MOUNTAIN PULSE

Denied....but SUPPLIED

2012-02-07T14:28:00.000-09:00

After doing a few skis off the beaten path(i.e., well groomed trails) and gaining a newfound confidence in my technique this winter, I thought I would head out on the local trail up our valley to see if anyone had been skiing it. My improbable dream was that perhaps some hardcore cross country folk had established a nice trail back out to the lakes. What a glorious 5 miles trek that would be! Planting me out there at the base of those white mountains in the magnificent sun! But in the real world? It was an awkward semi-trail set higgledy-piggledy for about a mile at the most. Then the tracks just mysteriously ended. NOT conducive to my level of backcountry skiing(I've never done any) or my lack of appropriate gear(simple x-country ski package). It was a bumpy, deep, crusty, hazardous on the downhill, SHORT attempt. But what a fabulous place to be! Full glorious sun, blasting me in the face...inundating my retinas with much needed circadian rhythm altering light....

SOUL filling.......

Time to bring out the deck chairs for some sun sitting!

The following is based on a meditation that Willa and I have enjoyed doing for the last 3 years when we are outside. At some point, we’ll take a break, sit together quietly…breathing…and then take turns stating the five senses and what we are observing for each. i.e., “SMELL: The pine trees warming in the spring sun”. I believe I found this meditation from LittleAcorn Learning. Today, I discovered a new blog-Bohemian Twilight- whos writer ends each post with something similar. I think it’s a great idea to succinctly sum up a day, so I think I will incorporate this little meditation into my own posts. Here’s today’s:

HEAR: QUIET but for the sweet chirps of some hidden birds in the pines I skied through…

SEE: A sea of windblown snow….waves stretching out before me into the sun...

SMELL: The aroma of my favorite soap, “Tango” from Ogleby Sisters, wafting up as I sweat…

TASTE: A lunch of soft tilapia taco with lettuce, tomato, and a Greek yogurt-salsa-lime juice-garlic dressing. Wish I was tasting a beer as well!

FEEL: An owie of a bruise forming on my bum cheek from falling today!

WELCOME 2012!

2012-01-10T14:03:00.000-09:00

Power's out!

After 3 days of winter camping in a cabin with no running water, Nordic skiing and sweating up a storm hauling all of our gear to and fro, the 4 of us were fairly RIPE by the time we headed out for home. When we hit town we found the traffic lights were all out and hoped that an outage wasn't the case up at our house! We prayed on the 7 mile trip up the mountain that all we would have to deal with once home was the shoving and tripping over each other to get to the shower first! No such luck. According to a text from a neighbor, the power had gone off around noon...luckily, the house was still warm compared to the single digits outside. Miles and Dylan eventually headed back into town to shower at the gym. Willa and I stuck it out at home putting away camping gear, manning the wood stove to keep the house warm, and playing cards by candle light. We enjoyed the true solace in a house quiet with NO electricity running through it. Miles and I figured that if the power wasn't on by the time we went to bed we would have to box up all the stuff from the cooler and put it outside! It was quite the relief when the power came back on around 6-ish. We all headed out for the annual neighborhood New Years block party. The usual extreme sledding, socializing and firework watching fun. I had my glorious shower afterward to warm up and settle into the sleep I was desperately needing!

The tiki lit sledding route down the road and into our neighbor's driveway

MEME FOR THE NEW YEAR:

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Visited St. Louis. It’s a ghost town. Meh. Miles and I had fun being together, of course, visiting the zoo, going to a Rams game, dinking around town, going up in the Arch, touching the Mississippi, going for runs, eating some fabulous meals, and getting gussied up for NYL events.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t set out to make the New year’s Resolution. But this time of year does lend itself to change. After the ruckus of the holiday season, when things calm down and return to normal, why not re-do the routine with some aspirations? Getting some CEUs under my belt and putting more “spirit” into my massage practice, trying to streamline my daily and household routine(more efficiency, organization, etc.), surpassing my current comfort threshold regarding exercise and training….doing at least ONE half marathon!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My step-nephew had a baby girl!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. My dad, my uncle, and a young family friend. It was a tough spring/summer for me…..

5. How many people will you romantically kiss in 2012?
Just my hunny!

6. What countries did you visit?

Whitley Strieber’s Unknown Country? Aliens and UFOs and news of the Weird and whatnot.

7. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?A.Finished.New.Addition.Thankyou.

8. If for one year (2012) you could choose to be any age, what age would you be?

50-60-ish? To get perspective on what I really should be appreciating right NOW as far as my physical abilities and self image. They’re not bad, mind you, but not as positive as they should be. When I think of the negative crap I thought about myself 10 or 15 years ago, I just want to go back and kick my own own ass and say,"In 10 or 15 years you'll WISH you we're your younger self!!!" Next year I’ll go back to 25!

9. Will you be looking for a new relationship?

I would love to find a group of women to run with!
I love to run solo as well as with Miles, but I think it would also be fun to have some female running camaraderie and energy!

10. Where did most of your money go?

Our new addition….which is getting’ fuckin’ OLD!!!

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I don’t know how popular they are in the Lower 48, but my SkhooP insulated snow skirt has been a GODSEND! It’s like wearing a thin sleeping bag around your legs! http://www.skhoop.us/ I bought the long one and it makes any outside winter activity perfectly comfortable! I don’t use it for running or skiing since I can generate plenty of heat that way, but for walking downtown, standing around outside, picking up Willa from school, or staying warm after a workout this skirt is the THANG to HAVE!

12. How many times will you break and/or lose your cell phone in 2012?
Hasn’t ever happened in all the years I’ve had a cell.

13. Whose behavior merited celebration?

A few…in this messed up world,,,,but I’m feeling lazy, so there.

14. Whose behavior disgusted you?

All riding in the GOP Clown Car!

15. Any trips planned?

Welp…it’s our 10 year anniversary this June! And we had batted around the idea of celebrating in Ireland/Scotland…but in all reality, we HAVE to finish this room before committing to anything else. Totally bums me out, but I know once the room is done we’ll make this trip happen! Otherwise, it’s the usual but highly anticipated Russian River fishing trip, as well as our trip to New Jersey-or perhaps we can talk my Mom and step dad into meeting us in some other location, like Hawaii? I also hope we can fit in some exploratory road trips in AK.

16. What about yourself will you be changing?
Letting go, and….just continuing to evolve.

17. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
Nope. Gonna go for REALLY MEAN this year! HELLA nasty! Yeah.

18. Will you be nice to people you don’t know?

Something disturbing I noticed over the summer while hiking out on our increasingly popular trail-SO many people passing by without a “Hi-gorgeous day, huh?!” or even eye contact. Huh? This is a hiking trail out in god’s country, not Rush Hour, NYC! What’s happening?! Where is the connection?! So, yeah. I’ll be in your face with a hi! and direct eye contact. I will also be trying to smile more..sometimes my face does not reflect what I have inside.

19. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
Of course!

20. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Playing outside in inclement weather. Lot's of times crap weather has been an excuse not to go outside. I need to remember there is a different beauty in the wind...the rain...the fog...and I want my family to experience this, too.

21. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Alpha stating on this computer. But that’s a whole nuther post…

22. Will you be looking for a new job?
Yes. Yes I will, methinks. I need steadier work and a boss that actually respects and promotes their therapists. I'd also like to use a wider range of modalities.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hate is such a strong word… I try to realize that when I feel “hate” it’s really more of a lack of something….respect, empathy, etc. because of that person’s actions.

24. What was the best book you read?
BORN TO RUN. It’s in my top 5 best EVER.

25. What was your favorite film of this year?

We’re still working through 2011’s films via Netflix…..but methinks Hobo With a Shotgun is residing in our mailbox down the road as I write this! And you KNOW that flick is gonna RAWK cuz Rutger Hauer’s in it!!!!!

26. What happened in 2011 that you didn’t think would ever happen?

I sold some paintings at art shows and cafes and a gallery in Anchorage wants to show me exclusively!!!!!

27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Kynd BohoArtchicNordyrecREIation?

28. What new thing would you mix with chocolate in 2012?
BEER!!!! I can’t wait for my chocolate bock to be DONE!!!! I’ll be bottling it next weekend!

29. Major lifestyle changes?
More like “tweaking” what’s already there. We’ve cleaned up our diet more by adding some great healthy meals to our list, I’ve gotten more serious about training for an actual half marathon-or maybe even a full, I’ve remained dedicated to living STRONG.

30. What political issue stirred you the most?
I’ve been so shaken and stirred the past year I can barley manage to follow the news anymore…stochastic terrorism…the relentless nay saying of the stalwarts in the House/Congress…corporations are PEOPLE?!?!....the insidious turning of our great country into an oligarchy…my disillusion with our President-although I still support…the potential of the Occupy movement/the snafu,fubar,chaos of the Occupy Movement….Fuckin’ A. Too much.

31. Who did you miss?

Mel

32. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting my name known as an artist in town!

33. What was your biggest failure?

I don’t think I fucked up in any BIG way…but I do get on myself daily but all the minor fuck ups. I need to show myself a little more compassion…

34. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Surprisingly, no real illness despite other members of my family getting sick. There where a few times that I was sure I felt something coming on, but by the time I woke up the next, day I was fine. This is a rare thing! Pretty cool! Hopefully that says something about my all around health. Injury….a little funk going on in both shoulders when I do something I haven’t in awhile like cross country skiing. Working on keeping those shoulder girdles loose and strong.

35. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? The same I guess…and that’s pretty happy!

b) thinner or fatter?  A pound or 3 weight gain after loosing 25 last year..but I’ve also put on more muscle

c) richer or poorer? In what respect Charlie? Richer in life experience for sure. Financially…the same.

36. What kept you sane?
SWEAT. Getting outside…running...hiking…skiing

37. Do you expect 2012 to be a good year for you?

I will make it the best it can be!

Scenes from Christmas Day

2011-12-27T17:38:00.001-09:00

How the day went: Coffee, of course!....open stockings....more coffee accompanied by Mile's homemade cinnamon rolls....exchange gifts/open Santa prezzies....groove on our new stuff....answer phone calls from relatives....clean up...groove on our new stuff....eat a "real" breaky....go for a snowy run....shower....head out to the T's house for football, fun and dinner...and what a beautiful drive it was! 9 more inches of new snow blanketing everything...a true white Christmas! .....back home...watch a movie.....goodnight!

Christmas morning! Crack-o-Dawn!

I am absolutely in LOVE with our tree. Perfect in so many ways....in that it came from our own yard and in how amazing it looks!

It's like an I Spy book!!! Who can spy the whiskey?!?!

Willa worked so hard on the little lamb she knit for Dylan! Every morning on the dark car ride to work she was back there knitting away. Lamb is napping on the neck warmer I knit for Willa. Made one for Dylan, too, but it needs some more work....

Willa's wrapping "humor".

The tee Willa made for Daddy using our tutorial HERE.

Willa made this beautiful Ireland scene out of scraps of wood for me! It goes with the Arctic themed one she made for Miles LAST Christmas.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, too!!!!

Scenes from Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T09:24:00.000-09:00

Final touch on our best tree ever!

Willa's letter to Santa

Dylan's gift to Willa. A t-shirt with one of our cats on it. A great tutorial for these cute tees can be found HERE.

Bounty

King crab in da pot!

Miles's famous recipe book

Garlic: a food group

Hangin' with my gnomie in the Land of Pies

Add caption

Happy and hungry!

So quiet and soft outside

Listening to Daddy read The Night Before Christmas....

Happy Solstice to all!

2011-12-21T17:39:00.000-09:00

The Shortest Day
by Susan Cooper

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, fest, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!

Holiday happenings

2011-12-21T15:20:00.001-09:00

Oooooh,
the weather outside is
TOTALLY FUCKED UP!!!!

From our front door two weekends ago. Winds, rain, bye bye, Snow. Wish I had tried to capture the wind with my camera. Trees bending horizontal. Weeeeeeeeeeee.

Last weekend as I drove down the mountain. Snowing at the top, raining at the bottom.

