Tag Archives: travel

In summation…

Posted by on February 15, 2011 1 comment

Randomly, on another Tuesday:

  • I miss Melinda.  I’m talking to my little brother Michael again.  I’m talking to my sisters again.  I miss mama.  Loss is lonely, and each one exacerbates the others.
  • The flights down to Texas weren’t too bad.  Long, but not bad.
  • San Antonio was extremely warm the first several days, then cooled off to something tolerable for this Eskimo.
  • The kids had heaping tons of fun with Mimi, Popo, Aunt B, Uncle Schim, and cousins Matthew/Chewy, Nolan, and Colin.
  • They also had a great time with Uncle Lawrence, Aunt Susan, Brennan, and Uncle Ables.
  • Fun was also had at Chuck E Cheese’s with Uncle Alex, Aunt Kimberly, Adriana, Pops, Kyle, and Camden, Aunt Tasha, and cousins Morgan, Trent, and Natalie.
  • Miss Sally liked being chased by the kids, though she tried to pretend otherwise.  Lucky adored Milla.
  • Camilla is “kah-MEE-lah”.  We call her Milla (MEE-yah).  I’ve also written it as Mi’a.  She calls herself Illa/Iya/I’a (pronounced EE-yah).  Aunt B noted that it’s spelled/pronounced like tortilla.  I think this is going to stick with my poor girl forever now.
  • I got a tattoo by Jedidia Reid, owner of Element Tattoo Studio in San Antonio.  I LOVE it.
  • There will be a ton of photos uploaded in the coming weeks.
  • I hated the trip up to Chicago more than words can capture.
  • I loved being in Aurora/Chicago with Aunt Cara, Uncle Mike, and cousins Maddie, Ryan, and Tori.
  • The wind and humidity there make their winter just as cold and unforgiving as ours.
  • They have so much snow that I’m jealous.
  • I didn’t think I could be jealous of precipitation.  I am.
  • The trip back to Fairbanks was long, but nowhere near as bad as the one to O’Hare.
  • We picked up some kind of icky flu-ish/cold-ish bug that has us all feverish, with deep, racking coughs.
  • That hasn’t diminished the pleasure of being back home.
  • We all miss our friends, family, and travels.
  • We wish y’all were closer, and that we could see you more often.  Preferably through teleportation.
  • I’m trying to put the house back together, and will update with more details and pictures when I can.

    • And lastly:

  • Bubbles are awesome.  (recorded in summer 2010)

Random on a Tuesday

Posted by on January 25, 2011 1 comment
  • My youngest sister, Melinda, died at 25 on January 14, 2011.
  • We drove to Anchorage for a small memorial service for her, held on Friday, January 21, 2011.
  • It’s got me mourning my mother all over again.
  • The kids got to play with Grandpa, cousins Faith, Caleb, and Vicky, Aunts Jessie, Tasha, & Sandee, and Uncle Darrell.
  • We took family photos at my parents’ house, courtesy of Sandee Rice Photography.
  • Back at the hotel, we took the kids down to the swimming pool.  They had a blast.
  • The chlorine in the pool did crazy tightening things to the dreads forming at the back of my head.
  • Bouncing Bears is the coolest place to get kids worn out before a long road trip.
  • The living room floor is the greatest place to roll around after many long hours cooped up in car seats.
  • The wolf and the orca share the same animal spirit in Yup’ik lore.  These are the two animals I debated between in trying to identify the animal essence of my youngest child River.  JR is a polar bear.  Camilla is a lynx/mountain lion/fox.
  • I’ve spun 4 oz of a pinkish-purplish wool/alpaca batt by Bohoknitterchic Spins into 400+ yards of a fingering weight single.  Melinda loved pink.  I’m going to knit a shawl out of this yarn.
  • I’m knee-deep in laundry that needs to be done before we leave Thursday night on vacation.
  • I get a kitten after we get back.  It will go nicely with the litter box and cat food I got from John for Christmas.
  • I’m planning on getting tattooed in San Antonio and Chicago during the next couple of weeks.
  • I’ll be starting a Little Acorn Learning curriculum for JR and Camilla after our trip.  I’m excited.
  • I definitely need to get back to daily workouts.  They’ve fallen by the wayside with a marked increase in fibro pain.
  • I nearly forgot how comfortable Vans are until I bought a new pair the other day.
  • I am very clearly doing anything possible to avoid laundry and packing.
  • I have to start all that now, before Thursday gets here.

Sigh.

Photo update of the last couple months

Posted by on November 4, 2009 No comments
JR at Tanana State Fair

JR at Tanana State Fair

Camilla Rose @ 7 mos old

Camilla Rose @ 7 mos old

Look at me standing!

Look at me standing!

My two favorite goofballs

My two favorite goofballs

In the ball pit at Bonkers

In the ball pit at Bonkers

JR in SeaTac airport on the way to TX

JR in SeaTac airport on the way to TX

Camilla at SeaTac on the way to TX

Camilla at SeaTac on the way to TX

At the beach at Port Aransas

At the beach at Port Aransas

JR & cousin Matthew in the pool at Port Aransas

JR & cousin Matthew in the pool at Port Aransas

Yay, autumn!

Posted by on September 29, 2009 No comments

Yep, fall is my favorite season. Especially in Alaska. The crisp air, the turning leaves, the lack of mosquitoes, the dusting of snow on the mountains signaling the impending winter… I love it all.

JR turned 3 years old. He has glasses now. He looks all grown up, and I get all choked up thinking of the hungry sleepy little newborn he was three years ago.

