L's the Word

Firsts

2009-04-09T22:18:00.005-08:00

FIRSTS

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?

Sadly never been to prom

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?

No, but if I saw him, I would

3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?

Strawberry Diaquiri, yummy, I didn't know it was alcoholic when it was handed to me

4. What was your FIRST job?

My first paying job was probably through AVCP on the Summer Hire Program headed by Nus Carl and I worked at the clinic and the Council Office

5. What was your FIRST car?

My very own car that I bought and paid for myself was a Chevy Corsica, I loved that car!

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?

No text today, I hardly text

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?

My children, because I make their lunches

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?

Mrs. Elsie Carl along with Mrs. Elliot, I can't remember her first name

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?

Probably Bethel to Kipnuk a few days after I was born

10. Who was your FIRST best friend and do you still talk?

Lenna May White, and yes we talk, usually daily, but since I'm off and on work, maybe two or three times a week.

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?

Probably at Nangyuns

12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?

People at work

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?

Wow, I hadn't thought of that, but it was Fannie and Mista's wedding, me and Marr carried Fannie's trail thing off her wedding dress (when they used to do that, now they don't, I wonder why?

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?

Opened my eyes, moved the covers off myself, shut off the alarm, took a few steps to the bathroom and started the shower.

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?

Randy (OMG I forgot his last name!) had to google Travis! When he came to Fairbanks, the day before Kayla was born.

16. What was the FIRST record/tape?

I honestly don't remember, probably a recorded tape.

17. FIRST hospitalization?

Giving birth to Kayla, 18 yrs ago, how the time has flown!

18. FIRST foreign country you’ve been to?

Panama with the 962nd AACS

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing?

I think Lady and the Tramp when they used to show movies at the school when school got out for the summer

20. When was your FIRST detention?

I think in 10th grade and I can't remember for what .... oh yeah, we'd have enterprenuership (sp?) class making wooden knives and me and another girl skipped cuz we got to school late and washed our hair instead in the bathroom and a teacher aide came in and asked us what we were doing LOL.

21. Where did you FIRST meet your spouse/partner now?

In Edmond Oklahoma.

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?

Ariana White, in Tech School

23. What did you do with your FIRST paycheck?

Probably spent it on junk food, naam, wish I still had it.

Just for my friend Soph

2009-02-25T00:16:00.003-09:00

To my friend Sofelia

.... we laughed, and we laughed hard and are still laughing

Top 10 things of laughs *of things that I've seen happen or happened to me

1. Walking so carefully in the ice, hands clenched inside gloves (and you could tell the fingers aren't in the finger parts of the gloves) and then slipping on your back super hard, like ice beneath you cracking hard, walking into church (Qussauyaq Kashatok)

2. In Sunday school when kids are gathered together, waiting for the leader to come up to the podium, two rows of kids on pews, Agnes Kugstun punches Ben Dock in the row behind us and says "We're supposed to love eachother when we're in church!"

3. Duutii "What you are you gonna eat when we have no more food?" when I didn't want to eat my Chicken Ala King from the good old Kipnuk High Cafteria lunchline, and she had eaten everything but the corn. "Ciin-mi tuakut nerenriciiki?"

4. Me and Sofe walking really fast into the dark road in Anchorage and I said "What if we run into a moose?"

5. At the famous Gaslight, Donna, Sophie and I looking around, Sofe says "Don, there's your boyfriend!" and the yucky guy came up to us three and asked Sophie to dance and we burst out laughing! Naklleng, poor guy ... Sofe, did you dance with him?

6. Leaving the Northway Mall by that bakery entrance "Did you see the big earholes on that guy?"

7. At the end of the church service, I said to Christine, "Atam Frank-aq" Frank Paul was up at the podium listening to whoever the guest speaker was with his mouth open, me and Chris were in the choir robes in the front rows and were supposed to be exiting right after Frank and couldn't stop giggling and Fannie John Amik was sitting next to us and joined in our laughter and couldn't stop laughing either!

8. In the middle of 'Bringing the Sheaves' the lights went out and everbody at church all of a sudden stopped singing. I was sitting next to Miisaq Amik and my mom and couldn't contain my laughter at the sudden stoppage.

9. My dad, exhaling away on the last of his cigarette in the woodstove as I hung up my coat on the wooden coat rack by the door. The coat rack fell from too much weight on one side, the long tip of it cut my dad's cigarette in half and he tataamallaked back while he held on to the other end of what was left of the cigarette!

10. After mopping my room with lots of soap, Donna dumped soapy water all over the stairs outside our house. The qerrun was full and Oscar had just had an appendectomy, Dad and both older brothers had left for fishing. Mom wanted to bring the qerrun down the stairs to make it easier for Donna and I to take the qerrun to the dumping site. The soap made the stairs really slick and Mom spilt the qerrun all over the stairs and was still sliding down the stairs while Aparlliq and Qak'aq were walking by doing their rounds after curfew and they asked "Qaill piceci?"

100th Day of School

2009-02-03T21:01:00.005-09:00

Children everywhere (well, these parts of the world) are celebrating the 100th day of school on February 9th.

I think its a great idea to recognize how far the kids have come along in learning and achieving goals.

We never had such days when I was growing up. The most significant part of the school year were the first day of school and the final day of school.

Jeffrey's kindergarten class is doing a project to bring in 100 things that the kids can count and show off for the 100th day.

Raven's class did the same thing last year and I didn't get to see what all the other kids brought in. Raven beaded a 100 bead necklace of different colors with the tenth bead a certain color to signify 'tens' to make it easier to count.

I wanted to do something different for Jeffrey, but running out of ideas. I thought of doing a poster board and showing off 100 things he has learned since starting school. Like the 26 letters of the alphabet, the colors, shapes, etc. But that might be too time consuming for a 5 year old to do. So, I might resort to him pasting 100 pieces of macaroni or millions of little things we have around the house to some kind of shape. Or maybe we could do a 100 piece marshmallow pyramid .... maybe 100 strands of dog hair that our smelly dog sheds, ewwww (maybe not).

Around this time of the year, when I was growing up, we'd be busily coloring away printed out Valentines every chance we got. We'd put our carefully colored pieces of paper shaped beautifully and cut with care, into Valentine's Day boxes all the classes from Kindergarten through 8th Grade had displayed in their classrooms.

During class time or around recess, kids would march in with a handful of their handicrafts to drop off to the classroom box. We'd try to guess who the Valentines would be for depending on the person. And back then, we'd be so honest, well at least me, and put 'To So and So---From Ella" instead of leaving out the "from" part.

On the big day, our teacher would open up the box and pass out every valentine -- all of us sitting at our desks hoping we got the most valentines and the girls oooh-ing and aaah-ing on the beautifully colored valentines.

What I remember most of all those years is Ms Smith in 7th and 8th grade doing mini Valentine cakes with our names on them. I loved those! Happy 100th Day and Happy Valentines Day Ms Smith - where ever you are ....

Things I let bother me more than they should:

2009-01-27T22:30:00.004-09:00

1. A busy signal on the phone line

2. Loud people demanding attention right now!

3. The dam% dog

4. Car fan blowing hot when I want cool air

5. Dirty tables at a restaurant

6. A cracked nail that snags on everything

7. Human/dog/whatever hair on unsuspecting peoples clothes (or do they know?)

8. Those individuals that can't make up their minds on simple things, like, if they want cheese on their burgers or not, or to have cream on their mochas ...

9. People who won't help themselves to make their lives better

10. Yucky looking hair cuts

11. Condescending attitudes by those who think they know it all

12. Those little things that the vaccuum won't pull out of the carpet

13. Burnt out light bulbs

14. When my car doesn't have all the mirrors and the drivers seat set to where I normally have them

This Day (January 27)

2009-01-27T19:24:00.003-09:00

There are 348 days left in the year.

The US Congress approved "Indian Territory" in what is present day Oklahoma, forcing Eastern Indians on the Trail of Tears.

Andre the Giant died in 1993.