Wind blasted snow turning the house white.

The last three weekends have seen the most insane winds we've experienced up here. 100+MPH. Just, NASTY! Rain and grey and yuckily warm out.....ECK! and, MEH!!!! The 12+ new inches of snow we got LAST weekend...ruined. 2 Lantern Walks cancelled, my December First Friday art show opener cancelled, a second show cut short, birthday dinner cancelled (and well, I won't complain about missing a day of work-didn't have to deal with the Client From Hell) all due to hazardous conditions.

Scattered about between this month's meteorologic fiascoes there have been a few respites where we've enjoyed good old winter in Alaska. Willa has been enjoying her twice a week Junior Nordic skiing class(me, too. One night I volunteer with her group and the other I just ski off into the dark by myself or with Miles when he can join us- skiing at night is so friggin' awesome! Quiet, beautiful....). Willa's school FINALLY got that Lantern Walk in, although abridged. We held it on the play yard grounds of the school right smack in downtown Anchorage instead of out in the woods of Goose Lake. And it was first thing in the morning as opposed to in the evening. And sans hot cider and cookies....

:( But the kids still enjoyed it very much-all proud of their beautiful lanterns and full of song.

Willa's class made goose "G" lanterns

It really goes to show you how easily pleased kids can still be with the minimum. Speaking of, a post or three ago I mentioned my dilemma in buying our usual little Holiday tree to put on the Advent table from the Advent faeries. I wound up doing the note and pine branch in a vase thing. Next morning the kid was thrilled! She thought it was so pretty and even kissed it. Why bother getting the store bought tree?!?! Well....the faeries did promise it in their note.... Point is, she would have been just FINE with the branch and vase! No great expectations there. ...And then there is the sword. A gorgeous leather play sword that I saw on A Small Tribe's blog. A perfect Santa gift for a kid who is very into LOTR! So I ordered it on ETSY. In the meantime, Willa found a stick that appeared on the porch during on our the recent thaws. That kid is a stick MAGNET. Sticks everywhere in this house. And god forbid you try to chuck one outside.....have to do THAT when she's not lookin'. So she takes the stick and lays it on a towel by the front door and starts scraping away at the bark with a rock like a little Neanderthal. 3o minutes later she is the proud brandisher of the Worlds Most AWESOME Sword! A stick. I just spent $ on a handmade, killer(and I mean that NOT literally), leather sword resplendent with dragon embellishment and handle wrapped in pink cord. A stick will do just fine , thanks. Haven't I always said,"BEST toys EVER: Sticks, rocks, boxes and silkies"?!??! WHY don't I listen to myself?!?! Sometimes we parents still go overboard even while we think we're going minimal. Sometimes our kids will surprise us with their simple desires. Refreshing in a world of entitlement and greed. A stick and a pine branch....and the imaginations SOAR.

Off on a tangent there...back to the holidays. We have a house guest and he's WONDERFUL. His name is Rocket and he's a handsome polite fella.

Dog and cat dig each other. Took this shot from my perch on the couch.

A malamute?/sled dog?/golden lab? type. Most low maintenance dog EVER! And it's just so nice to have some doggie-ness around the house again. Had to kick him out of bed twice...and he'd sit right on our laps if we let him, but he's a BIG dude and the rule is no dogs on the furniture. So we totally succumbed to his cuteness and let him sleep on the ottoman while we watch TV. He has the amazing ability to curl up in a wee ball. A delicate flower he is. We have him through Christmas while his people are in Mexico.

Tangent number 2 scratched off the list. It's an ADD day for me. Holidays.....tree is up and half decorated....working on handmade prezzies...watching Christmas movies.....makin' fudge....rescued a bird from our new addition today....baking cookies...wrapping, wrapping, wrapping....looking forward to king crab, skiing with and visiting friends, and skiing out to a cabin we rented for 3 days...and a WEEK OFF WORK HOME WITH MY FAM.

This just in: High wind warning remains in effect from 3 pm this afternoon to midnight akst tonight for turnagain arm and the hillside... 100MPH winds expected

Sigh......... We better get today's skiing and shopping in before the winds hit. Again.

Santa Lucia

2011-12-15T19:44:00.000-09:00

Hey, man...this never posted! Friggin' auto post? Late, but here it is, Second grade's Santa Lucia celebration at Winterberry Waldorf school:
The last day of school before Christmas break was full of song, games, dancing, gifts and treats! The kids looked so beautiful and etheric in their white clothes. They sang the traditional Neapolitan "Santa Lucia" so beautifully! The room glowed warm and was so inviting with it's smells and candle light...
It was lovely to watch as children handed out gifts to each other in a circle of chatter and eating. A wonderful way to end the first half of the busy school year and settle into the holidays at home...

My Birthday

2011-12-13T10:13:00.000-09:00

...Was the BEST ever! After coffee I opened prezzies. Beautiful earrings from Miles. From Willa a sweet handmade flannel bag containing the same material for us to make her a bag together. She wants us to use these bags to gather things outside in the summer! She and Miles spent a great deal of time working on this bag in her room last weekend. Dylan was able to chase down a DVD copy of "The 12 Chairs", one of my favorite movies. I had searched for a copy in the past to no avail. Weird because it's such a great movie! This movie-and having it now-means so much to me. I have many fun memories of watching it with my dad. We were always reciting lines from it as is so easy to do with a Mel Brooks movie!

My sweet husband worked hard on Saturday prepping ganache and lemon curd for my crepe breakfast on Sunday. I'd been dreaming of this breakfast since before last year's birthday. Miles and I had sworn off fattening food over the holidays last year, and I had begrudgingly given up the birthday crepes... for egg whites. Not THIS year, baby!!!! They were AMAZING and so worth the wait!!!!!

After breaky we threw on the snow gear and ventured out onto the property to find this year's Christmas tree. There's a few little trees out there struggling to grow in the shadows of other larger more healthy trees. We decided go the enviormentaly friendly route and cut one of those in order to give the healthier trees more room to grow..some are being choked out by these little trees. We found one growing under and against a cluster of willow. It's a PERFECT tree! Sparse with lots of room for hanging our tons of ornaments! We thanked the earth and then the tree- for presenting itself to us. This is the first time any of us have been a part of cutting a Christmas tree outside and I was just SO thrilled! From our own back yard on a snowy blustery day! The perfect thing to do on my birthday!

Trying to keep the tree upright until we could locate the tree stand. A huge storm was approaching and the winds were really starting to pick up!

Once we got the tree up inside, Miles and I decided to head into town to skate ski our favorite trail system. It was pounding snow when we left and we were psyched at the idea of skiing in it! By the time we drove halfway down the mountain the snow turned to rain! In town it was dismally dark and pouring-a total bummer. So we drove back home where it was white and snowing and figured we would just go for a run in it! We only lasted about 35-40 minutes in the 45 MPH winds and driving snow! But we had a great time out in it anyway! 2 wacky freaks running in whiteout conditions! I LOVE my husband! My best friend and I LIVING STRONG! We got home red faced and revitalized.

By 5 pm the winds were POUNDING crazy-like. We were getting reports of freezing road conditions and accidents into Anchorage where we were all heading into for my Birthday dinner at Little Italy. We had to cancel. :( No way was I dragging my family into that. I had been so looking forward to that dinner! But with the power in danger of going out at any time my sweetheart got busy right away, cranking out one of my favorite meals in no time-skirt steak, baked potatoes, asparagus and a great wine unearthed from the basement stash. He even whipped up the BEST cake with the left over lemon curd and chocolate ganache! It looked like a mess but was delicious! The man is a WIZARD! So we enjoyed a "picnic"-the kids spread a blanket on the floor for themselves and we ate that fabulous meal while watching "The 12 Chairs".

Here's a graphic of that night's storm that left us with at least 12 inches of new snow and NO school/work the next day! Many surrounding neighborhoods and town where without power for hours on end.

This birthday was absolutely WONDER-FUL. I love my little family over the moon and beyond the stars...****************** THANK YOU, guys!!!

A wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

2011-12-04T14:29:00.000-09:00

Zero degrees and sun-kissed trees

As always, an abundance of things to be so grateful for....and a wonderful day with friends to remind us that gratitude should be acknowledged on EVERY day... I hold strong in my heart a commitment to give a moment of time each day to take inventory and offer thanks.

Over the river and through the woods that morning we drove to our friends, the T's, house for a full day of cross-country skiing, football, visiting and eating. I LOVED that we started our day with good, hard, most fabulous skiing up on the Powerline/Blueberry hollow trails! It was so beautiful...gently snowing...the mountains around us were obscured, forcing us to appreciate the immediate beauty around us. It felt SO good to get that fresh air and exercise, come back to a hot shower, relax with an adult beverage and not feel guilty about the big meal to be consumed! Those people that I've always seen out running, skiing, biking, etc. on the morning of a big holiday? They got it goin' on! It made the day THAT much more sweeter....a feeling of having really earned it!

The rest of our 4 day weekend was spent with friends-testing the wine we brewed together a couple years ago, skiing, snow shoeing, watching movies, and decorating the house for the holidays.

Leaning tower of cranberry sauce

Hillside view from our friend's home

The obligatory Thanksgiving nap

Eats at the ready

Pre-dinner dress up

The innards of my apple-cranberry pie

Decanted wine awaiting our verdict. Needs to grow for a couple more years!

Amazing alpenglow from our house

Advent so far

2011-12-04T11:00:00.000-09:00

Willa has taken quite a leap in her reading as of late! While in public kindergarten, she was taught to read, but neither she nor Miles and I pursued if after she was accepted into Winterberry Waldorf. Now that she is in second grade she has taken a big interest and has leapt right over the basic "See Jane run" to more advanced stuff. Her comprehension of these more sophisticated stories comes into question, but she just loves to quietly and diligently decipher the code of wordage in her "Guardians Of Ga'hoole" book. We have to coax her into balancing things out by reading and talking about the easier stuff like "Frog and Toad".

This year for the First Night, I created a special book of the Advent blessings I wrote to read on each Sunday. Willa now gets to light the candles and read the blessing aloud to us. While the reading was slow going, I think she appreciates her new role. And the next morning, those generous Advent faeries bestowed upon us a beautiful rose quartz mother and child duo in honor of the Mineral Kingdom!

Later today, we will adorn the Advent table with symbols of the Plant Kingdom. However, mom here has a problem. After the most glorious snowfalls, November was an uncharacteristically white one laden with ton's of ski-able sled-able snow! Just FABULOUS!!!! It is now 40 degrees and POURING rain. Winds up to 100MPH! It has been like this since Friday when all after school events were cancelled-including the already once postponed Lantern Walk!!!! Due to the VERY unsafe roads, I did not get the chance to run to the store to buy the sweet mini Christmas tree that I always get for the "faeries" to put on the Advent table! :( My bet is that I could rig something up with small pine branches and a pot...and I'm sure Willa would enjoy it just as much...but it won't be quite the same. We always enjoy the challenge of trying to actually keep that little tree alive after the holidays to grow to adulthood. Hey, my MOM can do it-she's got a bunch in her yard! In the past, we have not been diligent enough with the watering..... But we had talked about the fact that THIS was the year we were going to grow that tree! .....Maybe the faeries could leave a note with the "temporary" tree stating that due to the weather, they were afraid that transporting the delicate tree in the wind and rain would hurt it.....so they will bring one by this week when the rain stops? We'll give that a go, methinks.

Something wicked this way comes...

2011-12-01T19:33:00.000-09:00

A kick-ass homebrewed chocolate bock is gettin' borned in the garage!
Over the summer when Miles was on a daddy/daughter trip with Willa, I helped myself to a lone bottle of Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock that I found on the food shelf in the garage. DIVINE!!!! Full and rich and smooth and chocolaty fuckin' chocolateness and, and...
And as far as I can see, unless SANTA wants to fill my stocking with some, the SA stuff only comes in one of those holiday variety packs which I'm not going to buy for just the 2 bocks inside. So I've brewed my own damn batch, Sam!!! - under Miles's supervision since it's been a few years since I've brewed.
So my 5 glorious gallons of liquid mana of the gods is happily bubbling away. This weekend we rack it to the secondary...and then more tortuous waiting. It's looking like January or February before I can crack that first one open....

