morning routine

It is 6:30 in the morning and it is pitch black out except for the faint orange of the halogen lights in the apartment complex. For most of the night, Neah decided that the humidifier on Adam's side was not her friend and was thus streched like superman on the floor next to my side of bed. Much like you and I would turn our pillows to feel the cool side on our faces, Neah shifts rug area periodically to get a cool spot.

For some reason completely unbeknownst to me, the alarm went off at 6:30, pulling me out of a dream where i was packing for a backpacking trip with Derick to South America. Neah, knowing the alarm means at least one of us is vaguely awake, lept onto the bed and situated herself in the crook of my knees between Adam and I. Adam has learned to stay as still as possible once she is on the bed because as soon as he speaks she pounces on his head, licking his neck and face furiously--attempting to clean the sweat of night and sleepiness from him. Me, she doesn't care about so much. i can talk and she just wants to be petted.....but Adam, oh no!  Once she has forced him to get out of bed to avoid the smelly Neah shower, she licks the sheets where he was, trying to lap up the last tastes of him before she curls into a ball and looks depressed we are getting ready to leave.

This is my morning. Every morning.

Adam's old.

In honor of Adam's birthday this weekend, here's a list of his loot and two videos of his adventures.
Loot:

1. Snowshoes and accompanying trekking poles
2. Snowboard magazine
3. Hat that turns into a Balaclava
4. Blue Fox t-shirt
5. Dinner out
6. Assorted cards/love from parents, grandparents, and in-laws
7. FB birthday shout outs from far and wide

We were at a bar that is going to have the Anchorage Hells Angels Halloween party. No, i didn't see any bikers while we were there. For the first hour or so, there was blaring country music and the only food i could find was stale popcorn. I was pretty sure that i was in hell. After a round of darts, Adam decided to change up the music---which also livened up the bar quite a bit. This is what happens when Adam and Matt get dancey:

We finally had to flee when the music went back to country and Matt couldn't stop singing along. Dia and I held our heads in shame---feeling the onset of "dog ran off with my ex-wife" headaches.
Big thanks and love again to Dia, Jake and Matt for coming out to play for the birfday!! Much love to Neah, who slept in until 10am on Sunday with us.

snow?

8 am bore an uncanny resemblance to 3am this morning--dark, cold, cloudy. The air is getting drier and i think the humidifier may have to come out from wherever we managed to stash it last spring.

As we headed for doggie day care (the once a week sojourn where neah learns that she is in fact a D-O-G), i realized i didn't have my glasses on. Oh well, technically i don't need them to drive, it is just a preference thing....but i could swear that i kept seeing precip falling out the sky. it was sporadic--i couldn't prove to myself i wasn't seeing something.

The windshield had tiny microscopic wet spots; but, there was no freezing rain sound and i was suspicious of the way the mysterious precip was falling. After dropping Neah off--(for her grandowners: she couldn't get in there fast enough or be more excited)--i called Adam who confirmed my suspicion:

Mystery Precip: World's tiniest snowpellets. And so it is....

Sunrise: 9am

It is our 10 month anniversary. Yes. i'm counting the months for the first year--giving us a little pat on the back until we cross the magic hurdle of year down, check. Its strange to think that we have been together for around 3 years now--feels longer and shorter all in one.

It also seems so short a time ago that my folks were here, stalking moose and being awoken at 3am by the sun coming up. Now, the sun doesn't rise until 9ish---even the dog sleeps in. we have agreed to turn on the bedroom lights when the second alarm goes off, since oversleeping is way too easy. The darkness seems to have an exponential relationship to my consumption of these:

 

Nom nom nom. Thank you Mona, for the Hot Cocoa. Thank you Costco for the mangoes. Thank you heater under the desk for keeping me warm and at a pleasant 76 in my office.

An Adam update....

Since a lot of the people who kindly read this blog are originally friends of Sado....this blog is about what he's up to. I know you usually glean this vicariously from what me and the dog are doing....but here's one all about him. Today, he's out in King Salmon...see the map. It is just to the west of the Katmai Reserve (you know, where all the pictures of millions of grizzly bears fishing are taken).
He's at this: http://www.adn.com/2011/10/17/2124678/results-are-due-later-today-for.html

Adam's been working on the Save our Salmon Initiative about Pebble Mine. Today, the ballots will be counted, since out in that Borough all voting is done by mail. And so, he has gone to watch the counting.

