Recycle Time!

We got home tonight and a special bin was waiting for us!! Woo Hoo! No more trips to the recycle center, no more loading it in my car, no more segregating it once we are there while our fingers go numb in the cold!!

Good thing it came, because our bins in the garage were overflowing! The huge wheeled bin swallowed it all up, tomorrow is our first pick-up! Awesome!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Too Cold to Travel

We had rooms reserved at the ConocoPhillip's camp at Kupaurk for last night. After dinner, a truck was started for us to make the 1 hour drive. Today we had planned to attend the morning meeting and then drive the ice road to the Oooguruk, Pioneer island project.

As the truck was warming....well, we got to thinking. There was nothing good about driving in temperatures in the -40*F region. Plus, everyone would be on weather hold today and the temperatures would be sliding lower....-57*F ambient tonight. So, we checked the flights and found available seats on a 12:20 pm flight today and there were 3 beds available at our camp. So, we stayed and will head home to Anchorage today. 2 trips in a row that have been a "bust" from being able to see employees in the field. Lots of face time in the office, but no time in the field. Perhaps I will wait a month or so for things to warm up before I come up again!

Good Food!

Bob, Robert and I came up to Prudhoe today for a 30 year service award dinner. The catering staff put on an amazing feed.....steaks, crab legs, halibut, shrimp, chicken wings, asparagus, fresh fruit, cheese cake.....really good food. Too bad the employee with the 30 years "didn't want a party", and decided to not show up. Strange....actually, very strange. He should have said something....although if we hadn't planned anything then we would have heard about how "they didn't do anything for my 30 years". So, dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. The rest of us had a great time at the party!

Cabin Fever

We should listen to our instinct and know when to stay at home!! We had planned a trip with Karl, Laurie, Nora, Lake, Ollie & Rosie at Richard and Kristy's cabin at Big Beaver Lake. On Friday Doug and I checked the weather and it was going to be COLD! We were going to take a pass on going, but Kristy had already paid to have the driveway plowed. Plus, we were having a bit of cabin fever and were ready to get a way for the weekend.

Laurie and I took the kids to Eli's birthday party while Doug and Karl went to the cabin to get the heat on. Well, when we arrived at the cabin at 6 pm, the heat had been on for 4 hours. It was 28*F inside and -18*F to -22*F outside! Burr!! Laurie sat in her car for a little while with Ollie. Zach, Nora and Sam were fine all bundled up, but Lake wanted nothing to do with this! He stood in front of a little heater, cried, ate a sandwich and continually said "it is cold!"

We aren't going to be here even 24 hours....how much stuff did 9 people and a dog need!??

I had made a spaghetti pie at home and popped it all in the microwave. A warm dinner tasted good!

Didn't need to put the milk in the refrigerator right now! Actually it was frozen and slushy from the drive up in the back of Karl's truck. It needed to thaw!

We celebrated Nora's birthday and had some cake. The temperature was starting to warm up in the cabin. The kids curled up with blankets and watched a movie, so they had a good time.

Bed time! The cabin has a loft with 2 full size beds. We decided that all of us should sleep upstairs as it was warmer up there. Zach slept in the kayak, Sam slept on a large lounge chair and Doug and I slept in one of the beds. We had brought sleeping bags with, so were plenty warm.

The cabin would warm up to 60*F and the temperature outside would get to -30*F. Burr!! That is a 90 degree difference!

Sam really loved Ollie; he thought the baby was pretty neat!

We all slept pretty well and had breakfast casserole in the morning. It was cold out. Karl and Doug had to jump the Subaru to get it started (I need to pack an extension cord to plug it in if it will be outside!). We were all ready to go home to warm houses, so no snow machining today. Homeward bound we went around noon! A fun weekend, it was good to spend time with Karl and Laurie and watch a movie (Real Steel) with them in the evening. Next year we will watch the weather better!

Eli Turns 4

Eli was having a birthday party today at the Alaska Club West play area. Very fun! Good to go run and have a good time with friends!

Eli's Grandma (Teryl's Mom) does a great job on the cakes every year. This year was a pirate theme.

Lake was a shadow to Zach today.....Sam was not happy about that. Sam came up to me to let me know that Lake was HIS friend!

Lake, Zach & Sam.

Cake time!

Sam was quite amazing at the rock wall. He walked over to it and started climbing right on up. Another dad who was standing next to me said "wow!". We were both somewhat amazed. Good upper body strength!

Zach also had a good time on the rock wall! All the way to the ceiling!

Silly String

Doug was packing for a trip to the Big Beaver Lake cabin this weekend when he found a can of silly string. He sprayed down Zach and Sam. Zach thought it was pretty funny, but Sam was not amused! He wasn't too sure about it and I think got some in his mouth which "freaked" him out.

Spiderman! Dad has the super power....spray the web!

Invisible Moose

We keep seeing tracks in the snow, poop pellets and matted snow from where a moose is sleeping in the back yard....but, haven't seen the moose. Then this morning at breakfast, there it was! A little one! Fun to watch, how they survive on twigs we do not know!

Got to love Oscar!

Doug had the day off and enjoyed a quiet house to himself. I picked up Zach and Sam from school and we stopped at Fred Meyers on the way home. We are heading out tomorrow for the Big Beaver Lake cabin with Karl, Laurie, Nora, Lake, Ollie & Rosie. A few groceries for our meals and this cake.....

Sam had on the Oscar sweatshirt today; he matched the cake perfectly! Nora's birthday is next weekend, so we will celebrate with them this weekend and we are bringing a really fun cake!

