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September 01 Church CallingsI belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One unique thing about my church is that there is no paid ministry and most of the members hold "callings" such as Sunday School teacher or Organist etc... We don't ask to do a particular job. Usually the Bishop (who is the leader of the individual congregations) will know what positions need to be filled and then he or one of his counselors will ask individuals if they will do it. I have served in many callings over the years including Primary teacher, Relief Society Counselor and Young Womens president. Usually I am blessed from my service in a variety of ways and I probably benefit more than I give out.
This summer I didn't have a calling for much of the time. I was gone from home a lot and it just worked out that way. A couple of weeks ago I got a new calling. This one was Enrichment leader. Basically that means I would head up a committee and we'd plan weekly activities and quarterly events with all the ladies in our congregation. I was excited about this calling. I would get to know a lot of the ladies I haven't really known very well and plan fun activities. Our first event is coming up in just a couple of weeks. We're having an overnight womens retreat at a lake house. I contacted each of the ladies on the committee and we met to discuss the preparations.
There's one thing I've learned after 20 years of service in the church. The moment you get "comfortable" in your calling, you're probably going to get released and get a new job that's more of a challenge. Sure enough! After only 2 weeks of being called to that position, I will be released.
My new assignment is not actually a calling, it is an assignment. I was asked to teach seminary to the sophomore class. Each High school member of the church is encouraged to attend seminary every school day like a regular high school class. In some places they have it during the regular school day but up here they have to get up and start class at 6a.m. That means the teachers arrive at 5:30 to set up the classroom and get ready. I've got to admit that I am very nervous about doing this and feel very underqualified. There are nearly 30 students in the class and at least half of them I don't know very well at all. Luckily I will be team teaching with my good friend Ruth. This is new to her too so we'll have to learn together.
The situation is complicated here because our church burned down over the summer. We've been meeting in the high school for our Sunday meetings but that won't do for anything else, including seminary. When the fire happened in our building, one of the local Catholic leaders was very sympathetic and offered to help in any way he could. He has been so helpful and accomodating, our leaders have been able to rent his church/school for early morning seminary for a very nominal fee. The only problem is we can't leave ANYTHING there. Try to imagine 4 classrooms with approximately 30 kids in each one, needing their binders, scriptures, supplies along with the rooms needing to have tables and chairs set up AND taken down each and every day. The supplies and books have to be kept in the cars of the teachers and some men show up every day to carry it all in and set up the rooms. The same men stick around for that hour until class is over and then they put everything away. I was so impressed as I arrived this morning for my first day. The dedication and service rendered each and every day is amazing. I admire the men who did all the heavy work, the teachers who study 2+ hours a day to teach in the wee hours of the morning to sleepy teenagers, to the sleepy teenagers who show up every morning to learn about the Old Testament before they go to school and to Father Tom from the Catholic church who has been very "Christian" to us
Being the newest teacher and feeling least qualified to be doing this, I hope to learn quickly from those around me. I know I'll be blessed once again as I'm willing to serve. I also know that about the time I start feelin content and comfortable with this job, I'll be released and asked to do something else.
June 17 Things I've learned from father...Throughout my life I have been surrounded by men who have exemplified what I consider to be great fathers. While none of them are perfect, they each exhibit traits that I admire and respect as their roles as a "Father".
The first father of my memory would be my own Father. I remember him as a very hardworking man. He owned and operated an egg farm and did so for about 40 years. He would get up early (Usually around 5am) and work steadily until about 6 at night. I learned to work hard by watching him. Although he worked a lot, he always came home for meals and we ate as a family. Around the dinner table we'd pray as a family, read scriptures, talk about the day and even tease and joke around. I learned about the importance of talking together as a family. Besides working on the farm and many of the other various jobs he did to provide for the family, he served many callings in the church. I watched him go off home teaching, to a High Council meeting to to attend the temple. As I watched him serve other people it taught me to serve others and think more about others than myself. My dad is known for being an early bird. He has a strong sense of duty and of doing what you say you'll do and for fulfilling your obligations. I learned responsibilty from my Dad. My dad is now fighting for his health. I've watched his attitude throughout the last 9 months as he's dealt with cancer and numerous blood problems. He's tried hard to always be positive and upbeat. The nurses all love him to death because of that. As I've watched my dad, I've learned to deal with the trials I face with as much strength and positive attitude that I can. To not wallow in self pity or blame God for my trials.
The 2nd Father I came to know is my Father in Law. I first met LaVoy on the banks of Palisades Dam at about midnight with a fishing pole in his hand. This man was easy to talk with and made me feel comfortable with the family. I learned to talk with people I didn't know very well and hopefully make them feel at ease. Over the years I've watched LaVoy gather the entire family in the living room and kneel for family prayer. He can be having a conversation or even write a letter and always throws in some spiritual advice or maybe scripture. I've watched him be the spiritual leader of the home. I've learned that spiritual things help a family grow closer together. LaVoy is fun to be around and always brings joy in the home. He does some things to get a reaction from June. (my Mother in Law) He likes to wear miss-matched clothes so she'll "yell" at him and make him change. He'll act like he doesn't know the rules to a game or forgot something about the game so we'll all accuse him of cheating. He just laughs about it and the game goes on. He's very good natured and I've never heard him yell at anyone in anger. I've learned to be funloving and mischievious.
The last father I want to talk about is the father of my children, my husband Kevin. He's held each of our children in his arms right after they were born. I've seen him cry as he watched our daughter and we sang "I am a child of God" in church. He's fed, diapered, burped, snuggled and read to each of our children. I've learned about a Father's love by watching him. Kevin's given each of our children nick-names and frequently calls them by those. He plays games with them (video, card, dominoes etc...) watches movies with them, goes fishing, swimming, caving, golfing and to dinner with them. He sings all the time and makes up songs for and about the kids. He genuinely has fun playing with his kids and doing things as a family. I've learned to have fun with the family. I've seen him counsel his children, pray for them and bless them. He's talked with them about school or friends and about what they want to do when they grow up. I've seen the worried lines around his eyes and the stress he felt when they were sick or injured. I've learned about a Father's concern for his children by watching him. I've watched Kevin as he's worked hard to provide for his family. He's worked so they can have a nice place to live, have nice clothes and plenty of food. He's provided them with music lessons, sports, vacations, college, etc... Throughout their lives he's provided for all of their necessities, many niceties and tried to balance the two so they didn't grow up being spoiled or too demanding. I've learned about the balance of material things.
I'm so grateful to be surrounded by so many great fathers in my life. They each possess weaknesses and strengths and I've learned much from both. I look forward to the day when I can watch my sons become fathers and I have great hope for the future as I know they have also learned many things from these men. June 11 Old time ChenaKevin and I have had the opportunity to take an extended weekend away. He has some meetings in Fairbanks and rather than stay at home without him (and celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary by myself) I decided to tag along. We left Friday night and spent a very enjoyable night at our good friends the Oriens, lake house. It was on the way to Fairbanks and the fact that we had fun visiting, playing games and left in the morning with a 5 star breakfast were all bonuses.
