RBC

I started a second job a few weeks ago, something I haven't done in many years.  I've had more than six months to asses the need and scope out options.  When I discovered my local tap room was hiring it was a no brainer. They brew great beer, are a five minute bike ride from my house, have fueled most of the house remodel, and close at 8pm.  

So this is where I hang out most Fridays, Saturdays, and sometimes Wednesdays.  There are board and card games and a record player.  I'm totally unpacking my records and bringing them in to play.  Plus when it's slow I can knit or read.  I also picked up a couple yoga classes where I have been subbing.  Both places are cool and open to suggestions.  But after a couple weeks I realized I really do have to pay a dog walker for the labs because the shifts are too long for them to just hang out at home.  And the brewer is allergic to dogs.  Plus Percy is really good at giving me this look when I try to leave.  And despite the not very summery weather of late it's often too warm in a car for an all day dog chill session.  

This Old House, Episode 1 - Season 2017

Late in the fall last year we put in two new windows upstairs.  They actually open and close when we want them to and they have removable screens!  This was the view for much of the winter, making me very grateful for having new energy efficient windows....in at least one more part of the house.  We won't think too hard about that because if I turned around we would have a nice view of the old windows on the other side of the room.  And the window that will become a door.....yeah, it has a small hole in it.  But aren't these new windows nice?!  And look at that snow and the giant ice sickles - that means we had a real winter.  I love winter.

Wrapping Paper and a Bow

When I was a child, many moons ago, I dreamt of a place like this.  It has everything a girl could want - a dedicated sledding hill, SNOW, the moon, and trees like my favorite wrapping paper.  I had no idea that it was real.  All I was missing Sunday was a sled.  Nevermind that there was a sign saying the hill was closed.  I met a mom and son with a sled in the parking lot and asked how the sledding was today - and they said it was great.  Two thoughts about this interaction with humans I must share: the lady looked like she thought I was nuts and/or was a little scared of me (not the affluent part of town), probably because I parked near her in the parking area which was actually just a pull through and I was trying to leave room for other vehicles to turn around or get past us so I smiled and made it really obvious I was there to walk my dogs; the other thought is that there was no one there.  NO ONE.  I cannot come up with a comparable example of a place like this anywhere I have ever visited or lived where there would be no other humans during daylight hours on a weekend with temps above zero.  And if you know my history - that's a fair few number of places to consider.  

This was a new park for us, a result of my efforts to keep my dogs from going insane with no windows to look out of at home (except the storm door when I prop the front door open on warmer days).  I couldn't believe it was 12 minutes from home or that I had never been there.  Also, it's a campground in the summer.  I had no idea.  

I was afraid I would miss the sunset and I like the view through the trees.  Since we were exploring I didn't know where the snow trail went (or if there is a trail there in summer at all).  Another couple turns and few minutes down the trail we were at some ball fields and had a great view of the sunset.  

There was plenty of ..... evidence that the adjacent neighborhood members access and use the park for dog walking.  We went with a leave no trace policy ourselves.

The bow - now that I'm an adult (hahahahahahah!!!) and an amateur snow scientist I know about gravity and how the moon can be up during the day and how the trees can look like the wrapping paper.  I also know why the sun/moon light makes the snow sparkle like diamonds.   And it hasn't taken any of the joy out of winter for me; if anything it has made it all the richer.

HOWDY

Hi.  Yeah, a little unplanned blogging sabbatical.  Without any warning.  Sorry about that.  But the revival is here and if you are too then thanks for sticking around and welcome back.  I can’t even remember the number of times I sat down to blog; the number of blog posts I wrote in my head – in the shower, in bed, on my bike, on an airplane, on a dog walk, washing the dishes….I think you get the picture.  Like most modern day humans – I have been busy.  A brief summary: yoga teacher training, master gardener course, dog group, work, play, travel, home, husband, and of course the daily adventure of living in Alaska. 

First, the yoga.  This wasn’t really on my radar. At all.  But I stumbled into the opportunity in pursuit of master gardener training (wait listed).  A couple who are both teachers and owned the studio I attended sporadically while I was in grad school and lived in mid-town decided to teach one more teacher training before they moved out of state.  The original dates were in the autumn and I knew I couldn’t fit it in my schedule.  And then my sweet cat got sick.   That’s another post entirely (Loving Fiercely. And Learning).  By the time I lost him it was mid December and I was spent, by all measurements.  Then the dates of the teacher training changed to start in January.  The pieces fell into place and I found myself in awe in a class of amazing people.  Time flew by, mostly.  For nearly every other weekend from mid January to mid May I spent Friday evenings, Saturday days and Sunday days cramming my head with yoga and all things yoga related.  And then there was the homework and the physical aspect.  It was an amazing experience.  I still have more work to do before I can hang out my own shingle or work for most studios. 

Next, the master gardener.  I have tried to take this course a couple times and it’s always at a horrible time – great if you are retired or maybe a stay at home mom, but pretty much horrible for anyone else.  It was an interesting experience.  I can't say that I could recommend the Alaska version to anyone.  Unless you perhaps know absolutely nothing about gardening.  At all.  And you perhaps have done no online research or read a single gardening book.  I completed the course, because that's how I am and I did learn a few nuggets of information and I'm excited to continue working the yard into edible shape.  

