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Testing out all this new-fangled technology by posting a Diptic photo arrangement via the WordPress app on my iPhone.
Why yes! I am easily amused!
We’ve gotten a little snow in the past few days! I think somewhere in the pallpark of 40 inches. I had been in Anchorage for a seminar on tax changes, where it was painfully cold (sorry I didn’t call, Sherrie!), so I missed all the actual snowfall. I know, bummer, right?
Our street has essentially turned into a one-lane road, and the snow is so high in our yard, Porter can walk across the fence. Can, and has.
Adam’s on the phone with his sister, and apparently she shares the same joy in seeing a dumptruck full of snow as I do. Why am I so amused by the sight of a dumptruck full of snow? Who knows. But I always get a kick out of it.
We bundled Ellis up & took her out for her first real taste of snow. She’d been in snow before, but only from the car to the house, and vice versa. I think we may have had more fun with it than she did, although we’ll just blame it on the fact that she didn’t have much mobility in her snow pants & coat. Think Randy in the Christmas Story.
I’m sure she’ll thank us for these photos someday 
Romeo is a wolf who lives around Mendenhall Lake, where we normally walk Porter. Now, before Honey reads this & says “we” walk Porter, I need to qualify my statement & say that since my X-Tra Tuff boots stopped my fitting my sausage-like feet months ago & I refused to buy a new pair, I haven’t been on a dog walk in quite some time. My brother Bucky & his dog Kona took over as Honey & Porter’s dog walking partners, and this week, they finally met Romeo. Romeo, who for the most part just wants to play with dogs, is still a wild animal with wild animal instincts. and has killed at least one small dog.
Kona, Romeo & Porter:
Hard to believe how naturally they’re playing with a wolf. 
Romeo really just wants to play. When Adam & Bucky made the decision it was time to leash the dogs again, Romeo whimpered & whined, and followed them along the beach for quite some time. .JPG)
And PS, I’m beginning to think this baby is never coming out. Yeah, yeah, I officially have 9 days until my due date, but I’m ready & I firmly believe, so is she. I’ve been having mild contractions for days, and last night they came every 7 minutes from the time I went to bed until this morning when they only came inconsistently. I’m uncomfortable, the pressure on my pelvis is…I don’ t even know what to say about how that feels, my back is sore, as are my hips, I lost my mucous plug yesterday & have been leaking ever since, and I don’t want to spend another night of waking up writing down damn contractions every 7 minutes.
It’s hard to believe we went from this
to this. In 2 days. In all fairness, the real temp was nowhere near 80 degrees, but it was 58 degrees, and do you see me complaining?
Doodles sure isn’t. He will always find the sunny spot in the house. My little heat seaker.
either that or she’s just on strike. 
and to add insult to injury, there was an avalanche early this morning that took out the hydro-electric towers leaving the town to rely on diesel generators for power. the electric company is estimating that our bills will be increased by 500% for the next few months while they repair the towers, and they aren’t even going to start repairs for at least a month. it sucked enough to pay $180 a month for electricity and we don’t even use our electric heat (which reminds me, I need to pay our oil bill), but to have that increased by 500%?? I could say, at least it’s coming up on summer when our electricity bill drops, but it’s not going to matter much this year. 
the only good thing about today? costco now carries Izze. yippee! I totally blame dooce for my Izze addiction, and although the 12-pack at costco doesn’t contain my favorite flavor, pink grapefruit, I’m still giddy. almost enough to make up for spending $200 at costco. 
EDITED: we woke up to 8 inches of snow this morning. excuse my language, but this is CRAP!
Snow, snow & more snow.
Today we are forecasted to get 24 inches of snow. 24 inches!! Old man winter can, in the words of Dooce, suck it.
This would be the temp as we were driving hom from work yesterday. The temp when we were driving into work? -12. -12!
The only good thing I can say about all this snow, is that it has shown me what sweet neighbors we have. Not that I ever thought they were bad neighbors, but the last week, they’ve been really wonderful. Last Saturday while Adam was in bed with the fever, I was attempting to shovel our driveway with the worst designed shovel ever, and not making much progress. Neighbor Dave from across the street came over with this snowblower and finished the job for me. He even came over in the evening after the snowplow had come by. The next day, after receiving several more inches of snow, our other-half neighbor Kelly had completely snowblowed our driveway. I’m telling you, the best neighbors ever.
