Uffda is home!

Last Monday, we went into Anchorage in the evening and I suggested we call the couple we had purchased Uffda, our Newfie puppy, from to see if we could visit her.

They had the puppies out on the lawn and let Uffda out so Logan could meet her. He sat on the ground and she immediately settled with her head in his lap and went to sleep. Logan's eyes lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning.

We were informed that she had seen the vet recently and had her hips and heart checked out (two areas of known trouble for the Newfoundland breed.) She was all good and healthy and ready to go home at any time. Logan looked at me and said, "You wanna bring her home now?"

We had originally planned to bring her home after this weekend, since I'm working long hours and have Grand Opening still to get through. I didn't want her to be neglected during her first days settling in with us. But Logan had the next two days off, so we stopped at Pet Zoo on the way home to get the things we still needed for her.

She's piddling everywhere, inside and out, she likes to gnaw on boxes and shoes and countless other things, but she's so mellow and sweet. She's also slow moving, so we don't have to worry about not being able to catch her at the moment. She's so mellow, she slept all the way home, and in the cart at Pet Zoo, and when she walked, she reminded me of zombies in the old movies.

Then she and Bruno met.

Bruno, as some of you may know, is the complete opposite. He is very hyper and can't sit still for long. He loves running around and his feet and tail are always moving. We have to watch them very carefully because we didn't want him damaging Uffda in his exuberance. And exuberance it was.

Those two adore each other now. They can't stop playing when they're together. They chew on toys together, play that weird face game that dogs do when play fighting, and couldn't ignore each other if they tried. It's so cute. Bruno just needs to get over his habit of bowling her over when they're outside together.

But Uffda is teaching Bruno her brand of doggie zen and Bruno is drawing Uffda out of her shell. She's moving around with more speed and courage than we've ever seen. She actually seems to know what her legs are for now. We can't wait until she's big enough to really play with Bruno and stand up to him when he tries to run her over.

Still debating on whether we're going to allow puppies to happen later or not. Right now, thinking not. We really don't want the responsibility at this time. So we'll probably get Uffda fixed soon.

Anyway, here's a few pics of our new member of the family.

Amazing stories

Not too many amazing coincidences and hilarity enters my life in such rapid succession. But these two recent stories I just had to share.

This past Wednesday after I was released from prison, er, work, my husband and I had a late night out, even though I needed to go to work the next day. I was going to have some time to sleep in before my very late shift for our first evening with open doors to the public, and Logan and I haven't had any days off together since I started working more hours. So we went to a restaurant in Palmer that we were introduced to by some friends of ours, open 24 hours with decently priced yummy food. It's called the Valley Hotel and it's the coffee shop inside. We lovingly call it "The Valley Ho." (One friend called it the V-Ho, but her boyfriend called it the Valley Ho by mistake. We couldn't resist keeping that name.) When family and friends come to visit, we will certainly take them there, as the food is really good.

Anyway, we also drove the half hour to Eagle River because their movie theatre was the only one in town playing "Crank: High Voltage" with Jason Statham. It was a kick in the pants. It crosses many shock lines, and I don't just mean electric ones.

Anyway (two), we've had absolutely gorgeous sunny weather lately, thanks to a high pressure system in place over Alaska. (Californians curse that high pressure, Alaskans revel in it, especially after last summer where there were only 4 warm days that reached 70 degrees.) The roads were completely dry, which made the grooves in them from winter tires seem more pronounced, as there was no snow or puddles of water to obscure them.

Just for fun, Logan, my insane chauffeur, decided to take his hands of the steering wheel, as the tires were well settled within these deep grooves. I didn't realize how deep the grooves really were ... until we approached a corner and the car TURNED ITSELF. Without Logan's ever touching the wheel with hands or knees. I don't think you can even do that on Highway 80 in California! (I could be wrong, but we never did.)

The car cruised around the corner all by itself without any assistance, and straightened out to boot. At the next corner, the grooves lessened, so Logan was not able to repeat the experiment, but once was enough for me. It just shakes me up to see him drive without either hand on the wheel for any amount of time, let alone THAT long!

So that was pretty funny and amazing, at least to me. Almost seemed like a magic trick at work. "Nothin' up muh sleeve ... Presto!"