The rest is really just the slow fun progression of life.  Tonka is still working and loving it (at 11 1/2 years old!!).  The girls still alternate loving and hating each other.  The man is still working hard and succeeding as an owner of multiple businesses.  The economy is declining here and I work less at science and more at marketing.  I play outside every day.  Every day.  Because I love it and it makes me smile.  I travel whenever I can (Costa Rica last January).  And the house.....progresses......slowly.....but surely....and I love it every day.  Don't worry, I have some pictures to show what we have been up to.  I keep sorting stuff and donating (no one needs four whisks - four!!) and putting some stuff in the camper van.  Oh yeah, we got a camper van.  It's fun and all the dogs and our gear can get out for a weekend adventure and have a place to be out of the weather and bugs.  There is work at the shop too, a project I call the build out and the man calls the mezzanine.  It's the creation of an enclosed space for a micro yoga studio for me (when I'm not out skiing, biking, running, boating, etc.) and drum/music for him (because I keep my music toys at the house).  We also store all our 'stuff' (read: crap) up top until it's needed or can be moved into finished space at the house (out of season gear and furniture).  There, now you are all caught up and we can proceed.  

Loving Fiercely. And Learning.

December 12, 2015 ~10am snow finally came to Anchorage and frogcat left me

In the words of a friend of mine - His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

I had to just take a break for a while.  I'm back now.  Here are some picture of my sweet boy who I have missed every day for over a year.  It has been the first year of my life with no cat (that I can remember) to boss me around.  Yes, it has been odd.  

Frog was a special boy - I mean that in the biological way - he had glaucoma and a cataract in one eye when I found him.  The eye specialist was thrilled because he had seen very few cases of this in his many years of research and as a practicing vet.  Boy did I feel special!  

Then he got kidney disease at a very young age.  Great, more special!  And he ended special too - he survived years of kidney disease (thanks to my awesome vet and vigilant daily observation and medication) to die from a brain tumor.  So special that the staff know me by name and his vet made a donation in his name for research on his many challenges.  The special just never stopped.  Kind of like that Chinese curse - may you live in interesting times.....

As with most pets in my life the lessons were many - how to love fiercely, despite biological challenges, and how to observe and trust my gut instinct - and so many more.  

Peace as white as snow be with you.

Covering some walls and the big hole in the floor

The spray foam insulation is simply awesome at getting the R-factor we wanted, but not so great at not dispersing itself around the room.  And it's a real pain to get out of your hair.  After a summer of looking at it we finally got around to covering it up.  

In case you don't know it, wood is lovely to look at but it's not static.  It dries and it twists and the pieces aren't all the same.  Kind of like my knitting sometimes....  which makes using it not as easy as it looks.  There were a lot of interesting sounds being emitted from the man as he worked on this seemingly simple task.  

Also, he's kind of a perfectionist.  And we had not installed any lights yet when he was doing this.  The most entertaining part though - using the laser level.  It made us laugh hysterically and then try to figure out what looked like the best compromise.  

Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen....Chad set me up to sand the walls.  It sounds so simple, sand the walls.  

First step, plastic the kitchen off from the rest of the house.  Claustrophobics need not apply.  I made him take some pictures of my ridiculous outfit and to prove that I actually do work on the house.  He may or may not have sent them to me.  Next time, I will have him take the photos on my camera.  He's a very busy man at the moment - more on that later. 

Voila! Post sanding miracle.  I had him check on me a couple times.  There were some technical issues.  Like the sanding pad not staying attached to the sander.  Those things can really fly.  Good thing there was plastic to stop it.  I swear, it wasn't me.  The sander chose that particular job to have the velcro fail.  Velcro!  I had no idea that a sander used velcro to attach the sanding discs.  Huh.  I also learned a lot about my caulking technique and we discussed how we might approach the scene differently upstairs (read: I suck at it and the material doesn't sand well when the expert does it either).  

Giant hole in the floor in the middle of the house....from the former furnace grate.  If you recall from previous posts, the furnace was still amazing at heating the house, but slightly dangerous and everyone's feet were susceptible to having grate imprints seared onto the bottom of their paws.  Searing is for burgers, not for paws.  While we already took care of the furnace upgrade, we still had the big grate in the floor.  One dog was terrified of stepping on it and stuff falls through a grate.  So we installed an interim cover.  Ultimately we hope to incorporate some kind of ladder cover thing into the stairs.  Whenever we tackle that.  I'm betting on 2017 but hoping for 2016.  We only dropped the cover into the crawlspace twice.  Ok, three times.  I'm not admitting any more.  Nothing major got broken, therefore success.  

And most delightful of all, ending the day in the back yard with a fire in the bowl.  No tails got singed either.  More success!

Ceiling...slowly

The upstairs ceiling has been our focus project the last few...weeks....  Chad is still super busy at work, which is great, but cold weather is here.  We debated a long time (like all summer) about whether or not to raise the center part of the ceiling.  Ultimately we thought it would not be great for air flow, so then we moved on to debating what material to use to cover the beams with.  Plywood won.  And then the rains started.  Do you know what it's like to cut plywood in the rain?  Yeah.  Hence the slow.  We live a balanced life: a stack of covered wood in the front AND back yards.  

The other ceiling debate (there are actually several other ceiling debates in truth...) is about fans.  One fan, two fans, hard wired, switch activated, size, color.....maybe not that last one...  Chad got an appropriate one at a great price and installed it on the east side.  Switch activated, but can be hard wired later if we change our mind.  

My current goal is to get enough warning before project work starts so that I can move stuff out of the way or cover it up.  Which we knew would be the process that we were signing up for when we decided to live in the house while we remodel it.  The adventure continues!