Yeah.

I am back. Stop giggling and mocking. Yes, there is a very good chance I will be back again in another two months, but maybe maybe maybe I will stick around a little this time...

But. I am tired of thinking of others and pulling punches and making sure I am not offensive, so at least for today I am going to be blunt and me. Liberal liberal liberal me. Cranky me, sometimes swearing, occasionally a tiny bit well, obscene? profane? dirty? whatever you want to call it...

Like this is me. I burst into Thor's room -- his door was closed -- but I burst in and as I am, I think I should knock, he is a teenage boy after all, what the hell am I thinking? And of course, because I am me and not able to stop myself around my kids, I say something along the lines of, but slightly, a teeny bit, just a little less direct than this: "I should knock and wait, you could be, um, enjoying yourself in here..." (C'mon. He's 17. I have to bug him about sex and stuff.) I did not actually say the m word, but I was about to, when I realized he was on Skype with four friends. His mike was open and right there. I whipped around and closed the door, not waiting to find out if his friends heard that or not...

Zach's friends would totally not be shocked by this, because this kind of thing is what I do sometimes.

In other news, I found on Huffingtonpost.com, a perfect description of Sarah Palin.

I will miss you when you're gone. Your entertainment-value quotient is off the charts, especially for "over educated", cultural-elitist snobs like me. There's the maddening little sing-song delivery of your speeches, with those weird, unmotivated upticks and misplaced emphases that suggest you are literally reading "your own words" for the very first time. For anyone who appreciates real oratorical skills, like those of Churchill, MLK or Pliny the Elder (you can google all these names, sweetie), it's like having knitting-needles kicked into one's ears over and over again. There's your matchless ability to grind grammar and syntax into a non-intelligible word-pulp containing the odd sharp, indigestible fragment of John Birch ("Bomb Iran!") or Jesus-Freak ("More Divine Intervention!") insanity, the frequent cheap slurs against your political enemies -- who, I can't help noticing, are sprouting up even in the madder precincts at your own end of the political spectrum -- and the usual genuflections towards Boy Jesus and Saint Ronnie (who I bet wouldn't touch your ass with a forty-foot pole).

Thank you to Kara Vallow, who has written exactly what I feel when I hear Gov. Palin speak. I didn't like her as governor before she was chosen by McCain, I didn't like her when she was running for VP, and nothing I have seen of her since then has changed my mind. I am putting this here because I love the wording..."the odd sharp, indigestible fragment of John Birch ("Bomb Iran")..." It captures what I have struggled to explain.

Changing the subject again...dang. Mojo is farting up a storm, like I said on FB, it's like bad lasagna and I can taste it. I can't get away from it, because I can't put him outside -- too cold for my short-haired, thin-coated baby to stay outside long -- and because no matter where I go in the house, Moj follows. I am sitting here with a vanilla scented candle almost singe-ing (how do you "ing" singe without making it sing?) my nose hairs...

Merry Christmas!!

The news is much more hopeful this morning. Mom is doing better, awake and talking. All the vitals are looking better. Still a very long way to go, still not out of the woods, but much better news than we dared to hope for.

The kids are playing video games, the sun will come up in another hour and a half or so (it's only 8:30, so it's still dark as night out there, but each day is getting a whopping 6 or 8 seconds longer!!! Unlike in the summer, when days lengthen or shorten by 5 minutes. Weird place to live. Just weird.). It seems very quiet without the dogs around. We had to drop both of them off yesterday since we are flying tonight. I am thinking a shower sounds wonderful, some more coffee, maybe making some muffins. We also have fresh pears (thank you Jollies!!!!) so we can have a great breakfast, laze around for a while, pick up the rest of wrapping paper, and pack. And eat meatloaf, Zachary wants to make a meatloaf for our Christmas dinner. Works for me!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Merry Christmas!

November and December were tough months for us. Mark deployed for a year, Thor and Zach were dealing with lots of school work and tests and big projects in high school and college respectively, and in the last two weeks my Mom has gotten progressively worse health-wise. She's in the hospital now, we are alternating between hope and not, and the kids and I are flying into Minneapolis on Saturday. We have to wait until Saturday (and hope we make it then) because there is a HUGE storm hitting Minnesota. So not the most festive Christmas ever. Sigh.