The next night we went to Chena Hot springs. This is about 56 miles on the other side of Fairbanks from Anchorage. As we approached the resort, I was very interested to see all the antique farm equipment and other parafenalia decorating the surroundings. I was even more interested to learn the history behind the springs.
(the following is from a pamplet I got at the springs:)
[Chena Hot springs became famous for curing crippled prospectors of their aches and pains as long ago as 1905. A US geological survey crew in 1904 had seen steam rising from a valley somewhere on the upper Chena river. The surveyors concluded that it had to be from a hot springs but did not investigate further. Robert Swan looking for a place where he could ease the pain he suffered from rheumatism, set out in a boat loaded with supplies, in search of the hot springs. Over one month, after leaving Fairbanks, he and his brother arrived at the North Fork of the Chena and poled up that tributary to the mouth of Monument Creek. They ascended Monument Creek a short way, and found the hot springs on August 5, 1905. By 1911, the property boasted a stable, bathhouse and twelve small cabins for visitors.
In 1912 the trail to the springs took only 20 hours actual traveling time, which was in excellent condition for dog mushing and "even passable for bicycles." Regular runs between Fairbanks and the resort via the "Hot Springs Stage" with "comfortable four-horse double rigs making round trips every ten days" was established. Until the trail had been improved in 1911, it took anywhere from one to three weeks to reach the springs from Fairbanks, depending on the weather and road conditions. Travel by horsedrawn rigs had shortened the trip to two and a half days through a stretch of country populated by four roadhouse keepers who made their living feeding and housing the passengers.
As the fame of the hot springs spread, Alaska's delegate to Congress, asked the Department of Agriculture to analyze the waters. The bureau of Chemistry analyzed three pints and concluded that the water was "different from any American hots springs waters consisted of its content of sulfate, chloride, and bicobonate of sodium. In fact, it was very similar to the waters of Felsenquelle, one of the famous springs at Carlsbad in Bohemia.]
As guests of the resort we could swim in the springs for free. We walked through the pool area to the rock pool in back. It was basically an outdoor pool surrounded by big boulders. They had a fountain in the middle spraying water out and another spout on the end where you could stand under it and get a back massage. I put one foot in to test the temperature. NICE!! The average temperature in the hot springs is 146 degrees. When this is mixed with the cool creek water it still makes a pretty hot bathing area. The bottom of the pool was fine gravel. We could only take about 10 minutes of it before we climbed up on some of the surrounding rocks to cool off. We sat on the rocks and noticed a couple of moose trotting past the rock pool. Most of the people in the pool missed it because the rocks were too high but I thought it was pretty cool. When we had had our fill of soaking in the hotsprings, we wandered around the resort looking at all the antiques. After reading the history of the place I started to get a mental image of what it was like 100 years ago. All the antiques I saw were the actual things they used back then. There were some little wagons the people must have ridden in to reach the springs. I thought the 45 minutes it took us was too long let alone the 3 weeks they had to travel. Then we saw this antique snowmachine. This was amazing. It had to have been the oldest snowmachine I've ever seen in my life. Kevin and I sat on it and had our picture taken. There were tractors, an old car, more farm equipment and some things I had no clue what they were. We took pictures of many of these other things and I will post some of them when I get back to Anchorage.
Alaska in the early 1900's was a very rough and rugged frontier. I think about what a discovery the hot springs must have been to Robert and Thomas Swan when they first found it. The people that first visited it were mostly prospectors and frontiersmen. The only thing I was dissappointed in during our visit there was that they didn't have a book of pictures on how the resort has changed in the last 100 years. I'd love to see the ladies and men in their old fashioned swimming suits and how that's changed at the springs. The buildings and modern amenities have changed and even the actual soaking pool must have changed over the years.
Chena Hot springs is definitely worthy of a visit if you like getting in hot water and want a glimpse of old time Alaska.
Tonight we're going on a riverboat dinner cruise and tomorrow (our 20th wedding anniversary) we head home.
June 06 Rollercoaster daysLast night as I was heading to bed, I thought about what kind of a day I had. It reminded me very much of a rollercoaster, in that I had many ups and many downs. The first bad news came when we got a phone call from a man saying he was going to sue us. That’s never a good sign. Our daughter Marie had been in an accident with his son about 2 weeks ago. Marie saw the kid with his blinker on and thought he was turning where she was. He was planning on turning after that road so she pulled out in front of him and he hit the drivers door. That was another rollercoaster day to find out that both cars received major damage (the down part) but nobody was hurt (the up part) Anyway, this guy is suing us and State Farm because our insurance company thinks that Marie was only partially to blame. They're only willing to pay half. The kid did have his blinker on and didn’t turn. The guy was very nice on the phone and apologetic that he was going to do that but it still made for a downturn in my day. My day had a bit of an upswing when my husband calls and tells me he’s in town because he caught an earlier flight home. (12 hours early) I told him of the guy suing us and he made some silly comment about the guy being a crybaby and told me he’d call the insurance company to find out what’s going on. Yea!! I love it when he takes care of stuff like that. This was a definite upturn in my day. This was tempered by another swift dip as I find out that our fixer upper house in Kenai had another glitch. The plumbing and heating guy was there working on it (finally) and the city inspectors drive by, see the truck and went in to ask the guy where his work permit is. I didn’t even know you had to have a permit to have your house worked on. Who told the city they could make you pay for fixing up your house?? Depending on how many square feet they say is being re-modeled, we’ll have to pay up to $1000. The short climb in my rollercoaster ride was falling faster and steeper in this latest plummet. My day rose slightly as I cleaned the house. There’s always a lot of satisfaction to clean and make everything orderly. It was also garbage day and so we collected all the garbage and I had my boys take it out. Again, the gradual incline of my rollercoaster ride had another dip. I discovered (after the garbage men had left) that I inadvertently had thrown a paper bag away that had $30.00 in cash. Why did I get up this morning!!??? My mood was not looking very bright. My downs greatly outnumbered my ups and it was not looking pretty. Rachel could tell Mom was not very happy when she had her snarly hair brushed out. The kids could tell it was not a good day to ask for extra cash or favors when they saw the stern look in her face and little pouts of steam coming from their mothers ears. Mom was about ready to pop a cork! About that time my husband calls again. He listens as I vent and lament the kind of day I’ve had. Then he asks me if I want some good news. YES!!! My rollercoaster has dipped as far as it can. I need to climb another hill just to get back on level ground. He tells me that I’ve been invited to accompany him on an exclusive fly in fishing trip with Wells Fargo on their corporate jet. This isn’t the typical Alaskan fly in fishing trip either. I’ve been on those where they fly you in on little puddle jumpers drop you off in the boonies for a week and then pick you up all stinky and weathered. This trip will be more relaxing and catered. I catch the fish and someone else takes them off the hook and cleans them. All in all I’d say my evened out in the end. There were a lot of ups and downs but I endured and even felt pretty good at the end of the day. Today, however, I’m hoping for a nice quiet merry go round ride. May 22 Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!Why have I been so bad lately at blogging and emailing? Here's what I came up with...