In the United Kingdom, it is Holocaust Memorial Day.

Bridget Fonda's birthday.

Thomas Edison received his patent for his electrical incandescent light (light bulb).

The Vatican reaffirmed their decision to ban female priests.

And last but not least -- In 1998, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing on NBC's "Today" show, said that allegations against her husband were the work of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".

A Tribute

2009-01-16T23:16:00.005-09:00

to a friend .....

Who knew?

Did you know?

You must've ....

I didn't

Thanks for the memories, especially the laughs...

Except now, I can't think of them as memories because it was just yesterday....

I didn't know you, but you showed me yourself....

And more ...

That there's good....

A better place .....

Higher beings that watch over us, when I was starting to doubt ....

May you rest in peace ....

thank you, for saying goodbye ......

and May God Bless Us All

My Friend

On January 15, 2009 at 0130 hours, Village Public Safety Officers in Kipnuk responded to a snow machine crash which resulted in a fatality. With the assistance of the Alaska State Troopers, the investigation revealed that Lewis PAUL, 30-years-old, of Kipnuk, was driving a Polaris 900 snow machine when he lost control and rolled the machine.

For the New Year

2009-01-01T04:00:00.003-09:00

I hope happiness and contentment......
I hope for better times than the year before .....
I hope for cheaper gas prices............
I hope to find new friendships and for ones that we have already, to get closer ....
I hope for achieving goals and reaching to the skies for more....
For the new year, I hope for prosperity for all, humbleness, humanity and most of all LOVE for those around us.

30 Dec 2008

2008-12-30T22:30:00.003-09:00

Well, another year has come and gone ... kids grew taller, a little more wiser, and me--another year older. In our little corner of the world, 2008 brought us:

a drivers license for Kayla and her 2005 Ford Taurus (that smells of nasturtiums, even with dousings of Febreeze)
back surgery for the dog, who without it would have been paralyzed from the backlegs and probably would have had to be put down (he's his old self now, his back legs can't keep up with him though)
an 86 pound halibut for Stevo! in beautiful Homer Alaska. It probably weighed more, it bled out a lot before we got it weighed. Big fishy!
Jeffrey started Kindergarten at North Pole Elementary and he loves it
Nagyuk D grew leaps and bounds and is in the 3rd grade and did so good in soccer
I went and worked for our Wing Commander for half a year (tomorrows my last day :( ...)
Our whole family spent a lot of time on our boat (and on the road) traveling to where we could take it out. Spent a few weekends in Viva Valdez and Memorial weekend in Ho ho ho Homer.
Jeffrey tried his hand at shaving and cut up his upper lip with Stephen's razor
Raven gave herself a little hair cut, it wasnt bad at all, maybe about 20 strands of her bangs - which is much better than her first attempt at 2 when she cut to the scalp on hairs on top of her head (more than a handful and very noticeable)
Sarah Palin ran for vice presidency and lost out
My truck's fuel pump gave out
Stephen got (shhhh, dont tell anybody, BIFOCALS)
Gas was at its highest at almost $5 in Fairbanks
Our dividends included an extra $1200 (exact amount $3269.00)
Christina graduated from highschool
Reached -40 on Dec 29 in North Pole and will stay cold and temps go even lower this week
Donna moved out of mom's and into her new place
Lenna had her beautiful baby girl Robin Leena
Jeffrey and I spent at week in Kipnuk and went clamming in the Bering Sea and berry picking in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta

So many good memories to cherish -- another year for more memories ... Have the best one!

Christmas in Kipnuk

2008-12-23T23:19:00.004-09:00

In my home village, for as long as I can remember, the Moravian Church has held a community wide gift exchange. Those who want to participate, write down their name and clothing sizes and turn it into a proffer for the church, who compiles that list and then goes around to each residence participating to have individuals pick a name to gift that Christmas. The little strips of paper would be separated into two separate coffee cans. One containing male names and the other female - females would pick from the male can and the males from the female can. It was an exciting time when these people came around - it was exciting just to see whose name you picked. The proffers kept track of which name which person picked, because with a village of almost 500 people, there were times when a participating individual didn't get gifted for whatever reason. Money for gift buying would run out or spent elsewhere.
All these gifts were brought out to the Sunday School house or the Mission house, both buildings housed next to the church. There they are grouped by families, and alphabetically. After what seemed the longest Christmas Eve program, the gifts would be ready for pick up. Kids fidgeting and growing impatient minute by minute anticipating the service leaders request for a final song or the benediction of the service. I wonder if some leaders purposely prolonged the service just for that reason.
Families attended church dragging wooden sleds to haul wrapped boxes of all different sizes. Back then, when most people in the community just had CB radios to communicate with, about 10-15 minutes after the service was over, the radio would come to life with chatter thanking their gifters and wishing everybody a Merry Christmas. Most of the usual gifts received would be clothing and useful items like a bath towels, etc.
That same night after the gift exchange is community wide caroling. Those 12 years old and older participate. Individuals meet at the church and are grouped by which section of the village they will be spreading Christmas cheer. At the houses, the whole group enters, sing a Christmas song, and the hosts would have candy to pass out to the singing group. In the houses, stockings would be hung up with care and the carolers, fill up the stockings with goodies they've been given out from house to house.
On Christmas Day, kids go on stage at church and recite individual verse readings dressed in their finest. There's also the candle light service after the readings. Its beautiful singing "Morning Star" in candle light (I don't know if the song's title is Morning Star, taking a guess on it) After the service, the church hands out candy bags to all those that have attended and gives out extra bags to other family members that weren't able to attend.
I miss Christmas in Kipnuk, I hope we'll be able to spend it out there next year.

Dec 6

2008-12-06T21:40:00.001-09:00

Yay! Happy Birthday to me today

Thursday Thirteen

2008-12-04T20:14:00.003-09:00

The past 13 days, I have:
1. Got the kids much needed haircuts and the hairstylist did a wonderful job on both, (clap clap clap) and worth the $37.00 for the two haircuts. We're definitely going back next month to the same place for cuts again.
2. Had my truck repaired by my private car mechanic (Stevo), thank you thank you! Truck starts up like a champ!
3. Read two books, "Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult (very good storyteller) and "Salem Falls", by the same author - I'm reading up all the books she has out
4. Watched Fred Claus, twice with my kids ... its an okay movie .... it came out on DVD last Tuesday
5. Got a silver star in two levels of Legend of Zelda shooting practice game on the Wii
6. Crocheted a scarf and then unraveled it more than half way through because I didn't like the way it was turning out and restarted and finished it, now crocheting a matching hat
7. Wrapped three Christmas presents for my kids the day after Thanksgiving dinner and they can't wait to open them up
8. Sorted through my kids dressers/closets for clothes that they've grown out of - and bought underwear and socks for them after seeing whats in stock now
9. Decorated a gingerbread man project thing with Jeffrey for school with buttons, gumballs, a swatch of his old jeans and a patch to go with it
10. Updated antivirus definitions files for the two computers in the house
11. Forgot to bring my gym bag 3 times in a row to bring to work with me .. darn!
12. Cooked up chicken and sausage gumbo - yummy! I'll be cooking that up again
13. Bought hot pork rinds, had a weird craving for that time of the month, and now almost a full pack is sitting in the pantry because nobody else likes them

North Pole Alaska's Xmas in Ice

2008-11-29T04:34:00.002-09:00

For a second year, North Pole, is holding the "Christmas In Ice" event. A festival of ice carvings from ice artists all over the world.
You can browse through this wonderful, magic land of Christmas displaying splendid, intricate designs of these artists, all made from a block of ice.
The sculptures are beautful and imaginative, and to top it off, have the "feel" of Christmas. Even more so with the atmosphere that this season brings, especially in cold North Pole, Alaska, a place where the spirit of Christmas comes to life in December and lives all year long.

The event holds a competition for the artists and, for the first time this year, a Kids Ice Carving challenge.
On the opening day, the festivities include a fireworks display. Since we are unable to enjoy the full, extravagant displays of fireworks during the summers (because of never ending daylight), Alaskan's awe their sights of the colorful pyrotechnic entertainment in dark December.

