Shaking the Shooks (randomness)

Not exactly sure what was hitting my system the other day. I thought it was a simple cold, but it went and turn up on me. I was so sore that I thought I was tearing ligaments every time I tried to get out of bed. Taking my weekly dose of methotrexate was like pouring holy water on a demon.

Ugh.

I'm not running marathons yet, but I am feeling so much better this morning. I had solid food (in the form of this delicious thing called a "breakfast pizza") and I am managing to get some laundry done. Laundry has to be done because I drowned some of my clothing in upchuck...

Anyway, I am trying to get back into moving around and getting things done. I was even able to taste-test a product that I will be reviewing here shortly. In the meantime, thanks to all of you - especially Bonnie and Sandy and Nicky and Merry, and all the others who checked in.

This is what I was blessed to open my eyes to this morning:

Morning's glory

 I literally took that from bed in my family's home this morning. Not a bad sight to wake up too, right? It was/is raining off and on and the sky really did look that gorgeous.

This guy here... This is Hooch. Hooch is Bonnie and Darrell's doggie, but he was all mine while I was sick. They left him in charge of me! He did good. Wouldn't leave my side until I felt better.

He's protecting his yard from squirrels and rabbits

And these are the fresh-from-the-tree apples I nibbled on after breakfast.

So. I'm going to finish laundry and work on getting caught up on reviews. Thanks for sticking around, folks!

Peace
--Free

Creative Gifts

Okay, this is a brag post. I'm showing off some of the creative gifts that my creative niece, Gabby, has been making. You know how you see those Pinterest photos of projects that don't go quite as expected? Well, that's what always happens when I try to make things. My niece is the person who can just see an idea, then she goes off and improves on it.  I can talk her up all day long, but I'll try to let the photos speak for themselves. (I'll try.)

The first time I realized she could transfer her creative skills to edibles... She made this for DJ's first birthday:

And DJ's growing up to LOVE trucks!

Edible rocks & dirt. A kid's dream.

She even put "roadwork" inside

Having a baby? I'll give you onesies & diapers. Gabby will do this, using stuff Mom & Dad need.

Cute, right?

All kinds of useful baby items in this cute bundle

This is a favorite of mine. Airplane.

Bottles, diapers, toys...

She does stuff for the grownups too

Molded edible ornaments

For the game-playing cousin of hers

For her co-workers

With treats inside the treats

Her talents don't end with the gifts. She is going to talk me through making some chairs of my own when I get settled in my new home.

She took a plain set of chairs (left) & put on her spin to match a room decor (right)

Yeah, so, if you want a gift from this family, my feelings won't be hurt if you prefer Gabby's creations.

I'm trying to talk her into doing this as a side business. I mean, on top of her working a full-time job and pursuing her Masters... If you are interested you can connect with her here on Facebook or on Google Plus. Or, you know, me, her favorite auntie!

Peace
--Free

For The Glipho Group

I was talking to a really nice guy over at the Glipho.com social blogging site & really wanted to explain the beauty of Alaska to him. I'm talking about the beauty that we can see just driving around in our cars - not having to fly out over the mountains or get a guide...

So, here is a photo post by someone is not that great of a photographer!

Just a sunset I caught while riding around midtown Anchorage

This is out at Beluga Point. Friend & I drove out one day. 

Can catch a great view even from Walmart's parking lot!

On drive to Beluga Point

Campbell Creek, running next to my family's house

The Homer Spit. Went with fam so they could do fishing charter for the day

Houses sitting on the mountainside at Beluga Point.

Was a beautiful walk in the fam's neighborhood today!

And here are some webcam views

• From the Sheraton Hotel downtown
• Midtown
• Downtown
• Some "weather-cams" at various locations

So, yes, Anchorage is gorgeous when she wants to be, but the winters are getting too long for me. I need some heat!

Peace
--Free

Waiting for Sunshine

I am craving the sun right now. Winter has stretched on for too long.  Already our Alaska daylight is coming earlier and leaving later, but... A little warmth to go with the extra daylight would be heavenly.