While it's pretty cool for him, it means that i get to go to Yogurtland (think Seattle Red Mango) in the airport when i go to pick Adam and Scott up later. a-mah-zing.

Blustery

Today is an Eeyore day. It's blustery and dark...like the universe is screaming that i should have stayed in bed. Can't say i want to argue with it.  So, i figured the way to make is better is a couple of little vignettes.

1. When i was 17 or 18, i made a pen pal friend named Emma. Emma is my tall, blond, california girl. She and I would write long letters back and forth---epic novellas of our lives, with pictures, postcards, and trinkets. it was the kind of friendship every one dreams of---you have your adventurous, crazy friend who spends winter holidays in Thailand and writes you marvellous stories--just like the movies.  Our chances to see each other are always too brief--business trips extended by a day, weekends in NYC. We've gotten slack in our old age with the letters, but i am determined to resuscitate them. At any rate, for our wedding, Emma (and her handsome Aric) gave us the two most used appliances in the kitchen--a coffee/spice grinder and this griddle. Since i am presently on a pancake addiction--eating nothing but pancakes on weekends--i spend a lot of time thinking about Emma, her mix tapes, and how much i adore her. Jayet Khalee--your place is empty my dear.

2. Adam called on his way home from work last night insisting it was snowing lightly. So far, he's the only one that saw it.

3. i am scared of the dark. seriously. mostly because i'm scared there's something that can see me that i can't see that wants to eat me. flashback to the cougar in the woods in high school. this is probably why i prefer large urban environments. so last night, when i take the dog out....there's a weird rain/leaves falling/give me the heebeejeebees noise. i freaked, the dog freaked, i think we thought we were both going to be part of some x-files episode.

Also, if anyone can tell me why laundry bags don't seem as well made as i remember them being like a decade ago (with an answer that doesn't involve a reference to an Asian country) i would be grateful.

southern churches

I haven't had the need to tell you that it gets into the 20s here during the night, or that the dog is apparently a favorite at day camp, where she gives kisses and loves on everyone. I haven't told you that i have mastered the length of time the car must warm up to get all the frost off the windows or that it is starting to be dark when i arrive at work in the morning. I haven't told you that i managed to polish off an entire bag of dried mango (like 3lbs) in 4 days. I haven't told you how overwhelmingly excited i am that Suzanne is coming for a quick visit on her way back to Seattle from Juneau (yes i know its the wrong direction). And, i haven't told you that we are beginning our countdown to Ilissa's wedding/DC/some of our east coast besties, that i stare at my closet not knowing what to bring or wear, and that 60s sound like sunbathing weather.

Instead, i will tell you that my sister lives across the street from a church in GA. Feel free to insert your own comments about how that could be any corner in the state. The one across from her however has produced this plethora of funnyness over the last couple months:

1. Church is having a hash sale. I think they mean the potato side dish, but it's funny nonetheless. [anna]
2. "Live so that they don't have to lie at your funeral"
3. "Sign broken. Message inside."
4. "Forgive your enemies, it messes with their heads."
   
   

Big long exhale

First--thank you all for the suggestions of hobbies and things to shoot. Clearly, i need to be more specific. There were some great ideas in there---and i am going to try to learn to do some of these things. Sadly, however, all things with string are out because the Neah dog likes to tear anything with thread to smithereens.

This weekend Mona was here....I stole this picture from her and love it even though her eyes are squinted shut from the sun:

We had a glorious weekend of nothingness, skyping with our third, playing with the Neah, buying presents and getting back some good medical test results for me. It's wonderful to spend time with people who have known you in strange situations--wars, food poisoning, addictions to the West Wing, deep tans, chain smoking nonsense, etc, and who still appreciate just who you are for the sake of you. I am very blessed she was willing to brave this morning's frigid 28F to come play with me while Adam tried not to camp near an enormous grizzly bear.



The moonrise from the apartment

 In the land of random facts, i didn't realize that porcupines hibernate. I mean, i can't blame them--i'd go hibernate too if i could. Anyways, on the boys backpacking trip on the Kenai they came across a groggy porki who saw them, then slowly, grumblingly, turned around and stuck its butt in the air to quill them if needed.