But there was bright spot tonight -- we open presents on Christmas Eve, it's a Scandinavian upper Midwest Lutheran thing, I guess -- and while we were opening presents, Mark called on Skype! From over there somewhere! So we talked to him and opened presents while he watched and told us a little tiny bit about his life there. I was feeling kinda terrible that Mark wasn't there to join us, but then he was!

It was tough for a minute. Mom and Dad visited us this summer, and Mom bought me the reissue of the 1950 original Betty Crocker Cookbook, and then she and Tess wrapped it up and Tess slid it under the tree a week or so ago. I had very much been looking forward to my cookbook, but with Mom being in such a precarious and fail state it was really hard to open.

But I did, and I love all the crazy illustrations and photographs and recipes. When life is a little calmer I will post a couple pictures of my favorites. And of the kids talking to their dad on the computer.

Tess made me a really awesome shelf -- another photo to post -- and Thor had pottery he made in pottery class this past semester. More photos to take and post.

So I hope you all are having a calm and peaceful and wonderful holiday, whatever and however you decide to celebrate!

Fireweed.

This is fireweed. It grows all over the place. When the blossoms reach the top, it means summer is over...

And when it turns red, it means 6 weeks until snow. This photo was taken on September 19...so we should have snow any time now. (I think we should have already had snow, last year our first snow was around the 5th of October. This year no snow yet.)


(I think I am remembering this Alaska old wives' tale right, but if I screwed it up please let me know. I have at times a truly sucky memory.)

By the way, I am not complaining about the lack of snow. I know I will be excited for the first snowfalls, but I remember really really well how long winter lasts.

So Let's Pretend...

Let's pretend that I am not a horrible blog owner who neglected you all shockingly for months, in favor of writing very short and not incredibly interesting tidbits on FaceBook (shoot me an email if we are not already friends and you want to rectify that...). I would also like to pretend that I have not neglected the laundry to the point I have about 10 loads left, after doing 10 loads this week. Yeah, I so totally ignored the laundry there, the kids had to dig deep and wear their second string shirts.

I think I am in denial about how much laundry there truly is...I was sitting on the floor sorting clothes -- I had dumped it into one big pile -- and Abe was reduced to giving me the sad puppy eyes, because it was chest high on him and he couldn't get through or around it. Abe likes to lean on me...


(No I am not posting a photo of my enormous laundry pile.)

Yesterday in between folding loads of laundry I vacuumed our bedroom. Mojo has to be with me at all times, and I kept having to make him move so I could vacuum where he was laying. He hates the vacuum, perhaps the fact that I occasionally can't help but suck up his jowls has something to do with his dislike...I sat down to hang out with him for a minute, because he looked so cute and because I was sick of vacuuming.

Abe and Tess wandered in, and since Tess lives to pester the dogs, they ended up having a wrestling match on my freshly vacuumed carpet. Tess discovered that if you blow on Mojo's back, he tries to lick your face. Actually he lunges at your head and licks ferociously. And if you get Moj worked up, Abe has to get in on it too.


Both dogs, looking fairly psychotic. Note that they are mere inches from my head.


Mojo's all time favorite move, grabbing Abe's hind leg and dragging him around. This is not my favorite thing, because Abe has had four surgeries on his knee (congenital deformity. A hazard of pit bulls. We think Abe is probably part pit because of his brindle coat and because there are many many many many many many pit bulls in Tucson.) See how lovely and freshly vacuumed the carpet looks? It so did not look lovely under a fresh coat of dog hair three minutes later. Abe is shedding like crazy lately. Also, proof I did not spend all day on FB -- laundry basket and vacuum.


Mojo with a mouthful of Abe's face. This photo makes me want to rinse out my mouth, just thinking about how much dog hair Mo must have on his tongue after he does this.

Now to completely change the subject.

I have taken some photos lately that I haven't posted here...


Taken on September 19. We haven't had snow yet, but all the leaves are long gone.


Trumpeter swan on Potter Marsh. Potter Marsh is one of my favorite places in Anchorage.


This is why I love Potter Marsh. Big sky, big views, mountains, birds, salmon, lots of interesting plants to shoot.


Deadish weeds.


Even a train.

The downside of Potter Marsh is that the Seward highway runs all along it, and the Seward highway is very busy. There's also a shooting range nearby, so you sometimes get the added ambiance of rifle shots. Makes it feel like the real Alaska.