Some updates

So, we're buttoned down & ready for this storm!  I really hope the rest of Anchor Town listened this time & actually prepared this time.  http://www.wunderground.com/US/AK/101.html?MR=1

We've lost the camera, so... well, we've lost the camera LOL  if we can't find it in a week, Yobo says we can replace it for about $50, so we may as well.  It's pretty weird not having a camera/video recorder now.

I took my first Algebra test today & am feeling pretty confident about it, so here's to hoping reality matches perception  :)

I went to a new neurologist a few weeks ago; had my first follow-up on Thursday - LOVE her.  She said most people only see her 2 or 3 times & then they're done with her; said her job is to get me back to my life, not to hang out with her.  I thought she was nuts, but am pretty sure that my follow-up in a month will probably be the last time I see her.  AWESOME.  I have not had a migraine for TWO days now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is AMAZING and WONDERFUL.  It's astounding how much I got done today   :D

Yobo pretty well sold out at market today.  He thinks today was the last one - after the storm last week & then what's supposed to happen tonight, there will not be a lot left to harvest so there won't be any excess to sell.  It's all good anyway because...

Next weekend, Yobo & I will be attending a conference on growing hardy fruit in Alaska & all about growing apples, as well as our first apple pressing!  SO excited for the apple pressing.  Yobo's super stoked about the conference because it's some dude named Dr. Bob Bors is coming up from Saskatchewan to present.

While the Moose still doesn't "talk" talk, she is able to hold a complete conversation in her own way  :)  We had a good talk last night, she was sitting on the kitchen table, playing, and discovered some batteries in a container.  I showed her how to use the little battery tester & she sat there, trying to test the batteries LOL  of course she couldn't quite get the battery into the tester and she was telling me all about it the whole time!  It was amazing to watch her, seeing the baby wheels turning in her baby head  :) 

Oh!  And I tried quail eggs for the first time!  There's a family at market that sells bunnies (I'm trying to convince Yobo that we need one... or two or three) & quail eggs.  They're pretty awesome and also hooked us up with some eggs.  Anyhoo, I finally tried some last night, hardboiled, and they were actually rather tasty!  They gave us another dozen today  :D  The Moose isn't really fond of eggs, but maybe she'll like the quail variety...  she sure does seem to dig the bunnies LOL 

We got some duck eggs from another market person today, as well as some gooseberries  :D Yobo's going to make some jam out of the gooseberries.  I'm also excited to try them plain.  Two more new things to try!

Well, it's officially 1 hour, 33 minutes past the start of the storm and it's definitely raining, but, thankfully, there's no wind yet!

Swinger

A Day at the Fair

Yobo, Yobo's mama, and I took the Moose for her 1st ever trip to the Alaska State Fair on Thursday.  We went through a little baby maze that was dragon / treasure-themed, listened to some music, ate good & bad food, went to a wildlife menagerie show with all kinds of cool animals (some pics below), saw all kinds of people, went through ALL the exhibit halls (I'd never done that before), saw a dog show, went to the petting zoo, and drank a real jerked soda!  Of course, we didn't make it through (to the end of) ANY of the shows, but had an otherwise excellent time.  It was windy when we got there, but, thankfully, the rain held off until we were ready to leave.      

watching the dog show... until the Moose got bored & tried to high tail it out of there (5 minutes in & there was a little too much guy talking, not enough dogs doing stuff).

she only pet one animal, a pony, and that may have been by accident.  she really liked looking at them all up close though & even fell in love with an alpaca  :)

watching the acrobats on the trampoline - she was WAY more into their music though!  when we were trying to walk around before & after this picture, she was having a hard time going anywhere because she kept stopping to bust a move LOL it was hilarious.  she'd take a couple of steps & just start putting her hands in the air.  people kept stopping to "awww" and giggle - as long as none of them actually tried to talk TO her, she was a ham & loving it up.

in the cooperative extension building; going through their publications  :)

that's an armadillo all balled up!

an unballed armadillo running around.  he'd run up that lady to rub his face against her shoe & get back scratches hehehehe and then he'd scamper around & come right back.

a baby African lion!

there were actually 2 of them, but only 1 on stage at a time.

a good day at the fair ends this way  :)

the animals are loose! and why aren't they making me cupcakes?

