Reflections of Another Time...

Today I had lunch with two high school classmates.  As I was walking away it occurred to me I should have gotten a picture but the hour flew by so fast I didn’t even think of it.  One of them, Colleen Hannon Stanley, was not only a classmate for all 12 years of school (she didn’t go to kindergarten) but a neighbor as well.  I grew up with the Hannons. Our moms were good friends.  I don’t remember ever not knowing Colleen.  She now lives in India while her husband fulfills a two year contract with the US Air force (as a civilian) and after that they may move to Dubai, on the Persian Gulf coast of the United Arab Emirates.  She doesn’t want to though; she wants to be back in the U.S. near her kids and grandkids and working towards a retirement. 

The other classmate was Kim Oudekerk Gibb.  Her family moved to Haines when she was freshman or sophomore I think so I don’t have near the history with her.  She got married right after graduation and lived in Petersburg for years but has lived in Juneau about twelve years.  I ran into her once at a boat show but I haven’t ever seen her, even in passing, since then. 

Colleen is here to play grandmother to her two year old grandson while his mom has another baby.  Pregnant women living in Haines have to come to Juneau to have their babies and have to be here for three weeks ahead of their due dates.  So she is taking the baby home to Haines while his mother remains here.  She is happy to get out of India, even though they live in officer housing on base, the world is a different place in India.  She says “Slumdog Millionare” pretty accurately portrayal of the poverty that is rampant there.  Kids begging for money in the streets, diseased and starving animals, and way too many people are all part of her daily landscape.  She doesn’t work there, getting a work visa was too much of a nightmare so she has written a book about her experiences.  Neither she or her husband are allowed to even drive, they have to have a driver from base.  She said it’s too dangerous and military advises against it.  No one slows down for anything and it’s not uncommon to run over an animal. 

Kim has been married for 37 years and has two kids and two grandchildren.  She has worked her way up in a local bank and is now a loan officer.  She wishes her parents had encouraged her to go to college.  Colleen finished her degree in public administration in 2010 after attending night school for many years.  She too, got married right out of high school and raised a family before going back to school.

The last time I saw Colleen was about 12 years ago at a high school reunion.  I haven’t spent an hour with Kim since we graduated.  It was a whirlwind catching up but so much fun.  It was interesting, the juxtaposition of our 17 year old high school days with our 54 year old current day selves.   We spent the hour discussing kids, grandkids, jobs, and retirement, peppered with a few mentions of hot flashes and colonoscopies. 

Oh, the lessons we could teach our 17 year old selves.  So many things could have been reconsidered and better thought out, crises averted and pain avoided.  In the end I guess it is all that hard stuff that got us where we are today so in that regard I wouldn’t change a thing but oh how I wish life came with a few do-overs!

A Little of This, A Little of That....

Saturday morning I got up around 7 AM.  I heard Chris’ car leaving and I had forgotten he had to work.  Notice I said I got up, not woke up.  I had a nasty kink in my neck and back from a few days prior and I was so uncomfortable Friday night I couldn’t stand it so I read until about 2 AM and then I took a pain pill.  It was outdated, don’t know if that matters but rather than put me in a deep slumber I was hoping for, it totally wired me and I’m not sure I ever fell asleep.  By 7 AM I couldn’t stand to toss and turn any longer so I got up even though my brain felt completely numb.  I was rummy and in my rumminess the first thing I did was start going through my closet.  I have had a closet full of size 0 and size 2’s that I have been hanging on to for too many years with no hope of ever fitting into them again.  Which is not to say I have no hope of ever losing weight but I know I’ll never be that small again.  If, by some miracle I find myself that size again, I will gladly fork out the bucks for some new clothes.   I ended up taking three big black garbage bags of clothes and one box of shoes to St. Vincent de Paul’s.  As well as one big box of books to Friends of the Library. 

After that I got on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then I cleaned the house.  It’s so much easier to clean the house when Chris is gone.  Then I went for a long walk and when I got home I made a pass through the garden and pulled the offending weeds and watered everything.  I can count on one hand the times I have had to water this summer.  My Livingston daisies are all blooming now and it all looks much like the picture above.  Thankfully we have been getting some sunny days so they can showcase their glory. 

When Chris got home we went grocery shopping and ran some errands.  I got some steaks marinating and then I sat down and read my book and promptly fell asleep.   I just love a good nap and I rarely take them.  That night we BBQ’d some tenderloin steaks that you could cut with a fork, so good!!   It was a great Saturday and I can’t believe how good it feels to purge my belongings.   Now it’s got me inspired to go through all my closets and cupboards and do some more. 

On Sunday I had to sit for hours with a heating pad on my back and today my kink seems a bit better.  I still can’t turn my head to the left without it hurting but it is better.  The bonus is I got a lot of my book read, a light, fun summer read called “Summer Rental”. 

And now you, dear reader, know every detail of my very uneventful weekend.