1) Nothing to write about (Sometimes it's pretty boring here and I'd hate to put everyone else to sleep.
2) Beautiful weather... Warm, sunny, gorgeous outside... who wants to be stuck inside...
3) Moments of depression- where I don't feel like doing much of anything
4) Stupid computer!!! I can't even tell you how many times I'd go on to someones website to leave a comment and had the stupid computer freeze up on me. I must have tried at least a dozen times on oldfarmboy's blogs and never could get through.
5) all the back to school stuff going on. (Barbecues, helping in the classrooms, field trips, finals, concerts, special trips to the school for this and that...)
6) Laziness
7) Games, Games and more games!! We are the most game playing family ever I think. It doesn't matter if it's card games like Rook, board games like Monopoly, videogames, computer games, dice games, Dominoes, physical games etc... The Thomas family plays games..... DAILY! So, being part of that family means that if I do come inside and have time to blog or email, chances are I'm going to pull up the computer games I've become addicted to and play that first! I'm considering attending "game-aholics" anonymous so I can admit I have a problem.
8) Kid distractions. Jen getting home from college, Marie crashing the car....again (I'll talk about that in my next blog. At least now I do have something to talk about) Jen getting a new job, Marie looking for a job.
9) Church obligations-
10) New computer (After my stupid computer {4} caused me so much grief and after I prodded and hinted at my husband for several weeks, he bought me my own laptop. YEA!!!! I'm back in business. However with the new computer I suddenly had 100's of files to transfer and things to set up etc... I'm still not finished but it's almost as much fun as playing games. Yes I did get some good games on my computer too, but that's not the point. I couldn't electronically transfer everything because they're different versions and not compatible. Basically I'm also a computer retard so things take me twice as long as it would for computer literate people.)
There they are. My lousy excuses for being such a slug in cyberspace. Now that I'm armed with my new laptop (that hopefully won't freeze on me) I can once again blog and email and surf other webspaces without interru..."What? A new game on Big fish called Peggle Deluxe???? Wooo Hoooo!!"
May 04 sluffing school..... with permissionMy 15 year old son Michael approached me yesterday and asked if he could skip out of school today. I ask the obvious question, "Why?" He gets this goofy look on his face and says that he wants to go to the theatre and watch Spiderman 3. Jennifer, my 18 year old daughter who's home from college, is standing behind him grinning. I find out that they've been plotting and planning this for some time. My initial response is NO. Of course you can't skip school to go to a movie. It's not like they can't go in the evening or on the weekend. They present their case and explain why missing those classes aren't important because he won't be missing anything important and he has the homework from his teachers already etc... Knowing full well that their Dad will say no, I tell them that he can go if it's alright with their Dad.
I think about it a little over the next few hours and I started to see things differently. The biggest question I ask myself is how many teenage boys ask their parents permission to bend the rules? Michael is not the typical teenager. He excels in school as a Freshman and takes pretty intense classes such as Latin and Geometry. He's had a 4.0 for as long as I can remember and is extremely self motivated and responsible when it comes to completing his assignments. His favorite music is classical. He asks all the girls to dance at the church dances and is nice to everyone. I've never heard him swear or even say anything crude. What is so terrible about missing out of a few class periods so he can go to the movies with his sister?
I'd already told him to ask his Dad and I couldn't very well go back on that. I knew he'd need some coaching. "Michael, when you talk to Dad you might mention your good grades and how you've arranged to do all your homework from your teachers. You might also remind Dad about when he was a teenager and how he skipped out of school numerous times." (His Dad was quite the character in High School, but that is for another blog....) Michael took my advice and talked with his Dad when he got home from work. It worked enough to get him to say that it was up to his Mom. The ball was in my court again. Reluctantly I gave my permission for Michael to sluff school and go to the movies with his sister. To do my best at sounding like a responsible parent I added, "Just make sure you get all your schoolwork done!" This was more for my benefit than it was for his. I knew he'd get it done and I wouldn't be the one nagging him to do it.
They got back from the movie a few minutes ago and told me that the movie was really not very good. They did have fun doing some brother/sister things together and taking the day off from school. I think there's a good life lesson there. It's good to take the day off once in a while just to enjoy life and have fun. If my kids continue to be responsible and do well in school I'd let them do it again, without hesitation!
April 25 Going Home Today's ends our Las Vegas trip. I've really enjoyed spending the last few days alone with my husband. The following is somewhat of a travel log. (not the most interesting read in the world) Mostly I'm writing for my own benefit so I can put it in my journal when I get home. It's also posted here for my parents who act interested in this mundane dribble. My next entry should (hopefully) be more interesting.
On Sunday we drove out to the Museum of Natural History. We wandered around there looking at all the animals. The dinosaur display was quite impressive. Then we went back to our hotel, had some lunch and then went to the Imax Theatre. This was also about dinosaurs. It was a 3D movie and was really quite amazing. I wasn't feeling the best so we went back to our room early and just relaxed after that.
Kevin's classes started on Monday so I had a lot of time by myself. I took my time getting up and then wandered over to the Mandalay Bay Hotel and went through the Shark Reef exhibit. It took about an hour if you weren't in a hurry. When that was over I came back to the Luxor and went on the Haunted mansion imaxride. It wasn't very crowded that time of day. In fact, there was one other couple and me. I felt kind of stupid doing everything alone but it was either that or do nothing. After the ride I got some lunch.... alone. I was really beginning to feel like a loser. I was also feeling very tired and still not the best so I opted to go back to my room for a nap. No such luck. The maid was in there cleaning. Then I decided I'd lay out by the pool. I chose one of the only chilly, windy days here to do that. There were a few brave souls out there but they were all huddled in towels. I lay there long enough to guarantee my room was empty. Once I was back in my room I managed to get my nap in. I'm so glad I did because I felt 100% better and was ready for the evening's festivities. Kevin and I went to the Excalibur hotel for the "Tournament of Kings" dinner show. It was the kind of show where they bring you a plate of food (cornish hens, roll, potatoe wedges etc..) and no utensils. You eat with your hands. We had dragons blood (tomato soup) as an appetizer and some kind of apple fritter for dessert. The show consisted of 7 kings from various countries (ours was from Russia) competing in all kinds of things. There was everything from sword fights to jousting (yes on real horses) There was a lot more to it than that with acrobats, and dances and quite a bit of pyrotechnics. It was a lot of fun and would definitely recommend it.
Tuesday was another day of Kevin's classes. This time I went to King Tut's museum here in the hotel and rode another imax ride. The Imaxride was "In search of the Obelisk". I really didn't want to sit down there and eat lunch by myself again so I came back to my room and found Kevin there. Yea!! I had a lunch date. After lunch I went out by the pool again. This time it was warm and sunny so I stayed long enough to start a sunburn but not long enough to suffer with it. I got a lot of reading done and I thought of Linda (Mitchowl) She'd be proud of me that I've found some time to read. By the time I fly home I will have finished my book! Anyway, Kevin got home a little early on Tuesday and we had a dinner date with a friend of his Blake. Blake was a friend from High school and has been a good friend of Kevin's for probably 30 years. I felt kind of bad for him last night though because he had just signed his divorce papers on his 23rd wedding anniversary. We had a nice dinner and then went to the Las Vegas LDS Temple. That is a gorgeous temple. Anyway we went through a session and then stood out in the parking lot talking. I've seen a lot of changes in Blake since the separation of him and his wife and he seemed truly humbled to me. We had a nice talk and evening with him and I hope he will be able to find happiness in his future. After talking with Blake about the last year it makes me more grateful than ever about my own marriage. It's something you should never take for granted.