Super Star!

Sam was excited that he got to bring home his "I'm a Super Star" certificate from school today. He was awarded it on December 22nd for putting on all his winter gear by himself.

And now that it has been confirmed that he can do this....I don't want to hear "mom, MOM, MOM, Mommy!, Mom "I need help", "I can't do this and put all this on".

Yes, you can.

Back to the Lunch Box

I had finally gotten home about 9 pm from being in Prudhoe Bay. While talking to Doug I opened the mail and was really happy to see that Alaska Waste decided to go to the recycling carts in our neighborhood. We had a "false start" to that several months ago and we were really bummed to still have to take our recycle to the collection center. So WOO, HOO! Recycle bin next Tuesday and the first collection on Wednesday. I told Doug "this is a good day!".

Then I noticed an "emergency e-mail" from Zach's school and all I wanted to do was sit and cry! The catering service that had been doing the hot lunches at school had closed their doors and discontinued service as of 5 pm that day! I told Zach and he said "I wondered why we had Subway sandwiches today". So, two parts to my sadness 1) I paid for the whole year in advance to get the best price, will I get 1/2 my money back? and 2) I can barely stand the thought of having to make lunch and clean out the lunch bag every night. I think #1 I can live with, but #2 is going to put me over the edge! At least at Sam's school the lunch bag is refrigerated all day and they will heat up the food for the kids so I can send left overs. For Zach, there is no refrigerator or microwave. Back to sandwiches and the insulated thermos.

Geez....that was some bad news!! Ruined any happiness from the recycle cart....well, perhaps just a little of the happiness. We are still pretty excited about no more trips to the recycle center!

The Dish

Dan Brown was celebrating 25 years with Halliburton today and a group of us were going to lunch to celebrate. The "Dish" sushi restaurant was selected. The only type of sushi I have really ever had was at Cecile's house or from the grocery store....and it was all cooked fish. I was glad when Dan ordered for the table. He had asked what I liked and I confessed that I hadn't really had the raw sushi before, but was willing to try it. Bob was sitting across from me and laughed as he said, I will join Renee with the cooked food. He then giggled and said quietly "we can stop at McDonald's on the way to the office."

Well, I must say.....the selections that Dan got for the table were AMAZING. It also helps to be at a really good sushi restaurant. I tried it all and am not really sure what was cooked fish and what was raw fish. It was all good!! Fun to try something new.

Dan Brown and Chris Schafer.

Thinking of Monica

Monica gave us this Phalaenopsis plant a few years ago. We don't do anything to it except give it a little water every now and then. It has consistently bloomed every year and it seems to bloom at strange times (not spring). I was surprised to see some buds forming a few weeks ago. And now, 6 beautiful flowers are hanging onto a very delicate looking branch.

It had been a year and a half since we heard from Monica last and then two weeks ago I received an e-mail from her. She had received the Christmas pictures I e-mailed and was doing well and was very happy to hear from us.

Hurt Heart

We were all tired after returning from the Pinewood Derby. Everyone was getting settled into bed and Doug and I were in laying on our bed talking. Of course, since our light was still on, Zach and Sam had to come say good-night one more time. Sam, who has boundless energy, decided it was time to wrestle Doug and he started to jump up on the bed on him. Doug pushed him away and Sam took a tumble/jump off the bed. He walked away and mumbled something. Doug asked "you hurt your arm?" to which Sam replied "no I said, you hurt my heart". Awww...how words can hurt!

They have since made up. A good night sleep did everyone good and we were all friends again in the morning!

Pinewood Derby

This year's Pinewood Derby was held on January 26th. Two weeks prior to the event we hosted the Cub Scout den at the house to build and paint their pinewood derby cars. Zach designed his own car and painted much of the body.

I helped out with cutting out the car, finishing the painting and the running gear. The car turned out pretty good.

Zach was excited the day of the big race. The car was complete, the track was set, and the Cub Scout pack was providing pizza for dinner!

Zach and his friend, Jacob.

Jacob's first car had a bit of a wheel malfunction, so his Mom had a back-up car that she built. It actually turned out pretty good.

Here I am helping Sarah put the finishing touches on her car. A decision I would regret later.

Sammy and his friend Lucas. These two will be racing at the Pinewood derby before you know it.

The two buddies with the best seats in the house.

There were about 20 cars in this years race. Before the race the cars are lined up and judged on several different categories. Each scout is given three chips and he gets to place them in the cup to determine the winner in each category.

Zach liked this one, it had a huge cannon on the top.

Food for the hungry scouts.

Everybody devouring their food before the big race.

Race number one, Zach went up against his friend Ian's car. Both were made in my garage and both were actually pretty even. The first race of the evening and the first heat went to Zach's car. Things were looking good. But that is where our luck ended. The green car beat us in the next two heats and just like that our hopes of winning the Pinewood Derby were dashed.

We raced several more times from the losers bracket, achieving victory only once against the tank car. Somehow in my effort to make Zach's car faster, I made it very slow. Sarah's backup car, which was made from pre-cut block of wood purchased from Michael's two days prior to the race and wheels literally just pushed in the night before with no polishing of axles, proved faster than my car!?! Not sure what happened, but I guess we'll try again next year. Zach had a great attitude and had fun at the race despite the cars poor performance.

It was still fun hanging out with the friends at the big race. Next years policy, however, will include: no helping friends with their cars before the race!! That philosophy has burned me two years in a row now. I feel like the nice guys always finish last curse is upon us and we need to break the spell! We'll try again next year with a new and improved car.