LONG Weekend!

First, Whim gave me this lovely award:

So, THANK YOU WHIM!!!!

Now, whom to pass it on to???

How about:

Robin (though I know that Whim also gave it to Robin), because Robin recognizes the simple joys of life as what they are, and is grateful for the chance to enjoy them.

I actually would like to give it BACK to Whim, as well. I don't expect her to repost it on her blog.... But, she does have a lot of gratitude with a hefty (and worthy) dose of attitude! And I love her for it!

Gardener Greg is a great person who deserves this award as well. He's got a lot of gratitude that he shares with the rest of us frequently. And he's got a lot of attitude about what he sees in the world that needs changing or addressing, which he ALSO shares with the rest of us frequently. Both of which are greatly appreciated!

Garnet deserves this award as well. Talk about some hard times, but this beautiful woman is handling it with grace and a nice hefty dose of attitude. She's not afraid to confront her fears head-on, and she does it with gratitude for the good, and attitude that she's not going to let it all beat her down.

And last but not least, Kaylee! She's a new find of mine (actually, it seems she found me), but she's also going through some hard times with cancer, and yet she's got a great attitude. For one so young to be dealing with such hardships, and still to come me across (through her blog, anyway) as almost perpetually smiling.... That's gratitude with attitude!!!!

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So, let's see.... Friday, of course, I got the good news that my results came back negative.

Yesterday was a LONG day. I got up and after getting myself some coffee & cereal (only drank half the coffee, took me till 1 to eat the whole bowl of cereal), I started making lasagna for dinner last night. That's right, I started the lasagna while eatting breakfast. I knew I'd have no chance to make the lasagna later in the afternoon, so to make it earlier in the day was the best option, so that all I'd have to do is shove it in the oven for dinner. And yeah, Dad was coming over for dinner again, as usual.

Once I got the lasagna made, I had to get ready to go pick up Great Grandma and Aunt M. for the baby-shower. It was being held at the house of one of Great Grandma's friends from church. Grandma doesn't drive, and so doesn't know how to get there, and the directions I got from my mother-in-law were somewhat sketchy. But we got there. And we got there earlier than almost anybody else, including the Mom-To-Be (my Sister-in-law, the hubby's sis). (Then again, SIL is RARELY on time for ANYTHING. I think she's one who'll be late to her own funeral. On purpose.)

The baby shower actually went as well as could be expected. We got to listen to SIL be snotty with her potential mother-in-law. Nothing new there. We got to listen to her bitch & moan about her next-door-neighbour and their idiotic dog. And we got to watch the MIL pile loads upon loads of gifts upon SIL. (Not all the gifts were actually brought along, but the MIL had to TELL SIL, in front of everybody, everything that MIL purchased for the arrival of her soon-to-be-born granddaughter.) Scott & I got his sis a simple gift-card to a baby-goods shop, figuring she could use it on whatever she wants or needs. She was actually appreciative. Of course, the MIL went and bought a new bassinette, AND a new crib, a new changing table, dresser, carseat, baby swing, and whatever-else-have-you for the child, so I simply told the SIL that there may not be anything LEFT for her to buy at the baby-store, with the GC. (That actually got a good-natured chuckle from the SIL.) And, again it strikes me as how GLAD I am that the hubby and I were never fooled into thinking Tay needed all that crap as a baby. And how glad I am that we're not having a second that will supposedly need all that crap.

(When Tay was born the crib was new, as was the bedding. We changed her on a mat on the floor. Her dresser was a piece that I'd grown up with. Her car-seat was as good as new from a garage sale. We got LOADS of new clothes which weren't all needed, but little that wasn't a gift (and therefore not easy to reject). The swing, which we quickly gave to somebody ELSE was a garage-sale find, as was the play-pen (which was usable till about Tay's first birthday, at which point she learnt to climb out easily)..... Compared to most babes born, Tay was a rather low impact child, for which I'm thankful upon looking back. Even the hubby was kinda grumbly yesterday when he heard how much stuff his Mom got his sis, until I reminded him that we've never seen the need for as much "stuff" as the MIL and SIL think is necessary. At which point he agreed that we've done with less because we realized we could. We could still do better, but we also do a damned sight better than a lot of others we know personally.)

Anyway.... The baby shower went ok. But I was very glad for it to be over.

As soon as I got home, at about 4:20, I shoved the lasagna in the oven, and it got done just about 6 pm. Dad stayed only long enough to have dinner, then left. He's not a night owl, so he likes to be home fairly early so he can be to bed fairly early. *shrug* That's fine. He'd gotten here just minutes after I got home from the baby shower.

Then we watched "Enchanted". Scott & Tay rented it from the movie store, and right off the bat even _I_ was cringing about how horribly cheesy it was. But it got drastically better after the movie changed from animated to real people. *grin* Still somewhat cheesy, but in a "poking fun at normal fairy-tale movies" sort of way. Not a bad movie. Something I'd probably watch again if I felt like it. (And, Patrick Dempsy's hot. Could be a deciding factor in watching it again.)

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I DID get to eat some of the lasagna yesterday. I found that if I THINK about it, the thought of eatting makes me sick. If I just try, though, without considering that I'm putting food in my mouth, I can eat. Still not much, but I CAN eat. I got to eat about 5 bites of lasagna, and a couple bites of garlic bread before I got full. Then I finished off the piece of garlic bread before bed last night.

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Speaking of "over consuming"..... I got a pkg of cds in the mail yesterday. *grin* I try not to buy too much music, knowing that listening to the radio is generally ok by me. But, there are times I just need a new dose. And last week was one of those times. I ordered an old Richard Marx cd to replace the cassette tape I've had since I was in my early teens. I ordered the Now 27 cd (a LOT of songs on that one I like!!!, all but about 3). And I ordered one called "Ancient Mother" that I listened to as I dozed off last night that was fabulous.

I also got my seed order yesterday. But my father-in-law said it'll be at least another week before we should plant any of the seeds that need to be started early. Said that it's still too early for seedlings yet, even in his semi-heated garage. *shrug* Ok. I told him that whenever he's ready, the seeds are here. Just give me a hollar when it's time.

Scott also went ahead & picked up a roll of chicken wire for me yesterday. Rather than nagging at him until he builds me some pallet-wood bins for composting and potato-growing, I'm just going to make chicken-wire "barrels" to do this in. I may still set the compost-"barrels" on a pallet, just because I've got a couple handy, but I'm not going to make the hubby help me if he's not inclined. Scott picked up the wire, I can do the rest myself or with Dad's help.

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Speaking of gardening, though.... One of the ladies at the baby shower yesterday evidently has a friend who's a higher up at the Air Force Base. She said that HE said that the military spouses have been warned in advance of a nasty winter storm that's supposed to blow in sometime tonight or tomorrow bringing us wind chills of -30 and a LOT of snow. I actually would believe it. I rather figure that our military may be better at predicting the weather than our civilian weather-man is. (And, that guy SUCKS!) The military will have a lot more invested in getting it right (and recieve a lot less pay if they don't!) than the local civilian weather-man does. So.... Here's hoping they're wrong, but once again it reaffirms in my mind the litany of "It IS STILL APRIL IN ALASKA!!!" *grin*

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Puck's nose is doing ok, Whim. It really doesn't bother him too much. Though I noticed this morning that the skin seems to be cracking a little bit as it heals. I wonder if he'll let me put any salve on it. Probably not. (And, even if he held still, he'd probably promptly lick it off anyway.) Anyway, whatever. It doesn't bother him. Thanks for the concern, though!

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Ok. I must get offline and get heading to work.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

WHOOP!!!! (Or: Some Good News!!!!)

*HUGE FREAKING SIGH OF RELIEF* Ok, I still don't know what IS causing my recent cruddy feelings, but I DO know what IS NOT.

Long story as short as I can make it. My last period was extremely abnormal (and I've been paying close attention since I had my tubes tied 2 years ago, and went off hormonal birth control, so I'd know what "abnormal" is) and I was dealing with a lot of symptoms consistent with pregnancy. Now, the rate of pregnancy in post-tubal women is just less than 1 in 100, and very few of those pregnancies are viable pregnancies. IE: a pregnancy in a post-tubal woman is much more likely than not to be an ectopic pregnancy, a pregnancy that occurs OUTSIDE the womb. No two ways about it, an ectopic pregnancy is not a good thing. Under ANY circumstance. Needless to say, this has been weighing VERY heavily on my mind. I went through that tubal ligation so that I wouldn't ever have to worry about pregnancy again, and here I've been suffering from symptoms rather consistent with pregnancy.

I DID take a pregnancy test last saturday, but the home preg. tests aren't always accurate, esp. early on.

So, I decided the only way to know for sure is to get in for an exam and get a dr-run preg. test. That's what I had yesterday. I actually did NOT get my cholesterol checked, I'll have to have that done in the near future.

The exam itself went well. My weight is down to less than 200 lbs, fully dressed. (It's been about 6 years since that's been the case.) My bloodpressure, even as stressed as I was, was within the normal range. In fact, it was as normal as it's ever been. Except the still existent stomach pain, and the complete lack of appetite, and the fact that my period was wonky, everything else is great, so far as we know.

I haven't yet had an ultrasound to look at my innards. Based on the cyst that was removed when I had my tubes tied, the Dr. agreed that it's time to go ahead & have an ultrasound to check out my other ovary & make sure nothing is growing there that shouldn't be. At that point, we should also be able to get some idea if there's some abdominal obstruction (or, what have you) that's causing my stomach pains and lack of appetite.

But, we do know what it IS NOT! It is NOT an unplanned pregnancy. For which I am most eternally grateful!!!!

Thank you, THANK YOU ALL for your thoughts & prayers and comforting vibes. *sigh* Maybe I'll get to sleep decently tonight. (Well, I DID sleep decently last night, but not nearly long enough.)