Miles's Road Rash IPA. Named after my wipe out on the road while running on ice. Love you hunny, ya little shit!

Bottling his IPA. His magic wand broke after 15 years of use. Cuz he's a wise-ass and karma's a bitch.

After we bottled the IPA I started on the Chocolate Bock. Busy beer day!

Oh, HELLS yes. I keep waiting to see the glutinous fat kid emerge and get sucked up Willy Wonka's tube.

Into the dark and cold

2011-11-17T10:23:00.001-09:00

-10 to -20 the last couple of days here and the same heading into the weekend. We've already got 2 feet of snow pack, fairly rare for November in the Anchorage area. And while I lament not being able to run outside as often, I'm totally digging the gorgeous skiing! The running thing....that's a whole 'nuther story...basically trying to see how far I can push the threshold of cold while still running in my Vibram 5 Finger shoes. So far, I've gotten down to 18 degrees without socks. I'll update the whole deal in an upcoming post.
Above is a photo of last year's Lantern Walk put on by Willa's school. This year's was to be tomorrow night, but with a prediction of -17 they had to cancel until December. I was bummed to get the e-mail this morning...the Lantern Walk is such a wonderful first celebration to ring in, and find warmth in, the darkening cold Holiday season. But I freely admit I was relieved at the same time! -17? Fuhgedaboutit! Who can have fun in THAT? Lot's of disappointed kiddos, though, my own in tears this morning. They've been working so hard on their beautiful lanterns... But it's only a couple of weeks and there is a large Thanksgiving dinner planned at our friend's house to look forward to. I was really hoping that WE would be hosting Thanksgiving this year, but the finishing of our new addition is shlogging along slower than molasses in January. We have a lovely, big, currently useless room that is still awaiting plumbing, heated floors, electricity, insulation and sheet rock among other things. The rotted out beams we discovered-the previous contractor'ss faux pas-really held things up for us. At least that part is now fixed.

Anyhoo, here's a couple more Lantern Walk photos to set the mood. For those not familiar with the Lantern Walk, it's a lovely way to celebrate Martinmas.
Martinmas marks the burial of St Martin of Tours (316-397 AD). St. Martin may be well-known for his compassionate gesture of sharing his cloak with a beggar. This charitable gesture is at the heart of this festival for many Waldorf schools, who hold coat drives and other charitable drives around this festival.
This festival is the middle point between Michaelmas and Christmas; the light of Martinmas fortifies our souls for the dark winter and prepares us for the birth of Christ. One symbol of this is working with light from lanterns in the traditional Lantern Walk.
I'm working very hard on getting lots of holiday preparations-gifts made and bought, events scheduled-finished by December so that we can go into it with a little less chaos and more reverence....more family time to enjoy this time of year.....internal and beautiful in so many ways.....

The lighted path...cold yet warm at the same time with the sound of children singing...the lights of their hand held lanterns bobbing as they journey through the woods.

The circle of the bonfires. Toasty warm, groups of kids, parents, and teachers singing rounds and enjoying hot drinks and treats.

The lanterns made by Willa's class.

Date night! A week in St. Louis

2011-09-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

St. Louis? Yeah, well..... Not my first choice for a New York Life convention, but it's a bit of a get-away for us. (Next year it will be either Vancouver or the BAHAMAS!!!) Miles will be in meetings and seminars during the day and I'll be exploring. It'll be fun to find places to run in the morning, shop, sight see, visit galleries....and at night my Hunny and i can dress up, hang with friends or go out on the town, etc, etc. I don't have to clean or cook SHIT!!!! :)
Gotta go! We're landing!

Being here...

2011-08-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

No words
just a glimpse
a brief window
into this moment
in this life

Russian River 2011: The rest

2011-08-14T10:23:00.001-08:00

I am SO behind in posting all major stuff that we've done this summer since the Russian trip! There's one more post from the last day of this trip coming-a GREAT hike that we went on with friends that was out of this world, another short weekend trip to the Russian a couple weeks later, our dipnetting trip, New Jersey trip...and various other sundry things. All in good time.

Here are some photos of the many flowers and ferns that carpet the banks of the river as well as the other stuff we did:

SO handsome! As long as he's on the other side!

In the RV heading home

We were sad to find that our fairy house that we built and had survived 3 years was gone. It looked as if they had expanded that campsite, whacking down the brush where the house had been. But I'm pretty sure those fairies knew what was coming and magically relocated to a more safe and secret spot! ;) So Willa and I built another one at this years site!

"Frodo" riding a dragon!

The reward after our long hike along the river. Beautiful falls!

<3!!!

Living Strong: Pierced probosci!

2011-08-14T09:55:00.001-08:00

Well, living strong, we definitely came out of our comfort zones last night.....Dylan and I got our noses pierced!

It's something we'd talked about doing together for over a year. (I've wanted to pierce my nose for 20+ years) I spent some time googling all things nose piercing...checking out YouTube vids, the good and bad, to familiarize myself with the whole thing. Last weekend, after a bike ride in Anchorage, the girls and I stopped by a bodypiercing place to ask questions, make sure they where reputable, and to just alleviate some fear by getting to know the place. Since this weekend Miles and Willa are on a Daddy/daughter camping trip at Skilak Lake, Dylan and I figured it would be a good time for a Mommy/Daughter nose piercing! So we took the plunge last night and headed down to Body Piercing Unlimited. Our piercer, Charlie was a nice guy-thorough but good to talk to. Mommy went first....the worst part? The week of ANTICIPATION leading up to the piercing!!!! The actual act was quite quick and I would not describe it as pain at all. A few seconds of a little pinch, just a bit uncomfortable, and then it's done. No problemo. It was pretty funny though, he put a metal tube in my nose for the needle to go into-as opposed to his finger or my septum, etc.-got the needle positioned, told me to take a deep breath and on the exhale, BOOP, needle goes through. Then he turned away for something and here I am thinking it was done! WOW, thinks I. THAT was SO fast! I turn to Dylan to show off my nose, eyebrows raised questioningly-looks good?!?! Dylan's giving me this WEIRD look and I think, uh oh, does it look stupid or something? I turn my head the opposite way to look in the mirror there and I have this big long needle sticking into the top of my nose and hanging out the bottom! YIKES! Charlie had only turned to get my stud ready to put in! Eh...ya had to be there, it was comical. I'm such a dork! The big bummer was that they wouldn't allow us to video or take pictures. :( But.... I am so happy with my little nose diamond!

Dylan was next. I held her hand and she was done. She picked a pretty light blue stone and she looks ADORABLE! So grown up. I'm glad we did this together! There's no one else I would rather have had there doing this with me. She is such a fun and delightful kid!

Jack's ALIVE!!!!

2011-08-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

BEST game to play around the campfire or fire pit!!!!!!

Here's how it goes: Burn the end of a long stick in the fire until you have a small glowing ember on the tip. Pass the stick around from person to person. Each person blows on the ember-if the ember is still lit, the person blowing says,"Jack's alive!" before passing it to the next person. NO LYING!!!! If a person receives the stick and the ember suddenly goes out or they blow it out, they get to have their face drawn on by another player with the soot from the stick! Beards, mustaches, lamb chops, the more ridiculous, the more fun!

*TEST TO MAKE SURE TIP OF STICK IS NOT TOO HOT!!!*

Here's the Jack's Alive pic's from Dylan's Birthday party!

Dylan's Sweet Sixteen!

2011-08-07T13:39:00.001-08:00

Our little girlie turned 16 in July! That morning we drove in to the DMV so she could take her road test and get her driver's license. After an initial setback: they wouldn't let her finish the test once it was discovered that my emergency break didn't work-WHO KNEW?!?-luckily another woman offered to let Dylan use her car. We sat on standby for 2 hours. Poor kid SO wanted to get that license on her birthday! We watched kid after kid come in from their tests in tears-the Anchorage testers are known for being VERY tough! She did great, though! Came back all smiles!

So afterward I dropped her off at Mile's office and while she worked for him, me, Willa, and a couple of Dylan's friends got to work at home setting a surprise party. For a couple weeks prior, Dylan had been trying to put together some sort of birthday dinner with her friends, but knowing we were planing to surprise her, they all , except for one, "declined"-had to work, were going to be out of town, etc. Dylan was pretty bummed, but resigned herself to hanging out with her one friend. She was totally surprised when we all jumped out of hiding spots and yelled when she walked through the door! It was a great party-great kids-laughing and tomfoolery. We set up the fire pit outside and had a great game of Jack's ALIVE-that will be another post, though. BEST campfire game!

And I am totally grateful to have such an open, accepting, and wonderful kid who never does the whole "banish the 'grownups' from my sight" shit.

I don't EVEN want to go into how quickly these years are passing...

Setting up

Beautiful girl

One of those tear jerker cards from a friend

Fun with balloons

Request granted! Tostadas....

Calmly and happily making do-it-yourself cupcakes

And then cupcake fights ensued. Well....You only turn 16 once and cupcakes can be cleaned from carpet and linoleum, right?

I LOVES me some Vibram Five Finger toe shoes!!!!

2011-07-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Dylan

Last week I inherited a pair of black and very pink Vibram Five Finger (Vffs) shoes from my mom who found them to be too WeirD. I had resisted the allure of these wacky hobbit-foot lookin' things since first seeing them on the trails about 2 years ago. Just another b.s., gear-head, gotta have the latest marketing ploy, I figured. Although I did often sidestep my shyness to ask folks on the trail what they thought of them. Most of what they had to say was very positive: VERY comfortable(SO hard to believe by looking at them!), stabilizing, less wear and tear on the feet and knees. OK....people are really digging them. But about that high price for such little "shoe"? What about all those fancy hardcore running shoes made to pad and protect those arches and knees?

A lot of my questions have been answered through my own research, as well as some of my savvy and satisfied runner clients who wear the VFFs. The most basic jist is that our bare feet had evolved over time to efficiently handle intense bipedal propulsion...so why the superfluous and expensive need to pamper and coddle our feet in a most un-natural way? How to protect our arches? USE YOUR ARCHES!!! That's what they're there for! Hmmmmm.....Who's creating the b.s., gear-head, gotta have the latest marketing ploys?!?!?!

If you Google the pros and cons of VFFs, you'll find a lot a great information about the shoes as well as the "barefoot movement". I found tons of positives about wearing VFFs- from people who just wear them around the house to weight lifters to marathon runners. Here's an informative and interesting article

My own take? They're AMAZING!!! The first day I slipped them on right at the post office. I was blown away by how comfortable they were! I felt selfconciously barefoot and duck-like walking through the parking lot-my own perception, I'm sure. The drive home hearkened back the days of summer driving without shoes as a teen. Once home I embarked on a 5 mile trail run with my new pink terrestrial locomotors. I immediately fell in love with the freedom of being near barefoot and feeling the rocks, roots and uneven terrain under my feet. I was hyper aware of my toes..nice and splayed out...working harder to grip the earth. By the end of the run, I had no soreness in my feet or that puffed out feeling I get in my knees. So far, so good. The next day? Not so much. My calves-specifically the soleus and flexors-were SCREAMIN'! But, apparently this is a GOOD thing. All those muscles that have been coddled for so long in my running shoes-you know, the ones that nature has evolved so beautifully over millennia- have totally weakened! On a side note, it wasn't until yesterday that I found the tiny card in the shoe box warning people to slowly break in the shoe. They recommend wearing them for only a couple hours a day for the first TWO weeks! OOOPS!!!

Since then I've run 2 more 5 milers, hiked an 11 miler with the fam, weight lifted, and did the Elliptical. So far, despite the sore calves, I'm very happy with how well my "trouble spots" are adapting and strengthening in the VFFs. And again, I just love feeling so free, back-to-the-earth, and relatively unencumbered in these fekkin' things! The only cons so far are that if you are graceless like ME, you have to be extra careful not to stub your toes or scuff your feet-pulling toes underneath-because you WILL feel that!!!!! Also, if you don't like attracting attention-especially when you are concentrating on a hard run-you may not want a pair of these! I've been asked about the shoes on EVERY outing so far-multiple times! While researching pros and cons of the VFFs, one of the few but BIGGEST cons was unwanted attention!

