a(hhhhhh)yyamiha

 Aside from the gift of the mixer, i got a pretty great set of presents this year.....bob and lissa!!! they arrived very late with a gun case and big jackets. we promptly got them snow boots---since we got a few inches yesterday this turned out to be a rather brilliant plan--and they decided that the fact that it was only 60 degrees colder than at their house might be okay. in other words, we've been scurrying to the car and inside places for a few days to aclimitize them.....tomorrow starts outdoor adventure land with FUR RONDY!!

 There was some trepridation before entering the apartment for the first time----after all the watchdog tried to eat lissa last year. We went through the new routine:

• call her name,
• be excited,
• act like seeing her is the best.thing.ever.
• They held by the door, ready to flee when i let the creature out of her box if she didn't realize they weren't moose. as i rounded the corner, it was obvious her nose had already told her we weren't alone. She was eyeing the hallway intently, looking a little confused.  All the worry proved for nothing though because Neah recognized her maternal grandparents, talked to them excitedly, and promptly placed them in assigned roles....

Lissa was assigned keeper of the bone....see upper right hidden sofa stash. Bob was assigned tug of war partner.

They are staying around the corner at a b&b, which is very convenient. in fact they can see our apartment complex from the back porch of the place....except that there's like 5 feet of snow out there, so venturing into the back yard without snow shoes is a no go. and while there has yet to be a welcome moose there was welcome moose footprints and pee outside the b&b to greet them.

now, off to take pictures of stop signs buried in snow.

FUR-Roooooondy

This weekend marks the start of the Fur-Rondy....aka Anchorage chaos week, culminating next weekend in the start of the Iditarod. In case you need a refresher: click here.  This year, i am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Bob and Lissa on Monday. Bob and Lissa are eagerly awaiting seeing whether or not Neah remembers them. And Adam is eagerly awaiting me not caring when he gets home from work.

Oh yeah, and we are awaiting (hopefully in the next week) finding out whether or not the offer on the condo has been accepted by the bank. I know, nearly two months. Dear God, i do not thank you for teaching me patience in this manner. besos, martha.

My rant for the week happened in the rather "swanky" Westmark Baranof in Juneau. It is supposed to be the creme de la creme of Juneau hotels. And the first night wasn't too bad, the bed was soft, pillows were great, i could get over the fact that the door basically touches the toilet at all times and flushing sounds like a pipe bomb went off. On the second night though, what i couldn't get over was the nagging feeling i had left my television on, or at least the speakers, since i could hear the swearing bleeps and cartoons loud and clear. i crouched next to the tv, smooshing my ear as close as i could get to the speaker, then moved slowly towards the wall with the sinking feeling that this might be beyond my ability to silence. Then, after ascertaining that in fact my television was not broken, but the the person next door must be deaf, i started contemplating what to do.

I was only half convinced there was someone in there, since i couldn't figure out how on earth they were now sleeping through that auction show about Atlanta with the fast talking and cowboy yips....after all, don't most people want to sleep at 11:45pm?? was i asking too much to not want to hear this nonsense?? what if it was a representative or a senator and i wandered over there with my salty face on started hollering---see by now the country yipping had worn off on me and i was thinkin in southern-ese.

i picked up the phone and called the front desk. They said the would check. i waited. at 12:20 i called again. i heard a knock next door and a phone ringing, but the volume remained unchanged. at 12:30 i was convinced that things were being sold to the highest bidder on top of my bed and dialed the front desk again. This time they finally called until she picked up....the volume decreased significantly...and they called me back to tell me that she "fell asleep". I think what they meant was that after an hour of my turning to and fro and contemplating burying myself under pillows to avoid this nightmare, they finally just asked her to turn down the damn auction./cartoons/swearing and move on with life.

You'd think if you were the nicest crash pad somewhere you might have insulation in the walls, no??

none of that mushy crap...

My valentines, doing what they love to do most--play outside.

odds and ends

 The picture only sort of does it justice....make it big and you will realize that the pile of snow on top of the car is higher than the windshield. It makes me wish we were already in our own place---still waiting for the sellers to get approved and all that jazz.

Some days the snow comes faster than others.
The last two, not so much. Let me tell you. I prefer white snow to yellow snow and there are a lot of doggies in our apartment complex.

Luckily, the temperature has been hovering respectably just below freezing--meaning i don't have to zip my jacket to take neah out or worry about frostbite. It also means i could wear a dress and leggings to work and not worry about getting lost and dying in a snowdrift bigger than i am. a very real challenge of driving is that the large amounts of snow mean you drive through valleys....and often have to ease out a little into the road to see what is coming.
More importantly, however, is that it means that Bob and Lissa might not freeze to death when they abandon the balmy tropics to come hang out for a few weeks (read: the Baha'i Fast month) with the grand-dog, party it up at the Fur Rondy, and watch the Iditarod. Parental bucket list item: Iditarod, check.

I have been doing some cooking again--trying to find new and fun things to eat. So the other night it was citrus collards and chard with a breaded garlic orange tilapia and sweet potatoes. mmmmmm.

being southern it is hard to imagine how to cook collards that doesn't involve bacon, ham and hours of slow simmering---but they turned out super yummy and much more fresh tasting with the blanching/simmering in fresh orange juice method.
 Which leads me to the less impressive meal concoction of the week.....affectionately known as "laundromat dinner".