On December 21st, Alaska starts gaining daylight time instead of losing.

Today 29 Nov, the sun rose at 10:15am and will set at 3:03pm .... 5 minutes, 28 seconds less than yesterday *** big sigh*** ... 22 more days

Nov 28

2008-11-29T03:53:00.004-09:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone, part of the turkey gobbled up with all the yummy trimmings. (Left over turkey anyone?)
This year I made red cabbage/apple salad and a sweet potato souffle to go along with our festive feast. The crispness of the red cabbage and the surprising juicy sweet of a honey apple just adds the right combination to the taste buds. I added chopped pecans and raisans to compliment the colorful dish. The yummy sweet potato souffle (soo-flay), I had had before, but it was pre-made (store bought) and wanted to make myself. Very easy to make and tastes 100% better than the store bought one. The two extra dishes will definitely be a part of our Thanksgiving dinners again.
Along with those, we had the usual Thanksgiving fare, my special recipe potato salad, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and of course pumpkin pie.
Kayla's BFs dad brought prime rib!!! along with au jus to soak it in and I couldn't have enough of it.
Jen and her kids helped us enjoy the day of food and it made it yummier. She brought her most delicous akuut that I couldn't get enough of the last time she had a nerevkariq.
The day flew by fast, I cooked all morning and then all of a sudden we were stuffed. All of the food looked like it hadn't been touched and my stomach still full. You know the saying eyes being bigger than the stomach? Well, my stomach was overflowing while my eyes were still filling.
For the day of Thanks, I am thankful for: my family, our friends, our health, the food we were able to enjoy, reliable vehicles (my car is "sick" but have Stephen's and Kayla's to get around in), tater tots, kleenex that won't irritate a runny nose, pretty smelling soap and the fact that somebody invented such a thing as nail clippers.....

A Book Review

2008-11-04T23:35:00.005-09:00

I'm an avid reader and usually don't do reviews, but this book I felt needed to be "reviewed."

I've read a few books from Jodi Picoult and have never been disappointed with her writings. She gets to the "core" of everyday life.

The first book I've read from her writings was "The Pact", and I was enthralled by it. Staying up way past my bed time and into the night to read what was going to happen next.

This book was no different. Its mesmerizing and when I read it, I couldn't guess what was going to happen next.

Its a story about a 13 year old girl named Anna, that has an older sister who has Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. Its a cancer of blood and bone marrow.

Anna was conceived by her parents as a "designer baby" to match the older sisters DNA so that whatever her sister needed, she'd be the exact match (blood, tissue, etc.)

There is an older brother who was sadly not a match, so the whole family lives around whatever happens with Kate, the sick child.

Anna decides to sue her parents not to be a donor anymore and hires a lawyer to represent her.

This book goes through the throes of teenage-hood and involves the lives of the characters. Anna, Kate, the dad, the mom, the older brother, the lawyer, and the guardian ad litem (a court appointed guardian who mediates between the minor and parent and gives their opinion to a judge on whats best for the minor).

My Sister's Keeper was so involving that I even went through the book club section and read through the questions and thought about what my opinion was about the whole situation.

This book comes close to my heart because my oldest brother died of leukemia 26 years ago. I don't know what kind of leukemia he had and now it makes me wonder. Would any of us (3 brothers and my sister) would've been able to help ....

Update on our dog Duke

2008-11-04T22:57:00.006-09:00

Our wire haired dachshund, Duke, aka Maurice, (Duke, given name from his previous owners, and Maurice, given name by the current owner, Kayla) was paralyzed on his back legs when his back gave out due to interverbral disc disease that dachsunds are common to. Our friendly neighborhood vet put a catheter in to help him empty out his bladder (thats why that big thing is on his collar to keep him from picking at it in the picture) - but even through all that, he managed to push the catheter out two days before his surgery. His muscles were strong enough to push out the catheter, probably was very uncomfortable for him and who could blame the poor creature. He'd still drag his back legs to get to places (sniff out by the table for droppings from the kids at meal time, get to his food bowl, or go to his usual place by the patio doors.)
Stephen flew him down to Anchorage to get his back surgery on Monday, and at the clinic he was sniffing out markings and making his own markings from the scent of the other animals. A good sign, that he still had muscle control. The surgery was done and they cleared out one disc, which was "cottage cheese-y", all broken down and calsified, not 2 like the x-ray showed (I think, hmmmmm, makes me wonder now .....)
He was back to his old self again the next day (today). The clinic said, of all the dachshunds they performed surgeries on that day, he was the only one to eat and was back to his old dachshundy self again after the surgery.
He will have to go through physical therapy to help out his back muscles, and the doctor said he had a very good chance of recovering. We're hoping to get him back on Thursday. More updates to come....

Our poor dog

2008-10-31T20:51:00.006-08:00

Yesterday our poor dog's back legs stopped working. He has whats called interverbral disc disease which is common in his breed.

He has two discs in his back that have calcified, meaning what should be cartilage, (like the soft stuff on our ears), turned into bone.

What was really surprising was how fast this progressed. He was fine all day, running around, jumping on furniture, pretty much going crazy like a super bouncy ball, and then all of a sudden he was having trouble walking. He was shaking really bad and feverish.

Kayla and Stephen took him to the vet this morning and they did some xrays and they showed that 2 of his lumbar region discs (where his lower legs are) were moved way up and had slipped above his spine, pretty much making his lower legs paralyzed. They gave him steriod shots and some medication to help with the pain and gave the option of doing surgery and steriod treatment (which both may or may not help him out). The vet said we'd have to "coax" him to relieve his bladder (meaning push on his bladder to empty it) and that if he needed to empty out his bowels, he'd have no feeling at all of the urge and the bowels would just empty out themselves.

He's been a part of our lives since Jeffrey was less than a year old ... so pretty much a part of our family. Since he's really Kayla's dog, we left the decision up to her. Poor girl --- she first decided to just do the steriod method. Stephen called me while the vet was talking about the options and it made me cry too, as much as I say how much I dislike the dog, but feeling what Kayla must be going through made my heart ache. The vet said he was a very good candidate for the surgery and could get him scheduled for surgery on Monday. Right when they got back from the vet, we decided to go ahead with the surgery. Stephen will fly with him to Anchorage on Monday and hopefully Duke should be well enough to come home on Thursday. If the surgery doesn't help, there's a specialist here that concentrates on dachsunds who does therapy and helps dogs adjust to those cart things, I guess dog wheelchairs. But, keeping my fingers crossed that the surgery will help.

A Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-29T21:48:00.001-08:00

Cell phones

2008-10-27T21:08:00.002-08:00

Remember the days when we never even thought about these things???

One of my earliest memories is going to the big, old school house building in Kipnuk to wait for a phone call by the only phone there was in Kipnuk. And you had the option of doing a collect call, where the other person you're talking to pays for the call, or the "time and charge" call where you talked for however long you wanted to talk and then a few minutes after you hung up, the operator would call back and tell you how much you had to pay for the conversation you just had. There was a phone operator sitting at the phone waiting for the phone to ring, and they would announce over the CB radio, and say something like "Ella, you're going to get a call from so and so in 10 minutes, please come to the old school building to take your call." Or if you wanted to make a call your self, telling the phone person you're doing a time and charge call (or collect).

I once got such a call from Takuskuaq, one of my bestest childhood friends, right after her and her 3 brothers and her mom and dad moved to Kwigillingok. She is about 2 -3 yrs older than me and we shared chicken pox, tea (coffee, water or milk), roaming in the tundra, and so much laughter together. I missed her if we didn't see eachother during the day and when we were sick, we'd even go see eachother and once, she walked me home half way even when she was sick with a blanket wrapped around her because we wanted to see eachother so much.

I remember that they had a sailboat that hung off the ceiling that belonged to her dad. Her mom made us matching crocheted headbands one time and it was so neat to wear the matching things together.