Pretty in pink! Some might say I have a magazine addiction. “Some”, being my husband. He also says I have a fruit addiction. (out of a $65 grocery bill, about $50 of that was fruit. seriously) Anyhoo, I loved all the February magazines, as I’m sure you did, too. I actually haven’t read the Country Living yet, but if it’s as good as last month’s which featured bits on Russell & Hazel (love, love, love R & H), See Jane Work (love them even more than R & H), and Amy Butler (who doesn’t love Amy Butler?), I’m in for a treat.
Not gonna lie ~ we had a bit of snow last weekend. And because we love him so much, we bought Porter a new car ~ a Ford Escape. It was our intention to buy a new vehicle before the baby was born, one that we could put Porter in the way-back & he wouldn’t step on the baby. It was our intention to shop around a bit, do some test drives, do some research on-line, and be ready to negotiate like pros. It was not our intention to test drive one vehicle, hang out in the car dealership for 2 1/2 hours, and drive home with a new car. But that’s what happens when you spend 2 1/2 hours in a car 
dealership while they “run some numbers”, and check with their boss because we were “lucky” enough to get the guy so new, he didn’t even have business cards printed, and then they run some more numbers.
dealership while they “run some numbers”, and check with their boss because we were “lucky” enough to get the guy so new, he didn’t even have business cards printed, and then they run some more numbers. They get you. And I didn’t even get to drive my Jetta one last time.
But, the car is growing on me, and in my heart, I know it was the right choice for our growing family.
He really does love me! Honey went on-line to buy a gate for the back of the new car so Porter wouldn’t be tempted to hop over the back seats, and don’t think he wouldn’t try. Honey also bought me 2 new books! I asked if they were from my Amazon wish list, and he said that no, no, they were from his recommendations. Since he only buys things for me on Amazon & never anything for himself, Amazon is of the impression that he’s gay. And I don’t mean to offend gays, I just think it’s funny that Amazon recommends things like decorating books and chic-flicks. Tell me that’s not funny! And I love these books. I want to crawl inside and live in the pages of these books. Thank you, Honey ~ I love you!
Ummmm, yeah. So I missed the mark by a week. Or two. We’ll just say that I was having some bad days and leave it at that, shall we? I’ve had 3 WHOLE day without tears, though, so that’s some good news!
The 100th post winner ~ Sherrie! If you want to see some really amazing photos of Alaska, check out her blog. She’s a total bad-ass, is one of the sweetest girls I know, and I think I can safely say she was one of Adam’s favorite people to work with on the glacier. Thanks for your encouraging comments, Sherrie ~ I hope you like your notebook!
Honey & I have had an adventure of our own, although nothing like climbing ice falls. This past weekend, we went on an annual camping trip to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of our dear friend Bill’s death. Through Billy, we have made some equally amazing friends; people who accepted us into their group for no other reason than because we were okay in the eyes of Bill. And if there was anything I could say about Bill, it’s that if Bill said it was a good idea, you believed it was a good idea, too. That was just Bill’s way. To be in Bill’s world was something incredibly special, and those who knew him know exactly what I mean. I could say I felt slighted that I knew him for such a short time, but I don’t think Bill would approve of that sort of thinking. Instead, I will be grateful for the months that I did have him in my life.
The camping trip was at Cowee Meadows, a 2.1 mile hike from the road. Adam & I have done this hike several times, but never in these conditions. And FYI, hiking in thigh-high snow while 6 months pregnant: NOT EASY. Ordinarily I would rather shoot myself in the foot than say anything negative about Dooce, but I’m sorry; her snow is nothing compared to this.
Honey went first to pave the way for me & Doodles, not that it didn’t still suck. This is where we made the foolish, foolish mistake of cutting out into the meadows rather than stick to the trail in the woods, which under normal circumstances would make the hike considerably shorter. Not the case when there’s 2 feet of fresh snow on the ground. We cut back into the woods as soon as we could, but by that point, I was already so sore I could hardly lift my legs. I was not anticipating the strain it would put on my hips and on my body in general. And when one falls, which I did about a dozen times, it’s really, REALLY hard to get back up when you’re in that much snow, and totally off balance with a backpack & a big belly. I am not ashamed to say I used Doodles as a brace to get myself back up on more than one occasion. He just looked at me like ~ Excuse me? What is this we’re doing??