I'll report back in a few weeks as I continue to adapt to these shoes. Oh......and I didn't even consider WINTER. Hmmmmmmm.........

No, SERIOUSLY!!!!

Russian River 2011: The Friends!

2011-07-05T18:09:00.001-08:00

Pretty much the BEST part of the trip? Friends. We were SO happy that so many people were able to show up for this wacky shindy! Folks from all walks...from 7 years old to retired..from a su chef to a Senator. Some folks stayed the whole time, others came and went as they needed, always a busy place. It was fun to have a lot of Dylan's friends around, too. Some were staying in our next door neighbor's camp and a couple stayed in ours. It was great to have that teen energy and humor around! A great bunch of kids!

I relished all the company, great conversation, and much silliness in such a fantastic environment. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Sounds like we'll have plenty of people returning next year! We need to come up with a NAME for this gig.....

The calm before the gonzo cooking starts!

Peggy French and Vicki

"mumfff muh muwflmf"

Todd

Look at those wonderful fresh faces!!! Thank you, guys, for being AWESOME!!!!

Sistah love

Senator Hollis French and Miles waiting for Ray to make FLAMES!

Tia and Willa

Russian River 2011: The FOOD!

2011-07-04T14:36:00.002-08:00

Dinner prep with ray and Todd

Thanks to the masterful culinary stylings of our friend, Chef Ray, we had the BEST eats on the Russian. Dude goes ALL OUT for us every year and just blows everyone away. This year it was a pleasure to have so many hungry bodies ready for FUEL! Here's our Russian River eating schedule:

BREAKFAST 4/5 am- One shitty bagel with AWESOME salmon spread with cream cheese. You just can't get a decent NY bagel in this state. Period.

Fish for a few hours and eat a crumbled granola bar if you where awake enough to remember to bring one.

LUNCH/1st Dinner 3/4pm- Monstrously huge hamburgers with sauteed onions OR the previous night's HOT kimchi on top.

2nd DINNER(Secondsies) 11 pm- SEE BELOW!!!!!

DAY ONE

Ribs with blueberry chipotle rub!!! HOLY man!

Roasted peppers, roasted potatoes, saute for coconut curry seafood soup

OMFG.

Ribs and soup ready for intake

SECOND DAY

Ray torching up the BRANDY BLUECHEESE sauce!!!!!! Yeah, I said brandy bluecheese sauce!

Oh, HELL to the YES.

12 oz New York strips and po-ta-toes to go with that sauce

Alaska State Senator Hollis French rocking the PERFECT golden brown marshmallow!

Ray and his daughter, Tia, makin' with the BEST TOAST IN THE FRIGGIN UNIVERSE!!!

And PLENTY of happy libation for all!!! (over 21 of course) Believe me....with all that fabulous food, we ate ourselves SOBER!!!!

MANGIA!!!!!

Russian River 2011: The Fishing!

2011-06-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

We're baaaaaaaack! Succeeeeeeeee-eeessssss!!!! On many levels! What a fekkin BLAST it was! Fish in the river....food...and a bunch of friends coming and going...I definitely could have gone a few more days in the peaceful beauty of that magical place!

There was more action on the river this year than last year...but still not the usual load of sockeye salmon coming through. (Scary to think why that may be....) The first day was crankin', with all of us limiting out with 3 reds each. Even Willa caught one! We fished up river which is much more preferable to the CHAOS on the Confluence of the Russian and Kenai rivers. Quiet yet teaming with life and excitement.

The way we roll on these fishing gigs is this: Arrive at the campground after 2 pm, explore our new territory, eat, set up rigs, jump into waders and head down to fish. When we fish, we're out there for about 3-6 hours depending on how the fish are running. The next moring we're up at 4am for another round before we come back to the camp for napping, eating, goofin around. Dylan and I trade off sleeping in with Willa in the mornings so that she doesn't have to get up that early! Then at around 4pm we all head down for the final fishing of the day. Next day, repeat. All this after usually staying up past 1am eating Ray's PHENOMENAL food and enjoying the company of friends! THE PERFECT day of fishing is getting up early, limiting out within 3 hours, and having the whole rest of the day to relax and have fun. We didn't have any of those "perfect" days this year...the next 3 days brought me some good fight action, but no fish on. Miles came out with 4 more and Dylan, 1. 14 in total....we didn't kill 'em but with lots of fights , it wasn't too shabby an experience either.

Next up: Food and friends and bears, OH MY!

In action

Setting up flies

Jim's first Russian River red!

Vicki working a snag

An excited Willa hanging onto Daddy and waiting for a fish

Willa's fish

Dylan's first fish of the day

Smoochie boochins!!!!!!

It's Russian River time!!!!!!!!

2011-06-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

Fishing rods....Check
Tackle.............Check
Food................Check
RV...................Check
Kids.................Check
Food................Check
Cameras..........Check
Food................Check
Rain gear-aaaaaarrrrrggghhhhh........Check
KEG of IPA from the Moose's Tooth............There sure as SHIT better be one there waiting for us to pick up this morning!!!!!!

This years trip to the Russian is turning out to be quite the shindig!!! Looks like there will actually be about 15-16 people jammed into 2 campsites! We always invite people to come down and camp with us...but in the past most don't show, or just come for the afternoon. This year we REALLY "advertised", gave heads up and even asked for RSVP's. So this is gig is gonna ROCK.
Fish, get in mah NET!!!!

We'll report back in 4 days.....

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

Any male can father a child...but only a REAL man -with dedication and deep love beyond himself, who possesses an inherent pure joy in his children- can be a Daddy...

And I'm married to the BEST. I love you, Father-o-my kids!!!

Happy Father's Day to the Daddys of the world!!!

* And, might I add, 'taint nothin' sexier than a man who's totally into his kids!!! ;)

9 years!!! Happy Anniversary, Hunny Bunny!

2011-06-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

My Love,

I have fallen in love a few times over the past years since we met .... always with you.....

You captured my heart and continue to touch my soul. The highest I've ever been on this earth is with you, in love, exploring the ridges that surround our life...

Thank you...

for finding some perfection in my imperfections,

for valuing my voice,

for never trying to silence my thoughts..ideas

for being there to build me up-not tear me down,

for always being game for growth, change and new adventure,

for your patience and encouragement

for openly expressing your love and affection anytime, anywhere,
and for your genuine pride in my accomplishments.

You are my wonderful husband, always my best friend, a complete circle... forever linked with mine. I LOVE YOU.

"Love is something eternal, the aspect may change, but not the essence." - Vincent van Gogh

My daughter KICKS ASS!!!!!

2011-06-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a texting exchange that Dylan shared with us the other night. All I can say is that I am SO PROUD!!!! HELL to the YES, Girlie!!!!!

Mormon Moron: Are you friends with Amy and Derek ?

Dylan: Yeah, why?

MM: They’re Jewish.

D: Okay? And?

MM: I hate both of them.

D: Wow. Last I checked, a person’s religious beliefs was not grounds to hate someone.

MM: .....Well he’s a lot shorter than me. A lot.

D: Well he is ALSO my best friends brother, and family to me.

MM: He’s probably only taller than you cause of his stupid bright yellow Jew-fro.

D: He had to die it blonde for a play. So shut the hell up and mind your own business and don’t be dissing on my friends. What is it to you that he is DIFFERENT than you and your Mormon self?

MM: Don’t use that H word…

D: Oh my gosh, HELL is in the freaking bible!!

MM: Well.. okay. But I still don’t like Derek.

Dylan: Well he’s family. And last I checked, the CHRISTIAN way was different. The fact that someone doesn’t stop talking when you RUDELY tell them to shut up, that isn’t grounds for hating someone. Jesus wouldn’t do that, would he? I may not go to church, or have any need for organized religion, but I do my research, and I know that’s not what Jesus would have done. Its bumpersticker logic, sweetheart.

I can only imagine what this kids parents are like....

Anyhoo....The following are photos from a reunion/celebration of F.A.'s life(our young friend who died) that Dylan organized via FaceBook for the kids who attended the Optional Program with F.A. in elementary school. At the end of each school year, the Optional Program would go on a field trip to Eklutna Lake. So that's where they decided to meet up. It wasn't a huge showing being a busy summer and all, just this group of kids and 2 of their former teachers, but it was fun and very bittersweet. And unlike the end of year field trips, there where NO rules about playing in the ever present Eklutna mud!!!

Reminiscing and remembering F.A.

I love you over the moon and past the stars, Kiddo <3 <3 <3!!!!!!!

Made it through Thursday...

2011-06-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

Felt the need to climb a ridge and seek the elusive sun before heading out to the memorial service. The fog bank rose above the ridge tops by the time I got up past Bear Pass-this time, I went to the right. It's always a surreal feeling to climb close to the cloud ceiling. The sun, eventually, peeked out here and there. Beautiful, none the less....

What do you see?!?!

A sweet ptarmigan chick that I almost stepped on!!!

Blue skies over Anchorage

Living STRONG

2011-06-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

Dylan and I getting the best out of LIFE on the Turnagain bike trail

It's about 7:30 am. I'm watching some huge banks of fog rolling down our valley right now. But beyond that fog I can see glimpses of sun and blue sky. I've been dreading this day, but I also feel that perhaps it's something I NEED. A sunny day would help, so get on your way fog... Later today we will be attending the memorial service for a young family friend who unexpectedly died 2 weeks ago.

I feel like I've been slammed with death these past few months... My Dad died in February, then my wonderful Uncle(Dad's brother) a few weeks ago and now, the 17 year old son of friends that we've known for 10 years...We met them through another set of friends and have enjoyed watching all our children grow together. From little ones playing Lord of the Rings in our friend's back yard to chatty teens hanging out texting and messaging... I'm heartbroken that Dylan has had to endure yet ANOTHER death so close to the heart...her little girl crush.

It has all left me blindsided...I've found myself unexpectedly and uncharacteristically anxiety prone, down, and often, at night, pre-occupied and sleepless with thoughts of my own mortality and that of my family.... I've been experiencing some physical problems as well.

I'm determined to keep my head above water, ride out these rough waves, and find the shore again...

The sudden death of our young friend-a parent's worse nightmare, oh, my god-as tragic as it is, has brought with it a resurgence of a dire need to LIVE and live STRONG. Just as with the death a couple years ago of our friend, Bret, I have a strong need to live life more fully, passionately for myself and for my family.

Think of all those situations that come up when someone says,"Hey, wouldn't it be crazy, fun, outrageous, etc, if we did such and such?!" And you think,"Yeah, that WOULD be wild....but...". But you don't bother doing it? I, actually WE, Dylan and I, -she started it- have decided this will be the Summer of saying,"What the fuck!" and GOING for it! Well, not in those exact terms... And we're draggin' everyone else with us. Not that we are a mundane family at all, but we're stepping out of our stable cozy COMFORT zones and we are LIVING STRONG. (Thank you, Lance Armstrong for the fantastic mantra "Livestrong"!!!)

"Look at that waterfall! I'm goin' in it!!!". "ME TOO!!!".

"Hey, you dare me to sit in the ice cold river?!?" "DO IT!!!"

"Mommy, wouldn't it be crazy if we hiked up Celtic Harp, Bear Pass, AND to the bridge in ONE day?" "Yeah! Let's try it!!!"

Nothing dangerous, nothing too risky...just getting out of that comfort zone, going for all those little "what if we"s, and experiencing more of LIFE- with appetite and relish!

In the face of death I can either wither or face it by living the best I can...LIVE each day to the FULLEST. Life, so fragile, can sometimes be TOO short. My friends, don't take it for granted, get out there and live it STRONG. Turn off the screens more often, rise from the couch, get back in your body and get OUT. DO good, BE good to each other, and EXPERIENCE and savor LIFE.