And now for something we hope you'll really like ...

So by now you've probably read that we are getting a new puppy, a Newfie named Uffda. We did a lot of research on all the different breeds, trying to decide what kind of dog would be a good match for Bruno and also have the kind of disposition we want. I know there have been demands for pics of the puppy and of the new house, and I'm working on that. But here was an amazing coincidence that Logan pointed out to me today.

We bought an older model Toyota Landcruiser not long after we moved here. We needed two vehicles and one of them needed to be a truck for going camping and such. So we bought the most decent one we could find. It had a sticker in the back window which we didn't pay any attention to and never bothered to remove.

Today Logan was out in the garage with his exercise equipment, sweating away, when he looked out the window and happened to glance at the back of his Landcruiser. And noticed what the picture on the sticker was.

It was one of those black and white silhouette pictures of a specific dog breed. When people own a type of dog, they can get this sticker showing what kind of dog they like and/or own.

This sticker was a Newfoundland.

Isn't that eerie?!

Finally moved in!

We are finally moved in to our new house! We moved all day Tuesday and I moved all day Wednesday while Logan was at work, though he joined me as soon as he could to finish up the job.

It was brutal. I was covered with bruises and every single muscle I possessed screamed in agony for a few days after the moving was done. But we did it!

I will be taking pictures soon. Still getting organized. If my friends and family download Skype, they'll be able to see at least part of the inside of the house with my computer cam. Not to mention we'll be able to see each other and talk to each other for free, too! Ain't technology grand?

Anyway, Bruno was a nutcase for the first couple of days, but he has settled in quite nicely now. He loves his run because it means he gets to spend more time outdoors and run back and forth and I can go about my business while he does his. Also, this is a very dog friendly neighborhood, so he's already had several canine visitors. No fights, everyone plays friendly, so as long as none of them are unfixed females, I'm cool with it. I will not take responsibility for any puppies when my dog is confined to his own yard!

The cats are having a ball. They'd forgotten what carpet was like because our apartment was all laminate flooring. The loft upstairs, where they spend most of their time, is carpeted, and I can hear them racing around like crazy several times a day. Also, the staircase is their personal kitty jungle gym. Cats settled in almost immediately and they love all the windows, too. Need to replace those blinds with curtains, though!

All the snow has melted. Even thought the temps have been in the 40s and low 50s, it's still pretty chilly as it has been raining the last few days. I have to get our tires changed over on Monday because they have to be changed by May 1st. We're still riding on studded tires right now and we'll get fined for that if we don't change them now that the snow is gone for the season.

So much I want to tell and I can't remember it all right now! I'm positively giddy with delight!

I'm driving into Anchorage here in a little bit, so when I get back, I'll blog about our search for Dog #2. And more on the new house will follow as I remember all the things I want to write about!

Hoppy Easter!

Missing those dearest to me today. Thinking about bear claws and cinnamon buns, colored eggs and baskets of candy. I've worn a dress once since I've moved up here and couldn't even bring myself to put one on today, since it's kind of drizzly and gray outside and we're still committing random acts of packing here in our apartment.

Yes, we're still here. We were supposed to sign papers for the new house on the 9th and move in on the 10th, but that ended up not happening. So we're signing papers on Monday and moving on Tuesday instead. And this time it has to happen that way because we have to be out of the apartment by Wednesday.

I hate last-minute-induced panic attacks. I got enough of those in college.

But today I spent two hours eating bear claws and drinking green tea while watching "Easter Parade" on TCM. Also got to chat with Mums and Daddums and Auntie on Skype. What a neat invention. So I got a little Easter cheer before we plunge back into the mess that signifies our big life change.

Happy Easter, y'all!

Spoke too soon ...

Okay, yeah. We got a little bit of ash. What a letdown from the buildup, though.

Saturday evening, Logan and I were having dinner at a friend's house. She received a phone call from someone letting us know that Mt Redoubt had burped big time and there was a huge ash cloud heading our way. When we left her house, we could see teensy little flecks in the air, more like dots on the windshield, as tiny as could still be seen by the naked eye.