*****

Oh, and as for the bloodtest, they were able to do that with a finger-stick. The lab tech (who was so sweet that she almost made me cry, I was so stressed by the time I finally got to see her) said that all that is needed is two tiny vials full of blood. So, she poked my finger (twice, actually) and milked, and milked, and milked till she got 3-1/2 vials. 2 for the preg. test, the other 1-1/2 for the cholesterol check. Unfortunately, she let me know this morning that there wasn't enough for the cholesterol check, so I'm supposed to go back in at MY convenience to have that redone. That, I think I can handle. I DID have a panic attack yesterday, while getting the finger-stick done, but I think mainly because I hadn't had ANYTHING to eat at all, and it was already almost 1 pm by that time, and I'd been stressing so much....

By the time I finally had it done, I just sat back & talked to the tech while fading in & out of this panic attack. I recovered quickly and left under my own steam within 10 minutes, heading straight to work where I attempted to eat something before starting my now very-short workday. (Even when I feel hungry, which isn't much, lately, I just don't wind up wanting to actually eat anything. It's just not appetizing. And more than a few bites fills me up sufficiently that I feel sick if I try to eat more.)

(When I say panic attack, I don't mean I necessarily go nuts & start kicking & screaming & hitting and all. More often than not, it's like a silvery-gray curtain closing across my vision. My hearing goes all "spoken through a tunnel" sounding, and I get really clammy & sweaty and REALLY light-headed. It's not a pleasant sensation. Bloodtests, yeah.... Those result in a lot of whimpering & crying, even uncontrollably so. Finger-sticks, not-so-much.)

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Let's see.... Something considerably lighter??? Yesterday, while dealing with all these personal medical traumas of mine, we were also seeing a mini-blizzard. We got approx. 6 inches of snow by mid-afternoon. It was wet, dense snow, coming down thick & fast, and sideways. The wind was blowing so badly that yes, the snow was actually falling sideways. The weather forcasters (who'd failed to see this coming) promptly got on the ball and predicted us 6 more days of similar weather. And, wouldn't you know it, we woke up to sunny blue skies this morning. Still somewhat breezy and cool, but not cloudy except in the distance. (Well, looking at those clouds now, they COULD drop on us yet!)

I would LOVE to be a weather forcaster. Who else do you know that gets paid THAT much to be THAT wrong?!?!?! *wink*

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I got home from my grocery shopping today to find that Puck had escaped his outside kennel, and there was a good deal of blood on the snow INSIDE. *sigh* We have no idea what prompted the dumb-butt to successfully attempt this escape. Somehow, before running, he scraped the tip & top of his nose raw & bloody, which is where all that blood came from, but we've got no idea why. Anyway.... I finished hauling in groceries (bought only about 2/3 of the groceries I usually buy, mainly because the thought of food was making me so sick I had to "cut & run") and took Jenny out to do her "business" while calling for Puck. She assisted by howling in time to my yelling Puck's name, without success. So, I came back inside, called Scott to let him know, and then went BACK out for more yelling and caterwauling. (Me yelling, Jenny caterwauling.)

Whadyaknow?!?! Here came Puck, loping across the back yard from the street behind us, looking all chipper to get to be running the neighbourhood without supervision. Dummy!!!! Evidently he doesn't realize that this is a good way to wind up BACK in the pound, yet again! *shaking head* Anyway, he's home, safe & sound. (Or, relatively sound, as he does still have a scraped up nose. Though that doesn't seem to be bugging him now.)

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Ok. I think that pretty well covers it all for now.

Have a VERY Blessed Day!!!

Boy.... Summer Went Quickly This Year!!!

What a difference a couple of days makes..... Well, this first pic is taken from my front door looking back across the street to where I was standing when I took the pic of my house the other day. This was yesterday (Monday) morning, about 11 am. This morning looks little different, just more snow. We've had maybe 2 inches, and it's enough that it's staying. The temperatures have also dropped to the teens & twenties, instead of 40's & 50's as they were last week. *sigh* I just keep telling myself "It IS still April in Alaska!" That kinda helps, keeping in mind that this sort of thing could happen even into the first week of NEXT month.


Just a couple more pics of the back deck, pretty much the same thing I showed in the two pics from this weekend, just now re-covered in snow. *sigh* Scott swept off the deck a couple of times, we're just trying to keep the hard-pack from reforming.

I guess, technically we could put some of our freezer-stuffs back in that cooler, since the weather has dropped again. *shrug* Oh well.... It's too much work to do so, and I don't feel like it today.

Toasty, I have to chuckle about your comments of "nudie in the back garden"..... It is definitely my intention of getting a fence built between the back of OUR yard, and our neighbour's yard-line. I don't have any intention of sunbathing nude, but even so, I'd love the privacy. And, I think that with my garden plans, a bit more privacy may be a good idea. My neighbours don't all need to know what I've got going on in my back yard. And, if it comes to the point of wanting to keep a couple of rabbits for meat, then I could do it without them (or the city) nosing around about me keeping "farm animals" in my back yard. That's supposedly a no-no in our neighbourhood.



I woke up feeling crappy this morning. I think I may have caught whatever was making Tay puke, last week. Suffice it to say, I'm not going in to work.

DIRK: I have to chuckle that you think I've got foodstuffs to feed everybody, just because I bought seeds. Not so, dude!!! *wink* Just because I HAVE the seeds, doesn't mean they're all going to be planted, MUCH less, grow!!! I'm quite a "trial & error" type gardener, and to date my plantings have illustrated that fact beautifully. Which means, we may NOT get anything to show for our efforts this year. *wry smile*

I DID go next door with a loaf of banana bread for my neighbour and appealed to him for his wisdom & expertise. He said that with one little 2-pound bag of seed potatoes, bought from a local farm & garden store (the one closest to my home, that I drive past every day going to & from work), they got over 4 milk-crates worth of eatting potatoes. I asked if it'd be possible to possibly get just 2 or 3 of those little potatoes from him, as I was not looking to plant a whole lot of them myself. (Growing them vertically instead of horizontally, I'll need less seed potato.) He said that may be an option. *grin* I'm guessing more gifts of fresh-baked bread & cookies will result in receiving a couple of seed potatoes from him. *wink*

In talking to one of my coworkers yesterday, she suggested that I pick up some chicken or rabbit-wire and simply build 2 or 3 round-wire "barrels" to grow the potatoes in, as well as my compost bins, since Scott doesn't seem to inclined to help me build actual wooden bins. That's not a bad idea. And, with a decent pair of wire snips & my Dad's help, I could probably build the damned things myself, without the hubby at all.

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Last but not least, I've got an appointment on Thursday morning for a physical. It's been 2 years since I've even been in to see the Dr. for my annual "woman's" type exam, and the past week of concerns have prompted me to go ahead & make an appointment to have not only THAT exam done, but also a general physical. I haven't had a physical since Tay was born. *sigh*

I know that's not a good idea, given all the scary problems that can crop up when one is unawares, but with my fear of needles, I've been very, very reluctant to put myself in a position where a blood-test is part & parcel of the check-up. However, as the hubby said, if I don't get checked over now & find what's going wrong, matters could get MUCH worse. And that's something to be more scared of than a blood-test. (Though, I'm going to beg & plead for nitrious oxide before they try sticking me. And I'm going to tell them that under no conditions do I want them to dig for my veins, that they need to use a larger needle because it actually hurts less than a butterfly needle, and that my laying down is an absolute requirement for getting this done. *wry smile*) Ok. Enough needle talk. It's making me even more queasy than I already am this morning.

I think that pretty well covers it anyway.

Have a Blessed Day!

Some Pictures from Yesterday....

I wanted to provide some idea of what early April looked like at my place yesterday. Unfortunately, this is NOT what it looks like today. Today, we woke to gusty winds & sleety-snow. That's right, snow. Falling-from-the-sky type snow. Not the kind that is shown on the ground in these pics I took yesterday.This pic is the front of my house taken from directly across the street. To the right of the pic is our driveway and you can see just how much slush & ice is still there. That's a berm of snow along the front, and the central part had almost thawed. This pic also gives a pretty exact idea of just how small my lot is. Only about 4 feet of land on the left side of the house belongs to us, and the driveway takes up the whole right side of the property, leaving us only the small front & back yards to work with. This is why I'm reluctant to say that I'll ever be producing truly enough vegetation on my lot to feed my family sufficiently. BUT, it's worth a try. And, seeing how small my front yard is, you can probably imagine why my hubby is somewhat reluctant to give up even a bit for a veggie garden. However, I think that given the choice between being hungry and having a lawn, he'll decide to give up the lawn for a garden, if push comes to shove.

Now, to the back yard. This is the right side of the back yard, from the door-step. I'm standing on the deck, here. This shows ya something of how our sheds fit together with the dog kennel (in the far-right bottom-half). There is about a 5 foot gap between the side-wall of Scott's car-port-shed and the metal shed. (The car-port-shed is actually MISSING that side-wall, because of the wind. The canvas for it is now tucked INSIDE the metal shed.) I'm planning to put my (still to be built) compost bins against the wall of the metal shed, tucked into that 5-foot space. The back of the sheds meet the back of our property line.
I'm sure you can also tell here just how much water we have yet to get rid of before any gardening is done. ALSO, there on the left side of the metal shed is where I'm hoping (and Scott IS in agreement with this one of my plans) to put a little terraced veggie bed. I want at least 2 steps high, and 1 foot deep for each bed. So, it won't be big at all, but it'll be big enough for a couple of zuke plants, and a small row of swiss-chard. There at the far-left is a glimpse of my lilac bush.

NEXT, again the left side of that smalle metal shed, and the rest of my back yard. Yes, this is as yet the remainder of the back yard. That portion which is not in use yet. Though it is hard to see, there is space about six feet back, and 10 feet over from that lilac bush in which to place my clothes-line tree this summer. Of course, some drastic improvements will need to be made in the early part of the summer in order to make the back yard work-able. We really need to get some more fill-dirt brought in, so that the yard doesn't sink in toward that hole in the back. As it stands now, it's just too wet to do anything till about mid-May.