Dylan dipping into the South Fork of Eagle River on our hike

Brave Willa giving it a go!

Me in Eagle Lake! This was actually last summer, but the impetus of The Summer of "What the fuck". Which is more like the summer of "Wet and cold!"

Imagine...we could have passed this experience up for fear of being temporarily cold and wet.....

MEAT

2011-06-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

Our FAV...skirt steak and garlic roasted potatoes

Rack of lamb...we now eat this when Willa is not around! It was only recently that she finally realized what this was!

Fillet Mignon medallions wrapped in bacon with Gorgonzola on top...

Halibut on the grill-I make the BEST halibut burgs and grilled veggies EVER!

Grilled salmon in a spicy pineapple sauce

Chicken Enchillasagna!!!

Not every weekend is a beef/baby lamby fest. As two former vegetarians(My max was 1 year. Miles, a few years), we treat it like a delicacy... a treat. We also rock the pasta, pizza, tacos and we're big fans of burgers, i.e. Garden, Black Bean Chipotle, Salmon, etc. During the week it's mostly seafood, much of it caught by us-which is always such a rewarding feeling.

Impromptu hike past Bear Pass

2011-06-06T17:51:00.000-08:00

Powered up Bear Pass in 20 minutes....continued to the top of the ridge to the right of the pass in another 20 minutes. Drank water, made water, then ran/slipped back down in 30 minutes. Glad I could fit a hike in on this sunny day - the weather is supposed to change to SHIT for the rest of the week. A good dose of burning quads and pounding heart...vitamin D and a brisk cool wind...taking in that vast view of life and beauty-flora, fauna, and humans doing life down in those tiny houses. My battery is CHARGED to ride out that rain if it comes!

Almost to the top

Heading back down towards Bear Pass

I've been cooking up a lot of great dinners during the work week lately...recipes that I've gleaned and tweaked from the 2 fitness mags I read,Oxygen and Muscle and Fitness HERS. These light fresh meals leave me feeling FANTASTIC-full, satisfied and ALIVE . They are packed with good lean protein, whole grains, fruits and veggies...in the yummiest combinations. I've been going all out on fresh herbs and seasonings as well. Very fun to play with and they make a drab "health conscious" meal roar with flavor.

Weekends, however... THAT is our time for pasta, homemade pizza, and beef heavy meals, (THAT will be a whole other post!) But I will admit, as much as I LOVE that stuff, it never leaves me feeling...VIBRANT. More like,"Oh, my JEEZUS that was NUMMY!!!! That shit was SO.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."

Last night's dinner

DEAD in Alaska UPDATE!!!

2011-05-27T16:04:00.002-08:00

Feel like welcoming this glorious weekend in and ending the workday with a hour of live GRATEFUL DEAD?!!? Tune in to Alaska's KNBA 90.3 "DEAD OR ALIVE" with my husband, Miles, and his friend, Dave Powers! They'll be doing the show every 4th Friday of the month....hopefully going to once a week. If ya like the show, let them know at KNBA!!!!

UPDATE: They did GREAT!!! Tons of excited phone calls coming in at the station!!! They're talking about making this a regular 2 HOUR Saturday gig! WAY to GO, Hunny Bunny!!!!!

Day of the Mom

2011-05-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

They.are.crushing.me.

To Quote my friend, LB:

"To all the mothers of the world; to birth moms, foster moms, adopted moms, to moms by default and those waiting and praying to be moms, to all of you making a difference in the life of a child, have a blessed day."

And, you, too, Mother Earth!

Hope you all had a beautiful day!

FLOW

2011-04-16T12:00:00.002-08:00

this week's carnage

Pandora tunes bumpin',

front door open to fresh air and

brilliant sunlight,

paintbrushes bringing nothing into something,

splashes flowing,

various objects scraping, sanding, grating,

new layers emerging, obscuring

bare hands spreading velvet color,

heart quick

and soul quickened

I love this type of artistic process the best...the struggle to suppress reason and judgement and engage the....?...universal energy, soul, raw emotion? Stilling my mind, letting go, releasing my body into a burst of impulsive movement... it is so freeing and spontaneous-something I know that I need to do on a regular basis as a means of accessing my higher self and evolving as an artist. " Think less, do more!", the mantra of one of my fav artists and friend, Gary Reef.

I finally got the balls to break out the 2 HUGE blank canvases that I've had hanging on the wall for the past year. A 48 x 48 and a 36 x 48 that Miles and the kids bought me for Christmas, Mother's Day. I'd been reluctant to paint on them-their size was a little intimidating and I had a hard time getting my head around how much paint they would use up! But yesterday morning I thought, "At least throw a base layer of color on-get the juices rolling and perhaps the muse will overshadow the fear. These big, blank, plastic wrapped canvases on our bedroom walls are USELESS and look like shite."

Once I got started I couldn't stop. I had planned on only working on one...but while one was drying I grabbed the other and started something new. It was a struggle to push logic to the side and just go with the rapid fire flow...but it started happening. After a little lull in motivation the last month, I've got the mojo back. After a year of fighting myself, I just delt with the fear and I let go.
Discard, release and F L O W...

Sneak peak of a work in progress

poor kitchen...

Weekends of late

2011-04-04T17:30:00.002-08:00

The funnest most awesomey thing to do on the weekend! Rip up soggy, moldy, useless, because-contractor #1-screwed up-the-physics-of -the-garage roof/new room floor-oi-yoi-yoi and now we have to start from scratch-ish and re-span/re-whatever, OMG. Check out all the crap flyin' around....looks like it's snowing. Eck! Can you not feel our excitement? Thank you, that is all.

And here is the remedy for the above angst and hardship: BREWING BEER

Post-sleepover. The RARE nap in Mama's arms. Since toddlerhood, this happens, like, once a year. Oh, how I reveled in it.

Playing with color

Halibut on the grill for making halibut burgers....fekkin' YUM.

More color play

...as well as lot's of knitting, dvd watching and going on longs runs with Miles. Running with him is the BEST...chatting, future planning, re-affirmation of a great life. Ran by a moose silently munching on willow....so glad I have him to share it with. He's better then an Ipod full of boomin' tunes on a run!

WHO'S BUYIN' ?!?!?

2011-04-01T14:40:00.013-08:00

I'm ON to something here, methinks!!! Re-usable, eco-friendly, and down right warm-n-cozy happy-ass hand knit SANITARY NAPKINS!!! RIGHT?!?!!!! Oh, YEAH, that's how I roll with this knitting gig!!! A "Knitty Sani"! Choose your colors, throw 'em down there where they go, and yer all set. Good to go!

At the office

2011-03-28T09:37:00.000-08:00

It's the PERFECT office for the small amount of time that I need it. A sensual blend of warm lighting, deep heady aroma of coffee, interesting people-watching opportunities, wide space, and walls covered in great art- this month, some of mine! This place I call my "office" three days a week is the Middle Way Cafe. I have about an hour and a half between when I drop Willa off at school and when I have to go to work. I've become very attached to this cafe/art gallery and I've come to really look forward to my cheap cuppa drip and time spent here with my laptop- editing photos, networking, researching my next art venues, FB'ing, and hopefully fitting in more blog perusing.

My spot under the long "s" painting

It's been awhile since I've kept up with my blog roll and I'd like that to change. FB is fun but also a major time sucker for someone with Attention Deficit Disorder. I love that I have been able to keep in regular contact with SO many people that I probably wouldn't if left to just using snail or e-mail...and it's great for promoting my art, but it can also be so vacuous. I find with spring here and the summer approaching that I'm missing the plethora of fabulous, ideas and inspiration that I have found within my blog list. I have yet to see if some of them are even in existence anymore! Life changed so much once Willa started full time school. Gone were our days filled with little adventures of discovery, creating and crafts. Abridged versions of these were relegated to the weekends. I work more, took on an art career, and weekdays have become so much more busy with daily routine-lots of driving and evenings filled with trying to keep some semblance of tidiness in the home, fixing dinner all while Willa re-loads from a busy social day with some solitary play. And all of a sudden it's bedtime. I STILL hate not having her at home. HATE it. But she is where she needs to be for her age and is thriving and happy at our Waldorf school. And on the other end of the spectrum, I'm very happy - and surprised -to have launched my art from the kitchen to the walls of local galleries. And my work at the clinic is enjoyable, too. But I can't wait for summer and the chance to get back into the rhythm of the "old days". Morning walks to see what's new and alive outside, little road trips, picnics, creating outside in the sun, challenge hikes, and that spontaneous child-led learning-for BOTH of us. I have a need to revisit the places where I have learned so much...about myself, about parenting, about the philosophy of the Waldorf environment, natural learning, ...to where such an abundance of creativity is. I've let life get TOO routine, and although the struggle to fit more of the past's routines into the now, consistently, is exhausting to someone with ADD, I need to make more of an effort. It'll be easier when school is out.
But for now, time to close down, leave my pleasant office and head to work.

Connecting...

2011-03-27T11:00:00.002-08:00

Picking up knitting

again

but I think I can follow through

this time

a comfortingly intuitive

Teacher

watching quietly, acknowledges my aspiration

as well as my tension

validates my pleasure

reminding me to pause, breath deep, relax

~Our emotions come through in our stitches…

My green yarn runs in a gentle arc

from the ball on her lap

to my inner unrest

emerging stitch by contradictory stitch

from the needle-

awkward, contented, introverted, belonging, grateful, tentative, sure, happy…

The connection

umbilical-like

does not go unnoticed.

BTW....we're out of the closet now

2011-03-22T12:59:00.001-08:00

Keith Haring painting

When I first decided to start a public blog, I felt it was important to play it safe and keep my family anonymous. In the following years, I've found this genre of the blogosphere to be a pretty peaceful and friendly place. I have always found using the aliases on my blog to be mildly annoying so I've just decided to not bother anymore. Many people out there know who I am already, and the one pathetic creeper I was hoping to avoid found me anyway.

So. We're coming out of the closet of blogging anonymity. My name is Dana. My husband is Miles, Dea's real name is Dylan and Lo's real name is Willa. So nice to meet you!

Miles's 4 dozenth Birthday party!

2011-03-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

Miles enjoying the view, his Mortlach and the awesome sweater I bought him!

We celebrated my Hunny's 48th Birthday yesterday. Our mountains, resplendent in the glorious sun, played host to many visiting friends, a toasty warm bonfire, and another memorable party. Miles's homebrew flowed as everyone weaved in and out of conversation, around food aplenty, and between the chill of outside and the warmth within our home. The sledding on our driveway, however, was HARSH, and I find myself today nursing a spasming lower back. And that was only after one run! We've thoroughly enjoyed almost 4 weeks of booming sunshine and cloudless skies, but not much new snow. That makes for a hard packed, very slick and unforgiving driveway. OI, yoi, yoi....

It's now just getting warm enough to sit out on what remains of our deck to enjoy the solar radiation-and we don't even need to bundle up. Even though we are still surrounded in white, I can just feel the light and warmth quickening our valley....and the life beneath gearing up to POP.

The homebrew menu

Bottling beer earlier in the day. From the secondary ferment....

....to the (sideways?!?!?) bottles for conditioning (carbonation and aging)

Wonderful gathering outside

Wonderful gathering inside

Dylan and I collabed on Daddy's cake. Chocolate peanut butter....with Klingon style.

Cold fingers once the sun set behind the ridge

Sweet friends

Ending with a nice Malbec......

Happy Birthday, my sweet love!

ANELIZE

2011-03-14T18:24:00.000-08:00

I know you’re lurking… interloping where you have no business. To evaporate in cowardice out of a child’s life with no fight, no words of comfort, offering no closure ... only to blast back in years later -with a FACEBOOK “Friend Request”, no less!- is unbelievably SELFISH, IRRESPONSIBLE, and the epitome of LAMEouze. Did you ever once give thought to how disruptive prying open old wounds can be? Perhaps YOU would like to foot the therapy bill?!

I believe she has offered her heartfelt FACEBOOK "response".