Seeing the grizz didn't make Adam think it was a good thing Neah didn't come, but the porki did---as he figures she would have ended up with a mouth full of quills.....No doubt.

Also, a quick note to say that my sister, Anna, is basically the most thoughtful and sweetest woman ever. yesterday was a bit of a rough morning for me and i came home in the afternoon to find a beautiful flower arrangement and stash of chocolates. <3s the sister.

low pressure light

Truth be told, i have relatively little goin on. i work normal hours, go home and play with a dog who loves me and who everyone thinks is the sweetest thing (when i'm not around), get to have visits with friends every half year or so, attend Baha'i things when i can, and contemplate the fate of the leaves outside. in comparison with the last 5 years (war, moving, crazy schedule, moving, bar) this is kind of a breeze.

So, i found it ironic when it finally got really cold yesterday mornng, the air shrunk (compressed, whatever) and the low pressure light popped on in the Tuscon's dash. First, i didn't know what it was. i took me a long time to realize that it was a picture of a slightly squished tire. which led me to contemplating how i function much more effectively under high pressure. then i thought about my wedding ring...and how the stone setting is baseless, held in place by the pressure from two sides. seems my ring is more me than i initially realized.

which leads me to today...lunch. eating dried mangoes from a bag that assures me are "naturally delicious", remembering how my hair was once the same color as these mangoes, and mulling over all time low mortgage interest rates.

I need some indoor hobby suggestions---ones that do NOT require space (ie painting). Please comment suggestions below. Also, please remember that i do not own a gun, so shooting things...moose, artic squirrels, etc is not a valid hobby.

3 sleeps

Until i get to squeeze Monza to death...i'm antsy and giddy and all kinds of wound up. and I'm kicking the boy out of the house so he gets at least one backpacking trip in this year. it almsot makes me forget there was frost on the INSIDE of the car today.

also, in the land of things that make me happy is this amazing woman:

finally, my dreams have been weird lately. Strange combinations of old faces (like people i have known for long time) in places they have never been. i'm constantly moving in the dream, always travelling on cars, planes and trains, always searching for something. people who haven't haunted my dreams in in a long time have been turning up--luckily none of them are angry or upset. everyone in the dreams is on the move...a couple have included bus stations and connection hubs. i wake tired and my calves are sore like i have been walking all night in my sleep. i'm sure there is some elusive meaning...but i'm too sleepy to figure it out ;)

always late to the party...

From Adam, Matt and Jake's hike on Sunday

alternative title: how we spent 5 hrs in Costco.

in another life, i was a trendsetter, a fashionista, an 80s child diva turned 90s spiral perm princess. i wore color coordinated outfits with matching scrunchies. i rocked my pink sweatsuit and red boots at my third birthday party and cried when the snow touched them (good little southern girl). i was rainbow-brite hair color queen for a decade or so in my 20s. i love huge shiny jewelry and i still love my pointy toed stilletos, even if i can't walk in them in the snow.

part of me wants to burn all those photos, and part of me wants to keep them for when i'm 80 and no one believes i was ever cool.

while my shoe collection has been holding its own pretty well over the years, i've been slow to keep up with the technological trends. i refuse to buy a book without pages, held out against cameras that didn't need film, waited as long as possible to avoid getting a touch screen phone. i still don't have an iphone or an ipad and can't tell you how to turn my contraptions into mobile wifi hotspots.


Matt and Jake

 i've been slow to keep up wtih store trends too....it took me four years longer than everyone else to get around to sauntering into the Swedish heaven known as IKEA.

So this weekend, after feeling productive about getting the chips in the windshield on Adam's car replaced, we snuck ourselves into Costco to peer around at prices. i whimpered, discovering fancy scales for cheaper than the ugly one we just got, and nectarines at literally a third the price of the grocery store.  five hours and an executive membership later, we found our new winter happy place...replete with peanut butter filled pretzels and jumbo bags of m&ms. The amount of money we will save on Coke alone will pay for the membership. alright america, i know---i'm late, but i get the obsession with Costco now.

oh, and the pictures are because it snowed heavily on the boys when they went hiking on sunday, while i napped :)