This is also a glimpse of the deck we did not get to enjoy today. *wry smile* So much for enjoying a barbeque. What's the saying "(wo)Man plans, God laughs"?!?!

And lastly. I just had to show this little bit of growing goodies. Folks who know, may recognize this as a rhubarb plant just starting to send up some shoots. Those little red nubs are maybe 1/2 inch out of the ground. And there are only 2 to 4 of them, as yet. But, should it ever stop snowing long enough, I'll have rhubarb. *grin* I was given a recipe for SERIOUSLY yummy rhubarb butter, the other day, that I'm looking forward to trying with some of my bounty this summer.

Though, obviously it's not a large enough picture to illustrate my plans, to the immediate left of this rhubarb plant, I'm going to place a big black half-barrel planter with a tomato plant inside. And I'm going to have the hubby place a cup-hook into the wall several feet above the planter, and we will drape the planter in clear, plastic tarping with an eyelet at the top. I'm hoping that draping the planter in such a manner will suffice for green-housing the tomato plant(s). There's a second planter that will go over to the right of my rhubarb by about 4 feet. I'm thinking to put a cucumber plant in that planter, though I may do a second tomato plant. We'll see. As this side of the house is south-facing, I think it will be the most likely place to plant my tomatoes & cucumbers for the best odds of getting produce from them.

I'll take more pictures when it clears, and hopefully dries up a bit. Maybe it'll be easier to illustrate my above plans when I've actually got a view of that side of my how in it's entirety.

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I'm sitting here looking at my seed catalogs, and I think I've finally (yeah, FINALLY!) decided to order from SSE (seed savers exchange, that is) but I'm still not ENTIRELY sure of what I'm ordering. I mean, I know for tomatoes, I know for cucumbers and even peppers and melons. Those were actually simple. I just restricted myself to only the one or two variety that reputedly reports well in Northern Europe & Russia/Siberia. As I've said before, I figure if it'll grow well in Siberia or Northern Russia, it darned well should grow well in MY yard.

But, no, my problem is not with those type vegetables, ironically. My problem is with such mundane things as beans. I mean..... There are seemingly dozens of different kinds of beans. Which are best??? I've never even heard of a great many of them. And though I can understand the idea that having a supply of home-grown beans for soups & stews & such would be a great idea, I also wonder at the actuality of growing sufficent amounts to provide us with enough for more than 1 or 2 meals. It takes a LOT of beans to make a pot of chili! MUCH less a bowl of 15 bean soup! *wry smile*

But, here's what I've got so far. Keep in mind this is from SSE's 2008 catalog, and when I go to order here in a few minutes, they may actually be out of some of these very varieties I'm planning on purchasing.

*Charlevoix Dark Red Kidney beans (the type of bean that we use most often, in our family, except green-beans).

*Empress (large straight, green beans, will be very yummy pickled if it produces sufficiently)

*Painted Pony (looks to be good for both snap beans or soup beans, would probably use for soup beans)

*Bulls Blood beets

*Burpees Golden beets

*Romanesco broccoli (has this awesome spiral pattern to the florettes, also grows well in cool northern climates reputedly)

*Scarlet Nantes carrots

*Copenhage Market cabbage

*Mammoth Red Rock cabbage (maybe. I'm not terribly sure I need to grow two type of cabbage on my tiny lot, even if one is such a pretty red!)

*Parade cucumber (russian variety which are reputedly resistant to extreme weather conditions and have a quick growth time)

*Applegreen Eggplant (maybe. I'd like to try, anyway. reportedly does well even in cool, wet climates.)

*Bogatyr garlic (another Russian plant variety, stores well, reportedly)

*Baby Oakleaf lettuce

*Pirat lettuce

*Tango lettuce (maybe. Again, do I NEED 3 variety in my little yard?!?!)

*Red Russian Kale (another that I'm just not sure about. I know kale is good for us, but I don't know how well the hubby & kiddo would like it)

*Collective Farm Woman melon (ukrainian variety that reportedly grows well in central russian and even as far north as Moscow)

*Minnesota Midget (an extra-early variety from Minnesota, but again, do I NEED 2 variety of melon??)

*Australian Brown onion (seems to be just a general, good variety that stores well)

*Amish Snap (must be good, all the seed catalogs carry this variety, a good general sweet snap pea)

*Yukon Gold potato (though, having not yet talked to my neighbour about what kind of luck he had, I'm reluctant to even order potatoes. But I guess, once they get here it's gonna be "fish or cut bait" as far as getting Scott to help me plant them.)

*Black Hungarian peppers (med. heat, relatively quick growth time)

*Chervena Chushka (sweet, not hot, produces decently well in cold & wet summers)

*Early Scarlet Globe radish

*Plum Purple radish

*America spinach (heat & drought resistant, slow bolting variety)

*Purple Top White Globe turnip (again, know that root vegetables are good for a person, but don't know much about COOKING root veggies beyond potatoes & carrots. I'll give it a try.)

*Five Color Silverbeet swiss chard (we LOVE swiss chard, this came down to picking a variety that looks like fun, with all the different colors!)

*Sunset Runner beans (more beans, pretty flowers, relatively quick growing time)

*Anna Swartz Hubbard squash (keeps well)

*Black Beauty Zucchini (all I can pray is that this produces well enough to please me, but not so well that Scott finishes out the year hating zucchini in any form for the rest of his life.)

*Potimarron squash winter squash (has a nutty flavor, evidently, stores well)

*Wood's Prolific Bush Scallop (and WHY am I considering 4 variety of squash?? This one looks like fun, and unique to us, though. *shrug* I guess the seeds will store well for planting the next year, if I don't plant any this year.)

*Black from Tula tomato (russian heirloom described as "ugliest, most delicious tomato ever grown" by SSE member, good canning & slicing tomato)

*Siberian tomato (quick growth, "dwarf sprawling plants with very early sets of fruits")

*Stupice tomato (extremely early plant, produces well in Northern climates, again wondering at the sensability of ordering 3 type of tomato when I'm not sure of even getting produce from any one type)

*Cream of Saskatchewan watermelon (I think this one sounds interesting, and is a good cool-weather producing plant "brought to Saskatchewan by Russian immigrants", but the FIL is rather nervous about trying watermelon that's got a creamy green interior when RIPE. He seems to think the only watermelon worth eatting is the type that's red inside. We'll see if I can't change his mind.)

I think that pretty well covers it. As I said, though, I'm really wondering at the sense in ordering so many seeds when I'm only really sure about a handfull of them. But, no harm in trying and by giving myself plenty of options I guess I've got the best chance of having SOMETHING positive happen for me in the end. I mean, I won't know unless I try, will I?!?! And the hubby actually encouraged me (with his Dad's back-up) to get to it on ordering the seeds. I just hope I'm doing ok as far as the varieties I've picked. My FIL didn't really give me much imput (besides the ugliness of that black russian tomato, and his reservations about the creamy-green watermelon), so I don't know for sure that what I picked will be ok with him. Then again, I know that he'd just go down to the grocery store & pick up whatever mass-marketed, big-ag. seeds they sell in the twirly-racks, if left to his own devices. *sigh* I wish I was more sure. I really do.

Ok. Really better get to ordering, if it's gonna get done this weekend!

Have a Blessed Day!

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EDITED TO ADD: Shelli, unfortunately it IS the case that almost anything grown in AZ (native to AZ, that is) is unlikely to grow here. *smile* Otherwise I'd love to have some stuff from AZ in my garden(s). Thank for the thought, though!

ALSO, I did NOT order potatoes or garlic. They were sold out of potatoes (all but two fingerling varieties, which are smaller than what we ever use) and the garlic wouldn't ship until Sept. *shaking head* I can't plant garlic here in Sept, it would freeze. (Unless of course, in my ignorance, I am missing that this is precisely the point. *shrug*) I also decided to forgo the Siberian tomatoes, and went only with the "Black from Tula" and the "Stupice". I also decided against the Kale, Red Cabbage, and Tango Lettuce. And the Minnesota Midget melon was also sold out. So, my order did not look exactly like I'd posted above, but I think I did ok.

The total was $105.25, with USPS shipping. It should be here in a week's time, which gives the ground a little more time for drying. I ordered only one pkg of all EXCEPT the various beans I purchased. For each of the bean types, I ordered 2 pkgs. The hubby seemed amazed, and yet when I told him that I did a bit of weeding of types, and only ordered one pkt each, except for beans, he said that he was ok with it. I think he's also somewhat relieved that I won't be planting potatoes out front, now. *grin* (Though, if I can find somebody locally to spare a couple yukon gold potatoes from their order, and get get a potato box or two built, I may yet be able to grow some. I'm gonna ask on Freecycle.)

Ok. I'm off to get ready for bed. It's been a LONG day!

Have a Blessed Day (again)!

Need Prayers & Positive Thoughts

I'm not going to go into any real detail right now, right here. Suffice it to say, there is a possible health problem hovering in the wings that has only come into focus in the last couple of days. I'm not sure of ANYTHING yet, except that it is greatly unnerving me. I WILL give more detail if and when the time comes.. I just.... I need prayers & positive thoughts for my physical & emotional well-being right now. This weekend, into next week. Prayers, positive thoughts, lit candles, sacrificed chickens (Robin! *wink*)..... Or, just keep me in your thoughts & heart.

Thank you.

**********

Sian: by other standards, it's not terribly warm here. Today (as I'm writing this, at 2 pm, Alaska time) it is about 52 degrees F. outside. (According to the thermometer outside my kitchen window.) As I said, not terribly warm by the standards of other places & other people, but we're grateful. And it's sunny, and the snow is melting quickly..... *shrug* A barbeque on the back deck sounds great. We won't be eatting out there, but we'll probably stand around out there enjoying the late afternoon & evening sun while Scott (and likely his dad) barbeque the chicken. Oh, and his mom's coming over as well which means that I've got to get my kitchen cleaned up. Joy. *rolling eyes*

**********

Tay came home from hockey again last night complaining of an upset stomach. She didn't vomit last night, but I think it was more through sheer force of will. She didn't want to miss todays post-testing celebretory movie & "pyjama day", and the pizza party that her class will have for lunch to reward them for raising the most money for "Pennies for Patients". *grin* She'll hold back "sick" for pizza!!! *wink* Actually, she did look drastically better this morning. Bounced in to wake me up (because I overslept my alarm again) with a smile on her face and an annoyingly bright "Aloha Lilo!" *rolling eyes* I don't know where she gets it. It sure isn't from me!!!!