But before we get the sun and warmth as a couple, we have to let all this snow melt. There are going to  be weeks of nasty, mud-stained streets and gutters; dirty, left-over clumps of snow. This is the part of the year I hate. At least at the end of fall and the start of winter, the new snow kind of eases in on you. I'm never really mad about that first snowfall. I always stare out at it, thinking how beautiful and clean it makes everything look. I think about fireplaces and quiet nights, reading or watching old movies. That second snowfall, though - now that's a bitch. That's when I remember how long our winters seem to go on and on and freaking eternally on...

For now, I have my mind on hours and hours of daylight.

The summer of 2011, when I first got sick, I was mostly kept sane by all the time I spent on the back deck, feeling warm and held together by the bright sunshine. That winter almost broke me. I felt so sad and scared and alone with all that darkness and cold. Sometimes, I couldn't even pray with words, so I just cried because I know that God understands prayers even when they are in the form of tears.

Tell you what: I am going to be a happy woman when I can sit outside again, and when I can walk and walk and walk; when I can feel the sun and fresh air on my skin.

Goodbye winter. Summer is coming.

Peace
--Free

No more of this, please

No more need for street lights at 4:30 in the afternoon

My summer 2011 view for hours & hours each day

Can't wait for the flower to look like this again!

Want to walk down the street when it looks like this...

 

                                     

...not this

Pictures & Memories in the Making

My sister and I have a box of pictures that have traveled more than most air hostesses. That box holds memories of births, weddings, holidays, funerals, just about everything in this world of ours. For the past five to ten years, paper photos have been replaced by digital cameras and phone cameras. I wonder if my little nieces and nephews will yearn for the days when their parents and I sat around, looking through albums of paper photos.

Of course, maybe digital is the way to go. Just a few nights ago, my sister and I had to pick through one of our old boxes, trying to salvage what we could of photos that had gotten damaged in storage. It broke my heart to peel photos out of their pages. I saw tears rolling down my sister's face when we just could not save a couple of really old photos - some of my mother's brothers and sister. To me, if felt like Mama had left those memories with us for safekeeping and we failed her. It does not help my hurt to know that real memories are kept inside us and not on film.

So, here I am, taking pictures of pictures so that I can save them to my computer and an external drive. Irony?

That's my dad! R.I.P.

Me & my bro. So cool...*

I was happy. He was a little scared.*

A soldier to the end.

Don't know who that baby is I'm holding...?

And we are best of friends to this day.*

Remember the Gheri Curl? Yep. (17yrs old)

Me & my (shadow) little bro & his dog. (Big Spring, TX)

What the hell? Bad hair day. (My sis says I was 8 or 9)

The 3 besties. 16yrs old. Supposed to be doing homework.
Still friends. Still a little crazy.

Young, young, young. 21 yrs old.

My "kid" was only about 25 y/o. The backdrop is real, folks.

Too grown for my own good...

I feel a little bit better now. At least these photos will always be somewhere out there.

Peace
--Free
*photos blurred for privacy

Jonesing, Moving & Losing It

I am in serious withdrawals without my nephew DJ around. And I am slightly pissed off.

My niece and the baby were supposed to be home on Thursday, but... Bill Clinton is going to be in town there, soooo...

Yeah. My niece got tickets to go and see the former POTUS. Now, I have to be without my little Slobber Man for another few days.

I come over here to the house to Skype them every day. This was our fun just now when I called them up and yelled, "STINKS!!!"

~sigh~

That smile of his just melts me down to nothing! He also remembers how to wrinkle his nose & do his "something is stinky" face, but I didn't hit Screen Print fast enough to catch it.

I have told my niece that I don't care if she stays for another year, but I want Stinks home. Now. (Of course, she just had to go and remind me that I live a couple miles down the street now. And, of course, I reminded her that I am over here every day. At least until I get my internet hooked up...)

This next screen capture is proof of miracles. I sang DJ to sleep and his ears didn't melt. (Okay, "sing" might not be the word to use. Let's say that I croaked him to sleep! "Your Love Is My Love!!!")

"Please, Mommy, make Auntie Ya shut up!"

By the way...

This whole moving thing: the BFF and I are pros at getting not a damn thing done when we need to. I am still carting stuff over to the new place every day. I had 3 boxes of nothing but purses. Why? I have no idea. I barely have enough money at this point to need ONE purse!

I had a little bit of a meltdown the other day when one of my nephews didn't make it over on time to clean the carpets. And by "meltdown," I mean "pissy-hissy fit." (Still not all the way off the prednisone, so I have an excuse.)

