Silence is a golden bullet

Sometimes you want total silence. Sometimes it’s as scary as can be.

Trying to get some things done in the office. Cartoons are on and I’m trying to do paperwork. Mommy ears tune in and, knowing that the one-year-old can’t make it through a whole 30 minute show without getting totally bored, I wonder what he’s doing that he’s so quiet. I quietly climb over the baby gate that I have barricading my office door and sneak into the kitchen.

I find the one-year-old sitting in a pile of cheerios on the floor. He’d dumped out the box and had both arms in up to his shoulders. Searching for something? Who knows. He was making a mess, no more than usual though. So I left him be, he was happy, and I retreated back to the other side of my barricade. I’ll vacuum later.

Humpday

Everyone should only work 4 days a week. I was thinking Wednesday would be a nice day to have off. I had a job once where Wednesday was the day off I chose to take and it never felt like I had a Monday to deal with, just a Thursday and Friday, twice a week. It’s a fantastic break up of the week. Imagine how productive you’d be if you only had to work two days at a time, you’d always have a break to look forward to, in a positive-crunch-time sort of way.

Tuesday and Thursday would be terrible days to have off. You’d either always call in sick (and by sick I mean disinterested) on Mondays or Fridays. Yeah, Wednesday is good.

The problem is that if EVERYONE had Wednesday off, you couldn’t run any errands..on..your..day..off.... Solution: 1/3 of the population takes Mondays off, another 1/3 takes Wednesdays off, and the rest take Fridays off. Man, do I have it figured out or what!?....of course I’m self-employed, so it doesn’t apply to me...I work 8 days a week.

Down on the corner

Went for a walk with the kids to get them out of the house. It was overcast but at least it wasn’t raining. The gray clouds brought out the green in the mountains so much it looked like I could expect to see a dinosaur walking down the slope at any moment. I never cared for Jurassic Park all that much as a kid, except for the beauty of it’s surroundings.

I live in a small town completely surrounded by mountains, and this time of year, it’s especially beautiful. I couldn’t stop staring at the landscape so much so that I nearly walked into a mailbox. Just kidding, we don’t have mail boxes here. It was a parked car, and really embarrassing.

The car wash

Took my new (to me) vehicle through the car wash in town for the first time. It’s much bigger than the Explorer I used to have. Now I have an Excursion, which is at least 50% larger, I’m sure. So trying to be efficient with my time, I took a spray bottle and rag with me and gave the interior a good wipe down while the car wash did the rest.

The car was dark. I would have been better off just relaxing and drinking my coffee in the car wash because you can’t detail in the dark!  I realized this halfway through and put the cleaner away (besides not being able to open the window...choke, choke). Then I sneezed and spilled coffee, (fortunately?) on my leg, not my cloth seats.

Time to drive through the “spot-free” dryer, which is a joke. 60 seconds will not get you spot free. Plus, my car being a lot longer than I remember, I just got the windshield mostly dry.

IF ONLY they would keep the dryer on a timer for 2 minutes, I may have the chance for a spot-free dry. But then again, I doubt I would sit there for 2 minutes, especially if someone were waiting to get in.

When I lived in South Florida, there was this awesome car wash that you drove up to, picked your wash from a menu bigger than most diners have, wait in the waiting room, and 15 minutes later you’ve got a new-looking car, in and out. So worth the $25.

So now I spend $8 and have something to write about.

The last place you look

Today I did some searching, not soul searching, but certainly up there on importance. My husband couldn’t find a very important part for a job coming up. We searched the house, assuming the kids took it, which would have been deserving for having left it in their reach to begin with, something I still do.

Though I wasn’t the one to lose the part, I’m still half owner in the company, so it is going to cost me time and money not to find it. I searched every room in the house. I even played pick-up sticks with the toys in the toy box, removing each one very slowly and quietly as the baby was sleeping 4 feet away. He didn’t even stir. I was always good at that game, and card houses.

It was trash day. I couldn’t risk the part getting thrown out, so I pulled the two weeks worth of trash bags off the curb and gloved up. Didn’t find the part, though I did find my eyeliner, some money, my kid’s race car, and some scrapbooking supplies I couldn’t find yesterday.

It was NO WHERE in the house or garage. The only place left to look was outside...on the deck...in the kids’ drawing easel. If only I could’ve check the last place first, I wouldn’t be debating on whether to keep my eyeliner or not...

Small town behavior

I took my in-laws to the post office today so they could ship their back-up winter clothes they shipped here, in case it snowed, in June. They were still putting tape and labels on their 40-lb box, out of the line, when a man walked in and waited behind them. They politely let him know they weren't in line yet. His response was "Well, maybe by the time the two people in line get done you'll be ready. I'll save your spot just in case."