They lived in a house in Kipnuk that they sold to Joe Paul which now houses one of Nallaq's kids. At one time, it was a store called the "Cracker Jack Cabin". Our favorite teen hangout in nowhere Alaska. There was a jukebox in there, where for a quarter you got to pick 4 songs and our favorite was "Dream Dream Dream" by the Righteous Brothers. And us trying to show off our alto voices and showing off that we could harmonize.

I can't remember what Takuss and I talked about that time, but that we missed eachother and she told me that little Kwiggers had their faces against their windows trying to look inside their house and seeing who was in there. She wanted me to call her collect, but I never had to courage to go up to the stern phone operator to say I wanted to make such a call. We continued our friendship through letters for a long time, way into my high school years. They had moved away when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade.

So that is my perspective of those long ago days and being able to instantly be in phone contact with anybody these days.....

Thursday 13

2008-10-23T19:16:00.004-08:00

Thirteen things to be happy about winter snow:

1. Its white and clean - crisp and so fresh looking away from the dirty looking sense that fall brings with rain and old leaves

2. You can burn a lot of calories cross country skiing on it - Stephen and I took up skiing in our neighborhood park area and its beautiful to get out in the cool air

3. Snow insulates your house, your yard, etc from the cold - to keep pipes from freezing and insulating perennials

4. To make snow angels - plop down on the snow and move your arms and legs all around and make a pretty impression on the sheet of white snow

5. Its pretty coming down in huge snowflakes - especially when its not too cold out and trying to catch a flake with your tongue

6. Instant fridge for whatever you want cooled off - throw out a few cokes and they cool off instantly

7. Snow machine riding in the big white - so much fun whizzing around and feeling the air whooshing past along with the world

8. Its a nice escape from mosquitoes - no question about that

9. To make snow cones with - yum snow cones, especially on a hot summer day

10. Makes cleaning up yucky dog poop easier - our damn dog, Duke -- what a pain

11. To make snow men with - and then destroy them (hehehhe)

12. Have a snow ball fight - the best is the wet snow.

North Pole, Alaska

2008-10-21T20:33:00.003-08:00

This is the sign next to the Baptist Church on St. Nicholas Drive in North Pole, Alaska. There is an RV Park behind it, and then the famous Santa Claus House down the street from it.

North Pole was given its name in hopes of attracting a toy factory into town that never transpired for some reason that I'm too busy to look into. Its an attraction to many tourist, both in summer and winter seasons. The famous Santa Claus House is situated here, like I said, with its exotic, Christmasy goods for sale all year round. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, you can find Father Christmas there ready to hear your wishes and dreams for the holiday season, or whenever you happen to stop by. We've never been lucky enough to catch him there, must be the other days that we stop by --either that or he's on break, feeding the reindeer right outside or getting a yummy mocha from the coffee shop right inside.

North Pole is home to about 7,500 souls, a lot of the folks working out of Eielson AFB or Ft Wainwright. Downtown North Pole boasts a Pizza Hut, Blockbuster, McDonalds, a couple of banks, an AT&T Store, Wendy's and the famous Pagoda Restaurant. Another place to get a good meal is Dalman's right on Badger Road with friendly folks to serve up a meal. There are 3 gas stations, Sourdough, Tesoro and ... is it another Sourdough???.. hmmmm, I'm not exactly sure, but right within less than 100 yards from eachother.

There is a highschool, a middle school and an elementary school - with more than a few churches within the area, of all denominations. A senior center, dental and optometry offices, even a couple of salons that offer day spas. There is a hotel opening up right next to Safeway, an indoor play center with laser tag and electric go-carts. You can also find the Chena Lakes Recreation Area right outside the city area open all year round. There's a kids park, lakes to fish in, picnic tables and pavilions, ski trails, and hiking trails. Also near the park, is the Chena Lakes Flood Plain built by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Weather here is extreme -- in the winters, down to -60 in the coldest of days. The sun rises about 10am in the morning and goes down about 4pm in the afternoon. Snowfall is about 6-10 inches.

Summer days are long, about 16+ hours of daylight from June - Aug with mid 70s and low 80s degrees as the norm. Tons of mosquitoes but lots to do.

Knitting

2008-10-17T17:36:00.003-08:00

I learned to knit by watching ladies during the Women's Fellowship/Ladies Aide nights when I was about 7-8 yrs old at the Sunday school building or the mission house of the Kipnuk Moravian Church. It was Tuesday and Friday nights and I forget what the difference between the two was, but it was pretty much the same women getting together to knit/crochet whatever their fancy struck, all in the name of raising funds for the church. They also did embroidery and cross stitch projects. Some of the beautiful products they made were afghans, warm hats, beautiful knit mittens and comfy socks. They'd hold a sale displaying their handiwork along with baked products. At Christmas time, they'd hold a gift exchange among all who wanted to part take and hold an afternoon of fun and games to celebrate.
One of my memories was watching Carrie Paul knitting away, I had learned to crochet with help from my mom and wanted to try out the other crafts the other ladies were involved in. My first knit project was a sock of various colors and with different types of knitting weaved into it. I was probably 7 or 8, my aunt hung it up in her house as a display, and the funny thing was, it actually looked like a sock! hehhehe. I also crocheted (sp?) a v-neck sweater with various scrap yarn for my sister when she was 2 or 3 yrs old. It was going to be for Oscar, but I got tired of it and ended it early, but it fit her. I made her wear it but she didn't want to wear it outside of the house. What a project it must've been, because now, I only do small projects, like hats or scarves, nothing too fancy. Right now I'm knitting a hat for my sis, I went at it full force for 3-4 days, and slacking off now so close to the end.
Knitting to me, is a relaxing, take a break, let my mind wander kind of thing. Kind of like doing a jigsaw puzzle, concentrating so hard on something other than the norm. Like a solace from the stressors of life.
I bought this book from one of the local craft stores called the Encyclopedia of Knitting. Its pretty interesting, there's on article in there showing pictures of a knitted sock with intricate designs that was made in Egypt during the Cleopatra era.

**image from craftgossip.com

Pink

2008-10-03T20:09:00.003-08:00

October is breast cancer awareness month - but every month should be a time of awareness for this horrible disease for us boobied people.

I attended a luncheon today at the beautiful Princess Hotel in Fairbanks where proceeds of the yummy lunch went to the Breast Cancer Detection Center of Alaska. Its an annual fund raiser to pay for mammograms for those that can't afford such a procedure.

The luncheon was a Gala Hat Affair. I saw a beautiful array of hats both on display and covering the crowns of many attendees. There were also baskets, jewelry, and art to bid on on a silent auction. There were women of many walks of life and also men supporting this good cause.

According the the National Cancer Society, 1 in 8 women will develop this type of cancer. Its the second leading cause of death (lung cancer is first) in women. In Alaska, 300 women are diagnosed with this cancer and 60 of them die to this disease every year. Early detection through mammograms and with monthly self breast exams increases the chances of surviving.

Many of us know a person who has been affected by this cancer, whether it be a friend, a mother, a sister, an aunt or maybe ourselves.

Join the fight to find a cure.

A Slave to the Clock

2008-09-29T21:49:00.007-08:00

The race starts at 5:30, mostly 5:45 or maybe a little bit later when the snooze goes off for the third time or the showers in use before me...

Then its tarry and toil before 6:35 to make it on time.

I gotta shower or be sleepy, my face like sandpaper and feel yuck the whole time.

Search for lunch boxes and insert homework to where it didn't get put. Hurry up and heat water for life giving tea.

Where is my sock? Where is my hair clip--I'm gonna be late!

Buzz through the driveway, uh-oh where's my ID, I need it for work!

Get out of my way, drive on the right lane, I'm gonna be late!

Glance down at the clock its 6:54, I still have time ....

get to the gate and there's ten million people, there isn't a chance and then I remember, I set my clock fast a sigh of relief ... and over again, the very next day

Money Money Money!

