Family visits while in AZ

My trip a couple weeks ago to Arizona for the Physician Assistants in Orthopedic Surgery Annual Meeting was a bit of a trip down memory lane. I went to graduate school in Mesa. I had all the intentions of going out to the old school to see what has changed, what's been added, see who is still there. That didn't happen but I did get a change to meet up with family that is down there and that I don't get to see very often. However, I have to say after meeting up with everyone, I feel old. Toby and Shayne are both taller than I am! And there hair is almost longer than mine!

Toby was just a little boy when I left 6 years ago! Now he's a teenager in high school with punk rock hair and skinny jeans! Those deep brown eyes hiding back there are still "my Toby's" though!

Lee, Susie, and Toby met me at Eva's in Casa Grande. It is the best little Mexican place ever! Just to mention that it was about 100 degrees while we were standing outside to take these pictures. WAY TOO HOT! And they are in jeans.

I packed skirts and halter top dresses for the whole week. Took one pair of jeans and one pair of dress pants. Only wore the jeans on the flight to and from the desert! But I sure am sporting my AK tan, uh?

My mom's niece, Teresa, and her three kids still live in the Phoenix valley as well. They humored me and drove up to the hotel to meet me for dinner. They even let me chose Outback Steakhouse as our place to eat. It's sad when you use to travel and go to "local" places for dinner at these conferences. Now, I crave chain restaurants. Sad, uh?

Shayne, Shelby, and Sherydan are all doing very well. Sherydan is getting close to graduating high school, Shayne is taller than I am and plays soccer nearly full time, and little Shelby has turned into a championship level swimmer. Where did time go?

I kept the heels on just so I didn't look totally short! And for the record, Shelby asked to turn the heat on in the car after dinner. I am such a Northern!

What da ya think?

Meet Ruby. Ruby came to stay at the house tonight for the next two weeks. She's a 7 to 9 year old chocolate lab that I am thinking of adopting. She is a big ole lover that is completely mellow. She's curled up on the couch next to me right now and Reggie is standing guard on the kitchen table. He hisses when Ruby walks but and the other two cats haven't come out yet. I'm hoping by morning they will all four be curled up on my bed sleeping in late with me.

I have been looking for a dog since this spring when my landlords gave me permission. I found a few I liked but none that were "just right". My boss found Ruby via his kennel while I was gone in Phoenix and talked to them about letting me try her out. I spent some time with her there last weekend and agreed to trial her. I picked her up after work, picked up a few things at the pet store, and now we are hanging out. Movies, supper, and a little kitty lovin' hopefully is in store for the night!

Wish me luck!

Good curling...

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I joined the Fairbanks Curling Club during their September Open House in order to join three other coworkers on a curling team. Yes, the former Olympic sport..Curling. There is a lot to learn, way more finesse involved then I thought, and it is fun. Last week we won, tonight we lost. But whenever you start and finish a game you wish each other "Good curling". It's the Arctic version of "Aloha!"

As the weeks go on, I will pass along some lingo but for right now the "target" is known as the "house" and the green line in front of it is the "hack". Just a couple pictures from tonight's game.

Scenery from the weekend...

Thanks to a fellow coworker we had a wonderful cabin to stay at for the weekend trip to go on the train ride. This is the few from the front of the Willow House as they call it. It's a great family cabin with a grand piano, running water, and a smooth as glass lake. Can't not enjoy this sort of view.

It was hard to take pictures of everything else along the way but we did make a 45 minute stop atop Hurricane Gulch which made for some great shots. Leaning out the window and looking down was amazing!

Murder on the Train

This weekend was the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce's annual Murder on the Alaska Railroad trip. Seven of us from the hospital decided it was due time for a little girl's getaway weekend. Friday morning we loaded down the minivan and cargo carrier for the 5 hour drive to Wasilla. I will be posting pictures of the scenery later but here we are all ready to go on Saturday morning for the 8 hour train ride. Ladies of the night, lawman, and outlaws all aboard!!



We were surprised to find how few people had dressed in costume but those that did seemed to go over the top. What's your vote? Guy or gal?

The master of ceremonies for our train car, Tombstone, had adult games planned for a few hours of the trip. Four of us had to melt an ice cub without using our hands or mouth.

Angie sacked out with her Dramamine but I'm not sure what Jen found so funny!

These passengers fit the bill for the themed Wild West Ride as well!

The Murder event was acted out by a cast of 5 and this young lady was the innocent, sweet niece of Aunt Gerdy but boy, she sure wanted her portion of Aunt Gerdy's Gold Mine. Did she kill for it?

Or could it have been the charlotte of the family, Chasity? Turned out to be the gals brother because Aunt Gerdy put her hand on his Butterfinger. A bit cheesy but we made if fun and are glad we all went!

One more game before we rolled back into town. A T-shirt relay but you had to hold the hands of the person you were transferring the shirt too while your teammates did the moving!

16.4 seconds got it done for our team!

But unfortunately these fine ladies took second to a team that watched our technique and did it in just over 13 secs!

Only had one minor delay on the this train ride...at $7 a drink the man in white managed to get himself into a bit of disorderly conduct trouble. We had to wait 45 minutes in Talkeetna for State Patrol to come pick him up. Yup, he's in handcuffs!

September in AK

I am not sure where to start with the month of September but fall came and went during the first three weeks of the month so I thought I would share a drive home on a beautiful fall day. The first snow fall of the year this year was on September 22. September 21st was the one year anniversary of my arrival to the Great North and the 29th was the one year anniversary at the hospital working for the United States Army. Where does time go, uh?


Ok...I knew mushroom harvesting as a past time up here but who knows which ones are good and which ones aren't. Never expected them to sprout up right in my driveway. Just exploded more like it; displacing rocks and leaves and all. Crazy but made for cool pictures!





























My drive home is beautiful on pretty much any day. The drive to work is nice to and on a clear day I can see Mount McKinley clear as day even though it's 200 miles away.

Backside of Birch Hill. On a clear day Mount McKinley is at the very right edge of the hill towering through the clouds and above all else.

The colors were gorgeous but it's weird when the first hint shows up the second week of August and is in full color like this by the second week of August.

Dr. Sexton, Dr. Meyer, and I took advantage of a glorious day and tried our hand at 9 holes on post. We didn't lose any balls into the Chena River but did into the trees!

She lives!

No, I didn't get pulled away by a run away dog sled team. No, I did not get mauled by a bear and drug into the woods. No, a rampaging moose did not take me out.

I was simply way laid by a broken AC adapter and when one only has a laptop at home, having a power connection to an outlet is an important thing. If it had been repairable it would have been a week without my computer. Unfortunately, it was not able to be saudered as the adapter had broken free of the motherboard inside the laptop. This being Alaska, simply "ordering" a part is not so simple. I made the request for expediate shipping. In spite of the 3 to 5 day arrival guarantee, it took 9 days. At least once they had the part, it only took one day to put it in.

I am officially "connected" again and have spent since Friday getting myself caught up with emails, Facebook, blogs, and general online activities. My blog has been horribly neglected and I have no clue where to start with all that has happened and all that i have been thinking about in the last month. There has been a lot to ponder in the absence of my computer. I'll get it out soon as I can!