Thursday, June 24, 2010

Work Work Work

Did I mention the cotton is flying around like nobody's business and it's getting harder and harder to breath? Well it's been a busy week and if it is a sign of whats to come I think there will be some laughs, some tears, some sweat and some fear. So far I have done a little bit of everything, shipping freight, delivering steel, following up on quotes, and running kids around to soccer. My house sitting job finally started on Wednesday but I've been too busy to move in. Monday I basically answered phones and email. Tuesday on the other hand was running to Anchorage, over and over again. Wednesday I cut my hand real good but I'm not posting a picture here. It really didn't hurt until today, now its an annoying pain, but it's a clean cut and should heal up just fine. I also spent Wednesday "advertising" as my mom calls it. Basically I installed (with the help of dad's handy man Sean, who dug almost all the post holes himself) three Arctic Fox signs...it took ALL DAY! I also bought a pair of gloves so as NOT to repeat that mornings "oops." After work I went and watched Emma play a double header where she decided head banging and picking clover in the back field was much more interesting than the ball. (I remember feeling the same way in kindergarten, almost as if it was yesterday) On my way home I had an epiphany...I didn't have to go home! So I stopped by Lambings' and had a short visit with Misty and Barb and Marie before they went off to bed. Carrie served me up some of the best current sorbet topped with dark chocolate sprinkled with sea salt! She is going to teach me how to make it this fall if the caterpillars don't eat all our plants. After that Carrie and I and Matt went out to Kroons' and sat on the porch watching the sun...go down?? Being as it was the 23rd, and we had lost 24 seconds, I guess we are on the down hill side of summer already and the sun will be setting earlier and I'll stop now before the Alaskans get depressed while reading this. Today is Thursday, I spent the morning following up on quotes, then spent the rest of the day delivering stuff out to Wolf lake...first off this requires a REALLY long heavy trailer. It rides real nice but I was so afraid I'd forgotten how...then I backed right up and first try hooked it up and drove off! Oh yeah! I still got it, grin!! First load was supposed to be two stops one drop, easy peasy lemon squeazy!!! There is no such thing. First load was two crates of windows, picked them up, then noticed down the road that one of my ratchet straps came loose, pulling over, one of the crates almost bailed. I called dad for some 4x4's and help. He said skip pick up number two and do the drop...this requires going through mass road construction (not a smooth ride WHAT SO EVER!!) 5mph or slower and 2 hours later, drop number one was done. The foreman told me that dad had requested I drop the trailer so I did and ran home, only to see dad's jaw hit the floor when I drove up without it...oops! Mis-communication...so I switched trucks (been using dad's) and loaded a bunch of "C" Channel (bloody steel that cut my hand yesterday) back through road construction at a healthier pace, picked up the trailer but had to drive down the taxi way and airstrip to get it out of the job site. Next stop was pick up number 2 at Greatland Welding. One of the guys came over and said "Wow! Nice trailer! I have trailer envy real bad right now." I had to laugh and tell him it was a lot better than the piece of junk I used to haul around! This one rides nice and smooth...His turn to laugh, "Can't take the tom boy out of the girl now can you!" BACK THROUGH construction (the flaggers are now waving and smiling at my familiar convoy.) Only to find the guys had all gone home! So, I did a refresher course on Forklift 101 and picked the load myself...(I can't believe it but I remembered how to do that too!!) BACK across the airport, through construction and ALMOST home when dad pulled up and said
"Hey, you have a minuet?"
"Sure?"
"Hop in and I'll show you the new job site."
"Okay"
So we delivered a forklift out at Hatcher Pass and then went home...to find a car of two kids waiting to go to soccer and no mom...well she was inside disciplining children, so I hopped in and took them to a soccer game, where the ref decided that they were going to play ALL 90 MINUTES!!! (they are only 8 year olds and we haven't had dinner yet!) So after 11 hours of work and a 90 minute soccer game, we FINALLY sat down to dinner!

(why am I blogging at 12:30 am? Because there is no other time!)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Alaskan Awesomeness!!

So two weeks ago, I decided to spend the summer in Alaska. Since then life has changed drastically. I found a renter, stopped taking interpreting jobs and started cleaning and packing. The yard is beautiful and the house immaculate. Mom came to visit and the party began! She landed and it was one event after another.

Interpreter Happy Hour
Freddie's BBQ
Brenna's Graduation
Brenna's Graduation Party
Jenny's Graduation/Cambodia Party
Pack
Chinese Garden Tea Party
Rose Garden Trek
Surprise Birthday Party for ME!! (thanks terp crew!)
France Reunion Party at my house

Then mom dropped me off at the airport and away Buddy and I went! Arriving in Alaska, Dad and I headed straight to Providence to visit Lyndsey Heiserman. She is still not doing great but we are still waiting to see if the anti-inflammatory meds will help regulate her colitis. It was good to see Margaret too for a little minute.

My first morning in the USAK, the kiddos piled on my bed and snuggled in...SO FUN!! Then the work began. Kara started baking cakes and I played with the nephew and nieces. Our day looked like this:

Snuggling, French toast, Search for eggs, play in yard, game of Sorry, roast hot dogs in the chimeniah, play nap time in one big bed, SSR, order out pizza, soccer game, pass off the kids to the cousins, bridal shower, visit with friends, back in bed

The next day all the kiddos went with Miss Erin and visited the Zoo...while Kara and I started decorating the "practice cake." The craziness began and didn't stop till 2:30am only to start again at 6am and lucky for us the masterpiece was finished an hour early. Then we had to transport it across town and gravel roads to the wedding on a bluff. Minus on mishap where the cake tried to slide off the board onto my lap we made it safely and the wedding was beautiful, clouds, wind, rain and all.

Today we are granted a bit of sun between clouds and a great morning of friends, kids, coffee and...(oh the house looks like we ignored it for three days while making a wedding cake!)...time to clean!!