What More Can You Ask For?

They heard a little helicopter and ran
My kids preferred to be above the horses...
This horse is the boss and is awfully forward, I try to avoid him.

So we've got tennis and racquetball, parks with equipment to play on and gazebos to lunch in, a fancy and expensive red clay baseball field, a pool with a slide, a couple weight rooms, nearly 20 cardio machines, an indoor track, a library with any book (they don't mind borrowing from other libraries!) and more DVDs than even a dedicated DVDs addict can watch in 10.5 years...oh yeah the best Chinese food delivered right to your office :) and everyone knows about the buffet at the Grand... I'm so glad there are
We have "wild" horses that are very sweet, it's been awhile since I drove out the road a bit and bonded with them..

Jr High Basketball & OMG it's Contagious...I Noticed Eagles Today

You have to be here...it was so sunny we had sunglasses on, but the pictures show the snowy side more...it was sunny on one side, snowy on the other.





Tonight was a Jr. High basketball game, since there are no teams to play they have to play against the Jr. varsity team, it was fun to watch my younger son for the 1st time in the big gym not just at the rec center, he's in 7th grade.

I need help taking pics!! I am the worst!

Yes the 7th & 8th graders won, yay! My son made a basket, I missed taking a picture, imagine that.

On the way to the game we saw 100s of eagles at the landfill...we've never really paid attention to eagles, but these were freaky! So many and so brave, they didn't move and would meet your stare even! I've got to learn how to take pics sigghhhh...

PCR

Hey therealunalaska, gigi, rich, unalaska, cb, lauri, steve, (even tho I've never actually met you, have I?) there were 9 open cardio machines.... 'jus sayin.....your 'puter and your couch will still be there!!

(and no cracks about the tie-dye if you eat at Moose's Tooth restaurant in ANC you'd want a shirt from there too!) I read 80 pages of homework and burned 700 calories!

Anyway enough nagging, I'm a mom what can I say? It was so weird driving to the PCR we had blue sky out here and half a mile down the road it was a white-out! And then the two guys on bikes??!!! INSANE and one was riding down the middle of the road...

Bummed...

I miss my husband! I will see him for only a day before I go to Fairbanks for a week for my 1st Rural Nutrition Intensive week this semester....OK I'll suck it up and deal 'wif it...that is life with a boat guy...

A New Boss and Snow in the Valley

It's a little snowy, no ocean or eagles, just ducks, salmon and trout.

The Evil Plot to take over the town is moving forward! In a move almost as surprising as sarah p being vp nominee my buddy went from Admin Asst/receptionist to THE BOSS (in-training)... It's all part of her plan!! YAY! Congratulations, this is QUITE the week for you Missy! I know your cheeks are sore from smiling and we're all thrilled for you..and for us... you will be great!!

Hershey's Track And Field

This event is held in May, these kids are tough! I about froze watching them. It seemed like winter would never end! There is snow still, and of course nobody dresses for it, except the PCR guy, Casey in the cool parka (he's sort of new in town) We all wear hoodies year 'round and just 'deal 'wif it'

My Mentor

Preparing moose for canning (the moose was from Dillingham)
I am no longer afraid of my pressure cooker!! We made a couple batches of canned silvers --yum!! Irene is so quick she can fill a case of jars with salmon in the time it takes me to put a teaspoon of salt each of the jars from the previous batch! Her hands are usually blurry!
YUMMY We love it when Irene shares Pirok with us!!
Tonight is another great event, Souper Mentor where folks are invited to bring their mentor and some soup and share stories. Father Oleska is the guest of honor. I have a class and need to hit the gym too (Alena and I ate at my favorite lunch place-- sorry GA and CP Deli, but Peking is the BEST!!)

My mentor Irene McGlashan is out of town running the clinic on St. George Island for awhile...she's so cool, I sit next to her all day long at work, I'm lonely without her! Her daughter Kathy is a blogger too-- It's such a small town LOL... Irene tries to teach me patience and is my defender when I'm grouchy, I like that! Tells me to breathe and don't let them get you down, Kill them with kindness...that sort of thing.... her best advice for funerals or anything hard to handle, "Chew gum, you can't cry when you're chewing gum!" Try it!

She's had many different challenges in her life and still has more energy than four 30 year olds!! She picks berries all over the hills all through late summer and fall and puts them up along with lots of fish too.

My husband thinks Irene is the cutest gal too. He is so proud to provide her with all the salmon, halibut, crab and ducks that he can. All he asks is for a loaf of her absolutely perfect homemade white bread every so often!!

Irene knows so much about native foods and has taken the time teach me how to make excellent jam, canned moose and canned salmon. I have to smoke fish still....I'm working my way up to that! And next I'm going to conquer pie crust for blueberry pies and pirok (AKA fish pie) Irene spent a few years in Port Lions a village near Kodiak and makes it just like mom (my husband's mom that is) my mom won't eat ANY native food ever..that's another story!

