Another busy week....

So, let's see.... I told you about this weekend....

Well, DH got home Sunday afternoon, only to get a call from his mom saying that she would be going in for surgery on her ankle on Monday. She had no intention (nor, any way) of telling FIL that she'd be in for surgery on the day he was due back into town (from the same fishing trip). The FIL got in on Monday (with DD in tow, as she'd stayed down fishing with him for that one extra day) to find out that his wife was in surgery and SIL, her boyfriend, and her sons were trashing the house. *rolling eyes* He was considerably less than pleased. Of course, the MIL was in the hospital overnight for observation, as well. She wound up with 2 pins & a metal plate in her ankle. Must've been some nasty break!!!

Well, Monday night DD had a soccer game at 7 pm. Of course I didn't make it as I was at work. They lost 9 to 1. However, this is the first time the opposing team has EVER had a single goal scored on them. No other team but ours has managed to score any goals on this team. So, our girls felt pretty good about that. DD didn't get the credit for this goal in this game (the previous game she'd scored the only 2 goals in the game, winning for our side), but she did assist on that goal. And everybody knows that assists are as important as the goals themselves. Without good team effort, that goal wouldn't have happened. I got home about 9:45 to find that DH and DD still weren't home. They'd stopped by the hospital to see the MIL and it took them a good long time to find their way back out & back to DH's truck. (The hospital is undergoing some revamping & renovations. Again.) So, I started dinner and we ate when DH & DD got home. Got a rundown of the game, then we all went to bed. It was after 11 before DD got to bed, and well after midnight before I crawled into bed.

Tuesday.... not a heck of a lot happened, thank goodness. I was busy as a bee at work, though. I had two, hour-long desk shifts, 1 hour at back-up, and then pick-up duties at 5. Didn't get much shelving done at all. Oh, and I've had to clean up the kitchen at work each day, as it's my week for KP. *sigh* Not my most favorite of chores, but at least I can take time out of the rest of my work-day to do it, instead of having to come in early or stay late just to clean up.

Today was considerably less busy at work, but still...... Didn't get much shelving done. I've been doing a good bit of shifting lately. Lots of shelves that're starting to get too cramped. So, I shift where I can. Sometimes 3 shelves over, just to create space for 2 or 3 books. I also did my requisite desk shift & back-up shift, as well as pick-up duty again. And DH & DD are at soccer practice. I've got to get some supper made here in a few minutes, too.

Tomorrow should be about like today, at work. Nothing going on tomorrow night, that I know of.

But Friday....... Friday starts the fun. After work on Friday at least 2 of my coworkers (possibly 4) and I will be going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. One of us has only seen 1 of the movies, previously. I hope she doesn't feel too lost. I wish I'd known and I'd have lent her my DVDs to catch up. So, following work on Friday I'll be heading over to the theater for the 7 pm showing. I'm trying to convince my coworkers to dress up with me. I want to dress up, but I don't want to be the only one. I kind of wish I had short hair, I'd get out some cherry koolaid to dye my hair and go as Tonks. *grin* I don't though. If I do dress up, I won't be dressing up as anybody in particular. But I've got enough costume jewelry & sarongs, scarves & shawls to do a decent job of dressing up. *grin* I just don't want to go as a muggle. I dress as a muggle every day of the week, most of the year (except halloween). I wanna dress as a witch! *BWG*

Saturday will be the reunion dinner for my class. 10 years ago I graduated HS. I'm looking forward to this, and dreading it all the same. I don't really have a nice dress to wear, but I remind myself that this is Alaska. NOBODY dresses up except for weddings. But a part of me still wants to. Anyway, the reunion supper is from 7 to 10 pm. Dad's going to watch DD for me, so DH and I can go out for the evening. DH is less-than-thrilled about the prospects of 3 hours with a roomfull of folks he doesn't know and doesn't care about anyway. Fortunately at least 1 of his best friends will be there (married a girl that I graduated with). Maybe 2. And possibly some friends from WAY back whom he hasn't seen in a lot longer. Tickets are 50 per person, though, and we have NO idea what we'll be dining on, despite the fact that this is the nicest hotel in town.

Sunday afternoon will be the reunion picnic. DH says he's not going to this. Ok, that's fine. DD is, though. She's not completely thrilled as she's convinced she'll be the oldest child there. I say she probably won't be. It'll be burgers & hotdogs, and side-dishes & desserts provided by my classmates & I. I think I may take a broccoli/cauliflower salad that's well-loved in my family. I'm not totally decided, though. I'm greatly looking forward to this picnic. I'd love to see what everybody's kids look like, how many folks have got. I'm looking forward to seeing how much everybody's changed, how folks have mellowed or strengthened. I'm just sad that most of my good friends from HS won't be there. Some of them don't know anything about the reunion, evidently. I wish Tia was going to be there. I hope Amber will come. I'm kinda torn whether or not I want to see Melissa. I'd love to see Vicki again. I know Tia & Vicki & Melissa won't be there. I'm the only one of our group that I know for a fact is going to be there. Amber is torn about whether or not she's going to come. I hope she does. (Amber, if you read this, PLEASE COME!!!!!)

Well, that's been a look at my week so far, and my plans for the rest of it.... I hope y'all are having a good week so far.