Kevin and I fly home this afternoon. That means I have the morning to shop. I wrote on the schedule for the kids that at 10:30 this evening, dad and I would be flying home to find a "clean house, sleeping children and NO bad surprises". I promised them that if that were the case, there would be (good) surprises for each of them. So now the hunt for good surprises is on. I've got Chris finished and have only 4 more to go.
The trip has been great. The best part has been spending time alone with my husband. Now I feel "charged up" enough to go home and be a housewife and mother again. April 22 Vegas tripThis was a week I had been waiting for. Kevin had some business meetings in Las Vegas and we happened to have a companion fare for $50.00! I love it when that happens! We left on Friday. I always feel kind of bad leaving the kids home. The older kids are fine when we leave but Rachel really makes me feel guilty. She kept hugging me and telling me "I love you, Mom" and "I'm going to miss you so much". Yea, I had major guilt in leaving her. Anyway, we fly to Seattle. The plane landed and everybody is ready to get off when they come on the speaker and tell us to sit back down. Instantly I'm thinking of the plane that sat on the tarmac for 12 hours. A few minutes later three uniformed police officers got on and went to the back of the plane. They're looking for somebody but can't find them. Then we hear over the intercom, "Would Janet Clayborn (I can't remember her real name) please ring your call button." Nothing happens. Kevin and I couldn't help but laugh at this. We're thinking: Janet Clayborn, would you ring your call button so these officers can arrest you.... Did they really think she would? One of the policemen walks back down the aisle muttering, "Ok, if you want to do this the hard way..." It took several more minutes but eventually they did walk out with two women in custody. Our trip continued
We land in Vegas a few hours later. Fortunately we had our bags with us but I was still amazed at how long it took to walk across the airport, shuttle to the rental cars, wait in that line, and leave the airport. We were starving and ended up going to Ihop for some dinner (breakfast?) It was after midnight by now. We also stopped at a store to pick up some things and then drove on to our hotel. The line to check in was longer than any line we'd seen that day. Unbelievable! We're staying at the Luxor which is the hotel shaped like a pyramid. We're somewhat underwhelmed. The room prices are in the $230 -$500 a night range (Business expense) and the rooms aren't even that nice. I'm sure there are better rooms than what we have but I'm looking at the back end of the hotel where a couple of tour busses sit. I planned on using the workout room each morning and learned that it cost $25 a day just to go in there. At that price they should do the workout for me! I thought the "New York" was expensive but at least they included free spa tickets and rollercoaster coupons to their guests. Luxor doesn't comp you anything.
The hotel isn't the best but the trip has been fabulous. Kevin suprised me last night with tickets to see Phantom of the Opera. I wasn't even planning on going to a show because I just figured they were too expensive. Phantom plays at the Venetian Hotel and our tickets were for 9pm last night. I was hoping I could stay awake for them since I'm really not a night owl. We walk in the theatre and I can tell it's going to be great. Our seats had to have been the best in the house. We were sitting directly under the giant chandelier. At one point in the play the chandelier dropped and looked like it was going to fall directly on our heads. The hour and a half we were in there was a complete thrill. I've never enjoyed a theatre production as much as I did that one last night. Kevin scored big brownie points for that little surprise.
I'm not sure what we're going to do today. We may go for a drive to Hoover dam or visit the shark reef at Mandalay bay. I know my oldest daughter Jennifer is flying home today and I'm going to miss that but I'll see her in a few days. Kevin and I don't gamble and I hate all the nudy pictures and billboards we see everywhere. I guess you could say we're not typical Vegas tourists. We are having fun though and are really enjoying this little excursion. 20 years ago at this time we were planning our June wedding so I guess this is kind of a celebration of our 20 year wedding anniversary. April 19 LockdownI have reached a time in my life when all my children are old enough to go to school. I was amazed at how quiet the house was when they were all gone. It only stays quiet for a few hours and then they all start coming home again. Still, I thoroughly enjoy the time I have to get my jobs done, run errands and even do some volunteer work. I volunteer at the temple and at the school a couple days a week. The work at the temple is in the office where I mostly do paperwork and answer phones. The volunteer work I do at the school is for Rachel’s kindergarten class. Every Tuesday I go in the classroom and usually work with the children reading stories, doing an art project or drilling them with flashcards. It’s a lot of fun to be in there with the kids and I especially enjoy being able to watch the interaction between Rachel and the other kids. She enjoys having me there and always runs up and gives me a hug when she sees me. Sometimes when the kids have a special project they’re working on or when the teacher just has too many things that need to be done, she’ll have me do some jobs in the work room. This mostly involves cutting paper or making copies. I’ve even cleaned out and organized her closet cupboards before. My favorite thing to do would be to work with the kids. A while ago I was finishing up in the classroom and getting ready to leave when I heard the intercom come on. The principal said they were having a lock down drill right now. I have never been in one of these and wasn’t sure what to do. The kids had been through this many times and immediately they huddled on the floor by the coats. The teacher locked the door and turned out the lights and asked me to draw all the shades. The kids knew they were supposed to be very quiet so nobody said a word. Rachel climbed on my lap and started hugging me. After about 5 minutes I could hear someone wiggling the door handle and then walking on. A couple of minutes later and it was over. I couldn’t help but feel just a little sad that we have to have our children go through drills like this because there are evil people in the world that would do them harm. I asked at the front office how many drills the kids go through in a year and they told me they go through 3 drills every month; Fire drill, Earthquake drill and lockdown. I remember fire drills growing up. Earthquake drills were new to me when I moved to Alaska. Lockdown drills are more recent. I can hardly believe anyone could be so evil as to go into a school like that and harm those children and yet we see that very thing recently happen in Virginia. My heart just goes out to all the families of those who were involved. Their hearts must be breaking. As I sat on the floor in the classroom that morning, holding my daughter, I secretly wished that if anything bad did happen then I would be with her so she wouldn’t have to go through something like that alone. April 13 Ugly stage Several years ago My Mom and sisters started tole painting. I don't live very close to them but when I visited I "caught the fever" and wanted to learn how to do it as well. I remember sitting down with them to learn the basics. Some of the early projects I worked on were looking so terrible. I remember saying how I just wasn't any good at that and maybe painting was something I just shouldn't attempt. My Mom then told me something that I will always remember. She told me to just stick it out because right now it was just in the ugly stage. It has to go through that "ugly stage" before it can become beautiful. I did stick it out and was amazed at the results. It looked very much like a beginner paint job but it wasn't really as terrible as I thought it would. In fact I thought it looked pretty good. She was right. I just had to endure the ugly stage so it could become beautiful.