Maybe I can learn to make bread like her someday too. I may even try duck soup, sea eggs or seal oil..MAYBE! I have tried seal and sea lion, only liked the latter...perhaps I'll acquire a taste for seal. I Don't care for octopus or pickled fish, or even dried fish, but could eat smoked fish, moose, halibut and crab and berries everyday...oh yea I do! I'm so lucky to live where I do where these foods are everywhere and not a fast food joint within 800 miles!

I've interviewed Irene for my rural foods classes a few times, her stories are of a life that really doesn't exist anymore and I'm so happy that she shares her knowledge with me, a hyper and silly blondie!!

Scrapbooking Sunday

We try to scrapbook at least two Sundays a month....This week Ana the postmistress and Krista a biologist at ADF&G came....Ana's granddaughter KC entertained us! Ana and I have been scrapping for 10 years, Krista joined us maybe 4 or 5 years ago? Patty is out of town AGAIN...in Kodiak, AGAIN :) Hurry home! I'm dreaming of the coffees you can get there --JEALOUS!!

YUMMINESS

Round two, I had to have a couple more crab fritters :)
She ate hashbrowns instead of dessert! CRAZY girl!!!
YES! The chocolate-covered strawberries were THAT GOOD!!
Pat and Regina know how to track down everyone!....Unalaskans treat the dental staff (also our Post Office employees) VERY WELL. It's just a good thing to do in a small town!!!
Gigi-- Chef Rich's Queen
YUM!!! Smoked salmon, smoked halibut, steamed shrimp and pineapple are my favorites and the crab and cornbread fritters were amazing!! The won-ton with pork belly was good (omg I thought it was tofu, I'd never eat pork belly on purpose!!!)
Give me a waffle AND and omelet Bro!
I make this handsome chef nervous --all I did was call him a cute nickname in front of Jeff --oops!

My buddy Gigi invited us to brunch... el Capitan is at sea earning some money and we were starving so we went! We never seem to eat real meals when he's gone....

The ladies from the dentist's office were there too. They're sweet and can bill insurance better than any other provider I know of. That is a pet peeve of mine, I only go to places that don't screw up the billing and don't charge outrageous prices (quite common out here!!) Amazing coincidence -- the amount of dental work I NEED each year is the same as my limit :)

Last Bonfire of the Season

Random wacky hair color was the "thing" in October. Thankfully went away after 6 weeks or so...

One of the kids brought an old Christmas tree the river...but bonus for us, a very cool stand was still attached to it and we had a very stable tree this year --albeit a freaking ugly tree! Come on Foreign Language Club! Sell us a better tree next year!

We brought out an old pogo stick, some people just have better balance than others...

October 11 was the last time we had a bonfire....we do it often MAY-OCT right in our yard!
I love my yard. it's more of a driveway really, it's HUGE and flat with room for 10 vehicles or more --we have 4 vehicles plus a big skiff and still have room for a fire! It's on the one paved road in town, no precarious driveway to navigate like a lot of folks here have to contend with, no neighbors crowding like so many people have to deal with and a river in the back yard! Nothing green to fuss with either LOL. There are mountains on 3 sides, we get less light than most people, we don't see sunrises or sunsets, but seem to get a lot less wind too. And after 8 years in an apt on the second floor (Poor Jim and Joe had to hear our extreme loudness all that time!! They were VERY patient!)

We're Not Moving!

Our very old TV wouldn't die--it's now in a back room with Guitar Hero 4 attached to it most of the time. I didn't think this giant thing was needed, but I seem to have taken it over. I love it! And I have to do something very un-Unalaskan-- complement the shipping process -- Best Buy got it in on a Monday it was taken to Ace(for free!) and was here in our house by TUE afternoon, very reasonable shipping rates, everything perfect and about 30 hours total time AND it was pouring down rain on TUE...THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!!
It's fun-- if we tease him about it being dirty, he'll go wash it...it's JAN nobody washes vehicles in JAN!!
Every couple of years there are rumors that we'll be transferred to Kodiak....that is good, we love Kodiak for many reasons including family, even more hunting and fishing for those of us that care to do those activities, a big house with a garage and lawn, more sports for the kids...but at least one of our kids is determined to graduate here and continue his job that he loves very much! I have a lot of college left before I earn a master's degree too! I like the fact that they are no fast food restaurants here, it's a close-knit community, I'm able to take classes, we're very involved in so many things.... Anyway, either community is OK with us, but we're staying and we treated ourselves when we found out we're staying in Unalaska!!

Soccer is even more fun than basketball

Do coaches usually wear jammies and text while coaching???

Basketball at PCR is fun too...most of the time

We seem to go to the PCR almost daily for something! I try to do cardio and read textbooks...there will be NO pics of that, ever!

We Are Inventive in Unalaska

Taking distance classes calls for inventiveness! Dr Ko had a patient no-show and I grabbed him for a dissection lesson, good thing too! I was about to skin it like a salmon I was going to fry!

They Will Go Outside If Forced....

4 teens, 1 sled!!

That is the cutest snowman EVER I think!!

Last one for Today...."Indulged Kids" Have Toooo Much Technology

And Every Once in a While Brave Kids Get in the Water

What a day! Over 70 degrees and flat calm.... I think Kaletca Bay is my favorite place to go!