**********

Whim, actually I'm enjoying my morning alone. It feels great to occasionally have the excuse to not go anywhere or do anything more major than walking to the mailboxes at the end of the road. I haven't done much of anything today except have coffee with Dad (he came over with more "stuff" from his house) and watch "Serenity" finally. I did a couple of rows on an afghan, but I stopped when I realized I need to measure it to see if it's proportionally big enough to start putting the edging around it. *grin* I need to make some banana bread. I've got a great many bananas that are far too ripe to do anything else with. They've been languishing in my freezer for some weeks (months, in a couple of cases) now, and really must be turned into delicious banana bread finally. So, I am enjoying my day "stuck" at home. It's peaceful.

Speaking of "Serenity".... Ok. This is my shout out. If you HAVE NOT watched "Firefly" and "Serenity" yet.... DO! "Firefly" was a fantastic series that didn't run NEARLY as long as it should have, and yet the character developement is phenomenal, the plots rock, and the premise totally works! "Serenity" I am a little bit grumpy with, mainly because good characters die. I'm sorry, I know that in ALL battles between good & evil (even the fictional movie or book type), somebody must perish, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it when it happens. Still, FANTASTIC. DO watch!

**********

I think that pretty well covers it for today. Thanks again for any positive vibes/thinking/prayers/sacrificed chickens you wanna send my way. (Well, REALLY, don't send the sacrificed chicken itself my way. Keep it to barbeque yourself. Just send me the positive vibes you feel are generated by sacrificing the chicken for my sake. *wink*)

Have a Blessed Day!

Spring Happies!

Well, some good news: Dad’s got a closing date for his house. In theory, so long as the buyers do not back out, the closing date is May 15th. Their offer was only slightly less than his asking price. So, I’m guessing he’ll be out of Alaska before the dog days of summer are really in full force. Of course it’s going to seem odd, never being able to go into my childhood home again. And I was hoping that the buyers would be folks we knew (the daughter of the guy who owned the house prior to our family was interested, but isn’t the buyer) so that I could go harvest crab-apples for more jelly-making this fall. But, that’s all ok. The most important aspect is for Dad to sell the place.

Next bit of good news (at least in MY world): My back deck is cleared off of snow. *grin* LOVING IT!!! Now, if it warms up enough that it’s not covered in frost & slick as heck, I can get out and jump-rope in the morning and get back into my morning exercise routine.

The third bit of happy news for me this morning.... I’ve already got rhubarb growing out beside my house. *grin* I LOVE seeing the green things growing this time of year!!! I’m also considering pulling some of the young fireweed shoots & steaming them. Supposedly they taste like fresh, young asparagus when done like that. YUM!

*****

Scott & I spent about a half-hour last night shoveling & pushing snow off the bottom of our drive and either into the road or across the road toward the empty lot. It had become nearly impossible to back my car into the drive through all the slush. We’ve gotta spend an hour or so tonight shoveling out the dog pen (between the build up of a winter’s worth of doo & the slush, they won’t even go IN the kennel). After we shoveled the drive last night, we took the dogs for a walk up the back of our neighbourhood, across the HS parking lot, and back down NPHS boulevard before turning back into our neighbourhood. It was a good long walk.

Of course, as we turned back down our road, we realized that the end of our road was completely blocked off by water. *sigh* Scott made it around without getting his feet wet. I wasn’t so lucky. I tried, but my legs just weren’t long enough so my new shoes got soaked and DANG were my feet cold!!! Good thing it was only another 2 minutes before I was back in the house. *grin* Of course, now I don’t know what I’m going to wear to work today. I’ll probably wear my winter boots, and change into my crocs when I get there.

*****

Tay’s first couple of spring-league hockey games have gone rather well. It’s interesting & rather confusing because they’re played cross-ice and 3 on 3 with change-ups every 2 minutes and the ref only blows the whistle when a goal is made, but the clock never stops. It greatly encourages rebound shots, but the kids don’t have a lot of room for puck handling or fast skating. The first two games were played with teeny-tiny nets, but the second set of games were played with full-size goal nets. Which is DEFINITELY preferable at this age. The small nets were being pushed out of the way and pulled back into place so often that it became a problem. The full-size nets can be kept in place with the two pegs in each side digging into the ice. Tay and her friend A. are going to switch off as goalie, A. playing goalie on Saturdays, and Tay on Tuesdays.

(Oh, and FWIW, Tay's tummy has been fine since vomiting Tuesday morning, though she DID wake up with a cough & sniffles this morning. I hope she's not coming down with another nasty cold. We didn't stay home ALL day Tuesday. We went to lunch at a local -REAL- diner, then went to the hardware store to try to have spare keys made for my car. Unsuccessfully! THEN we went to the craft store where I had Tay pick out a couple of yards of fabric in a pattern SHE liked to stash away for future potential clothes-making. Or, to make a pretty top for fun if things never get as hard as homemade clothing being a necessity.)

*****

I get to spend tomorrow being "stuck" at home all day. I can’t say I’m not looking forward to it. Scott’s gotta take my car in to have the surpentine belt checked as my car has let off a loud squeel whenever started since the day I drove it off the lot at Auto Service Co. back in Feb. Anyway, he finally got an appointment with Hyundai to have it checked over tomorrow, which leaves me without a vehical.

So, no volunteering at the school, no grocery shopping. Just a quiet day at home. I’ve got a movie to watch, and I’d like to get out & clear out some of the debris from my side-yard so that I can get some sugar-snaps planted as soon as the ground dries up a bit. (And, DANG IT, I’ve gotta get in my seed order or I won’t have seeds to plant this year!) I’m also gonna pull my two big planters over to the spots where I want my tomatoes, and see if the planters actually fit in those spaces. Oh, and I need to bake a couple batches of banana bread as well. So, a lot of things to do tomorrow that don’t require leaving the house.

*****

Last but not least, both Dads (and possibly my mother-in-law) are coming over on Saturday for barbequed chicken and german potato salad. (Well, MAYBE German Potato Salad. The hubby wants regular potato salad, I want the german style.) Should be fun! And we’ll actually get to use our deck for it’s intended get-together purpose. *grin*

Have a Blessed Day!

Home. Sick!

Well, I got home at 9:35 last night & found Scott and Tay eatting dinner. As I sat down, Tay said that she hasn't been feeling well all evening, felt like she was going to puke. *sigh* Well.... Not much a mom can do about that, is there?!?! So, I told her I'm sorry and left it at that. (And she did have the semi-depressed expression on her face that she gets when she's really not feeling good.) But, she obviously felt well enough to eat all of her steak & baked potatoes for supper. She brushed her teeth, and went to bed right at 10 pm, still complaining of not feeling well. Again, I told her I'm sorry and that I hope she felt better in the morning.

Well, wouldn't ya know it, she DID wake me up at 5, and then she went to the bathroom to puke. (She's got very good control over that, she pukes IN the toilet, when SHE'S ready. *grin* It makes clean-up rather easier than with kids who don't have the ability to control when and where they lose their cookies.) *sigh* Sure enough. And, per school protocol, she's not allowed back in school for 24 hours after vomiting. Which means she misses school today.

The thing is, I don't think she's truly sick. I don't think she forced herself to puke, but I think her nerves got the better of her. You see.... Today is the first day of this year's standardized testing days. I think she'd gotten so nervous about taking those tests, that she puked more out of nerves than any other reason. She sure doesn't seem to be feeling poorly otherwise. And in fact, she said she was feeling fine this morning when she got up at 8 am. But, I still can't send her to school today. And, of course, this means that she'll have to do the make-up testing on Monday, missing all the normal school day events with the rest of her class. And wouldn't ya know it, she's peeved at ME because of that. *sigh*

Anyway, so we're home for a "sick day" today. I'm not totally grumpy about that because I'm dealing with some pretty heavy cramping today myself. But, dang..... Tay is Soooo not a fun one to be stuck home with. When I remain firm about the rule that she's not allowed to play outside if she stayed home sick, that makes me the evil mom. Unfortunately, it also remains a sure-fire way to prevent kiddo's from pretending to be sick in order to get out of going to school so they can stay home & play. But nope.... I'm evil & mean because I won't let her go outside & play now that she's "feeling better". *sigh* Not to mention, she's a constant nag. I wasn't even out of bed this morning (and, I allowed myself to "sleep in" by 15 minutes after realizing that she wasn't going to be going to school today) when she was sitting there at the foot of my bed asking what I could make her for breakfast. Then she got pissy with me when I asked her to back off for a couple of minutes & let me get myself sorted out.

She got pissy with ME when she realized she'd have to spend all of Monday inside and taking the make-up test.

She got pissy with me when I wouldn't let HER on the computer first thing.

*sigh* It's gonna be a LONG day. And if she keeps up the bad attitude, she's gonna spend it shut in her bedroom.

**********

The weather has been staying consistently pretty warm. Or, at least warm enough to melt the snow. Our back deck is now over half-way cleared off. The roads are, of course, a muddy, melty mess. And, it snowed yesterday morning. I talked to Scott just after putting Tay on the bus, and he said to be very careful on the drive in because the snow had made a mess of them and there were multiple accidents from folks speeding & sliding into ditches and each other. (Typical!! Folks just don't seem to remember that "Snow" means slick roads, even when they've lived with it all winter.)