2008-09-26T16:43:00.006-08:00

Who hasn't dreamed of coming into some extra money and then buying whatever their heart desired? This is what I would do with the beau coup bucks when I ever come into this extra cold, hard, cash ....
-- thank God for the luck that I ever came into the cash
-- pay off our house and build the house of our dreams in a beautiful scenic area with an ocean near by
-- buy an RV so we can travel everywhere with the comforts of familiarness to bring with us
-- get my dream car, a metallic royal blue, convertible Camaro, with leather seats, and a HUGE muscular engine
-- get rid of my poochy areas HAHAHAA
-- buy a "winter" home in Maui
-- vacation to a fun place with friends
-- treat my nephews/neices to new wardrobes
-- gift my brothers with boats of their dreams
-- get the red four wheeler my son's been wishing for
-- pay a village elder person's heating fuel bill
-- get my husband season tickets to OU football games
-- have our yucky dog professionally groomed regularly
-- hire house hold help
-- weekly massages/salon type stuff for myself
-- buy a luxury ocean boat
-- quarterly excursions to places I haven't been with my family, (if we go too often, we might get tired of traveling)
-- retire from work (my husband and I)
-- create a scholarship fund for native females
-- treat my mother on a trip wherever she wanted to go
-- have my whole family visit me
-- pay a grocery bill for a stranger
-- buy jewelry
-- build a dream house for my sister
... and then after that, sigh ... and think about the times when I'd wish for that kind of $$$$

I remember ....

2008-09-24T20:31:00.015-08:00

(my dad ....)

- the quarters you'd send for Mom to dole out during the summers you went away fishing

- the tshirts and sweatshirts you'd bring back for us from your summer away

- my blue Snoopy watch I got one summer as a surprise

- the smell of the pancakes and the aroma of bacon before school on cold winter mornings

- the swish of your feet down our hallway at home to waken me up for breakfast

- I remember you and I watching the "Challenger" exploding

- the time you asked for my help to clear a river dam a beaver had built on the water we traveled

- your snore.... and I knew we were safe at home

- the bluegrass music you'd have on the staticky radio

- the flannel shirts that you liked to wear

- calling me Piip and then Ella, later in life

- helping me wash dishes, because I hated to so much

- your variety of groceries, so yummy they were

- the way you'd say 'kiagpaa' before sitting down to enjoy a meal at the table

- the times you, me and mom went to the early morning service on cold Easter mornings

- the concern in your eyes when you learned I was leaving our home

- hearing your voice so happy to hear me over the phone

....and most of all, I REMEMBER your warm, strong embrace to welcome me home

Fall in Alaska

2008-09-21T18:38:00.004-08:00

Fall is upon us full swing. In the Yup'ik culture, its a time of gathering from the land to prepare for the long, dark, cold winter. This time of year, black berries, red berries, "mouse food" (roots), and qusuuqs (a type of fish) are harvested.

Mouse food (roots gathered by "tundra" mice and stored away in caches under the arctic tundra) is as close away as going to your nearest tundra and feeling with your foot a softish spot and digging up underneath to see if its a cache of food "tundra" mice store away. I say "tundra" mice because I'm not sure of the scientific name of the mice that inhabit the Yukon Delta area and because I don't know if its a different type of mouse/vole/lemming, etc. The one's we'd see, would be what we called "angyayaagaq" (little boats) because they would swim and look like "little boats" with their long bodies. There are three different types of roots that we would find in these caches. One is tear drop shaped, utngungsak (utngu - is wart), I guess sak (is kind of ???) and the other is negaasek - a stick-like looking root, tan in color and kind of tastes like a potato. Another is a fuzzy shaped looking root. It looks fuzzy because the rest of the roots are gnawed off the meaty part of this rectangular looking root. The root taste sweet and very yummy. These roots are added into soups or mixed into akuutaqs.

Qusuuqs are caught using a net - hundreds of them. They range from 6-9 inches in length. The fish is gutted and then "braided" with grass around the head/gill area and hung to dry. It is also boiled or baked. The livers (tenguq) are boiled and whipped and mixed with black berries. Its puce in color - and an acquired taste to enjoy.

Games We'd Play - Yupik Style

2008-09-17T21:39:00.001-08:00

**image from majikimaje.com

Even beyond the extreme subzero temperatures, especially after a long stretch of days in whiteout blizzard conditions, you'll find Eskimo children exerting pent up energy out in the arctic environs of coldest Alaska.

In Kipnuk, during recess (even in winter) we'd play hopscotch. The snow would make nice grooves where our feet would land and would help when throwing our trinkets even from afar. My favorite thing to throw was a bracelet or a little keychain because the aim would be much better than something not attached to anything.

We'd play, what we'd call "bat". There would be an "in" team and an "out" team and can be any number. All we needed was a ball and anything to hit a ball with. Kids on the out team would be spread out anywhere they liked. The "pitcher" would stand face to face with an "in" team member and just throw the ball up in the air. The "in" team member would try to hit the ball while it was in the air, and try to avoid an "out" team member from catching it. If an "out" team member caught the ball after it was hit with the "bat" - the in and out teams would reverse. The "in" team members would have to run across to a decided area and then back to get to hit the ball again. If the ball is retrieved before all the members got to the "safe" zone, the ball is thrown to any member of the opposite team not in the "safe" zone and even if it scraped a piece of clothing, the sides would reverse. There would be a lot of little rules and they would be decided before the game began. Game ended when curfew rang at 9pm sharp.

Another game we'd play was "Ak'am taigukut" -- here we come again. There would be two teams and can be any number. One team decide on a theme and then would act out whatever they were doing without using words. Kind of like charades, but with a twist. When the other team guessed what your "theme" was, the team having their turn would run to the side they came from and whoever was "caught" would now be on the opposite team until the "other" team is out of players.

Then there was "Go" - one person stands in front of others and tries to make the other members laugh out loud. Who ever laughed out loud first would get to go next. Sometimes we'd even make it to where you smiled, you had to go next. It did not count if you forgot to say "Go" when it was your turn up. And nobody told you that you hadn't said the magic word until you tried to say it was somebody elses turn. What great fun we had playing this silly game!

Another was "cavteq" -- it was played in a porch where you had an enclosed area. One person would go down the stairs and close their eyes and the others would try to find a way to hide themselves away in that very tight area from the "it" person. The "it" person would then try to find the others with their eyes closed and try to guess who they came upon. If they were wrong, they'd have to try again, if they guessed right, it would be that persons turn next.

Wolves in the Tundra

2008-09-15T21:17:00.004-08:00

The day started warm, with a cool breeze blowing west from the Bering Sea, swifty enough for the mosquitoes and keggerpayagaqs (gnats, aka no-see-ums) from milling around our blood filled epidermi (aka skin). Perfect weather for berry picking. My mom, Donna, Masualuk (aka Musty) and I headed out in Musty's 16 foot skiff towards Ciuqaqlliq in hopes of filling up our empty berry buckets with puyuuraaqs (wild, sweet raspberries). There were many water fowl lazing about and resting along the quick swelling and flowing waters of the Kugkaktlik River of Kipnuk. I saw all types of ducks, fatty Canadian geese, Cranes and so many different kinds of sea birds along the shorelines of the waterways of that area. It was early enough that not too many people had ventured off into the wild to disturb these winged creatures. It was peaceful and the hum of the outboard motor seemed like it was a part of the peace and not a disturbance to the quiet. The day was starting out nice, the sun almost half way up the sky and not shining too brightly yet. A few random clouds splashing in the big, blue, tundra sky with a promise of another beautiful day in Yukon Delta Alaska. We made our first stop in a grassy area and as soon as we stepped foot off the boat, we were stepping on huge, red, juicy puyuuuraaqs. I found that the grassier the area, the bigger the berries were. Every where we stepped, there'd be a vaster area of the cluster of these yummy berries.