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Let's see...... Locally.... The weather's been rather nice. We had a doozy of a Thunderstorm last night that was rocking the house just before the rain started pouring down. It rained good & long & hard and was still raining when DH went to work this morning, evidently. Dad's been grumpy about how much rain we've been getting, but I think it's a nice relief to such hot sun as we've had lately. And we went a few weeks (all of June, I think) without any rain. So now the storms have started up and I'm enjoying it, thank you very much. *wink*

Some folks have asked me what Alaska's like, and I've directed them here to my blog, so I may as well start posting a little bit more often about the general weather & such. As for today, except for the rain this morning the temp has been nice. It got to between 75 and 80 deg. today, and it felt like it.

We're still getting a lot more sunlight than dark. As most people know, the closer to the arctic circle a person gets, the more pronounced the solstices become. And, having just had the Summer Solstice a couple of weeks back, we still have strong sunlight till 10 or 11 pm, when it finally gets dusky. About 1 or 2 in the morning, it's dusky-dark (not truly dark, but dusky-dark). Then it starts getting light again shortly there-after. And we take advantage of the prolonged sunlight in the summer, with late-night fishing trips on the weekends, and even some weekday nights. With the summer as short as it is, those of us who are outdoorsy enjoy what summer we do get as much as possible. And it's supposedly very good for a good portion of the plants. Zucchini, cabbages & lettuce & pumpkins & such greatly enjoy the loooooooooong summer days, and can grow to enormous proportions. Some of us haven't yet gotten the knack of getting our plants to grow much past seedlings, though. *big sigh* Wish I had, but I haven't yet. So, no gigantic zukes for me this year.

We do have green grass in our front yard. I know that some people will wonder how much like the rest of the US, the central part of Alaska is. It's quite a lot, actually. We don't have swimming pools in our back yards (not warm enough to bother with in-ground pools, though a few folks do have the above-ground type), but we do have grassy lawns (some of us better than others). We don't have oaks & maples, but we've got a lot of spruce & birch & willow (and FAR too many poplar, which are weeds!). And birch are nice big trees, though they're not quite so good for climbing as an oak or a maple. Wild roses, fireweed, wild iris' and dandylions grow wherever they can find a spot. (And the first 3 are very pretty.) Many of us plant a large plot of rhubarb somewhere on our property. Many of us also have a wild raspberry or blueberry plant growing somewhere on our property. Whether we want it there or not. I've got some wild-raspberry plants that keep trying to come up in the same space as my sugar-snaps, as a matter of fact.

A LOT of people also keep livestock on property that wouldn't allow it in the rest of the country. An acre of property is enough for somebody who's child's got a lamb their raising for 4-H. Or a small henhouse for fresh eggs. Or that pet pig (who's really kept to breed some bacon for this year's freezer needs). And of course we can't forget that in any neighbourhood in this town you're likely to see a moose wander across your yard at 8 in the morning on a winter's day. (Almost NO child who grows up around here has NOT had a close call, coming around the side of the house to or from school & getting to face off against a moose. We instruct our school children not only how to avoid suspicious strangers, but the most-proper way to avoid getting trampled by that moose.) We've had 7 bears killed in outlying neighbourhoods around my town, this summer. This is a HUGE amount for us, but invariably there's a bear somewhere close that decides to get too hungry for a taste of a dog-musher's dogs (after breaking into the shed that store's the dog's winter-food and eatting all of it), and must be shot before it does any major damage or physical harm to folks.

Our houses look much like anybody else's. Personally I live in a modular. A "double wide" if you will. Not that you'd realize it either inside or out. We don't dress our homes all in antler & animal skins. (Not that I'm opposed to some antlers or a bear-rug, but my hubby's not that good a hunter, the last few years.) My home is done mainly in a hand-me-down country style. *grin* Though I do conceed to the winter weather by putting quilts on windows & having lots of throws & afghans around. Then again, they also serve to cover the thread-bare back of the couch as much as to warm us. *wink*

One thing you'll see a lot more of up here than in many societies around the "lower 48" (not meant to be slander, just the fact that our state is the farthest north in the union, and Hawaii doesn't count as it came AFTER Alaska and isn't connected to the mainland, so we're only refering to the 48 that came before us) is a fancy 2000 sq foot, 2 story house located on a fancy-landscaped piece of property, with a modular on one side, and a shack & surrounded by a junk-yard on the other. A log cabin a couple of places down, and a ranch on the other side of that. We don't have many neighbourhoods around here (mainly the few newer ones) with strict covenants. And even the neighbourhoods WITH covenants have a hard time getting their residents to abide by the rules. A common "lawn decoration" is that 3rd (or 4th, or 5th) car that stopped running a couple of year's back, and it's been sitting up on blocks for since then, waiting for the owner to get the money to fix the engine back up. And the wood-shed out back to provide shelter for your winter's supply, after you installed your own darned woodstove to cut down on the winter fuel bills.

Moreso, there are a large number of folks who live, quite happily, in "dry" cabins. That's right, folks who think nothing of hauling water out to their cabin for drinking & dishes & use an outhouse for the neccessary. Who take a shower at a local club or gym a couple of times a week, or at the house of a close friend. It's normal around here, and dry cabins are invariably the cheapest (decently kept) property around for young college students hoping to live on their own, single working folks, or young couples just starting out. The apartment complexes that populate many states in the "lower 48" just aren't that common up here. What complexes we have don't tend to be very large, and generally are very poorly kept up.

LOL So, I hope that gives those of you who wonder about us Alaskans a little bit of insight into our daily life.

Have a Blessed Day!