March and April have be be the UGLIEST time of the year in Alaska. The summers here are beautiful. Everything is green. Flowers grow everywhere. I think I even heard that Anchorage was the hanging (flower) basket capital of the world. Wild flowers and purple fireweed grow along side the roads. The drive along cook inlet is one of the most beautiful in the country. I've driven along there and seen dall sheep on the cliffs on one side and beluga whales on the other side. The fall here is quite beautiful as well. It happens fast. One week you're enjoying summer, the next two weeks the leaves all fall off and before you know it it's snowing. Even the snow in the winter has it's beauty. Everything is so white and clean. One of things the city does in the winter is encourages Christmas lights all winter long. They call it the "city of lights". The lights and the snow really do make the city brighter and more cheerful during the long dark winter months. We also enjoy the Northern lights in the winter. Those are best seen away from the city of lights however.
Then we come to Spring. The winter is trying hard to be over sometime around March and April. The snow starts to melt. All of the piled snow starts showing the sand and gravel that was put on the roads all winter long. It looks like big piles of black snow everywhere. The roads become wet from the snow melting and that dirty water is splashed everywhere while people are driving. Every car in Anchorage looks the same, dirty gray. Most people's lawns are still covered with the dirty snow and it will take awhile for it to melt and dry out enough to rake. It still freezes at night so it's too early for hanging baskets. The drive along Cook Inlet is quite beautiful on the mountain side. The frozen waterfalls are starting to melt and the snow on the mountains is still white. The Inlet side is not so pretty. It is interesting however. All winter long as the tide comes in and out, you end up with massive dirty ice chunks everywhere. It reminds me of "craters of the moon" park.
Even though it is the ugliest time of year, I can't help but be excited. The days are getting longer, the air is getting warmer and I know that Spring will come soon. The words of my Mother remind me that I just need to hold on and endure through the "ugly stage" so it can become beautiful. April 10 Easter 2007The day started out at 4am. I was out of town for April Fools day and felt bad that I didn't have a chance to pull any pranks on my family. I don't know what possessed me but I woke up at 4am and slipped quietly out of bed. I could hear my husband Kevin snoring away in a very deep sleep. I took the flashlight and fingernail polish that I hid the night before and walked to his side of the bed. Ever so gently I proceeded to paint his toenails red with just a hint of pearly pink. I could do this because he rarely sleeps under the covers. I finished up, slipped back into bed and couldn't help but smile at the reaction I knew I'd get in the morning.
I woke up a few hours later and came into the office. A little while later Kevin gets out of bed and staggers into the bathroom as he tries to wake up. About 2 minutes later I hear him saying "All right, who did this? I suppose the Easter bunny did it!" He spent the next 10 minutes searching for the acetone as I sat innocently working on the computer. I should have made him go through the day with pretty toenails but his will was too strong and I finally relented and told him where it was.
Besides the toenail incidident, it was Easter. We celebrate the true meaning of Easter but we also enjoy the secular traditions of the Easter bunny and candy etc... The Easter bunny around our house is pretty conservative though. Each of the kids got candy, chocolate bunny and a book in their basket. My 16 year old daughter Marie acted a bit dissappointed as she looked right at me and said, "Doesn't the Easter bunny know we don't read?!" I told her that maybe he was giving her a message that she should start. I told that to my other daughter Jennifer, who is at college right now. She had little sympathy since she didn't get anything at all. Jennifer will be getting home in 12 days!!
Rachel had a new Easter dress for church and got chocolate all over the front. She had to change right before church and put another dress on. Half way to church I look back and see that she has chocolate all over her 2nd dress. I gave up.
Easter Sunday was also the first day we had church in the High school since our church was on fire. It was very interesting. It was kind of a different set up but I thought the reverence level was actually better. We had a beautiful musical program and an excellent talk on the Savior and His sacrifice for us. After Sacrament meeting we went to our other classes. We had maps of the school so we could find our them. I was in the primary room and the children were great. The Bishop said that they are getting ready to construct another church. It had been approved before the fire so that wasn't new but they are now going to build it at an accelerated pace so hopefully we'll be in a new building in one year.
This week I've had my really good friend Carol and her family up here visiting from Utah. She moved from Alaska about 8 months ago and came back for a visit. We ended our easter with Carol and her family at another friends house for dinner. The food was great and it was wonderful to be around so many close friends.
This Easter was different than any other. It started out kind of silly. There were a lot of "firsts" this year with the school-church building and with my daughter being away at college. We were around more friends than usual. I hope that each of you had as good of an Easter as we did. April 04 Alaskan MooseOne unique part of living in Alaska is the moose. Up here there are hundreds of them and they just wander around the city and do pretty much what they want. When my children were little I remember them coming in the house and telling me there was a moose in the yard. I didn't believe them but thought I should check it out to be sure. Sure enough there was a moose wandering through the yard. He stopped to eat my raspberry plants, leave a few moose droppings and then went to the next yard. I nearly hit one a couple of months ago as it jumped onto the road right in front of me and trotted across the street. I slammed on the brakes and turned enough to avoid the moose without losing control. I see them on my way to the kids school, or to the store or to church. Basically they're everywhere. They warn the children during school if there is a moose on the nearby trails or yards by the school and tell them to take an alternate route when walking home. Moose are very mild mannered and would not go after anyone (Imagine a 400 pound cow with antlers) however they can kill you by stomping if they feel threatened or cornerered. A few years ago there was a moose near the local university. Most people were walking around it and giving it a wide berth. One older man tried to walk around the moose to go inside the building. What he didn't know was that some teenagers had been teasing the moose by throwing snowballs at it. The moose was highly agitated and ended up knocking the unsuspecting man to the ground and stomping him to death. Anyway, the point is they are still wild animals and should be treated with respect.
I was driving home from my friends cabin last weekend and noticed a mother and baby moose walking across a frozen lake. Yes, we do still have frozen lakes and snow on the ground. This week is about the first time all winter it's gotten warm enough (40's) to start melting the snow. I thought it was pretty cute but I was kind of worried that the ice would break and they'd fall in. My daughter wants to drive all over taking pictures of the moose so she can enter a contest for the local newspaper. My son is nicknamed Moosie. We used to have a freezer full of moose and prefered that over beef.
I enjoy living in the land of the moose. I've lived here a total of 15 years and I still think it's neat to see them while I'm driving around. The question is, what do you do when one drops dead in your yard? My very good friend wrote about her experience with that and I thought it was quite entertaining. For a fabulous blog, check it out at: http://www.orienfamily.com/ April 02 Caramelized Pecan PieCaramelized Pecan Pie
15 oz bag of caramels 1/2 cup butter
6 oz can evaporated milk 1 cup chopped pecans
16 oz pkgs cream cheese 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla
1 10 inch unbaked pie crust
In small saucepan melt together caramels, butter and evap.mik. Stir until smooth. Place pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie crust. Top with all but 1 cup of the caramel mixture and lightly spread over the pecans. Soften the cream cheese with a mixer until fluffy. Add sugar, eggs and the vanilla. Pour batter over the caramel-pecan layer. Bake at 350 degrees until pie is set in the center, about 35 to 40 minutes. Set aside to cool. Top with the reserved caramel and garnish with a sprinkle of pecans in the middle of the pie.
