tuesday sunset

this was the sunset this evening in the mat-su valley. the days are rapidly growing longer. sunrise occurred at 9:27 this morning and this pretty sunset at 4:58.

so jeff and i made an attempt at skiing alyeska yesterday. with our kiddo dropped selfishly into daycare, and schedules cleared for the day, we headed south.
wouldnt ya know, 40 degrees and drizzle was what we found upon our arrival to the neo-hippy enclave known as girdwood. yes, thats right, 40 degrees Fahrenheit . so on top of the sparkling mounds of mouthwatering snow (283" fell in the month of december) there was a fine layer of sop.

we drove down to girdwood knowing the forecast was dismal, but we were hopeful the reporters were just going to be off by a few degrees and that we would manage an epic day the two of us would never forget.
no such luck.

on saturday, jeff took jaden here: www.hilltopskiarea.org (hmmmm.. anyone know why this wont link?)
this is their second saturday date to hilltop. jeff has described it as feeling much like a neighborhood pool. parents pull up just long enough to allow kids to pile out of the minivan for a few hours afternoon fun. he reports that the demographic is preteen and early teenagers (and that he feels old). however, the hot dogs are apparently outstanding, and the beginner terrain cant be beat when you have a fearless, giggling 3 year old. i wish i had a photo to share, but alas, i was at work during this outing.

radio interweb

so thursday nights at the clinic are generally quiet enough to catch some of my brothers radio show between patients via the world wide web. check it out sometime at 10 pm eastern time on thursday nights at www.weru.org
his program is called "pattern recognition".
what the hell did we do before the "interweb"?


it brings me great pleasure to tune in and hear my little brother play all of his (sometimes grinding) over-the-top, eclectic musical obsessions live and on the air. i love hearing his voice and sense of humor right here with me when we are so many miles away from each other.

right now we have a smokin' version of "aint no sunshine" (by strike??) blasting-
love it little brother!
earlier, when i called him to thank him for the r.e.m fix, my very mothering, front desk colleague requested some elvis- we got it and were shakin' some booty here to the man himself. what a sight.

i am on my fourth day of the five day stretch (yawnnnnn) and have managed to avoid the strep that keeps coming through the door.
i just might make it out alive.

oh mexico

you know it, you love it. hum it with me now




way down here you need a reason to move
feel a fool running your stateside games
lose your load, leave your mind behind, baby james

oh mexico
it sounds so simple i just got to go
the suns so hot i forgot to go home
guess ill have to go now

americano got the sleepy eye
but his bodys still shakin like a live wire
sleepy senorita with the eyes on fire

oh mexico
it sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low
moons so bright like to light up the night
make everything all right

babys hungry and the moneys all gone
the folks back home dont want to talk on the phone
she gets a long letter sends back a postcard, times are hard

oh down in mexico
i never really been so i dont really know

oh mexico
i guess ill have to go
oh mexico
i never really been but id sure like to go
oh mexico
i guess ill have to go now

the countdown is on.
the (mostly) annual trek began 11 years ago when my friend les and i decided to hop aboard one of those all inclusive, pack-your-swimsuit-and-go apple vacations to mexico. we vowed to do it every year till we died.

that first year we crossed paths with stefan and martin who paid our bar tab and took us to dinner (not what your thinking- just dinner and simply big fun with some big spending bullshitters.)
there was mucho tequila...
then, there was the beach lifeguard tower incident in cozumel. i dont want to relive that moment of stupidity. we are so much smarter now.

since then, we have calmed it down a bit. (yup, thats right. to all the moms and spouses, we are calm and keeping it on the straight and narrow when we are basking on the beach, really.) we rent our own pad for the week, along with a zippy little (and i mean little!) "mexican car". we load up on groceries and beer and of course tequila. we generally stick close to half-moon-bay, hanging out, eating, drinking and soaking up the sun. the trip is quite simply a week long, girls-only break from work, spouses, kids and life with different women rotating in and out yearly when able to pull it off. ("cant you get a hall pass this year?") this requires lots of bargining with family to make it happen.
(you rock jeff!)