We filled our buckets about half way up and finally decided we picked most from that patch about noon and headed on towards Musty's boat. We had a lunch of dried, salty, smoked King Salmon with freshly made akuutaq (cloud berries) and macutaqs (dried dolly varden) and a nice cup of percolated coffee better tasting and not as acid-y as the stuff served at Starbucks. I'll take a cup of that coffee any day! I also munched on Ritz crackers and a granola bar to round out my nutrition intake for the noon day meal.
We headed off to another part of the river and by then, I thought about what people had been talking about lately in Kipnuk. Seemed there had been sighting of wolves in the areas where the berry camps were situated. Musty ventured off the west side of where the boat was parked and Mom, Donna and I went the opposite way. We were on ground for less then 10 minutes and I happened to look towards the horizon and saw 3 - four legged creatures in the distance loping away. I yelled "Qimugtet!"(DOGS!)" while turning toward the boat. Mom and Donna were close enough to hear me and ran towards the boat too. In our "tundra" minds, that would only mean one thing! We scrambled on into the boat and could still see Musty looking around into the grassy shores of the river, oblivious of our alarm. Donna yelled out his name "MASUALUUK!" but the wind blew her yell the opposite way and there was Musty still searching for the yummy berries with no indication at all of our startled selves. "MASUALUUK!", the second time and he turned around and started towards us. When he got close enough to earshot, we told him there were "dog-like" creatures inland. He grabbed his birdshot and his 12 gauge rifle and ambled on up inland to check out our commotion. He walked a few feet towards the "knotty" hill area in front of us and not too long after, we heard a shot go off. We could see him from where we were, but couldn't really see what was going on. Another shot went off, and he disappeared in the knolls. Finally, we could see him coming back towards the river we were on and he when he got back, he kind of chuckled, "Those things you thought were dogs were a pack of foxes, there's a den near the lake in front of us" --- what a sigh of relief that was for me~~, whew!
We stopped a couple of more times, the next stop, we saw moose tracks along the grass, which put us on a "bigger" guard of our surroundings and after that, I think our motivation of berry picking was completely gone.

Christmas 2007

2008-09-10T23:24:00.000-08:00

Peluq/Araq/Punk

2008-08-31T23:06:00.005-08:00

We spent the afternoon at Birch Lake today -- roasted up some hot links and hot dogs while the kids played on the big "toy" they have on site and played checkers inside the recreation area.
While we were waiting for the coals to die down from our simple meal, Stephen and I wandered into the forest to see what we could find in the wooded area. We didn't go very far and I think we were in amongst the giants for less than half an hour and collected this fungus among us. fungusamungus. These are collected from the birch trees, usually dead ones but you can find some from the live, tall ones. I think they form out of mushrooms - naamell. But the burnt down ash of these fungi are worth at least $60 per little cake frosting containers in Kipnuk! I might go into business, tll hahhaaa. While I was in Kipnuk, a merchant came to my mothers selling this ash for $60 bucks a pop in those little containers. He had said he had sold 3 of them before he got to my moms.

I might try my hand at burning these down and see how much I could get off of the stuff we picked, but I need a place to burn them in. Anyone have a 55 gallon drum they want to get rid of?

While we were getting the boat on to the trailer, I came upon this:

Its bear scat!! I've never seen any before and it made me more aware of our surroundings after Stephen told me what it was ....

Cloud Berry Bread

2008-08-30T20:23:00.003-08:00

This recipe I got from my sister in law, instead of blueberries, I added cloudberries to the mixture. It was delicious and very easy to make!

2 cups flour
2 cups pancake mix
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg
About a cup of water
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup berry or fruit of your choice

Mix together dry ingredients then add in nuts and berries and water. Grease two bread pans and divide evenly to pans. Bake for 50 minutes at 350.

Seven Things I did

2008-08-29T01:51:00.006-08:00

I got to do six of the stuff I wanted to do while I was in Kipnuk

1. Went berry picking with my brother James and his family and went again with Masualuk for puyuuraaqs. Saw tundra foxes that I thought were wolves at first while we were out and came upon moose tracks.

2. I ate fresh clams that Pinvuq caught and so delectable they were. I like mine steamed and dipped in seal oil. Jeff and I went with Donna and DJ -- the ocean was beautiful.

3. I took a steam bath at BBJs and at Pinvuqs and so very refreshing they were -- Jeff took his first bath at Pinvuqs.

4. I ate a variety of "ethnic" foods. This imarpinraq was caught by Pinvuq and boiled my mom (hehehhe).

5. I got to see a lot of people at church:

6. I took a lot of pictures, here is my Aunt Nangyun weaving a basket:

7. I didn't get to go to a seal party "uqiiquq", but I enjoyed every minute of home.

Our Visit

2008-08-29T01:14:00.006-08:00

Jeffrey and I spent a week at home and what a great time we had! We got to Kipnuk on Tuesday last week around 7pm after waiting 5 hours at the Yute Air terminal waiting on our flight out of Bethel. We had a great time with family and friends and I got to enjoy fresh sea food while I was out there. I trudged the tundra for berries a few times. I went berry picking with my brother James and his family, and here we are enjoying a lunch of uquumelnguq before tiring our backs picking cloud berries at the Maklagtuli River.

Donna and I picked berries near the airstrip with a few of the boys (they didn't pick, they ate what they picked) and I found a nest of these:

We also went clamming in the Bering Sea, it was beautiful:

They were delicious!:

Eskimo Joke

2008-08-19T00:15:00.002-08:00

**image from ltscotland.org.uk

Two eskimos, a big one and a little one, go to their local Alaskan convent with a question.
The big one nudges the little one and says, "Go ahead, knock on the door, knock on the door."
The Mother Superior answers the door.
Again, the big eskimo nudges the little one and says, "Go ahead, ask her the question, ask her the question."
The little eskimo timidly says, "May we speak with the midget nun that lives here please?"
The Mother Superior answers, "There are no midget nuns living here."
The big eskimo starts nudging the little one again and says, "Go ahead, ask her the other question, ask her the other question."
The little eskimo asks in a quavering voice, "Well. Are there any midget nuns in Alaska?"
The Mother Superior responds uncertainly, "Why no, I don't believe so."
With this the big eskimo falls down and rolls on the ground, clutching his belly as he laughs uncontrollably. "See", he says to the little eskimo, "I told you you "effed" a penguin!"

**joke from Aarons-Jokes.com

Trip to home

2008-08-18T20:03:00.005-08:00

Jeffrey and I are travelling to my home town tomorrow. It was kind of a last minute decision, but I've been yearning for home for a while now. We'll be spending a week there and these are 7 things I hope to do while I am there:

1. Go berry picking (packed our boots first hoping we'd go the next day after arriving.)

2. Take a hot, relaxing steam bath with friends and catch up on our lives, funny happenings, and of course, the latest gossip.

3. Attend an uqiiquq (crossing my fingers!) Those are a lot of fun--a group of women stand together and enjoy time together trying to catch goods thrown by a generous giver. Most household items are thrown, towels, toilet tissue, spoons, most anything!

4. Enjoy fresh steamed clam dug from the sandbars from the Bering Sea the same day!

5. Visit as many people I can. I remember I used to name all the people by how the houses were situated when I couldn't fall asleep at night.

6. Take a lot of pictures -- I forget to take pictures while I'm out there most of the time!

7. Eat as many a variety of Yupik foods that I can find. Usually get invited to lunch or dinner to different peoples houses, so I'll take advantage of that as much as possible.