It was still faintly light outside, so we could see the cloud heading toward us. It was dark and a little green, too!

I went to a local bar after dropping Logan off to sing karaoke with my friends and celebrate someone's birthday. When I left that place, there was a slight film of ash dust covering the car. It didn't even obstruct my view through the windshield on my way home.

Next morning, Logan told me it was pretty much the same thing when he went out to the car to go to work. All in all, a rather disappointing show.

Still, I've gotten earfuls about how annoying ash fall is, how you can't use your windshield wipers because the ash particles will scratch up the glass, how you can't breath, how you can't wear contacts, on and on and on. So I'm glad the ash fall was almost nonexistent. Lord knows we have enough to deal with around here without ash covering everything, too!

Houston, we have a negative on that orbit trajectory...

No ash. Not even a hint. In fact, I haven't even heard any news about the volcano for at least one full day. I guess that scouring wind we get through the valley is also blowing all the volcanic activity away from us. Can't say I'm hurt or disappointed.

But now I've got a box of ten cheap knee-highs sitting on the counter. Logan had me buy them for the cars. Just in case. Guess they'll sit around 'til the next eruption in 20 years.

Mt. Redoubt erupts!

Let the party begin!

Okay, no real reason for partying here. Nor is there reason to panic. However, we did just get word a little bit ago that Mt. Redoubt has indeed erupted, so poor Logan has trundled off to prepare the store for the ash fallout. (It's after midnight. We are not happy campers.) We will have to cover all the sensitive equipment, such as computers, with plastic bags before we leave at night because ash has an annoying habit of getting inside buildings where it is most unwelcome and a bitch to deal with.

But from what I've been told from people who experienced this last time (I believe it was late 1989), that's the worst that we will see. From what I've been reading, the most common suggestion is make sure you have food and water at home just in case and carry a washcloth to cover your face when you go outside.

Of course, I could read all the articles on the internet about volcanoes erupting and what to do about it, but I still have to wait and see the results for myself!

For those interested, here is the link to the volcano watch page:

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php

Mt. Redoubt is not the only active volcano in Alaska. There are quite a few, from what I understand. One that went off in 1912 killed animals more than 1,000 miles away. (But then, I'm half asleep at the moment, so don't take any of my "facts" to heart. I can scarcely remember what day it is right now. Er, what night, I mean. Whatever.)

I'll keep you posted on what we end up seeing here in the valley. It's definitely Alaska-related information that others would be interested in, if I do say so myself.

In other unrelated news, I helped out a friend today who is doing a short movie that he plans to enter in several film festivals. I was an extra for a scene in a cafe. I spent the entire time sitting at a wobbly table playing games on my Mac, like Flipword and Pacman. The hot cocoa was good, the sandwich not so good. (To give them credit, it was the end of their day and it was the last sandwich, so not the freshest to be expected.) But it was great fun because a lot of my Spitfire Grill buddies were there, too. So it made for a nice evening.

The process on our house is going very slowly. The seller is getting a set of stairs to the loft put in. Shortly after that, the appraisal will be done. Our last day in our apartment will be April 15th. We should be completely moved in by then, though the seller may still have some stuff on the property and in the garage. (The vehicles in the yard may have to wait until the complete spring breakup as they are buried in ice and snow!)

Speaking of spring breakup, it definitely seems to be on the move. The last couple of weeks have been mostly sunny, sometimes reaching temps above freezing. The eves begin dripping, patches of ice on the parking lots get soft and mushy, snow gets blown away until you can practically see dirt in some areas.

But then it still freezes at night, so all those wet patches turn slick. Gotta watch your step and drive carefully in some spots!

And then last night it got cold again and started snowing. It didn't snow in Wasilla, but it did in Anchorage and even just down the highway in Palmer. Just enough to depress everybody. I passed a billboard out in front of a local shop that proclaimed, "It is spring, it is spring, it is!" I guess someone is very adamant about that being true. It IS spring, but the weather has yet to completely cooperate.

Well, it snowed in April last year. I can see that happening again this year quite easily.

Well, it's getting on to about 1 am now. I'll have to turn on the news tomorrow morning and see what reports there are on the Mt. Redoubt eruption. 'Night, all!