Well, by the time I left for work, any snow that was on the roads out here towards North Pole had melted off and the roads themselves were dry or only wet in small patches. I actually used my cruise control almost half-way to town. The highway was that clear. Then I got to the overpass by the Army post and saw that the snow along the road-sides was thicker than it had been out toward NP. So I turned off cruise control & slowed my speed to about 53, knowing that the opposite side of that overpass has been a traffic nightmare this year, after a good snow. Sure enough, that's when I saw all the signs of folks having gone into ditches during the morning rush-hour. *shaking head*

Of course, any precipitation on the roads by the time I passed by, was melt-water. But that didn't stop me from taking it a little more slowly during the rest of the drive.

I got to work and found that one of my coworkers hadn't even made it out of the driveway (with her 4-wheel-drive pick-up truck, no less!) before she'd driven into a ditch. So, she called her daughter, who was on her way home from her morning class at the U. and told the daughter to meet her at the top of the drive. So, DB came to work in her daughter's car, and left her daughter at home waiting for a tow-truck to pull DB's truck out of the ditch. As she said, at least she was at home still when this happened, so she could wait in the house until her daughter got home from class.

But, as I said, the weather has been so beautifully warm (even if not consistently sunny) that it's been melting the snow beautifully. If this keeps up, we may have grass growing by the first of May. (Then again, it's possible we could still see another cold-snap and a good heavy snow-fall or two. One aquaintance of mine tells about how her youngest child was born here on May 9th, and her hubby had to cross-country ski out from their house to a neighbour's for the mid-wife as it'd started snowing the night of the 8th. They had almost 4 feet of snow at their house by the time Ryan was born -at home- on the 9th. Ryan is now 13 or 14 years old.)

I'm hoping we have an early spring and no late snows.

**********

Keep your fingers crossed, if you will.... Dad has a potential buyer coming to look at the house at noon today. The thing is, while Dad cleans up the place before he leaves it for the home-buyers to come look, the place still looks unfortunately barren & dark. Dad's living with 2 ratty old couches and an even older, rattier lazy-boy recliner. One light in the living room and his sterio on a microwave cart. He sleeps on an air-mattress in his bedroom and has his clothes in boxes or hung in the closet, with his bed-side lamp sitting on the floor. One of the two smaller bedrooms (my old room) is filled with empty boxes waiting to be packed with more items as he continues to prepare to move, so it's hard to see the real size of that room. The other of the smaller rooms (the one my sisters shared) has a good many items that he's still working his way through or storing for a garage sale to possibly be held yet this spring if the house doesn't sell before he has a chance. So it, also, is hard to gauge the size of that room.

The living room has one very ratty & disreputable looking couch and the recliner for furniture. And a stack of magazines & books on the fireplace-hearth for his browsing.

The kitchen is stocked with the bare essentials at this point: a coffee pot, the microwave, the few necessary pots & pans, and plates & silverware and his groceries. The dinning room contains his folding card-table & metal chairs, only 1 of which is set up when he's home by himself.

The family room has another ratty couch, some MORE various items (and toys & collectables) for dispersal at either garage sale or among my sisters & I, and a microwave cart holding the TV and DVD player, and 2 rugs (these in decent condition) on the floor.

It's very much a batchelor pad at this point, with little evidence of the home it could be when filled with a family's furniture & decorations. That's understandably good for HIM to be weeding & clearing out what he doesn't need to keep any longer, BUT it also means that potential buyers who come in see a place that's rather depressing to consider living in, in it's current condition of use.

I've tried talking him into taking a couple of my scented candles (or, at LEAST a scented room spray!) to improve the ambiance a bit before a buyer comes in, and he just says that he doesn't want any more clutter and why should he have to do any more than wipe down the counters & vacuume the carpets. Folks don't need candles lit or fancy smells.... But what he doesn't get is that these things help a place feel homey, and it may improve the way his place is viewed by potential buyers. (Of course, it'd REALLY help if he'd get slip-covers on those couches and that chair! But that'd require spending money, and he's being such a skin-flint that I know he'd poo-poo that idea if Mom or I mentioned it.)

Anyway, so fingers crossed, please, that folks can see past the ratty furniture to the place that the house COULD be when filled with THEIR furniture & family!

**********

I think that pretty well covers it for today.

Have a Blessed Day!

Earth Hour 2008: North Pole

Well, I don't know what, if ANYTHING anybody else in this town did regarding Earth Hour. It didn't seem to be mentioned at all on the radio, and I rarely watch local news to know if anything was said in that venue about observing Earth Hour locally.

Anyway, about 7:30 pm last night I got my candles out, replaced the tealights in some of my candleholders, including the 2 matching crystal candleholders in my living room windows. At about 10 till 8, I lit the candles, including the two in my windows. Then I sat down to read a book. (Currently reading "The Hungry Years" by T.H. Watkins.)

Also at 8 pm, I noticed that Tay's best friend M. and a couple of neighbour boys from down the street were across pestering T. (Tay's friend/class-mate who lives across from us) and a friend of T's who was over for the evening. Evidently T's Mom & Dad and older sis were out for the evening & they'd left T & his friend home alone for awhile. That was ok, except for the fact that T & his friend had been instructed to be in the house while Mom & Dad weren't home. And M. wanted to talk to T. That meant M., Jack, and the other little neighbour boy were standing OUTSIDE T's front door, and T & his friend were standing INSIDE his front door, with the door wide open. And, T was flipping his porch-light off & on, repeatedly. This lasted about a half-hour before I decided to say something.

I yelled across & asked T. if his Mom & Dad were home. He, of course, responded that No they weren't. I politely reminded him that I don't think they'd be highly appreciative of the fact that T had been standing there for a half hour with the front door wide open, letting all the heat out of the house, AND flipping the front light on & off for that entire time. He was wasting their money burning fuel that was being let out of the house AND the electricity used when a light is flipped on & off repeatedly for an half-hour's time. He took the VERY broad "hint" and went inside and M. & Jack left, though not before I reminded them (because they still WERE outside) that the same goes for them. Even ignoring the ecological implications of burning that fuel, the cost alone means that these children should know better than to be standing there with the door wide open. I know M's parents wouldn't appreciate if she did that at their place. Jake seems to have been born in a barn, though, because he thinks nothing of standing around with a door wide-open for quite a while, even at 30 and 40 deg. below zero. (I've had to talk to him about this a LOT this winter when he comes over for Tay in the morning before school.)

Anyway..... I kinda felt bad, having to chew these kids out. They're good kids, all, but I just couldn't continue to let them waste energy & money in this manner without saying something. (Of course, had they chosen to ignore my protest, there's nothing I could have done except comment to their parents today, but at least I did say something. And since they all acknowledged my wisdom on the matter, I don't think I'll say anything to their parents at this point.)

Anyway, back to Earth Hour. The sun didn't actually set till about 8:45 last night. So I didn't honestly need my candles lit till about 8:30 (when the sun sank low enough that it wasn't bright enough for me to read without artificial light, electric or otherwise). But, as I said, I went ahead & lit them at 7:50 anyway. I sat there on the couch reading till almost 9 pm, when it actually became too hard to read, even WITH candlelight. At which point I simply put my book down & sat, contemplating little more than the flickering candle-fire itself. I actually didn't turn the lights & breakers back on till almost 9:30.

When Scott & Tay got home from the hockey game, Tay realized that her alarm clock was messed up and asked me if the power had gone out. I told her that I'd turned the electric off, at which point Scott made a comment something along the line "Don't tell me YOU did that bull-shit light's out thing too?!?!"

I just reminded him that I'd saved him an hour & thirty minutes worth of electric, so what the hell is he griping about?!?! I didn't turn off HIS alarm clock, and I'd reset Tay's myself, so he had no right to get snitty with me for wanting to save power & money a bit. That kinda shut him up. He just doesn't get it, and lately it's really starting to get to me. (And honestly, I think the fact that I see things so differently from him, lately, is really starting to get to HIM as well. He's been in a bad mood for about a week now.

**********

Well, after I did turn the electric (though, not all the lights) back on at 9:30, I didn't have time to play a movie or any such, so I decided I'd play a bit on my Wii PaperMario game for a bit. Damn-it. That game's not too bad, but it sucks a person in!!! It's not even that I lost track of time, but time seems to fly so much more quickly when a person is doing something like that. Scott & Tay got home at 10:15 and I was still playing my game, actually to a point where I refused to give up before I'd gotten past this point where I kept dying. Well, Tay went to bed, and Scott sat down to watch me play my game. And then he dozed off, and I kept playing. And finally at little after 2:30 am (yes, 2:30 THIS MORNING!) I realized that I was really stuck and I needed to quit for the night and get some sleep. So, I got Scott to wake up & head to bed, then got ready for bed myself, and finally climbed under the covers & turned out my lamp at 3 am. *sigh*

And wouldn't ya know it, I slept like crap, on top of that. I'm gonna be dragging butt by 9 pm tonight.

THAT is why I rarely play video games. I know they suck me in too easily. It's not that they're not fun, but they're a waste of time that I usually don't feel like wasting on something so mind-numbing.

**********

Tay's first Spring League games went ok yesterday. But the whole thing really was like organized chaos. There are 13 kids on Tay's team and Scott's the only coach.

Scott & I already had something said to us by a mom from a different team about how supposedly A. (the little boy who played goalie yesterday, Tay's friend from church) is a very poor sport & she thinks he needs to be kicked out of hockey and Scott needs to keep an eye on him. *sigh* It was Scott's FIRST GAME as coach, his FIRST DAY as coach, and already somebody's giving him crap for the way a kid on his team is playing. (Even though her gripe was really with how this kid has played against her kid in previous "seasons". IE: nothing Scott can do about A's PAST actions.) Scott told her he'd keep an eye on A. That's all the more we CAN do.

And when Scott & I mentioned this complaint to another one of the coaches (a friend, and dad of one of Tay's teammates from our just-past season), the other coach said to give the WHOLE team a talk BEFORE the next game about the kind of sportsman like behavior that Scott expects from the team for the Spring season. That nipping any bad behavior in the bud BEFORE it starts may be all that's needed, and besides.... All we've got for evidence against A. is this one woman's word. One woman that we've never met.

