Monday, December 24, 2007

Mewwy Kissmoose!

Lucy was right. Snow comes up!

I'm serious! It looks like the snow is coming up instead of falling down, just like she said. "The wind blows it around so it looks like it's coming down, but actually it comes up out of the ground like grass. It comes up, Charlie Brown. Snow comes up!"

We got some snow the night before, so it is a white Christmas after all. And now the wind is blowing hard and while it isn't actually snowing, it looks like it is because the snow is the dry, powdery kind.

And nothing says Christmas like a nice zombie video game!

That's what Logan is doing right now. Playing a zombie video game on his new Xbox 360 Elite. I hope I get to try out my new Dance Dance Revolutions pad and game soon.

Logan gave me an iPod for Christmas and I've been filling it with as much karaoke as I can find that I already know. I've got about 40 songs on there already, and two of them are not karaoke. I finally got Wicked karaoke! Woohoo!

Today was hell at work. What happened to the days when people stayed home with their families Christmas Eve? All the employees were itching to get out the door, but all the customers where still packing in like we were going to be open til midnight. We finally started kicking people out at 4:30. And people were still calling an hour later to see if we were still open! Geeze Louise!

Logan's been sick the last couple of days, the poor dear. My boss finally had to tell him to GO HOME yesterday. He doesn't listen to me, so I'm glad Bossman laid down the law. Then he sent me home a few hours early to take care of my ailing husband. I went, but when he told me to go home early today, I said I'll think about it and promptly forgot. I'm sure he's glad I did that because we were slammed until we shut the doors.

One of my old coworkers at the kennel sent me a picture of the kennel kitty, Henry. I forgot how positively adorable he is, especially in his necktie!

I love all my family and friends and I miss you terribly. I hope you're all having a merry Christmas and that you all got your packages in the mail safe and sound. If you didn't get a package from us, don't worry. I'll probably be sending a lot of Amish Friendship bread soon!

Love you all and God/dess bless.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Internet deprived yet again...

Sorry, my adoring fans. We were once more deprived of our internet capabilities for about a week there. Finally got it fixed this afternoon.

You know, customer service in this state is seriously lacking. Or maybe I'm just spoiled by the company I work for. Customer Service is one of our most important factors.

But we were screwed over multiple times by the Toyota up here, and we were nearly screwed over by the internet/cable provider (but they have redeemed themselves by getting me back to my blog.)

The temperature has been dropping. No snow for a while, so what's left is frozen and crunchy (like kitty litter). It was -9 degrees last night on our way home! Our windows get frozen shut. (We try to keep them open a crack when we're gone to let the moisture out so we don't have the mold issues we had in our last place. But then our windows get frozen open, which is, if you'll excuse the pun, not cool.)

Logan got me my very first I-pod for Christmas! Now if only I had time to download the songs I want to put on it. At least now I have the internet connection to do it with.

We mailed boxes of presents to my parents, Logan's parents, and our friends a few days ago. I hope everything arrives safely and that you all get a kick out of your touristy Alaska gifts. We got a kick out of picking them out!

Okay, it's past 11. I gotta sleep. It's good to be back!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Only in Alaska!

Get a load of the excuses we got from a couple of our cashiers yesterday. You'd only find this creativity in Alaska!


Saturday, December 8, 2007

Christmas, Christmas Time Is Near...

In chipmunk voice, of course. Quickly followed by All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.

On the work front, people have finally started chucking me out the door at a normal time recently. Today, since Logan was scheduled a different shift than me and he has the "rental", one of the managers offered to drop me off at home. I was just going to stay there from open to close and go home with Logan. It's just too easy to stay at work as long as I have work to do, which I always do. But this is good. I should start leaving after a normal manager shift, anyway. I want to do theater. And I'm getting fat, so maybe we'll be able to join the local club soon.

And don't roll your eyes at me, those who know my skinny butt. It ain't skinny no more. For the first time, I'm having trouble zipping up one of my favorite pairs of pants. I look mostly the same when covered in clothes, but if you saw my underneath (short of being shocked that I'm baring that much flesh, ha ha), you'd see what I mean. I think my body is reacting to the cold weather and the fact that I have a sit-down job without time to work out regularly. I feel like the contents of a dump truck.

But enough about my butt. Let's talk about your butt!

Just kidding.

So I was asked what should a person who is moving to Alaska bring with them. From my own experience, here's a few things:

#1 - Bring thermals. Bring thermal underwear. It makes all the difference when your warmest days are in the single digits. (We haven't reached that mark yet, but it's rapidly approaching, since most days are in the teens and 20s now. The winter has yet to truly begin!) Underarmor is a blessing, give those a try!

#2 - Bring a taste for dried, freeze dried, and frozen fruits and veggies. I've had a few of the fruits here and they aren't very good, rather bland and tough. I've been snacking on bags of dried apples and frozen strawberries from the Costco here (it's called Three Bears and you don't need a card for it! But it is smaller.). I have yet to get into frozen veggies yet because I hate vegetables in the first place and only like them raw and fresh. But I know I must do something about that.

#3 - Bring money. As much as you can. Especially if you did what we did and got rid of a lot of stuff to make it easier to get here. Also, food can be more expensive as well, though gas and utilities are about the same. And you'll have to winterize your vehicle every year. Not to mention if you change your mind or decide you don't like it here, it costs an awful lot to go back!

4# - Bring a good vehicle. Trucks seem to have the most difficult time in the snow here. SUVs and front wheel drive cars seem best. Our Yaris is doing just dandy since we got the studded tires.

5# - Bring a sense of humor. Things can seem very weird here at times, with the tweakers and the greater freedom to be, well, strange. There are lots of characters, probably because they can't, or won't, fit in anywhere else.

6# - Bring everything you love. You may not find it here. I gave away my oils, incense, candles, and other things thinking there'd be a store like my favorite one in California, but there isn't. I'll have to replenish my supply by mail order, looks like. Don't count on there being certain stores or certain brands here.

7# - Bring a ton of patience. There are very few roads getting into and out of Anchorage, so when there's an accident, things back up for hours and there's no way of getting around. People will do and say strange things that you aren't used to. Weather can certainly screw with your plans. We were having 80 mile an hour winds just a couple of days ago, and then it was freezing, and now it's mild again. Still hoping for a white Christmas, for crying out loud! If I can't get it in Alaska, where can I?!

Um, I guess I'll stop there. Can't really think of anything else right now. Feel free to pepper my blog with questions, I love to give advice! (Not so great at taking it, though. Gotta work on that, right, Myn?)

Oh, about the hair thing. I'll keep it long for now. Logan likes it and I've started putting it up again, which helps. I've tried a few different spray in things to keep the static down, but so far, nothing is working. May try dryer sheets next.

What I need now are all natural, tried and true methods for clearing up acne. Mine's raging out of control now that I'm off birth control. I'd forgotten how bad it gets. Any suggestions?