Comings and Goings

The highlight of the day was certainly taking Stacia to the college to begin her quick trip to Japan. She is so excited to be going on the trip. We are excited for her to be going. I believe the trip is going to be around 19 hours. 

Snow flurries continued off and on all day. It's colder than it has been but still warm enough that nothing is sticking...

I ran to the store and picked up a few things for Dad. IHe hasn't been feeling good but woke up singing and wanting to eat a "full breakfast" so he is officially well. LOL  Michael spent the day in Eagle River helping Jamin as he remodels one of his units. It was a good day for him. 

📷by Jamin 

The broccoli wins the early germinating game in the seed roulette. I obviously need to thin them out. The pink light is certainly vibey. 

Stacia and Allie both finished their victim impact statements and mailed them off to the Victim Service Unit at the Department of Corrections. 

Stacia wanted to visit Josiah for a bit before she left the country. After she finished her statement yesterday, she and Millie went to the cemetery. We've never taken Millie before but when she let her out of the car Millie ran directly to Josiah's grave... and waited for Stacia to catch up. It's amazing to me she could catch all our scents. 

📷via Stacia

Michael got home after dinner. Allie was working away on an assignment and GG was in bed. We spent 90 minutes in the hot tub...a good end to the day. 

It's Magical

It was magical! And IT HAPPENED THREE TIMES!!!!  I balanced THREE accounts without making a single adjustment or needing to hunt for any pesky accounting errors or missing dollars!!!!

I entered all the gathering receipts, I balanced all 3 accounts, I paid tithe for two households, paid all bills, and collected all tax papers for our accountant. Yes, we ARE late once again...but I am guessing we'll be back on our game next year. ::snort:: Believe it or not we are earlier this year than we were last year. I feel we should get some credit for that. Michael went to deliver tax papers to Nicole, and I finished the bills. My favorite moment of the day was burning all the stuff I didn't need to keep. 

Dad is feeling better today! 

A word about Alaska's weather - I thought the snow this morning was also magical! A nice new clean covering on the entire yard....and an excuse to stay inside and do bookwork (which needs done) rather than start on the season's battle with Devils' Club. I guess we are supposed to have a couple of snow days this week....but it's not 3 feet of snow!!!!!

I'm pretty sure there are members of my family who did NOT think the snow was magical at all this morning. 

It's time to get dinner on and then relax....

The Priceless Burned Bread

There are times when one loses track of threads while multi-tasking.  This can lead to an oven timer going off and no one recognizing what it is! 

Ah, back from my errands I immediately find myself remembering the loaf I began before the errands.

 Oops. 

Not to fear! Very few things are truly wasted when one has a yard of chickens! LOL 

I broke the loaf open and tossed it to the chickens. 

This immediately propelled Millie into a frenzy. She LOVES the ends of the sourdough loaves! She sits prettily in the kitchen each morning while I fix GG's breakfast and hopes against hope it will be the day I toss her the very end.... She obviously considered this burnt loaf of bread to be priceless. It must have been meant for her. She ran, barking up and down the length of the fence. The chickens ignored her. 

They finally got the bread just a bit too close to the fence line and Millie was able to get her snout in far enough to snatch it right out of their beaks. 

Maybe I should just make them a loaf every once in a while. It makes for good entertainment. 

Annie and More!

 Backstory: GG was sick yesterday. Sometimes when GG is sick it isn't a big deal, he sleeps. Yesterday, it was a big deal. Lots of laundry, sleeplessness, and concern. I slept 2 1/2 hours last night as I was on "alert" and simply couldn't sleep. 

Today: The day was planned to begin with me (De'Etta) going to Benny's soccer game, then a play with Bre and her 3 oldest, Arielle and Benny, Krista, Allie and I, followed by Chosen Part 1 with Jamin, Allie, Stacia, Michael, GG and me. We rearranged the plan. GG feels better, but no one wants to be out and about when he is hit with another attack. Our new plan allowed Michael and I to tag team so GG could have a day to recuperate at home.  We'd skip morning soccer, hit the play, and some of us would hit Chosen. 

Allie went out to walk with a mentor. 