Within 5 minutes they were done and ready to get in line as 6 people had come in behind him. He still gave them their spot, which put them first in line. They took a while at the counter, inquiring about every price combination there was. As we left, we thanked the man, who then responded, "Hey, what's the point of living in a small town if we can't do things like this?"

 The thing about living in a town with a population of 4000 is that you are guaranteed to see the same people all over the place. If you are rude and impatient, you'll be branded and remembered that way. If you are nice to every one who crosses your path, you'll hardly be noticed, which is a good thing, because then you belong.

Shifting the blame

Why is it that we automatically blame other people for, well, everything?

For example:
*Trips over shoe in the middle of the night*
(Screams in head) “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL....oh, I guess those aren’t my husband’s Jimmy Choos in the middle of the floor...”

Is it just me that does this? Or do we all do this with people we love and see all the time? Interestingly though, we will blame ourselves, make ourselves look like the bad guy, when we hope to never see the person again. For example: “It’s not you, it’s me.” Oh, really? Yet, we have no problem blaming our husbands/wives/brothers/sisters on default, even if it’s never spoken out loud. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Not really surprising, though, when you look back to our first parents.

God: ‘Adam, you ate the fruit I told you not to.’
Adam: ‘It’s not MY fault! It’s that woman YOU gave me that got me to eat it!’

Hmm...maybe the forbidden fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree?

New superheroes in town

Trying to train my children to clean up after themselves sometimes feels like an impossible task. Good teachers know their stuff, are masters of their subjects. I feel more like a Jack-of-all-trades, Master-of-none.

My nickname as a kid was Messy Jessie. There’s a big difference between messy and dirty. I wasn’t a dirty person, but I absolutely loathed picking up after myself, which made living with my sister, who was a perfectionist, a 17-year long argument over my things decorating her side of the room. I had figured that I shouldn’t waste time cleaning when I could be playing. It wasn’t until I had kids that I really, deep down, felt a need for everything to be in it’s place, such a need that if it didn’t have a place, I made one in the trash bin for it.

It applies in cooking also. Cooking is my biggest hobby. When most people have a long, hard day, the last thing they want to do is go home and cook. Me? That’s therapy. It’s only been recently, with thousands of ‘reminders’ from my husband over the years (and tons from my mom growing up), that if I clean as I go, things will just be easier all in all. My nickname in the kitchen was “The Hurricane” and you can guess why.

I helped my kids clean up their room today. The 4 year old gets sudden ADD when it’s time to clean up. The 1 year old comes behind me and undoes everything I just accomplished. They think they can fly and fight bad guys, so I have deemed them “The Destroyers”. But, will they have that name for the next 20 years? Unfortunately one of my superpowers isn’t predicting the future.

Do you have the time, sir?

When I lived, well, anywhere else besides Alaska, guns had a negative/violent significance. Here, they are very common place. In fact, we own 4, something I never foresaw. It’s all about prospective really. What are you protecting yourself against? Gangsters....or bears. I do not hike without a gun, I want to make it to the end of my hike and back.

My neighbor shared with us some of the wild rhubarb from his yard. To return the favor, I made him a rhubarb crisp, that he apparently ate in two sittings, within 3 hours. He came over to return the pan, and I saw that he had his favorite handgun on his hip, in a holster. I chuckled about it, because it didn’t scare me, and I didn’t even look twice at it. It’s a useful accessory, like a watch, you don’t even notice them anymore. He happens to like his “accessories”. He’s definitely a neighbor I’ll be glad to keep happy.

I think we live on the safest block in town.

Stating the obvious

"A day without sunshine is, you know, night" -Steve Martin

You don't get a whole lot more obvious than that.

Welcome to my blog. This is my first post on my first blog. I decided to start writing one because, today, I was inspired. A good friend of mine, Ivy, started writing a blog about women's involvement in men's fashion. It was brilliant. It was then that I thought, "I should write one" but didn't really know what to write about. Another good friend of mine, who I've known my entire life, suggested Alaska.

Well, DuH!?! Why didn't I think of that. I live in Alaska. It's truly a unique experience, really. 6 years ago I lived in sunny Florida. Now I live in a place where the sun doesn't set in the summertime. I am looking forward to sharing with you my experiences of living in Alaska as well as sharing my experiences of living in several states throughout the US.

I will be posting some random things that come up, and yes, I have children, so you'll occasionally hear about them too. :)

I've had a lot of questions come by me like, "Do you have street lights in Alaska?", "You mean there are restaurants?"  Alaska is unique and yet has a lot of similarities to everywhere. People live normal lives here. (Define normal?)
You'll see.
Then you'll come visit.