The new place needs decorating big-time. At least we have a full fridge. When I get depressed, I have at least 6 healthy choices of food & snack. Oh, and I have plenty of clothes. PLENTY. (There is something to be said for being a rabid shopper when you do have the funds. I had the funds at one time, thank heavens, because no matter how broke I get, I will be dressed to kill. Oh, and it helps that some of these "predni-pounds" are starting to come off. Let the Church say, "Amen!")

I should have all my stuff at the new place before the week is out. Meantime, I am loving the BFF more and more everyday. We are trying to figure out why we didn't do the roommate thing before now; that might have saved me doing something stupid - like marrying the one guy in the world I shouldn't have been with 5 feet of. That's another story, so..

Just so you all know: I miss blogging, I miss your emails, and I will be back soon as I can.

Peace
--Free

Homer, AK (post-trip)

Okay, I did it. I made the trip to Homer. It was great & I have checked it off my list. My niece is happy that we spent the time together (well, at least the time outside the car), and I have told her that I've done my family outdoor-camp-hike-rough it deed for the cycle. When she wanted to know what "cycle I was talking about, I reminded her that I give in to her and do something outside my comfort zone about every 3 years.


"Oh, really? When was the last time?" she wanted to know.

I did have to think hard, but I had it. "When we did that glacier cruise thing."

My niece is a sharp lady, but she was looking a little confused.

"With Wolf for his radio station. The Breeze Cruise, remember?"

Her jaw dropped three feet. "That was ten years ago!" 

I did some more thinking and, you know what? She was right. My, my, time just flies, doesn't it?

Give me some credit, though. I did the Alcan with the nutso Ex. That kinda counts, right? And, when I was in Arizona, I camped in the back yard with a couple of the little nieces and nephews. That should count for a freaking lifetime of roughing it. There are lizards, snakes, scorpions and all other kinds of yicky-crawlies down there. (Okay. I did sneak onto the deck after the kids went to sleep, but, still...)

At any rate, I made the Homer trip and made it back mostly sane. I will not be taking any more trips with this particular niece. She knows and she knows why. Now - for the beauty that is this cold-ass state I reside in:

I knew it was going to be around a five-hour ride. Somehow, when you are looking out at this....

 ...you don't think about time.

This was awesome.

 But I think we must have

 been a ways into the drive because

 the other people in the car were

 starting to hate me. There are reasons.

When we finally

 arrived at the "Homer Spit" (I dunno), even D.J. 

was kind of pissed at me. 

He went to my BFF and just kept looking 

me like, well... you can see that picture of him.

He really got an attitude with me when we put on his sunglasses! Thought he was cute, little booger.

The BFF was just eating all that attention from the Deej. It was probably kind of a pop in the jaw when he lost interest in both of us after a group of bachelorettes pulled in next to us. We called it the Party Mobile:

"Last fling B4 the bling!" "Honk 4 hotties!" (the rest NSFanything)

The girls came over to tell us that they'd been kicked out of their last spot for "being too quiet." They saw me trying to get D.J. down for a nap & promised to behave. And they actually did. (I posted the large image so you can see how the ladies decorated. They wore custom t-shirts with a similar theme. Made me and the BFF glad Deej can't read yet.) BTW - they were a bunch of super-sweet young gals. The one getting married hugged BFF and I when we were leaving (even though she was upset we didn't want to toast her good news with a drink) and I sure hope she has a good life.

***

Despite the chill, it was nice there on the Spit (?). Peaceful.

And that creature of the air you see up there, that's an eagle. Wish I'd gotten a better photo, but it was like, "Look! Eagle!" I just pointed and clicked. He was a sight to see.

It was cold as Hitler's heart, but, damn! This was pretty.

And, yeah, D.J. and I made up. I started calling him "Stinky-boo" because he had a case of the toots.

***

For this next one, I sincerely apologize. I know the quality is awful, but I was changing Deej's diaper when the BFF yelled for me to turn around and get a snap of this sunrise. We were afraid it wouldn't last long! A photo can't capture that glory anyway. Even D.J. was in awe.

The rest are just randoms. Hope you likey.

The "Salty Dawg." (I stayed sweet & left well enough alone!)

I have more pics, but my camera is having attitude problems. Will post more if they are pretty good.

Peace
--Free