Camilla is 7 months old. She crawls, pulls to standing/cruising, has six teeth, laughs a lot, and now calls us “mamama” and “bababa” in the sweetest little voice. The kids play great together.

I had a big super secret knitting project I was working on with/for Three Irish Girls. I can’t wait to tell more about it!

Oh, and that’s another thing I love about fall — the handknits. I can break out the fabulous handknits, and my wardrobe grows tremendously from the strappy tank tops I live in during summer months.

We’re getting ready for a vacation to Texas, so my tank tops are going to get a lot more use before they’re solely base layers and pajama tops. I can hardly wait to be in the second-largest state! We’re spending a week at the beach and a week visiting in-laws and friends. I’m so excited about getting all of our kids together! I’m thinking of getting inked while I’m down there.

I’ll post pictures very soon of my family and knitting and vacay and stuff!

Second Trip to Anchorage

Posted by on June 22, 2009 No comments

We headed down to Anchorage again over Memorial Day weekend to meet up with John’s parents. They came up to spend a few days in town before heading on to Whittier for their cruise to Vancouver. We had a great time, and the kids had a blast with MiMi and PoPo.

We took the kids into the pool one night at the hotel, and had absolutely fabulous fun. I didn’t bring my camera down there, but it was awesome. JR got to go go-kart riding and pony riding again. We also checked out the Saturday Market where I picked up some cool handmade birch trucks for JR and some pretty hippie duds for myself.

The Sunday before Memorial Day I went to mama’s grave site. It was heartbreaking and surreal but I’m glad I went.

Reading Sports Illustrated on the drive down

Reading Sports Illustrated on the drive down

MiMi and Camilla

MiMi and Camilla

Grandpa and JR

Grandpa and JR

John & JR riding go-karts

John & JR riding go-karts

PoPo, JR, and Grandpa at the pony rides

PoPo, JR, and Grandpa at the pony rides

Grandpa and Camilla

Grandpa and Camilla

My little cowboy!

My little cowboy!

I miss you, mama.

I miss you, mama.

Almost…

Posted by on December 27, 2008 No comments

We’re at Holiday Inn Express in Fort Worth. We’ve ordered takeout from Boston’s next door. The dog is hanging at Cara and Mike’s for the night. We’re going back in the morning to pick her up, say our goodbyes to the W’s, then it’s off to the airport for our million-and-one hour adventure back to Alaska. Once we land, we’ll be in -30*F weather in Fairbanks. We’ll have to stop at the grocery store, then drive 100 miles home. John has to go back to work Monday morning. I feel really bad that he’s not going to get a chance to get real sleep until Monday night.

Thirty degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. It might even be colder than that, what with wind chill and all. It was a balmy 80 degrees today. Buffle was basking in the sun in the M’s backyard. Poor furball is in for a shock when she gets home. We are too. I’ve been loving staying in tank tops and flip flops in December, though it’s been really strange spending Christmas without snow and without my mother.

To be honest, it truly hasn’t felt like Christmas at all. I think it may have been easier on me to be down here for the holiday. Mama was always such a big part of Christmas, it feels wrong not to have her here.

It’s been a great trip. It’s gone by really quickly; for having spent 2-1/2 weeks here, I’m not sure where all our time went. I know we spent a lot of damn time just driving.

Every last available bit of room in our luggage is taken up by stuff. I’m sure that I’m forgetting to get something for someone, but I’m sorry: I’ve run out of room. Stupid airline baggage weight restrictions.

Oh well. Time to eat and chill and hopefully sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long long looooooong day.

Vacay Stuff

Posted by on December 19, 2008 No comments

We didn’t do a movie with the S’s yesterday, as it was approaching JR’s naptime and he gets hella cranky.  It was mostly a quiet day; we had lunch with MiMi and PoPo at Lisa’s, did some random shopping, and got to spend some time alone last night.  MiMi and PoPo watched JR for us while we went to Retama Park to bet on some pretty horses.  Don’t worry, we didn’t win a thing.  JR was a bit overexcited to see us when we got back, and as a result stayed up until after 2 am with us.  I also noticed last night that — drum roll please — he has a new tooth!!!  A new molar has finally popped up on his upper right jaw!

Today, we went to an estate sale with PoPo, and picked up a couple of neat items.  I got this pretty silvery stone-covered clutch, JR got some books, and John picked up a statuette by a W.Gregory.  After that, we went to Half Price Books (awesome used bookstore that I wish we had in Alaska).  JR had an impossible time getting down for his nap when we got back.  John and John picked up some dinner for me while I listened to JR scream into his pillow instead of napping.  We hung out here, watched Ice Age for the fifty-millionth time, John set up MiMi’s new computer, then John and I went to Target while JR stayed with PoPo (and MiMi, though I hope MiMi was able to rest since we gave her our cold).

I talked briefly to my brother tonight; any hot available senoritas are welcome to his email address since I can’t bring them back in my suitcase.  Just so you know.  And if you’re a hot available senorita that wants my brother’s email address, just let me know.

Sunday we’re having lunch with the S’s and the A’s in Austin; can’t wait to see you guys!

Texas!

Posted by on December 13, 2008 2 comments

We’re here!  The flight was fine; JR slept almost the entire way here.  John got sick last night, and JR is pulling at his ear a lot.

We’ve been having a great time hanging out with the Ws.  The kids are all having so much fun together, and even the dog has been a big hit.

It’s so nice not to wear 15 layers to go outside!

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