March 29 Sifting through the rubble I found out a couple of days ago that they were going to let some of us go through the church and salvage things from our closets. There were 4 wards in our building and each one had about 300-400 people. Out of the wards are different organizations and the leaders of those organizations are the ones that were supposed to go in. Currently I work in the Primary organization which is basically the program for all the children from 18 months to 12 years old. This morning my daughter Rachel wakes up and is sick. I think it's the only time all year she's really gotten sick and had to miss school. I can't take her with me so I call the other lady that's going to go with me to see if her daughter can babysit for an hour. She can. We're supposed to meet there at 12 noon with all the other leaders and go in together. At 5 minutes to, I get a phone call that I have to drive. We end up all going to the church. Rachel and the babysitter are just going to have to wait in the car.
I've driven by the church several times and it looks terrible. Walking into it was even worse. I notice all the burnt rubble and feel the wet carpets. The smell is very strong and made me glad I had a mask on. The windows are covered in ice and it's quite chilly inside. I realize after I walk inside that I didn't have the foresight to bring a flashlight. Of course there's no electricity and the only light is coming from the windows and doors. Actually there was some light coming from the gym area. That was pretty wierd because the light was from an open ceiling that had burned down. We can see well enough to get to our closet and open it up. Everything looks fine except a few things that were wet. We left all the books and binders that were on the shelf. Even the brand new hardback primary song book. We had a lot of big plastic containers with stuff inside. We took most of that stuff out to our cars. It was impossible to tell if the things in the containers smelled like smoke when we were still inside the building. I checked on the kids in the car and found that Rachel had been puking in the bowl she had. Poor babysitter! I took care of her and then hurried back to help. Everything we keep will have to be thoroughly washed. A lot of the stuff we took out will still need to be thrown away. I walked into the Primary room and saw the piano there. I played a little tune. It still worked. Then we walked over to the nursery area and pulled out the toys. A few things will be able to be washed but I just took pictures of most of it for an inventory of what we lost.
I watched church members all working together and packing up stuff that could be salvaged. I looked down the hallways and into some of the rooms. I couldn't help but think about how many memories I have in that building. Some of the things in the closet have been in there for years. In a way, it will be nice to start fresh and not have so much clutter in there. It still made me sad as I looked around and realized how much had changed.
Two of the wards will meet in one of the local high schools. Two more of the wards will be in the middle school. We'll use the schools for Sunday services only. All the week day activities are still to be worked out. While it is going to be an inconvenience for the next 1-2 years, I do think that people are made better and stronger as they live through adversity. If nothing else, it will make us appreciate the new building we get and maybe not take it for granted as much. March 28 White Chocolate PopcornWhite Chocolate Popcorn 1 1/2 pound almond bark or white chocolate 3 Tbsp Creamy Peanut Butter 2 Bags microwave popcorn ( I use 2 1/2 to 3) remove the unpopped kernals 3 Cups Rice Krispies 2 Cups Honey Roasted Peanuts Melt the bark and PB together in microwave. Mix the popped popcorn, rice krispies and peanuts together. Pour melted coating over popcorn mix. Stir until coated, pour on a cookie sheet and let cool in fridge 15-20 minutes. Break up into smaller pieces. March 25 Church on fireI've been living the last week down at our house in Kenai. We have no internet, phone (other than cell) newspaper , cable tv etc... We could have all that stuff there but since we don't live there all the time we don't. When I'm away like that I really feel "out of touch" with the outside world. We were at our cabin when the tsunami hit and killed 1000's of people. In 2001 we were living in Sammamish but had no cable television so it took a while to find out about the world trade centers being hit. This past week I got a message on my cell phone that our church was on fire. I was immediately shocked and wanted to know more about what was happening. I couldn't of course because I had no cable television and internet. Thank goodness I had my cell phone and was able to call and get more information from friends. The church is still standing (for the most part) but is completely unusable. Today we are meeting for a short church service at another building but with 8 congregations it's going to be very cramped. The leadership of our church will be meeting with the school board tomorrow to try and work out some temporary arrangments to rent some of the schools for the next 6-8 months. All the high school aged kids meet regularly at 6am every school day for early morning seminary. Now that the church is gone they will be going to individual houses that are near the church and have their classes there. Week day activities for the youth, scouts and cubscouts will either have to be held at individual homes or other places in the community. We use our building a lot and it will be hard to get along with out it for the next while. I think sometimes it's easy to take things for granted until they're gone. During the fire, some of the other church leaders from other faiths approached our church leaders and told them that they were all praying for us and we could use any of their churches. I was happy to hear that and very grateful. That kind of attitude hasn't always been the case. Anyway, I'm back in the land of internet, cable tv and newspapers. I got these photos from my daughter in Utah. Truly sad!