1. baking soda

2. cocoa

3. cupcake wrappers

 

oops! caught getting sidetracked - she was working on making mama some cupcakes, but was distracted & redirected by duct tape.

puppy playtime

puppy work time?

moo.

Back to School

So, Monday was the first day of classes for this fall.  I'm just taking one class, Algebra.  The teacher seemed OK, though we don't take tests during class - we have to make outside of class time to take the tests.  Arg.  I am assured by other students that this, thankfully, is not the norm.  I'm sure it's a good thing in that we get more time to learn; it's just a bummer that I have to figure out how/when to take the tests.  One good thing about this set up is that the test isn't necessarily on a specific day... our first test is due by September 10th.  We have until the Learning Resource Center (LRC) closes on September 10th to take the test.  He said we can go in NOW if we wanted, though he doesn't recommend it  :)  

We did a review test the first day - I don't even want to know how I did on it!  The teacher, Shawn (he said to call him Shawn, maybe Mr. P, but definitely not Professor), quickly went over the syllabus, then passed out the review tests.  Once we were done, we were free to go. 

Today is Day 2!

Market Day

Market was quite nice today  :)  The sun actually came out & we shared our booth with a kid selling red & black currants (I tried both for the first time; we traded out for 2 containers of reds).  There wasn't much traffic, but it was also Kids' Day at & opening weekend for the Alaska State Fair.  While we didn't actually go to the fair, it was sort of like we did - we ate loads of bad food (including a bag of homemade marshmallows made with crushed gingersnaps), saw all kinds of animals, and I got a massage (which is even better than fair rides).  Grandma & the Moose came by Market for a while.  The Moose made herself at home in someone else's booth while eating zucchini bread and had a lovely time  LOL 

M&M (Me & the Moose) hooked up with B this evening for a lovely stroll & playtime in the park.  She let us put her on the see-saw!  Last time we tried, she cried  :(  This time, we buttered her up by letting her play for a while, getting her all good & into happy play time: she went down the slide by herself a couple of times, sort of played with other kids, and played a lot with some orange safety cones (will try to get pictures from my blasted phone at some point).  Then I scooped her up with me & we went on the see-saw - there were loads of giggles! It was a jolly good time  :) 

it was also Kids' Day at Market today - in a twist of luck, I forgot the pre-printed signs at work, so I colored with crayons last night & busted out some homemade signage  :)

Mmm.... check out those fava beans behind the herbs sign!  Those bad boys sold out  :)

Just another day in the neighborhood

So, today is definitely better than yesterday  :)  

I started a migraine last Thursday or Friday and it started to get bad on Wednesday.  On Thursday, I didn't last more than an hour & a half at work before I had to come home.  I decided I was attacking this mofo from the get-go!  Yobo's mama came to take the Moose out for some girl time & Yobo took me to the clinic.  The doc gave me a shot of what he called a "non-steroidal anti-inflammatory on steroids" and 2 pain shots - all to butt.  Four hours later, my pain wasn't all gone, but the anti-inflammatory knocked down almost all of the throbbing and I was tired!  Yobo treated me to a hamburger & then I knocked out when we got home.  Thankfully, today is much better.  The migraine's not quite gone yet, but now it's more like knocking on the door rather than barged in & knocked a sistah out. 

 

OMG.  scariest. picture. ever.

best. picture. ever.

best. game. ever.

ah, crap.

For those of you who don't know about fireweed, those pretty flowers above - yes, they are pretty; sadly, their completing bloom signals the end of the summer.  Almost fully bloomed fireweed = the end of fishing season, the end of the Midnight Sun, and the end of all the sanity that comes with proper Vitamin D exposure throughout the day.