picture; burnt noses buried in a mindless beach read, coffee on the patio, toes in the sand, guacamole for lunch, cool beer in the fridge.
ahhhhh....... heaven

flashback friday

excuse the friday post on sunday. blogger has been cruel to me, not letting me on since last thursday-but i found a plug-in and we made up. (:

way back when new england had normal, wintry, blustery and snow filled winters, my husband and i lived there.

this winter has been woeful according to all my friends and family who reside there. they have had temperatures in the 40's and 50's with not a speck of snow all season. my friend amy told me this evening on the phone that they havent taken the snowmachine out of the garage for 2 years.

i learned to ski with my grandmother and mom in millinocket, that little mill town i mentioned many posts earlier. i was small, (still am) and the snowbanks always seemed huge. the ski trails followed the snowmobile tracks through the woods for miles and miles.



one of the things i am enjoying most about being here in alaska is heading to the woods on my skis. it has given me opportunity to reminisce about these ski outings and relive some of the memories that were made with some of my favorite people.

winter in seward

well, the fam and i headed off to seward for a little visit with our good friends this past saturday.

what an amazing weather window we hit, with snow packed roads and then over 4 inches of snow the evening of our arrival.

4 inches wouldnt have been a big deal except that this was on top of the 2 feet they received on earlier in the week. this 2 feet it appears, was piled on top of about 3 feet they have received over the past month or so.

now here ive been bragging about how wintery and white our palmer neighborhood is and we visit the most incredible, fluffy-white winter wonderland, ever.

i am quite sure this is as much snow as i have ever truely seen all piled up in one place in my life.


this is rich up on the garage roof. he is a tall guy, at least 6' 2"



a friend of r & l's left her subaru legacy wagon in the yard for the winter. can you see it? might help to click and enlarge.

hint: look for the antenna.

we spent sunday tubbing in the snorkle and building a snow fort complete with slide and escape hatch in lydias front yard. i am not sure who had more fun, jeff and i or jade and lyd.

our ride over turnagan pass evoked jaw dropping excitement at how much snow was dripping off every tree!

sunset from the hot tub.

good food, good company and good wine. it was a lovely weekend.

i am still dreaming of landing that job down there. although we are really enjoying palmer, our alaskan adventure wouldnt be complete without some time near the ocean.

ccccold, again

happy birthday elvis

please excuse yet another post about the damn weather, but i just cant resist!! its crazy here. i promise no more posts about it after this one --for a while at least.

currently, in wasilla, a mere 12 miles from here, it is -27 degrees, its -42 in fairbanks, and here in my toasty palmer abode, it is -18.

probably the chilliest i have really ever experienced. freekin chilly. sleeping in your pj's cold.

the local news channel reports the weather in bagdad and kabul nightly. i find this both interesting and disturbing. so i share with you that it is much warmer there, light rain and in the 40's.

local tv... sucks. there is so much more i could be doing i know, but sometimes the mind melt is really what i need. my choices this evening are limited to, m.a.s.h, (this is the real deal, it runs nightly. i shit you not. every night.) then of course, we have friends and seinfeld. (there must be one episode i've missed?? no, i have seen them all.)

tomorrow, i have a trip to the big city planned. yes, anchorage bound. i will be singing that michelle tune all the way down there. love that woman.

ooooooh, we are missing the live music scene so much. we have the tapes, the cds, the ipod, but oh for the smokey, sweaty, real deal.

i need a new book to read and a crafty project. whos in?? whatcha got?

gimmee some inspiration out there!

be sure and rent: little miss sunshine

loved it!

sunday

greetings on a fine and chilly sunday. j and i are now kicking back in our long johns (thanks to joan and dad!)

the day began with a morning ski with a newly met neighbor and friend. then, coffee and baileys and later some finish work on the snow fort with jaden. it has been a delightful day.

i dont usually post pics of myself, but couldnt resist showing the frozen eyelashes.

skiing at -2 degrees at 10 a.m. is a great way to begin a day. note the "puffy coat". i dont know how i got along without one.

the sledding hill photo was taken at hatcher's pass last weekend. jade and jeff are tiny little dots walking up the deceptively big hill on the right.

happy sunday everyone!

brrrrrrrrr....

how are we supposed to enjoy all this snow in these temperatures??