My Kucircetaaq

2008-08-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

Making Pie

2008-08-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Valdez

2008-08-09T18:58:00.002-08:00

One of my most favorite places is Valdez, Alaska. I recommend anybody and everybody to visit this beautiful place if you get a chance. Its a five and a half hour car ride for us from humble North Pole, and so worth the trip! I first visited Valdez in Summer 1993 with Kayla's aunts and grandmother and loved the wonderous glaciers, the waterfalls, the sea of green, the majestic mountains and the atmosphere of the quaint fishing town. There's always a stir of activity at the docks, whether it be fishermen coming in from a day of lolling in the waves of Prince William Sound, birds of all kinds, playful sea otters and curious seal lions. Valdez is the home of the termination point of the 800 mile long Alaska Pipeline that gushes black gold from the cold subterrain of the Arctic all the way up on the top of Alaska. We spent last weekend in one of the many campsites the town has to offer. We trolled the two bays outside the narrows for hours on end, trying our luck with the Silver Salmon swarming in the emerald waters along with many other hopeful boaters . What a thrill and a rush of adreneline it is to find your fishing rod trembling and yanking with urgency when a Silver hits! Stephen's pole was the lucky one this trip. We got 3 silvers and 1 pink (that we threw back) before we had one big one snap the line with Stephen's lucky lure, lucky diver, lucky flasher in its mouth. Who knows how big that one had been. Darn! Oh, and I almost forgot, we had lost the "lucky" net in Jack Bay when we took off to Galena Bay in hopes of catching the big one. Turned the boat right around and just when we got to where it was, it sunk underneath to the deep to swim with the jellyfish, well maybe the halibut, never to be seen again. We'll be going back in a few weeks, this time earlier in the day, Thompson Pass is horrendous when the sun goes down. Its a very strong pea soup fog going up a steep hill and then back down with just steel siding on the road and a barely visible stripped off striping to guide you. I couldn't imagine traveling that stretch in the dead of winter when snow fall is heavy. That is the only part of traveling to Valdez that I do not enjoy.

Rain Rain Rain

2008-08-08T18:23:00.005-08:00

What a dreary, yucky, wet and cold July/August its been. There's been flooding in our area and the temp barely reaches 60 degrees during the day. There's puddles everywhere and the asphalt is eroding on the pavement all over town. Depsite the rain, we took time to go to the Tanana Valley State Fair twice! We got to see flowers, produce, arts and crafts made by our fellow Fairbanksans. Along with that, horses, cows, rabbits, cavies (I didn't know what they were, but read on one of the signs that they're also called guinea pigs), ducks, pigs, sheep, oh and goats. We pigged out on the usual fair "fare", Jeff enjoyed 2 ears of yummy corn slathered in butter, I got my corn fritters, all six globs of them dipped in honey butter, and oddly, Raven enjoys Beef Bulgogi. We ran into one of her friends at the Korean joint serving that dish at the fair, and he asked "Why are you eating here?" when we could've been bingeing on turkey legs and candied apples or that other yummy stuff the vendors offer. We screamed on the rides, well I did, Nag and Jeff just laughed, waited in lines, and played over priced games for silly stuffed animals that our darn dog will end up chewing up anyway. Stephen and I went to see Steve Holy in concert at the fair on Tuesday night. That was awesome - it wasn't too crowded and you could go right up to the stage during the event and he had a signing after the show! I bought a kewl tshirt and had him sign a CD and got to shake his cold, clammy hand ... hehhehhee.

**image from saynotocrack.com

DV

2008-07-30T18:59:00.003-08:00

**image from freewebs.com

I recently read an article in the paper about this subject. We've experienced it, know people who experience it every day of their lives, and sadly, most too often, a strictly avoided subject by those exposed to it. We don't want to know that its going on, don't want to admit that its something we live with everyday, whether its happening to a neighbor, a friend, a family member, anybody.

To some its an everyday, expected thing, most often its children who grow up experiencing it and then they themselves become the ones doing it.

Is it human nature? In the genes? Learned experience? Whatever it is, its evil.

"Oh, its just the way he is..." "I shouldn't have opened my mouth..." "It was all my fault...."

Most often its women who are on the receiving end of this violence, and usually women with children. Women who are dependent on the abuser for everyday living, making it all the more harder to find a way out of this poisonous environment. And then, when they do finally get out, somehow, their next relationship is just as or even more violent.

We hear about it, and close our hearts, because we don't want to accept that its there. Its something we hear about on TV and think, its not happening to me, I'd never live in something like that. People in these situations don't all of a sudden come into situations like this. Nobody, in the spur of the moment decides, "Oh, I think I'll terrorize my family/wife/husband today."

We hear about those that get away but end up going back to the abuser time and time again. Just to go back to an ever increasing turbulent life ..... we hear "Its never going to happen again"... but it does and will, over and over again.

To end, there's hope ... you know, things will not always be the way they are now, we can't change people, people change themselves. It doesn't all of a sudden happen because the word "Sorry" was brought up, it happens with time ... and sometimes, that time never comes. Its up to us, to change our surroundings to have that time come for us, because the other person can't bring it to us no matter how much we want them to.

Have hope, bring it to yourself, to others, especially children ... there's greener pastures, happier times, laughter and most importantly, peace. You know its there, you've been there before, and its still there, waiting for you.

2008-07-24T19:36:00.004-08:00

It's the time of year when tundra berries are ripening. Harvesting the fruits of our land is one that most families of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta (and probably most regions) partake in. The berries that I'm familiar with growing up in the Kipnuk region include cloudberries (naunrat, not to be mistaken with salmonberries, according to Wikipedia), crowberries (we call them black berries, tan'gerpak), red berries (tumaglit, lowbush cranberries) and blueberries (sur'at).
What I remember most about this season is long boat rides into our camp area deep in the rivers of the YK Delta. My father would first bring all necessary equipment to the site, set up the tent, and all other items needed for a longer than an overnight trip. My mother would prepare food, pack up pots/pans, extra bedding, etc for our extended stay in the tundra (usually 3 or 4 days, some stay much longer.)
First day of cloud berry picking was probably the most productive day of all the days we'd spend out there. With buckets in hand, and a not yet sore back to go along with it, overseeing a vast sea of orange/red on that colorful tundra, our motivation would be brimming.

But...not for long, unfortunately. Mosquitoes would hamper our productivity and just the monotony of picking one berry after another with our buckets not seeming to get any more fuller drained our once overflowing motivation.

Meal time would bring a much needed break from the chore and for that we'd have white fish fresh from the waters. We'd eat our fish boiled and then seal oil poured over it and sprinkled with salt. Food seemed to taste so much better eating outside and mom would joke we should go out to the tundra to have our meals since everybody ate everything off their plates.
There's a fresh water spring to the north of where we'd set up camp, the water naturally cool and so crisp. You could taste a little bit of the tundra in it, and very delicious when prepared for tea.
Our camp was right across the river from Mr and Mrs Luke Amik's camp on the Maklagtuli River (I think, have to verify that with one of my brothers). They'd invite us over for tea or they'd come over to visit. We'd tell each other how much was picked that day and let each other know which areas have been picked already. Sometimes berry picking "rogues" would pick in the areas that were usually picked by whoever has a nearby campsite. There was an unwritten rule/agreement between campers in that area that those areas belonged to those camped nearest and know not to pick there.
Up to 30+ gallons would be picked, enough to last all through the long, cold winters. Berries would be prepared as a dessert mixture of crisco, sugar, and berry juice. Also a different recipe was with milk, sugar and seal oil, known as "makaaq". One recipe that I particularly enjoy is the Nelson Island Recipe (as I call it). Mix a 1/4 cup of crisco with hot water and sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in 2 beaten eggs and then the berries. It tastes kind of yogurty, uses less crisco, and very yummy. (A picture of my latest concotion is shown up there, yum!)

Parallel Parking

2008-07-18T21:55:00.002-08:00

I'm not a parallel parker. I'd rather park a block further away (even 3 blocks away) to avoid attempting to parallel park in between other vehicles. I don't know how I did it for my driver's test, I practiced a lot and prayed a lot to get a vehicle in between two cones before that nerve wracking day and passed! And to this day, have never parallel parked that way.

My girl has been driving now for about 8 months, and she is doing a better job at parallel parking than I ever did! She doesn't have her license yet, but practising, because practice makes perfect. (I still think she takes the turns too fast, but overall a pretty good driver.)

My husband drives a Chevy Silverdo and zips that monster into tight spaces like the pic, take it, they're not that close, but still, a little too tight for me.