Stacia is packing and checking list for her Japanese trip which begins on Tuesday. 

Krista called and wondered if the girls and I would like to meet her for lunch before the play. She had come out for Benny's game. Allie was out but Stacia and I met Krista. We went to Burger Jims. This is a new spot for Krista and I. HOW COULD WE HAVE LIVED IN THE VALLEY FOR NEARLY 8 YEARS AND MISSED THIS? I ate 1/2 my hamburger and we split an order of fries (AHmazing!) three ways. 

"Bacon fries" and sautéed onions, jalapenos and sauce....

We headed to the theater early because I lost my email which told me how to access tickets. I had a visa statement and a screenshot of my order. They said not to worry, this happens A LOT, and they simply sent me a new email. ::shew:: 

📷by Arielle

Arielle and Benny showed up shortly after Krista, Stacia and me. Since we were there with lots of time to spare Krista and Arielle took Benny up to show him the orchestra pit. He was suitably impressed. 

📷by Arielle

The play, Annie, was FANTASTIC. Wow, we have some talented singers in the valley. The sets were great, the adaptation of the script was smooth, and the actors/actresses carried us to another world. It was a first-rate job.  We enjoyed seeing friends preform.  As the curtain came up, Benny leaned over and whispered to Arielle, "This is going to be really good."  (I'll correct this statement if Arielle helps me remember his exact words). 

Stacia, me, Krista, Arielle, Benny📷by Arielle

Sadly, the others arrived when they were telling us to put our cameras up and I never got a picture of Allie or Bre and kids. I found myself misting up as I sat between Krista and Allie. We are going to miss them both so much next season. I won't think about it yet!!!  

We raced home for a quick dinner. Michael and the girls left to meet up with Jamin at the movies. GG admitted he feels "so so" after eating a normal breakfast. He went bland for dinner...toast, bananas, cheerios... I'm sure hoping he sleeps well tonight. 

I LOVE attending plays! Going with the girls and their kids elevates the enjoyment. 

Spring Gardening

I didn't find the energy last spring to order seeds. I bought starts and planted whatever starts I could find.  I didn't find the energy to order seeds this year. Michael and I stopped by Lowes as he is going to make a seed starting station for me. He nudged me into buying seeds. 

Judy, a dear friend, gave me this our second year here. It is great for starting seeds, and growing winter herbs. However I could only start two trays at a time. I planted more and rotated but it wasn't optimal. 

I bought some grow lights a couple of summers ago but never got around to using them. Michael put this together for me. 

After a cup of tea and a bit of reading this afternoon, I was motivated to get out all the new seeds, the old seeds and organized them. I had downloaded a free Alaska seed starting guide from Common Ground Alaska. I would link it, but I can't find it on their site just now.  

I started some ribs and baked beans - low and slow.....and then headed to the growing station. 

From checking out the ebook I found I was a "bit" behind but not by much as our last frost is May 30th. 

 I have some old seeds and some new seeds. This is a great time to experiment. I overplanted and we'll see what happens. I planted 108 tomato plants (several varieties) so I'm hoping I don't have 100% germination. I've NEVER been able to get a strong tomato plant from seed. Michael says if it doesn't work, we'll buy starts. If it does, we'll have lots of tomatoes.  I also started snowball cauliflower, marigolds, sunflowers, broccoli, brussel sprouts and celery. I had 7 trays....this set up can handle 24 trays of seeds. I need to buy more trays. LOL 

If I rotate the trays, I can get 4 on a shelf

I labeled with the name of seed, date planted, days to germinate, and year the seed was packed. 

The basil is about ready to die out and make way for new spring summer basil. 

Even with the gardening gloves - I just can't resist. Tis the season of the black thumb...or black thumbnail at least. 

I need more pods and trays.  I have no idea if I'll us it to the full capacity this year - but I can already see it's going to be much easier to have this big growing station.  Oh, I ran into the greenhouse, and it was 80*. I decided to plant some spinach and lettuce in the greenhouse. My hope is to be harvesting it about the time I plant out in the beds...and then use the inside space for tomatoes, beans and peppers. 