I wish you the peace of mind you need... and that someday your demons will rest. Always have.
But find it within yourself...on your own time, your own dime, on your own turf. Do what's decent. Stay the hell away from my family.

Grandma is addicted to SKYPE!!!!!

2011-02-02T09:33:00.000-09:00

I miss my mommy :(

We had a great visit when she came out from New Jersey for 10 days. Her annual trip to Alaska...braving the single digits and cat hair on the couch! The weather was not very co-operative this time. We hadn't gotten any fresh snow and after a mini-thaw what snow we did have was old and and hard. Not very conducive to the snow shoeing she was so hoping to be able to do. But she did take lots of walks and played outside with Lo. I had to work a few of those days and Mom was happy to hang around the house cleaning(She LOVES this) and dinking with the cats. And, MAN ALIVE, it was a treat to come home to a super spic-and-span house!

We had a couple days to ourselves while the girls were in school. It was fun to check out the stores and to show her the 3 galleries in town where I'm showing my work. After a trip to the make-up counter at Nordstroms(I need to learn me some updated techniques and palates for the fancy-shmance shin-dig Huz and I were going to!)we had a fantastic lunch at a wine bistro called Crush. Perfect and appropriate portion sizes, great marriage of flavors and I REALLY enjoyed my heady Portuguese Dao. To DIE.

So, on a slow day I hooked Mom up with Skype, threw the last year's of photos on her laptop and make her around 10 cds worth of killer mixes. From classical to Fergie. Now that she's home, my mother is COO-COO for the SKYPE. Three times a day. It REALLY is very cool to be able to communicate like this! The other day she brought her laptop outside to show us all the snow they'd gotten. Lo loves to grab random toys, pictures, and artwork to show and tell with Grandma. Mom's looking forward to seeing the girls grow and change with this wacky technology.

I'm in the process of loosing my father-too many emotions to wade through....but I feel I'm gaining more of my mother. And I need that.

Here's a peek at some of the stuff we did with Grandma:

A visit to Lo's classroom

Teaching Mom some healthy recipes...and then indulging with good friends

Lo's swim lesson

Viewing one of my Buddha paintings at Dos Manos Gallery

Hanging at a sports bar to watch the playoffs

Don't you just want to CHOKE eateries that serve 6 year olds a glass that size?!?!?!??!

Introducing Grandma to AVATAR

AND....Twas also time for the annual New York Life Kickoff Dinner! Froo-froo time! Grandma and Dea babysat Lo so that Huz and I could stay the night at the hotel where the dinner took place. This year I went for the risky dress! I've worked my ass off-both of us have-the last few months and goddamn I went for it! And I didn't even need SPANX nylons!!!!!! It may have taken 41 years...but I can honestly say I feel comfortable in my skin...The cool thing is that I started to feel this way when I was 25 pounds heavier. An acceptance of myself on some level that I've never experienced. And now that I'm healthier with the weight off...and feeling fit and athletic again, my self confidence is only enhanced. It's a fekkin AWESOME feeling! And my sweetie.....lookin' HOT, too!

EATS of the 2010 winter holiday season!

2011-01-09T11:42:00.001-09:00

Yeah, yeah....I know I'm late with all this stuff...but there was no way I was going to take time out of celebrations to hop on the box and post our going-ons WHILE they were going on. We BASKED in it! And now, a couple weeks after the fact, I find some time.

Butter spritz cookies!

You wouldn't know it from the looks of things here, but Huz and I actually swore of fats, alcohol, sugar and carbs after 4pm for the month of December. INSANE, I know. TORTURE, yes. But, if we could get through this time of year restricting our diet, any other time of year would be cake-parden the pun. We had 3 cheat days-my Birthday and Christmas eve/day. I'm proud to say we both have lost 20 pounds since the end of summer. This is my first public fessing up to a mortifying 25 pound weight gain from my 1.5 years on Adderall/Wellbutrin for my ADD. THANK you, Adderall, for the sketched out EXHAUSTION.......and thank YOU, Wellbutrin, for making me not give a shit that I was packing on the fat! Neither of which did DICK for my ADD, btw. And then there was the 4 months of debilitating low back pain and double bursitis in the shoulders last year... I swear, I hit 40 and the curse BEGAN!!!!! Anyhoo... FU, curse, it's OVER. I have svelted and I'm back to being ME.

LET'S EAT!!!!!

Converting a recipe

Whole lotta baking goin' on!

The perfect apple peel spiral

The innards of my cranberry-apple streusel pie.

Chocolate-cranberry bread

Dea's coconut cream pie

My pie

King crab, mashed potots, green bean almondine, and a lovely 2005 Franciscan Oakville Estate Cab

FINI

Recycle your Christmas tree for next year!!!

2011-01-09T09:40:00.001-09:00

First off....if anyone knows WHY some of my friggin photos are posting sideways and HOW I can fix that , it would be much appreciated!!!! Since Blogger's editing page changed I've had tons of trouble and is one reason I rarely post!!!! UPDATE: Here is one possible answer: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=3dadabf526cdd529&hl=en

Ok, back to fun. Here is our 2010 tree:

For Christmas 2009, we bought our very first LIVE tree. It was gorgeous and glorious and OUTRAGEOUSLY priced. I promised my husband that to get our money's worth, I would SOMEHOW recycle it to get 2 Christmases out of the thang. And that I did! After we un-decorated it, I hung it from our clothes line outside. There it stayed all year long-through all kinds of weather. We hung some peanut butter/birdseed pine cones in it last summer and the birdies really dug it! After Thanksgiving, when it was time to trim the tree I -not so simply,but it can be done!!!- did the following:

Donned a pair of gloves and pulled ALL those niggling needles off:

Pruned off half the branches:

Spray painted it green. If you're not into that, nix the paint and you can later burn the tree in your wood stove or what ev:

Threw on some tinsel and lights and VOILA!!!!! The perfect ornament hanger!

We are now in the process of un-decorating it for the last time-Epiphany has passed- and I will then launch our tree into the woods of our back yard and return it to the earth. Of course, I'm regretting painting it-there really was no need.

So much to be thankful for...

2010-11-25T09:09:00.001-09:00

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Health

Daughters who make my heart burst as I watch them engaged in the simplest things in life.

A wonderful, supportive, handsome, sweet, funny, wise-ass husband and best friend.

Warm and fuzzy kitties.

A naked frog that lives on and on.

GREAT, dynamic, fun friends to share good food and rough terrain with.

2 fulfilling professions....the chance to help heal and the ability to create art.

A simple yet comfortable lifestyle.

The financial and physical ability to expand our home just enough to offer more breathing room.

The view from our windows

An unencumbered ability to feel and give love.....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!!!!
Since we STILL do not have a finished addition or dinning room-MAN! I had hoped to be able to sit at our new dinning room table today and have friends come for T-dinner-we'll be packing up and trekking out to our friends house on the other side of the mountains for food and football. At least we can sit back and not cook! All we had to make where the pies! Cheers!

Lanterns revisited

2010-11-16T10:36:00.002-09:00

Light....for this darkening time of year:

(Click here)WINTER VESSELS OF LIGHT

Building shit

2010-11-03T12:20:00.002-08:00

Well, here are the current Works in Progress....the new addition aaaand I'm building my "official and bonafide" artist WEBSITE!

WWW.DANAPRUNER.COM

Yay! I have my own .COM! Come check it out and say "HI"!!!! You'll find my galleries of paintings-available and sold works- and photography, a shop and a strictly art related blog.

Which brings me to this one. I miss writing in it....and wish I could post more often. I'd like to make more of an effort to get back into the swing of things....but if I'm going to do so, I MUST get back to the first and REAL reason I started the blog in the first place....to have a more fun and stimulating way to journal on a regular basis. I've had a great time sharing my thoughts, photos, art, and tutorials with so many amazing people. But this blog became exactly what I didn't want it to be...a blog being created mostly for what I thought other people would want to see and read.

I felt that I had to exclude the simple and perhaps uninteresting daily things that go on in our life. I got caught up in not wanting to bore or turn people off. And so, while being a great blog, IMO, it lacks the everyday-and MOST important- aspects of my life. And to leave these pieces out is not truly who I am.

Also, I found that I was putting more emphasis on the share-ibility of our activities, crafts etc. then on just letting things happen randomly and spontaneously and writing about THAT. Foremost on my mind was, "Will people like this?" It all became ABOUT THE BLOG. "Will this bring in readers?" I was taking pictures of EVRYTHING...but not always from the heart or the seat of creativity. They were more snapshots then art. Things started to feel like they were being structured for other people's acceptance. This is in NO WAY to say that what we did or what I felt and blogged about was not true or sincere....there was just that slight paradigm shift of intention...from what came along naturally to what I hoped would be the end result-a great blog post. Not in EVERY post…but too often for my taste.

In the last few months, I've posted less and less and just let things happen in our lives. I’ve stopped researching activities and craft ideas in order to come up with the most exciting package for my blog. I’ve let Lo take the reins much of the time-when she's HOME, that is!-and steer us in the directions of her interests. And while these things are sometimes a lot less exciting then all the latest and greatest wonderful stuff out there in the blogoshpere, we have experienced them whole heartedly and with more open free souls. No worrying about camera angles and what will look and sound best FOR THE BLOG. My Facebook page is more along the lines of an accurate diary! I wish I had a quick way to just post my daily FB statuses HERE. I'm really thinking along THOSE lines for this blog’s future. When time permits, I STILL hope to be able to share activities and tutorials that we do, to spend extra time elaborating on the more in-depth thoughts and opinions that bubble up, but this blog will basically be making a turn toward the brief touchings on the day. A short paragraph? A simple photo? A shared link? And many may find that mundane....who knows. But at least it's something! Something to look back at as time goes on, serving the purpose of a journal or diary. Something that is ME....for ME. This is from my very first blog post: "This blog will be about my family and our experiences- with an emphasis on Waldorf education and how I'm implementing it into our lifestyle. With each passing year I realize how many details I forget over time and the fear of loosing those precious "gems" has prompted me to get this stuff documented."

It has be as simple as that.

On to the new addition! It’s still going slower then molasses in January, but at least she’s buttoned up as of last week. Next is the trim and metal roof so we can get rid of the scaffolding and finally have our garage back!! Then come the floor issues. The a-hole who originally built the garage screwed up the ceiling. Even though we told him we were planning on building TWO floors onto it in the future!!!!!! It’s over spanned and we have to somehow shore it up. After that we insulate, sheet rock, mud/tape. Between this and putting in the floors, I’m going to claim the room as my temporary studio. Room to make a MESS!!!! And a fab view to boot!

And then….the floors! Wood floors throughout and into the existing house! And then…redecorating!!!!!

But, fuck, the way things are going….it’ll be MONTHS.

Onward ho.

My Facebook Fan Page!

2010-09-08T12:55:00.001-08:00

I know I'm outing myself...but it's all good!

Hey, folks! I've set up a new fan page for my art on Facebook. I hope you FB users will stop by and consider "LIKE"ing my page and "suggesting to friends"! I also put a fan page button here on the top of my sidebar. Feel free to pass the info along as well.

I’ll be posting photos of my latest work, updates on what’s for sale in my ETSY shop(will be empty until the end of the month), links to my fav artists and galleries, as well as my current and upcoming exhibitions! I’m finally up and running and can’t wait to see what the future brings! Stay tuned!

And THANK YOU for all the encouragment, support and wonderful insight over the last few months!!!!

Finished Work Friday- My very first art show!!!!!

