Sid In The Whales Jaw

I had the opportunity to chaperone Sidney's Outdoor Education fieldtrip. It was 4 days and 3 nights. I couldn't have done it without the amazing support group I have in my friends and family. Outdoor ed was great!

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Crazy Day

Two days ago . . . Jon missed his airplane flight . . . got a speeding ticket in a construction zone . . . Dean cracked his chin open . . . Maren, Dean and I spent time in urgent care . . . Wells caused our bathroom toilet to overflow . . . neighbor was recruited to help turn off water . . . almost every towel in our house was needed to soak up the mess. It was a crazy day.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Enjoying Alaska s fall harvests Hunting is educational and fulfilling

Jeannie Nelson is my Mom. She recently retired from teaching 1st grade and wrote this article found in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Check it out to gain perspective on my Alaskan roots.

Click on link to read.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Enjoying Alaska s fall harvests Hunting is educational and fulfilling

What's Wrong With Me?

Saturday Jon (coach to Wells) Sidney, Maren & Wells had their first official soccer games. We had to drive two cars to get them all to and from their various locations on time. After the games we went to Jamba Juice to celebrate. As we were leaving the parking lot I was still parked in my car and facing Jon's car which was idling in front of me, and to my right, while Sid asked him a question. Farther in front of me, a little to my left, was a truck that began to reverse. I thought they saw Jon's car, with him and the twins in it. I saw the truck start to reverse in normal fashion and assumed it would stop just before getting to Jon & the twins . . . . . and then . . . . .it kept going!!!!! I began to scream like a freak, my doors and windows were closed so nobody heard me. I screamed "You are going to hit my family!!!!!" and then they hit them right in front of my eyes. The bumper to our car is pretty banged up, but thankfully, everybody is okay. What I am most concerned about is ME. What is wrong with me that I couldn't think to honk my horn? That would have been so simple. Why is it under pressure I become a WEIRDO? Yeesh. I better work on that.

Another Kindness

We ran out of milk the other day. I decided to drop by 7-11 to buy a gallon of milk and only had a $5.00/bill with me. The attendant told me to save money, I should buy two gallons for $5.50 than buy one gallon for almost $5.00. I didn't have any change. I said, "let me check my car for change." On my way back into the store another customer said "I paid it for you." So nice of him. I gave my .50 to the next customer who needed it. There really are nice people in the world.

Dean's Dental Appointment

Dean was a champ at the dentist.

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Random Act of Kindness

A complete stranger in the car in front of me paid my toll on the bridge.

They had no idea how my day was going. I was having a stressful morning and when I put my hand out to pay my $5.00 the toll clerk told me that the car in front of me had already paid for me. Surprise. I tried to catch up to the car to give a thankful wave, but they sped up and when the road split they drove to the right and I was headed left. Positive example. I hope I can return the random act of kindness. I will certainly pay for the car behind me the next time I cross the bridge. It brightened my day and I would love to brighten somebody else's day the way mine was. Thank you sweet stranger, you have encouraged me to be a better person.

Berry Pickers

I grew up picking berries in Alaska. We usually picked Blueberries and Raspberries but my favorite and harder to find are Salmonberries. Salmonberries are orange in color and tart yet sweet at the same time. I am pleased I was able to share this experience with my 4 children yesterday. They had the opportunity to pick berries and they each got to taste the flavor of Salmonberries. Yay! One more notch in their belt of life.

Update & Embarassing Moment

We have kept our prior home as a rental house and sadly our renters who we really loved decided to move back home to Ireland. I wish them the best. They are a great family. Our rental house is now back on the market and yesterday Jon, myself, Maren & Dean (Wells is in Alaska with my sister and her family, Sidney flew out yesterday to spend a week with her cousin) painted most of the interior. Dean did a good not touching the paint, brushes or rollers and Maren did a great job painting with the little brushes and the two of them worked so hard that I told her when we were done we would get slurpies. I wore a pair of pants I actually like to wear and when I got the first spot of paint on them I decided to turn them inside out. I also turned Maren't clothing inside out to prevent paint splatter. It was late in the evening when we finished and we were filthy. We drove to 7-11 and Maren and I went in and started making slurpies. The woman who works there asked me "Do you know your pants are on inside out?" OOOOOOOOPS!!!! I forgot I had turned our clothes inside out to prevent paint from ruining them. I had the largest pockets and they looked ridiculous. We had paint in our hair, on our faces, arms and feet. Pretty funny to be caught in public like that.

Talented Toe

I had to take a picture of Dean's new freedom. He realized he could open the window with his big toe. Even more recently, he became talented enough with his big toe to close the window too. I find it to be pretty funny and thought I would share.