 
March 16 A thought on character
A person’s true character is defined best after enduring a conflict or personal tragedy. That is the time we can see what kind of person they truly are. Imagine a flood sweeping through a community. On the one side of the character spectrum you have people that are looting, taking advantage of the circumstances for personal gain and blaming others or God for their circumstances. On the other side of the character spectrum you have the heroes. People who would give everything they have to help others, including their own lives. Those who thank God for their trials and try to figure out what they can learn from them. I think about people in my own life who have had a lasting impact on me with their examples of high, moral character. There are a couple of people that stand out. One is a good friend of mine who lost her husband a few years ago and the other is my Dad. At some point I may write about my friend but for now I want to talk about my Dad. His birthday is this Sunday and I’ve been thinking about him and his life. He has certainly known his share of adversity. Having grown up through the depression he knows what it’s like to go without many luxuries we now take for granted. He worked hard on his family farm as a young man and was never paid. I remember him talking about vagrants who would stop by frequently asking for something to eat. Their farm was next to the railroad tracks so this happened fairly often. They always had a bit of work for them to do but would always feed them well and send them off with extras. My Dad was blessed with the ability to provide for his own family when he grew up. For 40 years he developed and operated his own egg farm. Despite the numerous trials he endured with this, his character remained strong and was a great example to those around him. For instance: 1) There were 2 fires on the farm. The first one, started by lightening, burned down one chicken house. The other one started in the attic of the egg processing plant on Christmas Day. Most of the damage for that one was limited to the stock of egg cartons. Replacing them in a hurry was not easy. 2) They had two floods. The first one you can check out the full details on: http://mitchowl.spaces.live.com/ Feb 8, 2007 archives for Linda’s blog on flood of 62. The other flood was when the Teton Dam broke. We didn’t get hit with water but we did take a lot of people in to live with us. Dad took his “honey wagon” (I don’t know why they called it that…) around and sucked the flood water out of people’s basements. He did that until it broke down and couldn’t be used anymore. This was costly for him but he never charged anyone for the help. 3) There was a power failure in one of the brooder houses. It was full of partly grown baby chicks. All 13,000 smothered and died. He had to get a backhoe to come in and dig a big hole just so they could bury all the chickens. That was a very devastating blow to the farm and was more or less the beginning of the end. They just couldn’t recover from that. That happened on Mom and Dad’s wedding anniversary. He has always tried to be honest in all his dealings with people. When they lost the farm, he managed to pay everyone money that he owed them, even though he did not get money that was due him by other people. I always respected my Dad for doing that rather than taking the easy road and declaring bankruptcy. He had to find other work to support his family when the farm was gone. He hated most of the jobs he had including delivering fertilizer to farmers, working at Deseret Industries, and pulling mobile homes with my brother Ron. That was just way too stressful and you can check out a story about that on: http://myspinonit.spaces.live.com/ for his March 4, 2007 blog. He also drove charter bus which he didn’t like and worked for Greyline and drove school bus which he did enjoy. Despite the headaches on the farm and other jobs he’s had, there were other trials and tragedies to be endured. Maybe the biggest personal tragedy was in December of 1956. The whole family had been sick with the flue. Gary, their 18 month old baby, was particularly cranky and that was unusual for him. The Dr. told them that he would give him a penicillin shot and to take him home and put him to bed. The next morning, Dad got up, fed the chickens and came back in the house and found Gary, dead in his crib. It was devastating to the family. He didn’t blame God for taking away his son. Dad told me that he resolved right then that he needed to get his own spiritual life in order and not take it for granted. My brother Keith was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the road. The kid on the motorcycle was on a borrowed bike, showing off for a girl. Keith was in the hospital for weeks and was in a hospital bed at home for longer than that. There was no settlement. The kid and his family were not sued. My Dad has also had his share of physical maladies. He’s had operations on his back, for his hernia, on his gallbladder and his prostate. He fell off a 3 story building on the farm into a pit and sustained broken ribs and a cracked pelvis. There have been other injuries as well. Last September he found out he had Lymphoma. The last few months have been difficult as he’s undergone chemotherapy, numerous blood transfusions and medical tests. It is currently in remission but he is at high risk for leukemia and will never fully regain his health. He has said that he wants to stay alive as long as he can but he is willing to go if it is the Lord’s will. I have always felt like my Dad was a man of high moral character. Throughout his life he has dealt with each hardship and trial with strength and virtue. These last few months as I see him dealing with cancer I’ve been amazed at his ever positive attitude and his gratefulness to God for all of his blessings. I hope that I will be able to endure the many trials I will have in my own life with the same morals and high character that my Dad has displayed. I love you Dad! Happy Birthday!!
March 13 Mind over MatterI just got back from working out at the gym. I try to go every weekday for 30 minutes on the elliptical and then occasionally when I feel I have enough time I’ll do weights. I’ve gotten up as early as 5 or 6 and gone in with my husband but lately I go after I drop my daughter off at school. I’m motivated to try and get into shape but most times I fight the mental battle of going in. Little aches and pains, too much going on, I’m too tired this morning, are all reasons I’ve debated over as I lay there and decide if this is a work out day or a “lazy” day. This morning was like so many other mornings. I got my work out clothes on, dropped Rachel off at school, took my MP3 player and went. As I walked into the cardio room I noticed that there weren’t many people there. That was good. I’m always a bit self conscious anyway. I also noticed that they had the sound system off for the row of tv’s and were working on them. They’re getting ready to install a 2nd row of tv’s so it was all in a jumble. That didn’t bother me because I never listen to the tv anyway. I always watch the screen and listen to my own music. I try to do everything I can to keep my mind off of the exercise. As my mind wanders or a slower song comes on I struggle to keep the pace up and not quit early. About 5 minutes into my workout a lady got on the elliptical next to mine. I thought that was a little odd because there were so many empty machines. That was fine though. Then she said something to me so I moved my earphones to hear what she was saying. She just started up this conversation about the sound system and how hard it would be to work out without the music. I didn’t put my headphones on again. For the next 30 minutes I talked with this complete stranger about exercise, families, goals, tv shows etc… I didn’t think about how many miles I was going or the fact that the difficulty level was set higher than usual for me. My pace didn’t slow down and I wasn’t really that tired when I went over my usual 30 minutes. Truth be told, I could have kept going if my machine wouldn’t have shut down. (I didn’t program it to go longer because I never go over 30 minutes) I was so glad this lady talked to me. I realized that maybe I’m going about exercising in the wrong way. I should think of it more as a social time to catch up on girl talk with old friends and maybe make some new friends as well. With that attitude I will have already won the mind battle and can just enjoy the physical benefits that will eventually come. March 06 Alaskan AdventureHave you ever dreamed of coming to Alaska and getting out there to catch the monster King Salmon? Have you ever had any desire to camp in the marvelous outdoors and to experience the breathtaking scenery of Denali? Well here is the true story of one of our families Alaskan vacations….. The Blessed event started on June 28th, 2004. Kevin's sister Michelle and her husband were visiting us along with John and Isa. Kevin, John, Isa, Scott, Michelle, Jennifer, Lindsey (she is a close friend of Jen and Marie's visiting us from Washington) Michael and Chris left around 3a.m. on Monday to go up to Montana creek to go King Salmon fishing. They had a great time and caught 5 rather large fish. They weren't monster Kings. They averaged about 25 pounds each or so. Still it was quite a lot of fish in the coolers. Marie, Rachel and I stayed at home so we could finish getting ready and I had an appointment I didn't want to miss. I had to grill some chicken for that night too but with all the other stuff I had to do, I ended up forgetting it on the grill and burning them into little black balls. I bought some cooked chicken to go… We coordinated when we'd leave via cell phone and met up with the other group around Palmer. We were heading to Glenallen area where we had some cabins reserved for the next 2 nights. It was several hours away but it was a very pretty drive. Rachel had begun mooing about her tummy hurting but soon we were there. Kevin had spoken to this campground over the phone and reserved 4 cabins at $29.00 each. When we got there they said that was wrong, it was $49.00 each and they weren't really cabins. It was kind of like a big double wide trailer with 4-5 bedrooms on each end and some community bathrooms/showers in the middle. Whatever! We ended up getting 5 rooms and were just happy to finally be there and have somewhere to sleep. Everyone was hungry though so we got out our food and tried to decide what to fix for dinner. I had the cooked chicken all ready so we had chicken twisters that night. We were a little worried about food since our meals were mostly supposed to be cooked over an open fire and there was a fire ban all over. The next day was somewhat uneventful. We did try fishing for Kings in the Klutina river but it is a very fast moving river and the fishing was very slow right then. Even if we did manage to get a fish on, most people were using a 100 pound tess line to get them in. Since the fishing was so poor we decided we'd do a little exploring. We ended up driving 2 of our vehicles down this 4wheel drive road for 25 miles to look at the klutina lake. I have pictures of the water we drove through and the almost impassible roads we drove on. Kevin and Scott were having fun. Michael had fun when we was asked to wade through the water to make sure it didn't get too deep to drive through. We saw a porcupine up close and personal and I think that was probably the highlight of that "adventure".