2010-08-31T13:50:00.013-08:00

So last Friday it dawned on me that I should touch base with the owner of the cafe in town that was going to host my first art show. I picked up the phone and dialed. Emblazoned in my mind was OCTOBER. One month to finish about 10 more pieces for the show. One month to get together a good artist's biography and all the description cards that are hung below each painting on the wall. Plenty of time to sign, title, varnish and wire up all the canvases as well as put together a flier and start advertising for a First Friday reception. I hung up the phone after talking with the owner of Jitter's with my mind and heart in my feet. Attention Deficit Disorder had gotten the best of me again, the bastard. Not October. SEPTEMBER. We had scheduled the show for September and he needed everything to be ready to go by 7pm Sunday night. Battling a nasty chest cold and feeling exhausted, this seemed insurmountable. There was no way to back out. How unprofesh would THAT be?!?! But at the same time...what I had envisioned for my first show-enough pieces to warrant the "fireplace" room and a strong First Friday reception- was just not going to happen! I had about 23 canvases but there was NO WAY I could produce 10 more in 2 days! 2, maybe. I gave up the dream of that Perfect First Show and resigned myself to something more on the half-assed side. I downed the cold meds and coffee, tried not to cough up a lung and got to work. With the help of my sweet girls and our neighbor we were actually able to get everything done. We packed up the truck with all the canvai and headed down to Jitter's coffee shop. The owner helped hang it...and I even got the "fireplace room"!!!! Turns out I had just the right amount of paintings! I'm pretty pleased with it....and a friend and I just might do a joint reception next week. He's running for State House so we thought we could do a meet & greet/art viewing type of thing....kind of a weird concept but who knows. Truth be known...I'm a shrinking violet when it comes to having a spotlight focused on me...and even though the people who will show up for this art show are mostly my friends, it still scares the crap out of me. So, since I blew the First Friday thing anyway, maybe doing a joint event will ease me into the whole scene and give me the confidence I'll need for a more "public" FF reception.
For now, I'm just fekkin' thrilled to be showing my work here in town!

(Dea helping with the hardware)

(cutting descriptor cards)

(The aftermath of the art show scramble.....................................and back to peace and calm!)

How NOT to raise a wall.

2010-08-28T08:03:00.009-08:00

Measuring the windows

Waiting.....

Here we are on the verge of September....and our new addition is still barely off the ground. We're starting to feel the panic. The goal has been to get this thing up and ready to heat by the time snow flies. And as I've stated before, the framing was supposed to be FINISHED by July.... But such is the quagmire one sets themselves up in when counting on a retired contractor that is not really asking for much monetary compensation. In return, we're kind of at the mercy of his whims...not sure when he'll be showing up. Huz and I, with help from Dea and Lo have done 90% of the work ourselves so far. And I'm still lovin it! I've always been one who's happiest when making something....art, a baby, a new meal, landscaping, construction....and I really enjoy the labor put into it. I relish a productive day of hard busy work, and the peace that comes at the end of it when you can stand back and look at what you've produced.

Sister power

....But, alas, the completion of this project is at the mercy of our contractor who has not made it a priority. And it seems every other week one of us is not available to work on it. We were in Jersey, then he was of on vacations with family, now Huz is in Washington DC for conferences for the next week...oi. As long as WE are here and the contractor actually shows up for 30 minutes to instruct us on what to do, we're good to go! We slammed out the first wall in 3 hours and the second wall took a Sunday....But actually getting him here at the house in the first place has been a problem. A lot of wasted weekends.

So imagine my surprise-chagrin, actually- when our MIA contractor calls last night and says, "Let's raise those walls!" We didn't take him too seriously. Since the biggest wall is like 2 tons, we had been planning to have friends and neighbors come up for an official Wall Raising a la the Amish if only we had a day and time to give them. But the contractor is not so good at such commitments. We knew he had his son and grandson in town and they were willing to help. And I assumed that he had a few other guys...so we figured we'd wait and see IF , WHEN and WHO showed up. I was feeling crappy, a chest cold coming on, and just wanted to go to BED. Lo and behold, he shows up after 9PM with Jr. and Jr. Jr. That's it. Huz and I felt bad about calling folks to come help since it was so last minute and late! But Dea knew that our next door neighbors were up so we asked if they wanted to help. Apparently we needed all the help we could get.

Enjoy our Fellini-esque wall raising video! I'm the one with the afro puff in the black hoodie wielding the hammer. (It's been a long recovery process for my low back so such heavy lifting is OUT for me.)
The vid is fekkin' ridiculous to watch-I almost cried like a girl at the end-but at the same time I'm SO upset that people could have gotten hurt. This was not a paid construction team...just friends helping out. I am NOT happy with the contractor's lack of judgement. And I feel HORRIBLE that I dismissed my own concerns about the situation. We figured we don't know SHIT about how all this works, so we put our trust in the guy who does. But as I look back at the last couple months, we-especially Huz-have found mistakes on the contractor's part, we've second guessed some of his ideas, really only need minimal instruction from him, need to go with our OWN instincts, and as long as I have Huz's math skills-I can DO THIS!!!!

We WILL be having a serious pow-wow on how we are going to proceed with this construction. Renting jacks to raise these walls for one thing...And we will NOT be second guessing our own instincts and logic AGAIN.

The ThighMaster..... Alaska-style

2010-08-26T16:03:00.002-08:00

WHEELS UP! .......Heading back east!!!

2010-07-21T10:45:00.006-08:00

And this time, Huz gets to come!!!!! I'm so happy it'll be the 4 of us this year! We're taking off tonight for New Jersey! We'll be spending a couple days visiting with Huz's 2 bro's and fams in Connecticut and then it's a week of SUN, WARMTH, and OCEAN at the Jersey Shore. My parent's have rented a beach house and we'll be staying there along with my step-sister's family. We plan on doing NOOOOTHING but swimming, running, relaxing, beach combing, and Margarita sippin'.

It's been a summer(?!?) of grey, chilly, rainy weather here in Alaska and this break is SO needed! We've experienced some SNAFUs with our construction and the work we had hoped would start the first of July just started YESTERDAY. The waiting was a bitch but we were ecstatic last week when the supplies arrived:

We spent some time yesterday nailing the studs to the plates to form the back wall of the addition. Just me, Huz and the kids. We are feeling very proud of our work!!!! Now we just need to find out from our contractor if construction will be put on hold or if he is going to work on it while we're gone. I really hope we can resume when we get back from vacation-I'm LOVING the fact that we can get this room framed ourselves and I'm diggin' doing the work!!! But, we're not sure if waiting is a good idea since we're already a month behind. We'll see....

Russian River Blues......not REDS.

2010-07-21T05:29:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm a few weeks overdue in posting this year's Russian River trip. It'll be short and sweet with pictures telling most of the story. Why? Cuz we didn't catch SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm jaded. If we had limited out over the four days we were there, we could have come home with 48 salmon. We were hoping for about 20-30 because that's about all we could fit in the freezer at this time! We came home with 7 fish. I didn't even get a nibble. Place was dead. And NO cool bear encounters either. And the weather sucked.

But. The food, as usual, was gut-busting delicious. Our friend Ray ROCKED the campfire grill. Despite the lackluster fishing, if was great to hang out at camp with friends. While the confluence of the Kenai and Russian rivers can be a roiling madhouse of combat fisher-folk, the mile hike to the Russian River campground will find you in one of the prettiest and most peaceful campgrounds I've been to. This year, we were treated to the luxury of having an RV to camp in. I have long been a staunch tent camper...eschewing the wimps in the "apartments on wheels"...but when it comes to having children and camping in a bear infested area, I was ok with the RV. And, I have to admit that spending 4 days in a tent in such rainy weather would have been miserable. Our contractor, Mike, who lives up the road generously offered us the use of his RV and we were VERY grateful for it!

On our way to the Russian

Wader clad and ready to catch

Nature along the trail to the river

"First" dinner, 7pm

"Second" dinner, midnight

Camp crafts...making wind spinners!

Fireside nap between fishing

Our fairy house STILL stands 2 years later!

Goodbye and good journey, sweet pups.

2010-07-02T08:13:00.003-08:00

We said goodbye to my beloved boy yesterday. My first baby.

Niko had gotten SO old over the last two years. It seemed to happen so fast. One day he was just more hunched and crotchety, not so stable, his face looking more skeletal. Over time the arthritis in his hind end worsened and the muscles atrophied. There were growths everywhere. It had been a long time since he'd wagged his tail. In his old age, his inherent neurotic temperament intensified. Certain noises-a cellphone beep, Lo's squeals of laughter, setting the timer on the oven- all had him running scared to the door to find more peace and quiet. He found that a couple of years ago with new neighbors who built a house down the street. They are loving wonderful people who offered him a second more quiet (childless) home to come to when the daily business of our home was too much. Niko often visited us during the day-most often when I was home alone, and then would head back down the street to his second family when things got too overwhelming. As much as this broke my heart...I just wanted him to be happy and content, especially in his old age. My heart ached whenever he disappeared for a couple days and filled with joy when I would see his face at the door again. I wasn't going to FORCE him to stay home...it would have killed him. We are lucky to live in a mountain neighborhood where every ones dogs run free and get along for the most part.

I feel I inadvertently let my boy down-for it had been just him and me, 2 travelin' peas in a pod, for the first 6 years of his life. And when I came into Huz's and Dea's life the pack order changed and Niko wasn't an "Alpha" any more. And then again, when Lo was born. I know in my soul it affected him. But he was always surrounded by love. SO many people loved that dog throughout his life, everyone from family, friends, roommates, neighbors, strangers, clients and employers at work....He was so sweet and friendly. I think more people in this valley know Niko then they do ME and family! So often we would be hiking on the trail or running the road and strangers would yell out,"HI Niko!"! Where on Earth was that wiley boy GOING during the day when we weren't home?!?!?

Niko lived a wonderful life with a lot of adventure and travel. He got to live and hike in Montana, Seattle, and Alaska. How cool is it for an Alaskan Malamute to spend his final years in Alaska! He also got to fly on airplanes to Connecticut, New Jersey, and to visit my best friend and her pooch and fam in upstate New York. But hiking and backpacking was his FAVORITE thing. I'm so happy to have filled his life with it.

I hope he knows how profoundly loved he is and how many lives he touched. He helped his second mommy through breast cancer and recovery this past year. I hope he knows I'm so sorry it couldn't have stayed just him and me...that I thought the bigger the family, the more love for him. But it just wasn't always the right kind of loving for his sensitivity. I hope he is hiking, running and sniffing on glorious mountain trails with Attu, and Brett & Porter and Mur and Jackson....with a wonderful cool lake at the end.

Thank you, Bubba for so blessing my life, for being right by my side during the lonely years, for protecting my baby and I from that mama moose...for being so loving. My heart swells to breaking with my love for you.

Happy Father's Day!!!

2010-06-20T08:56:00.003-08:00

To ALL the wonderful Daddies.... Have a fabulous day today!

To my Hunny...I am so blessed to be spending my life with you, and so proud that you are such a wonderful father to our children. I love you beyond the stars...

FANTASTIC FRIGGIN NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-04T14:15:00.004-08:00

After a year and a half of waiting and all the fretting found HERE and HERE, I just got a call from Winterberry, our local Waldorf charter school saying that they have a spot for Lo in first grade in the fall, and did I want to take that spot?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After screaming such things as, "OH.MY.GOD!!!!! No WAY!!!!!! REALLY?!?!?!" and jumping up and down and sideways-you would have thought that I had just won a thousand bucks off of the local Morning Zoo radio-I, of course, answered with a definitive and definite,"HELLS YES!"(they're gonna love me there).

I have lost too much of that "Waldorf connection" over the past year without that daily support and participation in such an environment. I've tried so hard to hold onto that and am SO looking forward to immersing ourselves in it again!!!! On some level I've felt that I've been in this holding pattern for the past year...a place where time has stood still, where I was not able to really "get into" the events of the school Lo was going to and having such a hard time keeping the Waldorf in our home. I acknowledge that I've needed that help, that belonging to a Waldorf community, to keep organized on on track...I feel I can breath again...a block is gone and I can plan, I can break out the scroll saw for some toymakin' for the school, I can research into what is to come for Lo in first grade!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm am so excited for her!!!!!!

Huz in gonna have to peel me off the ceiling when he gets home!!!!!

Work-In-Progress Wednesday, Our new addition!

2010-05-26T09:56:00.004-08:00

While I have a few WIP going right now-the weather has been very conducive to painting outside on the deck, FINALLY!!!!-I thought I would digress and show everyone the pretty-much-finished plans for the new addition to our home that we hope to start in the next few weeks. A Work-in-Progress for the past 7 years!