Anyway, the kids play cross-ice (as in, each rink is divided into 2, and the kids play with extremely small goal-nets and only half the ice they're used to) and 3 on 3 for teams. (The goalies make the 4th kid on ice, but only 3 kids are on ice trying to score on each other at a given point.) As I said, it's organized chaos.

**********

Ok.... I've gotta get ready for work.

Have a Blessed Day!

Earth Hour 2008

I meant to post this the other day and entirely forgot. Sorry.

Anyway here's a link: http://www4.earthhourus.org/

Well, tomorrow night at 8 pm I’ll be turning off all the lights here in MY house & reading by candlelight for 1 hour. Think of the energy to be saved in JUST ONE HOUR if we all did this. When Sydney Australia started this last year, their effort ALONE had the equivelent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road! AMAZING. It’s not hard. It could even be a good time for you & your family. (Or, just you & a loved one!) Make a difference. Take ONE HOUR of your time & TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!

Play a family board game by candlelight (or strip-poker with your sweety). Curl up on the couch & read a good book by candlelight, as I’ll be doing. Or, make a party of it, have a bunch of friends over hang out, chatting & talking & getting reaquainted in 1 hour of dark and quiet. Could be lotsa fun, people!!!

I hope all my friends will participate!!!! And if you decide to participate, register on the EarthHour.org site so they’ll have some idea of how many are doing this.

Just ONE hour. Think of how much can be accomplished in ONE hour of dark!

Have a Blessed Day!

More "This & That"....

There really hasn't been a lot going on these past few days.

Let's see.... Sunday. Yes, I DID get to eat dinner when I got to the inlaws, but it was all cold except the ham. (Which, the FIL DID try his best to keep things warm, but it'd had 3 hours to cool so..... *shrug*) My SIL had already left with her kiddos. The MIL was bored without having SIL & the nephews to wait on hand & foot. Every time MIL would start to say something to Tay, she'd immediately somehow turn the topic to my SIL & her kids somehow. *shaking head* And she had the NERVE to chew out Scott & myself for not being around more, when SHE'S never home before 9 pm anyway. Whatever.

(Scott DID say that his sis looks like she's 9 months prego with triplets, she's so damned big. Bigger than she was with EITHER of the nephews. And she was damned big with both of them.... We all wondered if she wasn't actually having twins, with both of those pregnancies. Also, though she'd origionally said that her due-date was the end of April, the date has been moved back a month to May 27th. *shaking head* It's no freaking wonder she's been in & out of the hospital lately, if she's that damned big and still has 2 months to go. Of course I'm sure she's still eatting horribly, which is a major no-no when one is gestational diabetic. After 3 pregnancies with out-of-control GD, I'm about ready to start taking bets on how long it's going to be before she's diagnosed as type 2 diabetic. I sure as hell hope she goes through with getting her tubes tied when she gives birth to this one.)

*****

Monday, was all work. *shrug* Nothing really to report about Monday.

Oh, and Scott pissed me off again (after his comments late last weekend about ME spending too much money)! He told me to only buy 3 boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year: one box of Samoas, one box of Thin Mints, and one box of Tagalongs. The Tagalongs are MY favorite so wisely he didn't touch those, but he knows I also appreciate getting at least ONE Samoa & a small handful of Thin Mints, and he usually even shares with Tay. This year he ate BOTH boxes completely without sharing with either Tay or I, and evidently on Friday and Saturday nights. (Because as of Friday morning, they were both unopened.) *shaking head* I've hidden my Tagalongs. I may or may NOT give him any. Though I have shared with Tay.

*****

Tuesday I had to leave work after only 2-1/2 hours because I wound up with a migrain. *sigh* They don't happen often, thank goodness, only about 3 or 4 times a year. And they're not as major, when I DO get them, as some of my coworkers have. They generally only last 6 to 8 hours, max. So, I came home & spent the next several hours vegging on the couch, wishing the pain would stop, and flipping through my seed catalogs. I've only got 2 left to go through, but I think it's going to come down to ordering from either "Seed Savers Exchange" or "Territorial Seed Co." Both mags have the biggest selection of the seed varieties I want.

I made shrimp & rice for dinner on Tuesday night and Ooooooh was it yummy. And we had sliced cucumbers for veggie. Unfortunately, something about it gave Tay & I nasty tummy-aches. Gassy tummy-aches, not food poisoning. And whatever it was about dinner did not affect Scott. *sigh* Oh well.... It was that kinda day.

*****

Yesterday I was back to work without any problem.

I got to spend a bit of time yesterday morning chipping snowpack/ice off the back deck. Tuesday & Wednesday got nice enough that the snow was melting from the underside, leaving these ice-shelves with a gap between the ice & the deck. So, stepping on the edge of the ice-shelf causes the outter edge to collapse & it can be swept off the deck. It's nice, seeing my deck get cleared off. I'm looking forward to the day when I can get out there & sit & enjoy the sunshine.

Or, get back to my morning exercising (which I haven't done since I got sick) & jump-rope on the deck in the morning. I really wanna get out there & make the most of that deck, darnit!!! *grin*

*****

Which brings us to today.

Tay's got a conditioning skate that she's going to tonight for the Arctic Lions Peewee team. It'd kinda allow the coaches to seee what she's got & judge if they think she'd be a good match for their team next year.

We were very disappointed this year with the Ice Breaker's league. It was poorly managed and our team was poorly coached. And there's a possibility that Tay could (would) end up on a team next year with too many girls (and too many goalies!) and a coach that scheduals them for tournaments all over the US. The 12U team this year had to travel to connecticut & San Jose & San Antonio for hockey tournaments and spent EASILY 5000 in tournament fees & travel costs JUST for the girls.

However, if they make two 12U teams next year & put DD on the lower-level team (which is where she belongs, skill wise) then she'd wind up probably being coached by the same guy who coached this year and last. (Last year he did an incredible job coaching, this year, not nearly so well. He really dropped the ball in a number of ways this year, not the least of which was his communicating with us parents & his personal skills with the girls.) Needless to say, we're seriously considering other options for next year's hockey season.

ALSO, Scott will be coaching Tay's Spring-League hockey team. Tay will be one of two goalies. The other goalie is that little boy she's grown up with that I showed in a picture a few weeks back when they faced off against each other. *grin* Now they'll be teammates. They've never been teammates before. Rivals & Friends, not teammates. This oughta be interesting.

And, of course, I have work today.

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I was talking to my coworker, CM, about how Scott got pissy with me last week about buying so much craft stuff, and how a good portion of the stuff is actually fabric for clothing, should it come to that point. She suggested that next time I buy fabric, I take Tay with me & tell her that she gets to pick 3 or 4 yards of which-ever fabric (in the variety of fabrics that I usually chose from, the less-expensive stuff) that she wants. THAT way, if the time comes that I'm having to make her clothes from these fabrics, at least she's picked fabric that she likes. Not a bad idea! It's already going to be tough, if that time comes, when she won't be wearing the kind of clothes she wears now. She may well be rather grumpy about having to wear homemades, and as my coworker pointed out, having picked out the fabric herself, at least then she'll have had SOME say in what she wears. Not bad wisdom, that!

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As I said, I've gotten my choices for what I want pretty well narrowed down to 2 different magazines. I just have to decide which is the better option. I noticed that most of the packets contain dozens, if not hundreds, of seeds per pkg. I'm kinda hoping that this is the case so I can pass some on. My one coworker (the one mentioned above) lives in a small apartment across from the library and I know she's got it tough even in GOOD times, for buying even the basics. She's on all the public assistance programs and her hubby doesn't hold any jobs regularly. (Though, right now that's working somewhat well for them as this means she doesn't have to find childcare for their 2 boys.) Anyway, I hope the seed packets contain enough seeds that I can then pass some on to CM. Even though she doesn't have a garden (or room for a garden or even some pots of plants) right now, at least if I can pass on some seeds to her, she'll have the ability to start some if the point does come where she can plant them. She's rather socially & economically aware as well, so she has some idea that such necessary times are likely on their way.

And quite honestly.... I wish I could do it for all my friends. I wish that there was some way I could share with Whim & Robin & Dirk & Barefoot Gardner & both Barbs, and so on and so forth.... But we all live in such diverse areas that it would be rather pointless for me to send seeds to Whim that I've picked for their adaptability to Northern conditions. It doesn't do a southern girl much good to have seeds that are suited much more strongly to my Northern conditions. So, I'm going to do what I can to help somebody who lives local, and hope that my more Southerly friends will find help from their area that I would willingly provide were they closer to me.

What worries me, though, is if I were to somehow produce enough to store for the coming winter.... Where am I going to store it?!?! I'd like to use a root-celler, but we don't have a room IN our house that is appropriate, and there isn't room OUTSIDE our house to build one. (At least, not until we build a garage, at which point I may be able to persuade Scott to build a lean-to root-celler on the side of the garage.)

My dad has offered to give us his big ol' chest-freezer when he moves out of his house (IF he moves out, at this point), and Scott & I want it. The only place we'd have for it, though, is on the back deck. What I am considering is putting our frozen goods in the outside freezer (in the winter it can be unplugged & still be used as a freezer), and regulate the temp on our inside (upright freezer) to a slightly warmer temp more appropriate to storing bulk veggies like cabbage, potatoes, onions and other root veggies like carrots, rutabagas, turnips & such. This way we'd have the ability to keep our veggies in the house, in a freezer-turned-root-celler, and our REAL frozen goods OUTSIDE in the big chest-freezer. And, as I said, we'd only have to plug that one in during the summer because the cold winter temps would keep it, and everything in it, frozen anyway.