And this would be me, wearing Honey’s outdoor gear because none of mine fits anymore, and obviously early enough in the hike that I’m still smiling. Trust me when I say that I would only make this trek in this condition for Billy K.
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This is what relief looked like to me on that day: seeing the cabin after 2 VERY long hours of hiking. Cowee Meadows is one of my most favorite places to be, although we only camp here once a year. We used to come out with 2 other couples on another annual trip, but they’ve since moved away.
This trip, there were 3 other couples, 3 dogs, and one toddler named Meadow ~ named for these meadows. Six of us slept upstairs in the loft while the couple with the toddler slept downstairs. Between the crinkling of sleeping bags, pacing dogs, the fear of a mouse coming into my sleeping
The drive home was no piece of cake, either. Not for Porter, of course, who slept the whole way. There was about a foot of snow on the road, and there is no road mainenance that far “out the road”. There were times that the car got a little squirrely, heading dangerously close the edge (the edge being a cliff that dropped off to the ocean). I’d put my hand firmly on Honey’s leg, as if me, not his seatbelt, was going to keep him from being tossed through the windshield. It somehow makes me feel better, though.
My poor body has since recovered, and even though I am so glad we made the trip, I don’t think we’ll make it next year with an 8-month old baby in tow. I may have been a trooper this year, but I have my limits!
Me at 24 weeks. I’m not thrilled with my face getting fatter & fatter, but I rather like my belly. Sometimes I still can’t believe this is my body, that I’ve got a real little person growing inside me. Until she starts kicking & punching. I think I will miss that feeling. I know I will. She’s kicking hard enough for Honey to feel, which I’m sure makes this more real to him, too. Sometimes we sit with our hands on my belly going ~ Felt that! Felt that! Even though my pregnancy hasn’t been easy for me, I am still amazed every day that there’s a baby in there.
I know, I know, I live in Alaska, right? But this sort of crazy-low temperature is not normal for Juneau. Add to that 60 mph winds, and Doodles can just forget about getting a walk tonight.
Hello, my dear internet friends. Honey googled me one day & finally found my blog. He reminded me that I haven’t written since the 4th of October. He also said good job for not trashing him on the internet, and that in the future when I’m pissed at him, I should read my blog since I portray him in such good light. Indeed, Honey has been a prince during these last 2 months of hormone hell. At any rate, not only have I not written for at least a month, but I haven’t even been reading about what all you fabulous people have been up to. I’m sure you’ve been creating your hearts out, have been preparing for the holiday season, and have dressed your kids up as various animals and cartoon characters. I’m sure one day soon, once I’ve closed a few loops (that was for Jerusalem’s benefit), I’ll sit & read for hours & smile at your lovely lives.
Anyway, catching up starting backwards, today we had our first snowfall of the sesaon. Normally, the first snowfall is mixed rain & snow, and lasts a very short while. But today it snowed all day, accumulating about 4 inches at our house. Doodles was pleased.
I also got my first issue of Victoria ~ horray! Well, not my first issue, of course, but you know what I mean. AND, Honey got his drivers license today! Yes, my 26 year old husband finally is licensed to drive. After moving here from California in 1999, he lived downtown & worked downtown. We have the same work schedule, so when we bought our house in the “valley”, we drove into town together. And even though we don’t talk much during our 15-20 minute commute (ha!), other than the occasional commentary on an NPR news tidbit, I really love that we have that time together. Anyway, Honey still maintains he does not want his license & that he only got it because I got pregnant & he had to. I don’t care ~ he got his license, and you have no idea how big of a milestone this is in our lives. There are countless people who have hounded him on my behalf for years, and even though he says he’s not happy he got his license, he was thinking of who he should call to tell. How cute is that?!
Weekend before last, I went to Seattle for a few days to see my girl Tanya. I was in such a bad state of mind that she & my sweet mama bought me a plane ticket to get the hell out of here & escape my life for a few days. Tanya & I stayed in a fancy hotel downtown, I got my haircut which I unforunately hate, I bought maternity clothes courtesy of my Aunt Georgia, ate orange beef at my most favorite Seattle restaurant, Shanghai Garden, had a really nice visit with Aunt Georgia, my cousin Tony, his wife Lisa & their precious little baby Lucas, and went to a spa. If you find yourself in Seattle, I highly recommend a day at Ummelina’s. The smells alone are worth it. Mmmm, lavender….