SCRUMP-DELI-ICIOUS

On Monday my office had a grazing day in honor of my birthday.  We do that a lot.  Just the Friday before we had another one for a coworker that was moving on.  That one was breakfast themed with several different eggy, potato breakfast casseroles, plus we had fried sausages and a baked French toast dish that was to die for.  Mine, however, did not have a theme and people just brought what they felt like.  A coworker, Jon, brought some spring rolls with spicy peanut sauce.  IT WAS TO DIE FOR!!  There was shredded carrots and cucumbers inside rice paper with shrimp and bean-thread noodles and each roll had some fresh spinach leaves with a basil leaf and a mint leaf on top.  You dipped the whole thing into this spicy peanut sauce that had a bite to it from the chilies that were added and you had an absolute EXPLOSION of flavor……a party that just went on and on.  It was seriously the tastiest thing tp pass these lips in a very long time.  Even after you were finished eating a burp would relive the experience…a little basil, a little mint, a little spicy peanut sauce.  I’m telling you, it was absolutely scrump-deli-icious!!  Sadly, I do not even have pictures, we were all so busy eating and salivating over the spring rolls, no one thought to take a photo.  And Jon had just made up the peanut sauce so have no recipe for that either.

Summer Delight



DOWNTOWN JUNEAU ** Pat Costello Photo




BEARS ENJOYING THE SUMMER, EATING DANDELIONS ** Pat Costello Photo



PERFECT FORECAST

I am back to work today after having four, long, glorious, sun filled days off.  What a treat that was!! I went for early morning long walks every day, I gardened, spent quality time with the animals, I mowed, I cleaned the house, prepared for a BBQ we had Saturday night and I laid in my lawn chair and read.  I haven’t heard the official temperature yet but it was slated to be in the mid 80’s.  No matter the temperature, it was HOT!! I even managed not to get burned.  One thing I’ve discovered it sun tanning is a whole different ball game than it was when I was younger.  Then I’d slather on the baby oil or whatever other sun tan enhancing cream I had, I’d have a squirt bottle of cold water nearby and I’d lay out for HOURS on end.  It didn’t matter if I was on the verge of passing out, I refused to miss 5 minutes of sun.  Now it’s all about the sun screen.  And breaks inside.  And sitting in the shade occasionally.  The perfect solution is having my upper body in the shade and my lower body in full sun.  It was a little bit of heaven right here in Juneau, Alaska.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE GLACIER

Nature Can Be SO Cruel



He was about this size




This was the action that totally broke my heart



I had the most distressing event on Sunday.  I opened the back door and heard some awful squawking so I went to investigate in the woods by our house.  I saw two robins were making all the noise and I saw Timmy, my little cat nearby but he didn’t have anything in his mouth.  I couldn’t really identify the source of the commotion so I started walking back to the house.  The birds and Timmy seemed to follow me.  Once inside I looked up in time to see Timmy nail a bird to the ground so I ran outside again.  When I got to him I saw it was a baby robin.  I picked him up and he appeared really hungry or at least he kept opening his mouth.  He did have a scratch on his wings but otherwise seemed strong and healthy.  I don’t know if he fell out of his nest or if he ever could fly but it took two hands around him to keep him in place.  I was freaking out and mom & dad robin were absolutely frantic.  Every time baby would peep they would start afresh.  I finally got both cats inside and then baby got away from me. He could do a hop/jump combination and was pretty quick.  He ran over to my neighbor’s porch area and I figured he would at least be safe from predators there but I doubt he lasted long.  Without getting him back to his nest he didn’t have much hope.  I begged God to watch over him or at least end his suffering quickly but it haunted me all day.  Helpless baby robin beseeching me for food and safety and I let him down.   It was not a good day.

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

May 15, 2010

May 15, 2012

In my last post I was lamenting the progress of my garden due to the cold and wet May we have had.  I thought it would be fun to document the source of my angst.  Pretty sad......

A Little of This, A Little of That....

An update on baby Kylie.  After the third surgery I wrote about (to put a mechanical valve in) she had a fourth one.  The last surgery was to implant a pacemaker.  On  Friday (5/11) she was released from the hospital although they are staying nearby the hospital for another week until they can come home.  She will require many follow-up visits and since Juneau doesn’t have any baby cardiologists they will have to make a trip to Anchorage several times a month.

Kylie, leaving the hospital!

A couple weeks ago her cousin organized a fundraiser dinner of Indian Tacos and about $3500 was raised.  In addition, a bank account now has about $1500 in donations and fundraiser site (http://www.gofundme.com/ksabk) has raised $1800 and Krista still has leave donations to draw from.  Many generous people have stepped up and help support them financially and with leave donations and I am so thankful for that support, as are they I’m sure.  I can’t imagine what it is like to go through something like this but I it warms my heart to see how people gather around someone in need. 

May has been cold and wet here and my garden is suffering.  I compared a picture of one garden to how it looked two years ago and it was  pretty pathetic.  Lots of blank spots where stuff coming up has rotted and other stuff just hasn’t come in yet.  I am gathering all my yearly annuals for container baskets but it’s been too cold to go out and put them together.  I refuse to go dig in the dirt with frozen hands!

Work has been very busy lately.  I had kind of a slow winter when I thought, “this isn’t so bad after all” and then I got slammed.  Some days I can’t  even keep up on the onslaught of emails I have to answer, let alone any real work done.  I got through my first construction project though, and I’m working on a second one.  I’m soliciting for space for a new public health center in Nome and trying to reconcile the 4^th quarter billings with DGS’ numbers.  Getting ready for fiscal year end as well.  I feel like I’m making progress but my boss assures me it will be a couple years before I’m really proficient.  I think I was given this job to teach me patience, which has never been among my virtues.