PITA says...

a waxing gibbous moon never looked so good with all this fluffy white. the current temp is hovering at a balmy -12. nose-hair freezing chilly, i say.

wish i knew how to take nighttime photos because the back yard all lit up by this moon is delightful. alas, i guess i will read the manual soon.

snow, more snow!

oodles more snow for southcentral alaska today!

alyeska resort, (we still havent been) is having a record year. the press release on the website (www.alyeska.com) reports that the mountain has received over 283" of snow for the month of december. this breaks the previous record of 274" in january of 2001.

there were blizzard conditions today on moose pass, in seward, girdwood and anchorage.
here in the valley, a mere snow advisory with 10 more inches falling throughout the day. our snow fort is destined for an addition!

shame about having to work, isnt it? all i can think is, "the ski trail needs some maintenance before we lose sight of it!"
and what about people coming to the clinic on a day like today?? why are you out driving around in this mess? to sit in the waiting room and then complain of cold symptoms, i mean come on people, suck it up! do you really need me to review with you that you have a cold?
gosh, sorry about that. i think i just broke a three day old resolution.... i regress.

jc is down in seattle for a meeting, (although slurping a dozen oysters and drinking IPAs certainly doesnt sound like work to me). hopefully he will manage to get back in okay tomorrow evening when most of the anchorage snow will be moped up.

i complained bitterly about the absolute lack of winter in colorado. growing up those formative years in maine left quite an impression on me. i have rekindled my love of skiing through the woods, ice skating, building snow caves, sledding! playing king of the hill, and dressing up in snow clothes for any outdoor activity from november to april.

here, i have found winter nirvana.

n.s.v trail

this is the neighborhood ski trail, isnt it looking fantastic?

this is the trail we hooked into from the back yard. the forecast calls for more snow over the next few days.

aint life grand?

2007- sounds lucky to me

ushering in 2007 this morning we have piles and piles of snow!! more fresh, white, fluffy stuff is falling from the sky.

we spent yesterday packing a trail from the backyard out to the snowmobile trail that runs out in the woods behind our house. the snow is deep (about 2 feet) and walking and stomping in snowshoes was hard work. (i was thinking, "buns of steel" with each step). now we can take off on skis and reach the trail without sinking to our thighs.

we are dreaming of one of these::

they are expensive, and we dont have fairy god-parents, but they do have great resale value.... jade can keep up for about 1/2 hour, and then he's done.

i am chomping at the bit to go out with jeff, but we havent been able to ski together and instead have been alternating.

the woods are amazing and so quiet. we found a great big icy packed spot where a moose had bedded down for the night. there must have been 2 solid inches of crunchy ice where he/she had melted the snow with the massive size of her body.

we also spent a bit of time and skill building this snow fort or quinzee as they are known.

this sucker has 3 rooms and we are planning an addition.

to all of you waiting for the summertime to come and visit, winter is pretty fun here! and there are no mosquitoes.

some happening' winter events to temp you include:

iditarod days festival: march 3rd. this will include fireworks, the musher's ball, the polar plunge into wasilla lake, dog sled rides, and ice skating. www.wasillachamber.org

iditarod trail sled dog race restart: march 4th at 2pm. this is the real deal, the start in anchorage is just for show! check out www.iditarod.com

the peninsula winter games in soldotna: janurary 26-28th. fun including ice sculpting, dog weight pull, hockey, skating and cross country ski races. www.peninsulawintergames.com

polar bear jump off festival: seward, january 19-21st. ever wanted to watch freaks jump into resurrection bay in january? here is your chance, or be a freak and get icy. while wearing wacky costumes, you too can plunge into the chilly waters of the bay. other activities include a sled dog race, the furry flurry pet show, ice bowling, a waitress and waiter contest, a bachelor-bacherlorette auction and a seafood feast. for more info, check out: www.seward.com

and last but not least: the fur rendezvous,( aka: "the fur rondy") this is alaska's biggest winter festival and includes; sled dog races, opening and closing fireworks, a carnival, snow sculpture contest, a native craft show, ice skating, snowmachine races, snowshoe softball, parade, dances and more! www.furrondy.net