Michael came home from his appointment. He, Dad and I had a yummy dinner. Allie got home from work and grabbed some and a couple of hours later Stacia got home from classes. It turns out ribs are a favorite around here. I'll have to do that often this summer. It is perfect to get started and go on with the day outside. 

As I gardened last year, I dreamed of moving the hot tub from the garage to our new outside deck. Actually, being able to set up the hot tub and enjoy it after an afternoon in the garden. My back was sore this evening and I headed out for a nice, leisurely soak after dinner. This gave me time to catch up on polos too. 

Spring Stride?

Michael and I are struggling to shake off our winter lethargy and find our normal spring stride. Honestly, grief often feels like a weight one carries around. It sucks our energy. We expected that last spring. We're surprised we're still feeling weighted down...but we're learning how to carry on with the extra weight; both physically and spiritually. We'd really hoped winter would hang on until Easter as it normally does. Here we are facing tons of projects which need done and still preferring to sit around with tea and books or water and screens for Michael. Not to worry - I am taking a fistful of supplements, drinking a wild array of teas, taking breaks to breathe on the hour and tell myself "I am still here." I realize I'm supposed to have more meaningful affirmations but to date I haven't the energy to create any more affirmations to recite. I breathe and pray/affirm on the intake, "I am still here," and on the exhale, "And.so.is.God. " Possibly should change that up.... God's still here and so am I. ::snort::  I suspect that is what grief is like....love transforms to grief; grief becomes comfortable and manageable, and we carry it along with the joy. 

We are sort of aiming for one project a day until we are up and going with typical summer energy. I recently spent 90 minutes clearing away the winter poop -moose and dog and unidentified. NO pictures.  I filled my time this Tuesday with picking up Dad's meds, getting the car washed and picking up a few fresh items at the grocery store. 

Today, Michael put together the deck box we purchased. 

One distressing thing about spring is the snow melts and there staring one in the face are all the unfinished projects left when winter caught one unaware. Not really unaware, we simply keep working until it snows.   We need to finish the finer details on the new deck....railing on the back and the bottom stairs and hauling away the extra boards and such. Snow is such a pretty covering. 

Oh yes, and here Michael had trenched for electricity to be installed. The snow came and the sod froze before we could fill it all back in. It's time to jump on that too. It seems a good time to get out and cut down man sized killer weeds in the back woods and along the edges of the lawn. 

We also hope to stain the house, put in an electric dog fence, organize the garage, build another garden bed or two, reseed the chicken yard and come up with a summer housing solution for them so we CAN reseed...we will keep busy. 

Stacia tried out a dinner she plans on making while they are in Japan, so I was able to skip out without making dinner. I headed to Women's Bible Study at WCC. I am enjoying that rhythm again. 

We seem to have a peanut butter and snack bandit in the house. 

Congrats, Jared

I have made a notable exception to my policy on not discussing politics online to post about Jared's campaigns. Yes, today, Jared was up for election. He ran for Seat A from Chugiak, Eagle River and JBER (Joint Base Elemendorf Richardson) of the Anchorage Assembly. This is not his first campaign.  Stepping into politics takes courage. I was SHOCKED at the amount of money spent to keep Jared from a local office. I was bemused at the things I began to hear about Jared - it became obvious these people do not KNOW Jared. They probably aren't interested in hearing proof that what they believe about him is incorrect, or that the news sources they are trusting are provably inaccurate....and then I realize this is sure to happen on higher levels of politics, as well.  We would all do well to check and recheck our sources before spreading them or at least honestly admit our bias'....

These thoughts ran through my mind and then the prayer that Jared would win and finally the acknowledgement that ok, "God - your will, not mine! But I sure hope we think the same thing would be good on this one!"

Jared was spending the wait with a few friends. He didn't want a big watch party, so we went ahead and went to life group. We knew the results would begin to come out after 8:30 p.m. As the group discussion continued, I admit, I snuck a peek at my phone and did a quick check!

The final results won't be certified until Wed. evening, but this is a great lead. It's a good enough lead I've heard others call the race for Jared.  Congrats, Assemblyman. 

Jared & Jamin 📷via Jamin's facebook 

📷from Jared Goecker for Alaska