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Then, tomorrow is of course my volunteer day at the school, and grocery shopping. I'm thinking I need to add to my stock of milk-related supplies for now. So, that's where I'm gonna spend a couple of bucks buying a couple extra cans tomorrow. (That, and replace the can of olives that DH used for tacos earlier this week.) It actually doesn't cost too much more, when you're only adding a couple of cans per week to your grocery list. At least for me, 2 cans of something is almost unnoticable in the grocery basket (and receipt). More than 2 cans is still doable, but still not too expensive generally. So, a couple of cans of table cream, a couple of cans of evap. milk, and another can or 2 of olives it is. And whatever I need to replace whatever I use this coming week.

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I had occasion to be jealous yesterday. In a purely superficial way, even. *wry smile* I try not to be focused on how folks look, but one of the things that always gets me is how some of the younger moms that come in for Library Storytimes are always dressed so beautifully BoHo. They wear flowing hippy skirts & look like modern (caucasion, in the case of most of them) gypsies..... And I love the style!!! But, unlike them, I'm not skinny. I'm petite, yes, but NOT skinny. Here were 3 different women dressed in this totally hippy-BoHo style that I love with skirts layered over pants & a couple of different tops layered for this incredible (to me) style, and all of them skinny little things. *grin* The best I can get away with, with my rather reubenesque shape, is eclectic scarves & earrings. It just makes me jealous to see other women pulling off a style that I love (some might call it "immigrant" style, all the layering & different fabrics), and knowing that it would make me look a good 30 pounds heavier than I am now. And, 30 pounds heavier would NOT be a good thing on my already pudgy body. *wink*

Ah well..... Like I said.... I occasionally have reason to be somewhat superficially jealous. Not a flattering realization, but at least I don't hate them for their ability to carry this off. (And hey, they all seperately complimented ME on the lovely scarf I was wearing as I sat there checking out their books. *grin* So evidently the style-sense is there, just not the ability to carry it out fully.) Well, at least I guess I can still be happy that it's not the styles of a certain hotel-heiress or a former-pop-star that I'm wishing I could steal.

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I think that pretty well covers what little is going on this week.

Have a Blessed Day!

Laid It All Out For Him....

So this morning at Scott & I were getting ready to head out for Tay's end-of-season party, he commented on going to GameStop & getting Tay a new DS game for Easter. I said that if it wouldn't be a problem, I'd like to get over to Joanne's (Fabrics & Crafts) for a couple of patterns that were on sale. He kinda gave me this grumpy look as if to say "MORE craft stuff?!?!" So, rather than trying to gloss over WHY I wanted it, I told him. I flat out told him.

I said that even the most cautious of economists is now admitting that we're in a recession, and a LOT of folks think it's going to hit depression-stage, even if our infamous president himself thinks everything is just peachy-keen.

I told Scott that the last time our country went through a depression, one of the hardest things, according to personal accounts in books I've ready (and he knows I've read them!) was parents having to watch their kids go without decent clothes & food. I told him that I'm not buying all this fabric just for the hell of it. I'm CERTAINLY not trying to break our bank account, but that if it comes down to Tay needing clothes, I'd like to have some fabric on hand to be able to make her some. I even said that if I KNEW what size pants & tops she'd be in next, I'd stock some away, but it's hard to tell that. However, fabric can be cut into whatever size you need, so long as you have enough. And, that's why I wanted the patterns as well..... I may not be an excellent seamstress (in fact, some of my straight lines are decidedly NOT straight) but at least I can sew up some skirts or PJ-style pants, or simple tunic-tops.

I also told him that I KNOW it seems like I'm buying a lot more canned & dried goods than we usually use, but as prices are going up and our dollars are worth less & less, I figure that we should stock up while we can still afford to. And I told him that I KNOW he doesn't like hearing about the possibility of such happening in our town or our country, but that I was raised to plan for the worst & hope for the best, and that's just what I'm doing.

He really didn't say much, but when we got to the craft store, he simply commented "I'll leave you to it, Tay and I are going to walk down to the sporting-goods store." And when I got back into the car after buying my 2 patterns (bought with all the cash I had on me, and I really didn't want to spend any more $$ from the checking account) he didn't even ask how much I'd spent. Though, stinker that I can be, I made a point of telling him that I DIDN'T go taking any more money off the debit card.

Maybe, just maybe I'm getting through to him. He can certainly see with his own eyes that prices are going up a lot faster than normal. (Though, at Walmart I was looking at 5-gal buckets and he asked why I'd want them. I commented "for food storage" and he just gaped & asked how much food I was hoping to store, anyway?!?!)

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In the past week or so, Puck has taken to occupying Jenny's kennel (dog-cage) when she's not in it. He seems to have developed a like for that enclosed area, even though it's her bed he was sleeping in. (Which left Jenny very disgruntled about not being able to sleep in her own bed, with her blanky.) So, today at Walmart we went ahead & bought Puck his own kennel. And, here they are, side by side, with Tay's goalie bag stashed on top.

That's Puck inside his, giving me glares for DARING to look at him as he guards his weekly raw-hide treat. He gets rather freakish about it. He'll hid away with the damned thing, grumbling & growling at anybody who dares look at him or talk to him, until such point as he's decided that it's ok to eat it. Then he devours the thing in a matter of minutes. But, right now he's still in the "guarding" stage.

It's very funny because even when he wants attention, he'll growl & snarl & hover over the thing, while wagging his tale & begging for attention. It's like he just can't stand to think that we won't actually take it away for good. He even takes it outside with him when he needs to go potty, until he's done with the "guarding" stage. (It's funny, as I'm writing this Puck is in his kennel asleep, hugging his bone like it's a stuffed animal.)

Anyway, Puck now has his own little den INSIDE the house, and he seems happier. Though Jenny couldn't figure out why we bought her a new bed, when we first brought it in the house & set it up. She kept going from hers, to his, to hers, to his..... And Puck was doing the same thing. But his blanket is in his kennel now, and Jenny's quilt is in her kennel, and they seem happy with the new arrangement.

We'll see how he likes it when he realizes that I'm going to lock him in there when I leave, if I don't put him outside. This will keep him from tearing into things he shouldn't while we're gone, while allowing US to leave him inside on cold days. (And yes, these two kennels together take up only slightly less room than a twin-size bed. Wow..... Between the shrank, the computer desk, gun cabinet, TV & stand, and 2 dog kennels, there's barely any room in here, again.)

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Let's see.... Easter plans. Well, the MIL called all in a snit because we hadn't RSVP'd to come over to her house tomorrow for dinner. Never mind that they'll be eatting at 2 pm, and I have to work till 5:15 pm. (And, if she'd bothered to mention it to ME a week ago, I'd have been able to take the time off, but not when the soonest I hear about it is the Friday afternoon before Easter.) Anyway, she's said that if I can't make it, well, that's my problem but she won't have her dinner held up on account of MY work schedual, and her darling, pregnant daughter shouldn't have to wait for dinner. *sigh*

Oh freaking well. Scott is actually really peeved about her attitude and told her that if her darling daughter is having such a hard time with this pregnancy, maybe she shouldn't have GOTTEN pregnant again!!!!! (Her past 2 pregnancies were hell as well, she knows what to expect!) MIL didn't care for that too much, but it's the truth. Anyway, my FIL was nicer about it when I ran into him (no, not literally!) at the grocery store yesterday. Turns out that MIL had only told HIM her plans the night before as well, so he was in picking up all the goods, including ANOTHER ham because the two he had in the freezer weren't going to thaw in time. He's also somewhat annoyed by the fact that MIL goes right on ahead & makes plans & bosses everybody else around and doesn't ever take into account what might be going on for the rest of us.

I just couldn't really care less what the MIL thinks of me or my work schedual any more. I like it, and I don't give a rat's butt if it makes things harder for her. She's made it clear that she doesn't care for her son, myself, or our daughter except on major holidays. The rest of the year it's ALL about SIL and SIL's kids and the rest of us could cease to exist as far as MIL is concerned. (In fact, it seems that there are definite times she'd prefer if she could turn us all off like a DVD and come back to us when she's got a moment to spare. The feeling I get from her, the past couple of years, is that FIL, Scott, Tay and myself are all inconveniences to her life & her fixation on the SIL's life.) *shrug* Whatever. I'm rather sick of her myself.

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Oh, so I had an Awwwww!!!! moment at the grocery store yesterday. As I'm finishing up my trip through the store, I always take a moment to stop at the floral dept. and talk to a past coworker of mine who now works there (we worked at Ben Franklin's Crafts together). This also means I get to smell & gaze at the lovely flowers. The hyacinths have been esp. lovely this year, and I spend a couple of minutes just burying my nose in them & breathing deeply, but as I told K. last week.... Flowers, no matter how pretty, are kinda low on the list of things to buy as compared to food, and she completely agreed & said that this is one of the definite perks of working in the floral dept.: she doesn't feel quite so bereft about not having the $$ to take some home with her regularly.

Well, yesterday I was later in getting to the store than usual, as I had some bills to pay & errands to run before shopping, so by the time I got there, K. had already left for the day, according to the floral-dept. manager & her new assistant. I said thank you & asked them to tell her that the woman who always smells the flowers said Hi when they next saw her, and they said they would.

As I was down getting my lunch from the salad bar, the new floral dept. assistant came up to me and asked me to come back when I had a moment. So, I got my lunch together & went back down to see if I'd dropped something. No.... Actually K. had come BACK in and told her manager that I was always there smelling the flowers & chatting & so neighbourly. So, the manager had 1 hyacinth plant that she was going to distress (I'm assuming this means she was going to make it un-salvagable and discard it) and she decided to give it to me instead. Awwwww... So now I've got a free (if slightly battered) pretty purple hyacinth on my kitchen table making my kitchen smell lovely.

Once the foliage dies back, I'm going to plant it out in my flower bed toward the end of the house (where not-so-many flowers grew last year) and maybe next year it'll come back for me! And, if I get a chance, I'll buy another hyacinth next week to show my appreciation for their lovely gesture. (They're not expensive, just $5 per flowered bulb. But that's been $5 that I haven't allotted for "extras" along the lines of flowers. Next week, though, I'm going to do so.)

