumbled something like what are we doing here?) Then I read the article below and realized that Saturday night was when the arctic air blew in, and also when Bren was at the sleepover birthday party and the girls walked a friend home late at night dressed like this:
Winter, A Movie, A Book & A Tree
December 17th, 2007
Okay, we’re done being spoiled with the “warm” weather (by warm I mean above zero) Winter is here. The “coldest in clear and calm valleys” comment…that would be us. Now where did I put my long johns?
This weekend was the most enjoyable one we’ve had in quite awhile, mainly because we spent most of it together. Bren had a wonderful time at the sleepover party with her friends, and we were so happy to know she was out having fun. Rick and I indulged in a Stuffed Crust Supreme pizza at Pizza Hut (although the silverware was dirty and the place needs to be bulldozed at the earliest convenience, the pizza was sooooooo good!) Afterward, we rented Ocean’s 13 from BlockBuster, and relaxed on the couch under a warm blanket for the evening.
It’s The Little Things
December 15th, 2007
A winter school dance + being crowned Sophomore Class Princess of winter dance + learning how to dance + 13 hours of uninterrupted sleep = one very happy girl. This is the first time in many months that Bren has been so excited and happy, and it brought her dad and I much joy to see her that way. As my friend Kim said to me recently, when things are not going well in life for a long period of time, you learn to find happiness and joy in the little things.
It’s about 3:30 right now on this Saturday afternoon and it’s nearly dark out. There is several inches of new snow on everything and it looks quite beautiful. I remember when I was young, taking walks in the snow with my dad just after sunset. Everything was blue and sparkling and so quiet. And I also remember my dad joining all of the neighborhood kids out in our backyard for a snowball fight in Philadelphia when I was ten. He beamed me right in the eye with a snowball and it took quite awhile before I coud see out of it. He felt so horrible. Funny how memories come flooding back when you least expect them.
Bren’s attending a sweet 16 sleepover party tonight, so Rick and I are going to go into town and maybe catch a movie. Has anyone seen any good movies lately?
Free Advice
November 30th, 2007
Don’t let the dogs outside at 2:30 a.m. when there’s a moose in the yard. Your neighbors will wake up. All of them.
Trapped in Fairbanks
November 28th, 2007
...for Christmas break anyway.
Emotional exhaustion resulting from a romantic break-up requires nothing less than running away to grandma’s house for a couple weeks, so Rick and I decided we would send Bren alone to my mom and dad’s over Christmas break.
Ahhhhhhahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Okay, I’m back.
Winter Is Here
November 11th, 2007
I am back to blogging after my two-month hiatus. I actually greased the blogging wheels on my MySpace blog, just to make sure I wasn’t going to be a one-hit wonder after all. The itch to get back to communicating in cyberspace was real.
Winter has set in here in the Interior, so I thought I’d share some of the sparkling landscape with you. Click on the pics to enlarge.
Midnight Sun in AK
July 10th, 2007
On the night of June 25th we were driving Erik home at around midnight. On our way back I stopped and took these pics. It was 12:25 a.m.
Darkness, Where Art Thou?
July 3rd, 2007
Enough of the constant daylight! I miss the darkness of night and seeing the glow of lights against the black horizon. Looking out into the woods and listening on a breezy evening—man, nothing compares. I am so looking forward to Fall already.
Summer
June 11th, 2007
It never gets dark here in Fairbanks in the summer. But you probably already knew that. The other night I was driving Bren’s boyfriend home at 11 p.m. and was searching frantically for my sunglasses because the sun was so intense.
At home I have only gotten black-out curtains for the master bedroom so that Rick can sleep, but now I can’t sleep in there because it’s too darn warm, even with the fan on. With the thermostat all the way down the heater is still coming on and we’re baking (must call housing maintenence!). I’ve taken to sleeping in the guest room (Hear that folks? GUEST ROOM. I have room for anyone who would love to visit Alaska). This morning I woke up still feeling tired after having gone to bed at 2 a.m. The sun was very bright shining in the window. I guessed it was about 11 a.m., but I didn’t want to look at the clock. Right then reveille sounded. Ahhhhhh, only 7 a.m. I slept for three more hours.
The point of this story: 24 hours of light screws up everyone. Early Birds and Night Owls alike.