We got manicures & massages, and while we waited for our treatments, we got a foot soak. The manicure was like a massage in itself. I was lying down, & before actually doing my nails, she massaged my arms & hands. I slipped into a relaxed state of being that rarely happens. Even my massage, as lovely as it was, wasn’t as relaxing as my manicure.
I’m now at about 13 weeks, 14 weeks if you go by my date of conception & not by the ultrasound measurements. This photo is at 11 (12) weeks. I’ve been taking self-portraits, so I’m a little twisted. My belly has grown considerably, especially after a big dinner. It actually looks small to me in this photo. I still fight the urge to suck it in, but mostly I’m like, why bother? I had been squishing myself into jeans that I could barely squish myself into, fastening them closed with a rubberband. Honey would say to me, ummm, your zipper’s down. I would respond with MY ZIPPER DOESN’T GO UP ANY FARTHER! It felt really comfortable to finally have some maternity jeans & let it all hang out.
More importantly, my hormones have finally leveled out. And can I just say, THANK GOD. The past two months I’ve been in the worst kind of hell. I was so completely miserable and I honestly didn’t think I would survive my pregnancy. I have decided that if I’m on anti-anxiety/depression meds again, and if we ever get pregnant again, I cannot go off them until the 2nd trimester. I am not equipped to handle the hormonal changes, and it’s not fair to Honey to put him through that again, either. The weird thing is, even though this was all in the very recent past, it’s hard to remember just how badly I felt. And there really aren’t words, anyway. I’m thankful now that I can start to enjoy my pregnancy, whereas as recently as 3 weeks ago, it was merely something that was destroying my life & my sanity. At the time, the only positive I could think of was that I had cleavage for the first time in my life. It pained me that I was so unhappy about what was supposed to be the most beautiful thing I’d ever experience. And even worse, there was a teensy part of me that didn’t want to be pregnant & knowing that if I did miscarry, I’d never have the strength to do this again. Intellectually, I knew I was incredibly lucky to be pregnant, especially when there are so many women who are desperate for a child & can’t conceive. I would see a husband & wife with a baby & I’d know I wanted that, & that’s what got me through the craziness. That and my amazing husband, family & friends. Now, I know I’ll be okay.
My other huge news is that I finally quit my job! I had interviewed with, and subsequently received a job offer from a CPA firm & started work November 1st. While my anxiety hasn’t completely subsided, it’s really nice to go to work & know that I will be treated with respect. My previous boss was so demotivating that my work had begun to suffer for it, which wasn’t fair to myself or to my boss. I don’t believe I performed badly on purpose; I still did good work, just not great work & I was certainly not working to my full potential. I had long since given up trying to make any changes for the better. It was a big job for one person, and truthfully, a lot for me to keep track of & to keep on top of everything all the time. It didn’t help that my boss would want to change things around, requiring me to re-do 9 months of inventory adjustments. With that kind of mentality, I know I should have quit a long time ago, but fear of working somewhere even worse (and the fact that I was well-paid) kept me there for far too long. But, I’m gone now & I can’t help but wonder what the hell took me so long.
Well, we did indeed have a bear in our neighborhood….can you see her? I didn’t crop or zoom because I wanted you to see just how close this little cutie was. I was across the street, and the bear was at the end of the very short cul-de-sac. All in all, pretty damn close. This time of year they lurk around neighborhoods in search of food, and have even been known to come inside of apartment buildings & homes. Bet you’re not used to hearing that on your morning news!
Lastly, I leave you with some photos of beautiful Juneau & the Mendenhall Glacier. This, this beauty is the reason why I continue to live here, where we get 180 inches of rain a year.
Doodles gets so freakin’ happy when we take him to the Glacier, he can hardly contain himself. I swear, as he’s running around the lake & through the shrubbery, he gets a look on his face that can only say ~ They really do love me! Oddly, that dog will avoid a muddle **edited ** MUD PUDDLE! like the plague, but give him a glacial lake, and he’s all over it.