The week after Lo was born in 2004, we broke ground and built our 2 car garage, detached and situated below the house-it's roof about 5 feet from the front door. It has served well as an AWESOME huge deck! The rest of the plans have been in the works ever since. Financial hold ups mostly. After starting the proceedings, we opted out of suing Huz's ex for the 30 grand she owed him in order to simply not invite that negativity back into our lives. It may seem foolish, but the piece of mind it has offered us has been well worth the wait. We knew our time would come...and it seems to be here. Although Huz remains screwed...we've come to this from our own hard work(Huz, mostly, cuz I've been the semi-stay-at-home-mommy) And, hey! Let's not forget about KARMA!!!! Works both ways.
Some of you may recall my 2008 post, "Future Dreaming" about the original designs that were drawn up by our neighbor's son, then a junior in high school finishing up a CAD internship. The plan was to add 2 more floors on top of the garage. Since then, Huz and I have decided to forgo the second floor master bedroom and bath in favor of saving the money for travel outside the US. Although it would be heavenly to have that huge bathtub and walk-in closet....seeing more of the world simply trumps the superficial stuff. We would rather DO then HAVE. But the 1st floor is a must. We need a pantry and a place to store seasonal clothes, blankets, outdoor gear, fish freezers, and the like. We need a proper place to eat. And our current family room will morph into the new dinning room. For the new 1st floor, I'm keeping the focus on socializing sans electronics. We'll have a sitting area and woodstove facing this beautiful view:

On the opposite wall will be the AV wall and computer area. The room isn't large enough to house to separate sofas and ottomans/coffee tables, so in order to watch a movie we'll have to do some sort of fancy switcheroo....like give the sofa a spin and a shove so that it's facing the TV! It's all good. This is Alaska. We do things WEIRD here.

I can't say the plans to finish the addition next month are etched in stone ...but we're close enough to be having a "Say GOODBYE to the DECK" party on June 5th!!!

EMERGENCIES!!! EVERYONE TO GO FROM STREET!!!! The 14 year old!!!! She DRIVES!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-20T08:29:00.001-08:00

Happy 6th Birthday, my love!!!!

2010-05-08T20:51:00.009-08:00

And Happy Mother's day to all you mommies!!!!

What better Mother's Day gift then a beautiful healthy 10 pound butterball baby, huh?!?!?!? Yep....6 years ago today I was a-squeezin' her out!!! How breathtakingly fast it all goes...from that not-so-tiny warm nursling to a T A L L, bright, precocious, creative kindergartner. Still tutu clad and hoping for an EXCAVATOR for her birthday. I acquiesced and went to the "regular" toy stores(let's face it, I don't think they make wood ones that work and last in a sandbox-but correct me if I'm wrong!) in search for one of those big metal Tonka Truck excavators that we got dirty with outside when we were kids. They don't make 'em anymore, Dear Readers. All you can find are small plastic construction vehicles that make all the sounds and movements FOR you. Un-friggin'-believable. I HATE mainstream toy stores, by crotchety, let me TELL you!!!!

So, I hope she will love her real bonafide ballet tutu, and the knit mohair kitten and prairie dress that I got yesterday at the Waldorf May Faire. Since yesterday we spent the day at the May Faire and today is Mother's Day, next weekend is her "kid" birthday party with her friends. We'll have games, and make hula hoops and get wild in yard...hoping for a warm and sunny day! For today, we'll celebrate Mommy and Lo just the 4 of us at home. (Here's a link to my adaptation of the Rainbow Bridge story that I made for Lo 2 years ago)

UPDATE: She wore the tutu and played with her kitty ALL DAY!!!! How wonderful that this simple little kitten can elicit such joy, love, and imagination!!!!

Never a dull moment on FaceBook! And FINISHED work Friday!

2010-04-30T06:50:00.008-08:00

Swing Shift(click for detail)

Playing with color and "letting go". Just setting up the paints and various utensils....some loud Indie Techno to set the mood ...and just hitting the canvas RAW. Extempore, impetuous, Enfant Schizo!

Yesturday's FaceBook status:

RunninL8... Hates the pretentiousness of Americans who wax British with the idiom, "I'm going to University".

RM: really? do you also hate Americans who add the 'o u' to certain words, for example colour... if so, I am in really trouble with you.

Runninl8: not so much. And it's the pretense i hate....not the people.

CS: I hate those wankers, its bollocks I tell you!

LLS: Oh, Bloody 'ell.

CS: Fish and chips

RunninL8: RIGHT! Cor BLIMEY!!!! I just shat my Alan Whickers!!! No more gettin' blindo for me!!!!

RunninL8: LLS, you're a corking corker and I LOVE ya!

CS: Those cheeky buggers are fit. I might try to shag one of them now

RunninL8: it's a GAS!

RunninL8: Cory, give the ole undercarriage a bit of a 'how's your father' first!

CS: Oh that's pure codswallop

DLM: Marginally better than I'm going to the water closet.

DC: Quick wit and humor. Love it. You would be a fun neighbor. :)

Work in Progress Wednesday...on Thursday. Waddaya gonna do?

2010-04-28T15:41:00.009-08:00

One of the pieces I 'm working on this week was derived from a technique that I learned from GARY REEF on his NING site, LOVIN' MIXED MEDIA. Gary is a fabulous Australian contemporary mixed media artist who lives in Norway. His amazing networking matrix consists of YouTube art technique tutorials, FaceBook updates on his latest works, an Etsy shop and the NING site- chock full of informative articles, groups, videos, forums, and tons of like-minded artists....a fecund land of creativity and inspiration.

The technique used on my above Buddha work is Gary's "Bubble Effect" technique. A wonderfully textural work made by using thick layers of house paint and a heat gun.

Take a minute to check out Gary's work on his website and then head on over to Lovin' Mixed Media.....an incendiary device for the imagination!

As far as my Buddha....I'm not sure where I'm going to take it. I may add some Sanskrit text next to him and call it good. Or maybe get crazy with some lotuses all around. Or both. Hmmmmmm....

Earth Day!

2010-04-22T07:39:00.003-08:00

Well, I had planned on keeping Lo home from school today so that we could celebrate Earth Day by going for a hike to the falls, planting some seedlings, and making glow-in-the-dark watercolor Earth paintings. But apparently there is a school field trip slated for today at the Anchorage Museum of Natural History to study polar dinosaurs. Lo very much would like to go. It's only until noon, so I'll tag along too and we'll just head home for our fun after the field trip.

Here's a link to what we were doing on Earth Day last year. I can't believe how GREAT the weather was that day!!!! Right now we still have snow on the deck, 32 degrees and overcast....

Happy Earth Day to all!!!

Work in Progress Wednesday

2010-04-21T07:04:00.004-08:00

Since I missed posting a WIP last Wednesday, I'll post 2 today.

"Fugs!", you say! "Yes!", I concur. But fear NOT. This is merely the very BASE layer of this painting. I have no idea where this one will bring me, but I can guarantee it will be nowhere near what you see above. I'm currently playing with textures and layers. Stay tuned!

This one I started 2 years ago and recently dug it out. It will also be seeing more layers and a better blend of colors. Huz says the pink part looks like a boob. ~sigh. Now I all see is MAMMARY. Gonna have to fix that somehow...

I'm COMPLETELY stuck on the progress of my "bear"(from the last WIP post) and haven't been able to work on it since. Does that make me a STUCKIST? I think I'll just have to bite the bullet and ATTACK it. Turn off the left brain and dive into the right...

EARTHDAY is comin! Dig this great earth friendly giveaway!

2010-04-14T19:49:00.003-08:00

The Magic Onions along with Natural Suburbia and the NATURAL KIDS Etsy team are holding fabulous Earth day Giveaways! Each of the 56 shops on this team is having a sale, promotion or giveaway. Stop by Magic Onions and Natural Suburbia for giveaway details and then head on over to The Natural kids blog to browse a list of the most whimsical eco-friendly gifts!

"This group of artisans are remarkable in their commitment to being eco-friendly. Their toys are often nature inspired and a reflection of the love they feel for our Mother Earth."

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

2010-04-07T15:58:00.010-08:00

I thought it would be fun to start a Work in Progress post for every Wednesday, showcasing my current work. So here is the pain in the ass I'm working on so far this week. I love it....but it needs to "go" somewhere... but I don't know where that is yet (yeah, yeah....I hear YOU, Jerky-the trash is not an option!) We'll see where the week takes us!

And then there are the two below which are now finished. I am still in shock that the unicorn sold only 15 minutes after I posted it online! I've sold other pieces 2 so far and am now working on a commission. Which prompted me to start an ETSY shop. Not ready yet to launch it , though. I'm still working on getting that first body of work ready to show!

A Conspiracy of Ravens

A Creature So Likely That It Must Exist

ALtErNaTiVe eggs.....AND IT'S MY 2ND BLOGIVERSARY!!!!!!

2010-04-01T07:09:00.014-08:00

EEEEEEEEEEEEEW! It's pastel HELL time again!!!! I shant go into another Easter Rant again this year.....I promise. This weekend is our Spring celebration here in Still Under 2 Feet of Snow, Alaska. Always a weird thing trying to honor Spring when the world outside is covered in cold white and MUD.....bare trees and grey skies. We're in that yearly bummer of a phase where the snow is both melty and icy hard, depending on the time of day, so you can't really ski, snowshoe or sled anymore (as evidenced in this video of me trying to ski on hard icy snow):

.....but you can't hike on the trails and enjoy the ridges yet, either. For the past few weeks I have perused blogs teaming with burgeoning spring! Sunny photos of kids, sans coat and hat, outside soaking up the freshness! Things have been quiet here in that respect....still, but with a stirring below that will eventually enfold in all it's fecund GLORY!!!! Oh, YEAH it will!!! But it will be awhile...~sigh....

In the meantime we've engaged in our usual Bring IN the Spring activities.....forcing willow branches inside, starting some seeds for the butterfly garden, making a gourd birdhouse, etc. And now, we are on to the eggs. Lo will be playing hooky from school today so we can do our eggs and other Springy things. I've tried to keep Lo out of the Easter Schmunsky isles at the grocery store so that she won't catch a glimpse off all those cheesy PAAS coloring kits! Glitter, Disney characters....and that nasty "tie-dye" one. Ever notice how STICKY the PAAS "tie-dye" eggs come out?! INSTANT pet fur and lint magnets....

Since my head has been in such a PAINTING space lately-I've been gettin' CRUNK on canvas for 2 months now!!!!- I thought it would be fun to incorporate a little of that in this year's Just Say NO to PAAS egg decorating.

This year, we decided to decorate eggs that would last for future Spring decor and celebration. We created our own mini egg canvases......on which to embellish in many ways. I bought some cheap fake decorative eggs from Micheal's (you can also use plastic Easter basket eggs), and gessoed them white just like you would prime a canvas for painting. From here we experimented with both acrylic paint and fibers- silk, wool and cheese cloth.

Here's what you'll need:

plastic eggs

sand paper

white gesso

paintbrush

various types of fibers

glossy Mod Podge

Here is our process:

1. Use sandpaper to lightly sand the surface of your egg-just enough to cover the egg in sandpaper scratches. This will provide "tooth" for your gesso to adhere to.

2. Apply 2 coats of gesso to your egg. Let the first coat dry before adding the next.

3. Take your wool or silk fibers(for mine I used wool roving and silk pulled from hand spun silk yarn) and gently pull the fibers away from each other.

4. Cover you egg with a coat of Mod Podge and place pulled fibers on the egg.

5. Gently paint on more Mod Podge and use your brush to manipulate the fibers where you would like them to be placed.

6. You can also keep your egg canvas white and paint it in what ever style you like with acrylic or watercolor paint.

7. Let dry...and display!!!

And what's THIS?!?!? A poor lost dinosaur egg! HOW did it get there with the other Spring eggs?!??!

A quick and easy tutorial on how to make Dino eggs will have to wait until next week! Plus, I have a bit to say about this 2 yr blogiversary....

MERRY SPRING!!!!