The fire ban was lifted to some degree and we were able to cook tin foil dinners that night. The next day we packed up and planned on driving north to Paxson and then West along the Denali Hwy to Denali Park. Then Scott, Michelle, John and Isa would stay at the park and the rest of us would go home and process that fish etc… The scenery was very much a disappointment since the forest fires they've had up there completely filled the sky with smoke. We did stop once or twice to picnic and fish. I was standing by the river when a bird flew overhead and pooped in my hair. I wasn't very happy about that but at least we were going home and I'd be able to wash my hair and shower tonight!! We got to Paxson for a quick potty/ice cream break and then got on the Denali Highway. It's called a highway but in reality, it is 133 miles of gravel, windy roads over hills and through valleys and even a 4-5000 foot summit. We started looking at the clock and estimating what time we'd get back into Anchorage. We wouldn't get to really visit with Scott and Michelle anymore so we decided that we'd leave them and just go straight home. Then they could take their time and stop to look at things etc… Kevin left first with Jen, Lindsey and Marie. I was 2nd to leave with Michael, Chris, Rachel, Smokey (our dog) and Dottie. (John and Isa's new puppy) I was driving along just fine and making pretty good time. I was probably going between 45-50 mph most of the time. Then I start hearing some bad noises. I pull off the road and sure enough I have a massively flat tire. It's not only flat, it's completely busted open. We look all around and I finally find a spare tire but have no clue how to get it down. Pretty soon Scott and Michelle drive up and he helps change my tire. What a life saver. Michael keeps saying that it couldn't get any worse. Then we decide that they will follow me just in case. We drive for about 4 more miles and I start hearing another, pretty bad sound. I pull over and find another flat tire. I have no more spares. I'm at mile 90 of a 133 mile gravel road in the middle of nowhere and we have absolutely no cell phone service. I'm quite certain that Kevin must be off the dirt road by now and I can't call and tell him I'm in trouble. The only thing we can do is all pile into John and Isa's little car and try to drive out of there. It is a little car too. Chris, Rachel and Dottie lay in the back on top of all the stuff back there. John, Isa, Michael and I sit in the middle seat. (this is NOT a very wide seat) We were almost sitting sideways so we could all fit. Scott drove and Michelle sat in the front with Smokey on the floor with his head on her lap. Rachel's crying because her belly hurts and she's hungry etc… (She did manage to pee outside by a rock and that was a big accomplishment) Michael was saying that, "At least it can't get any worse…" He got slugged for that one. We drove like this for another 5-10 miles and came upon Kevin. He had been sitting there for 1 ½ hours with another busted out tire. He had a perfectly good spare tire, but when they sold him the truck, they lied to him about having the jack and all the tools necessary to get the tire down. He had no way of getting at his tire. Some guy had stopped to help him and they got his spare tire and were trying to get it to work. It didn't really fit but with a lot of desperation and adrenelin, they managed to get it on there anyway. Kevin gave the guy $100 for his time and trouble and we promised we'd deliver the tire back to him when we got it replaced. It did ease up our riding conditions somewhat. Some of us could get out of the small car and ride in the truck. We drove around 25 mph for the next 25-30 miles all the way to Cantwell. By then it was around 8p.m. and everyone was exhausted and starving. We managed to find a place we could rent a couple of rooms in and they even had a restaurant open. We had a really nice dinner and then the Bells all went to Denali where they had reserved a couple of cabins (nice ones, not rooms in a doublewide) and we went to our rooms and crashed. I did shower first but unfortunately they had no shampoo. I had to abandon EVERYTHING at the van since there wasn't any room to take it. I had to wash my hair (and the bird poop) out with a bar of facial cleanser. After the shower I got to put all my dirty clothes back on since my extra clothes were sitting 43 miles back on the Denali HWY. The next day we were able to get our tires replaced. We found a tire shop "Alaskan style". The guy had 100's of tires and they were scattered all around his yard. He had an old school bus in as sort of a shed. He was quite helpful though and didn't gouge us too badly. Scott came and picked up the kids so they could hang out in their cabin (checkout was at noon and we did NOT want to stay another night) while Kevin and I drove back down the Denali Hwy to retrieve the van. We were very careful to drive slowly and take our time. We were very happy to find the van still there and were even happier to fix it and drive out of there. By the time we picked up the kids and dogs and got back on the road heading home it was after 3p.m. Anchorage was still 240 miles away and we lived on the other side of town. The kids were all mooing about wanting to go to the youth activity that night. We drove home as quickly and safely as possible and they managed to get to the church only 1 hour late. I look back on our Alaskan adventure and think about the scenery we didn't see because of forest fires, the 70 pounds of fish we had to throw away because We couldn't get it frozen soon enough, the youth activity that I was in charge of that I had to flake out on, the planned work day that Kevin missed, the load of stuff I was going to donate to ARC but wasn't home to leave it out, and of all the extra money it ended up costing and wonder if I would do it all again. I've decided that I will absolutely not do it again….. until this summer!! "Fish on!!" March 01 "You cut me, coach."Don't mind me, I'm just venting...
In about one week, basketball season will officially end at my kids school. The season is soooo long that I must say I'm really glad it will be over. Marie will be finishing up her 3rd year of playing. She's one of the better players on the JV team and usually starts. She a bit discouraged about not being on Varsity and wonders whether or not to even try out next year. She loves the game though so I'm leaving that up to her.
Michael is another story. He's a Freshman this year and has never really played basketball before in his life. He tried out for the team on a whim and was cut. He was happy because that meant he could pursue other interests. About a week after practice had started he gets a phone call from the C team basketball coach. He said, "Michael, where are you?" Michael told him, "You cut me coach". The coach said that was a mistake or misunderstanding and he needed to come in right now. We found out later that another kid had quit the team so they called Michael to fill the gap. Michael is 15 and about 6'2". We're pretty sure that's why he made the team. Anyway, Michael went to every practice and gave 100%. His skills improved rapidly. He is naturally athletic and has always been a star on the football team. He's also very smart so he was able to learn quickly.
I've sat through almost 3 months of basketball games and enjoy watching my kids play. Playing time this season averaged about 4 minutes a game for Michael. In spite of that he would rebound really well, scored about a dozen or so points, and had very few mistakes on court. Last night was one of many frustrating games. The kids games were at the same time so I went to the first half of Marie's and then the 2nd half of Michael's. Michael only played about 3 minutes in the first half and not at all the last half. I didn't even get to see him play. I feel so bad for my kids when they sacrifice everything else in their lives and it seems to go unnoticed by the coach. It's not like his teammates are much better than him either. There've been quite a few times that we've lamented the fact that he got that unexpected phone call from the coach.
Another thing that is a little irksome is that besides having games/practices 6 days a week, they are expected to sell raffle tickets and raise $500 each! Varsity is supposed to raise $1000! Ok, so maybe I'm on the wrong side of an attiude change but to me that seams a bit excessive.
Will Michael try out for the basketball team again next year? I'd say that's got about as much chance of happening as the temperature here turning warm this week. Brrrr!
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