Anyway, I just wanted to share the loveliness that shows up sometimes in a small town where folks know each other & see each other regularly. THAT is what living in a small town is about!!! (And, that's why I've come to love this town that I used to be so desperate to get away from!)

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It's cooled down again. And it's actually snowing this evening. Unfortunately it's blowing so hard that the snow is blowing side-ways. *sigh* NOT pleasant! BUT, the sunlight is getting stronger, the days are getting longer, and it's almost April!!! Not long now before summer is really & truly here!

Hope y'all have a Blessed Easter tomorrow!

What a Crock!

First off.... Enough with calling the hubby & kiddo "DH" and "DD". It's too confusing to keep up. I use their names elsewhere, I've even slipped & used their names here. From here on out, I may refer to them as "the hubby" or "the kiddo", but by & large I'm just going to use their names: Scott and Tay(lor). I'm tired of trying to keep straight what names I use for them, and where.

**********

So, I believe I'd mentioned in the past that the hubby wasn't thrilled about me opening a savings account in my name alone. I've been doing pretty good about staying on top of putting money in, and not spending so much on crafting supplies & books.

In fact, what little money I've been taking out of our combined checking account (into which our paychecks are direct deposited) for pocket cash, has been almost consistently handed over to DD for allowance or to pay for an open-swim session. I think I MAY have 5 dollars on me right now, and this is the most I've had for several weeks.

On the other hand, Scott recently signed Tay up for Spring League Hockey AND Soccer for the summer. That was $150 for Spring League, and about the same (give or take $25) for Soccer. That may or may not include her soccer jersey. He also tells her frequently that she can go swimming, and when she doesn't have the money of her own to go, he hands the cash over as if it's nothing. AND, he's been bringing home a new Wii game, or a new movie, or a new cd, or a new DS game for her every couple of weeks.

Then, today, rather than deposit some $$ in my savings, I spent the $$ at the craft store on some yarn for a girly-afghan in case I need to give one to my sister-in-law for her newborn. (Sister-in-law is Scott's sister.) So, I didn't spend much more money than I would have had I made my savings deposit. I told Scott this when he got home.

He promptly turned to me and said "Since you keep taking money out for your savings, I want you to pay for your own cell-phone from now on!"

WTF?!?! Don't my pay-checks go into the family till???? And I'm taking $60 a month out for myself, and he expects me to give up some of that to pay my cell-phone bill?!?!?! Mind you, I spend $20 every THREE MONTHS for my pre-paid. He pays almost $30 PER MONTH for his cell-phone. AND his cell phone payments come out of the family till. *shaking head* Not to mention the kiddo's pre-paid minutes. (And, unfortunately, the phone company just upped the minimum allowed purchase for minutes from $10 to $20. So even though Tay and I do not NEED this many minutes, we don't have a choice if we want to stay pre-paid. And, pre-paid is STILL cheaper than a monthly contract.)

I just don't know where he thinks he gets off, telling me that the $60 per month I take out for myself (my SAVINGS!) must also pay for my cell phone, but he's allowed to buy himself $30 almost every week during the winter for Ice Dogs games, and lunches out a couple of times a week, and his cell phone, and the fact that his truck guzzles twice as much fuel as my car..... And soccer, and almost year-round hockey for the kiddo, and her cell-phone, and whatever video games or such as she wants. BUT, my stuff must come out of a very strict budget. *shaking head*

I reminded him of all the $$ he spends regularly and said that if he wants to cut corners, maybe he ought to cut down on the amount of activities we pay for Tay to do. Besides his truck and groceries, this is our most expensive non-loan-type expenditure on a monthly basis. Basically told him he could shove it as far as me paying for my own cell-phone minutes out of my $60 per month unless he's willing to make similar reductions.

*sigh* He just doesn't get it. And still he keeps giving me glares & nasty remarks when I discuss my garden ideas for the summer. He grumbles over the grocer bills, and yet doesn't account for the fact that he's the one asking for a lot of highly processed food to eat. (Soda, eggo waffles, canned soups and expensive lunch meats & cheese....) Though, the kiddo's school-lunch diet is by no means cheap either. (Capri Suns, snack bars, sandwich supplies, fruit-cups, and some sort of dessert, though that is frequently home-made.) Grocery-wise, I have 2 to 3 frozen dinners per week for lunch, and left-overs (or nothing) the rest of the time. And yet Scott still gripes over how much I spend at the store. Never mind that the costs rise faster than you can keep track of, and some of the extra I'm buying is stock to have on hand to use when the costs get higher. Food for HIM (and Tay and I) to eat as the going gets tough.

I feel fortunate to have a bit of extra to spend every week, at this point. It's coming to the point where that won't be an option, and try as I might to get us to eat lighter here at home, he's adamant that we shouldn't be cutting back. He's really gonna be hating life when I start making a vegetarian dinner per week, then a couple of times a week. (Though, vegetarian eatting isn't terribly cheap in Alaska, either. It's actually more expensive, a lot of the time, than eatting meat is. Esp. when you've got the option of hunted meat.) But, I'm going to try. Even if this is just meat-free chili or some-such (barley-lentil soup, for example) once a week.... We need to try & see if it helps at all.

(To that end, if anybody has any suggestions that are rather close to what a meat-eatting family has eatten up to this point, I'd be grateful. Any "lentil salad" type things just won't go over well.... It needs to be something similar to the type of food we eat now, but without meat. And, no tofu because that's actually MORE expensive than beef, up here. And the hubby wouldn't eat tofu anyway. Something like a tasty & well-tried Red Beans & Rice recipe, for example.)

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Let's see.... I had occasion to be proud of Tay last night (and today). Her school just completed their "pennies for patients" fund raiser, and Tay's class won the competition for most money raised. Well, the class was given the info that they'd be rewarded with a pizza party (funded by the school or school district, I'm not sure exactly which) for being the class to raise the most money for the sick.

Evidently the teacher (student teacher, actually) posed the question to the kids as to whether or not the kids would be supportive of taking the money meant for the pizza party, and donating THAT money in addition to the money raised through the fundraiser. (What the kids WEREN'T told was that the teacher & student teacher were going to treat them, out of pocket, if they DID elect to send this pizza-party money from the school, to the sick.)

Well, little over half of the class elected to use the school's donated pizza-party money for the pizza party, and NOT to donate that much more to the "pennies for patients" charity. Tay was one of the lesser "half" that raised her hand that she'd rather see that money go to support the sick, than for a pizza party. *grin* I'm so proud of her!!! I'm doing SOMETHING right, evidently. And Scott and I told her how proud of her we are for making such an ethical choice. She still doesn't know that her teacher was planning on buying the class pizza either way.

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The weather's been kinda funny the past couple of days. Sunny & clear skies, but windy as hell, and cold!!! Oh, you can feel some warmth from the sun and the sunlight is causing some of the snow to melt around the edges, but it's still rather cold. The wind is odd, though. It's only been in the past 7 or 8 years that March has been this windy.

When I was growing up I always felt it was odd that the "March winds bring April showers, April showers bring May flowers" rhyme didn't apply to us. Instead, we got our rain in July and early August, and all the windy weather in August as well, right as we were gearing up for school to start.

Now, however, it's windy as hell in March, we still see a bit of snow (and rain, now!) through April and into the beginning of May, and by the end of May the weather turns HOT! We've actually started having DOOZY thunder & lightning storms in June & July, and hot temps well into August & even into September during the days. Our climate seems to have become much more temperate around here. (Which, would hold true with the whole climate shift issue.)

(The lightning is another "new" phenomena for us. If you recall, I actually posted about a fantastic & long-lasted lightning storm on the LAST DAY of August, this past summer. Growing up, we had few lightning storms, and when we DID have lightning, the bolts didn't arc to the ground. They were also over very quickly. About an hour was the normal time limit. Now, we're getting fantastic lightning storms up to 4 and 5 times a week that last a LONG time. A couple of hours. With loads & loads of lightning strikes that arc to the earth from the clouds. The few Thunderstorms (because that's what they were, more than anything) we had when I was growing up would happen almost solely in June. Now we're seeing them well into August, obviously. Another trippy example of climate shift in the interior of Alaska.)

I wait for the day when we hear semi-substantiated reports of tornados in the interior. Supposedly it "can't happen" around here because the proper cloud formations cannot take place due to the large mountain ranges on all sides of us. But, I'm figuring we'll be seeing reports of tornados (though, probably never a F4 or F5) in the next couple of years.

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Ya know.... Regarding peak oil.... I just cannot figure out why our rather pro-active Electic Co-op is not jumping into hydro-electric or wind-farms. We obviously get a good deal of wind around here, even if it is somewhat seasonal. And here in North Pole I live right between 2 rivers (the Chena, and the Tanana). There's even a small dam on the Chena river and a flood-control plain project that was built after a major flood in the 60's. It would seem to me that it'd make sense to get a hydro-electric plant built in correspondence with that dam. And, seeing as we live in a very vast river valley, a wind-farm would make sense as well. But neither option is being acted on (though, they may be in the research stages, for all I know) by our electric co-op. I wonder if I'd have to go to a member's meeting to bring these options up, or if I could do that via phone call or email. It's something I've been meaning to look into.

(We actually have a hot-springs a bit North of us that IS being tapped by the guy who owns the resort based around the hot spring. He also owns the one recycling business in town. He's a jerk, on a personal level, but a very forward thinking person on a business & ecological level. He's actually got the Chena Hot Springs Resort completely energy-self-sufficient and pipes the small amount of left-over electricity into the common grid used by the Electric Co-op. He also uses the radiant heat and property for a somewhat extensive hydroponics farm that produces most of the veggies & fruit used at the resort.)

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Ok. I suppose that pretty well covers things for now. I hope all my friends & fam. have a GREAT Solstice and Easter weekend!!!!!

And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom!!!! (Her birthday falls on Easter this year. And she's spending her birthday in AZ with my middle sis.)

Have a Blessed Day!