Yeah, I can't parallel park, I did it once for the test, but never again. I can park behind a car as long as the vehicle behind where I'm parking is at least 10 yards away.

Thursday Thirteen

2008-07-17T21:28:00.003-08:00

Thirteen things about our house ...

1. It has 22 doors (Nagyuk counted them last year for a school project)

2. The tile floors in the kitchen and bathrooms are freezing when its cold out

3. Its white with green trimmings

4. Needs a thorough cleaning, as always

5. Was completed in 2002

6. Has two jacuzzi tubs (aaaahhh.....)

7. Has birch, pine and willow trees surrounding it

8. Been egged at Halloween the first year we were here by neighborhood rascals

9. Endures beatings from a 17 yr old, an 8 yr old, a 5 yr old and a dog daily (well, me and Stevo too, I guess)

10. Was built by a local builder, who built it for himself, but decided to sell

11. Sits at the end of two streets

12. Has a slough running in the back thats a home to ducks, frogs, and lots of mosquitoes

13. Its comfy, cozy, we miss it after trips and we call it our home sweet home

**image from thesun.co.uk

Humungo (to us) Halibut

2008-07-15T18:25:00.005-08:00

Fourth of July weekend we traveled 670+ miles to Homer from our humble abode. It was a long drive so we camped out along the way. We set up camp at Montana Creek Wednesday night next to a few Army guys who were there to try their luck at kings swarming in the creek. Fishing for kings was closed during the week, so I don't know if they snuck out at night to fish while everybody was asleep. One of them was from my husband's home state, the great OK. (How's Oklahoma? Its OK) One of them came over to our side of the campsite wearing a crocodile dundee hat with a big machete to top it off. He had brought a sharpening stone and was trying it out slashing bushes there. The campground had a few other questionable characters, one across from us was playing a fiddle/violin/whatever in the evening (classical sounding music).
We left the next morning hoping to catch lunch at our favorite restaurant in the State of Alaska, The Outback Steakhouse. We pulled up, no cars at all in the parking lot, and saw to our dismay that they opened at 4pm -- darn, what a bummer! We went to our next favorite restaurant in the great State of Alaska, The Golden Corral. I gorged myself in the fresh salads, the great array of every food (almost) imaginable and their delicious buns.
We made it to beautiful Homer later that day. We had planned on camping up on the hillside at a city campground. We got there, found a few open spots and then found out people could call ahead of time to reserve places (either that, or the park person there that night got a few extra $$$). We ended up camping out on the spit. Which wasn't bad at all, a little crowded, but nice and close to the boat dock/showers/shops/restaurants, etc. We cleared away rocks from the camp area to put our tent down and I was worried we'd be freezing at night being right on the waters of Cook Inlet, but it turned out very comfortable. It was breezy and no mosquitoes to swat away. Eagles soar everywhere and the scenery, breath taking!
We took our Duckworth 18 footer out the next day out to the bluffs. We trolled along (I had finally got Stephen his Father's Day gift, a halibut rig, while we were down there) I had my salmon rig hoping to catch a few. Not too long into our trolling, Nagi asked "Dad, should I get the net ready?" And Stephen got a hit on his, he got it almost out of the water but it swam away, darn!! Meanwhile I switched over to hali style fishing stuff, and my pole kept acting funny and kept asking Stephen how I would know if there was a fish. I dont know how long we had that in the water when we finally decided to pull our stuff in to move to a diff location. Reeled in and what do you know, there was a fish at the end of my line! It wasn't very big, but I was satisfied. Stephen also got another one (right after Nagi asked again if she should get the net ready!) It seemed to be the same size that had gotten away. Five or so pounds bigger than mine. We headed back in, happy that we got at least fish to bring with us.
The next day, we left around noonish. On the way down the dock I ran into a fellow Kipnuker (Cathy Paul) who was down there for the halis with her family from Anchorage. What a nicest surprise! Her daughter was needing to use the bathroom and we were about to leave the crowded boat slip, so I didnt get to visit with her. We headed out to the same area by the bluffs. The water was so calm and beautiful. We trolled for a LONG time with no hits at all. We were about to head back and decided to anchor down. Maybe a few minutes after anchoring, Nagi asked again "Dad, should I get the net ready?" and for sure, Stevo had something on his line! It took him maybe 20+ minutes to reel the big board in. He took his first look at it when it got up close enough and said "I don't think that net will work" With the help of Andrew (my girl's first serious BF) they got it in. Stephen had "red neck" rigged a gaff before the trip (which worked prefectly) and finally pulled it in with the gaff. It was humungo!! When the fish was finally in the boat, we asked "Now what?" We had no idea how to kill it. He had it laying down with the "white side up" and whenever it plopped around, Andrew would put pressure on its head and it would calm down. We headed back, and got it to the back of his truck. Took it over to the cleaning station and it was still alive! Stephen went over to ask people hanging around the cleaning station on how we could kill it. One of the guys came by to look at it and thought it was about 60-70 lbs. (He was asking if we had gps coordinates on where he caught it, hehehhe). Since there was a line at the station, we decided to take it over to a weighing station to see if they'd let us weigh it, just to see. We got it up to the scale, Stephen was behind the fish, and the nice lady who let us weigh it, asked "How much did you think it weighs?" It was 86lbs! I filleted it for 45 mins! What a big fish! That halibut rig Stephen got the day before was paid off plus more that day. What a humungo fish! And delicious it is ....

Religion

2008-07-10T17:57:00.010-08:00

I believe in God, I pray, I go to church once in a while, but not an avid follower of religion. Somebody asked me if I was religious, and I asked what defines "religious"?

I grew up going to church, 9am Sunday School services at the Kipnuk Moravian Church. And most everybody would go, and we'd ask why one didn't attend if they weren't present for the service. Then there'd be a 10am service (that we never attended). Peggy Brown's dad would give her an extra dollar for offering for the morning service, but we'd go spend it on candy at Ciiskuaq's store, I forget the name of the store "_______ Ice Cream Store" (and they never had ice cream). Candy bars were 25 cents, and we'd be best friends with Peg until the candy was gone. How horrible and heartless we were. Mondays were choir practice nights. Tuesdays were when they had a teenage service, then Wednesdays was a prayer service, where you got to go on your knees on the pews and take a nap if you wanted to. Choir practice for the Sunday evening service was on Thursdays. Fridays, I think we had another teen night, and then Saturday was the Young People service, I guess for those that were out of high school, etc. Sundays were the Sunday school service, then a morning service and then the evening service! There was a full week if you wanted to spend your evenings at church. I don't think I ever went every night of the week for all the services.

My aunt Nangyun, you couldn't find her on Sundays because it was church and visiting day, I don't know if she'd go to all the services too. To me, she is what I'd consider "religious". She's an avid bible reader, hardly misses a church service, prays before every meal and every night at bed time. Her prayers are at least 10 minutes long and so elaborate. Everything she plans ends with the words "God willing".

I miss going church at home, the beautiful singing, the readings from the bible that makes you ponder about God, life, the person you are .... and even looking around and staring at people when the sermon was a little dull.

Earlier years, it was embarrassing (at least to me), to leave the church before the service was over. There'd be stern, mean looking men by the door who'd ask you where you were going. We'd look towards the door in the back to see if anybody was near it and walk out as fast as you could and just as you thought you were homefree, somebody would grab your coat from the back to ask "Where are you going?" and send you back to your seat. Once, I pretended to have a nose bleed just to get out that door!

Zits

2008-07-07T23:13:00.001-08:00

**image from myextralife.com

Yupik

2008-07-01T01:33:00.004-08:00

Yupiugua, (I am Yup'ik) I was raised in Kipnuk, Alaska in the South Western region of Alaska. I was raised in the 70s in a small village 4 miles from the Bering Sea. I come from the village on the bend of the Qukaqllik (Middle) River.

This is my family.

My parents are James (Miisaq) and Mary (Tuqucaq) Mesak. My last name is derived from my father's Yup'ik name, whose name he got from his father. (Names are passed on in the Yupik culture and who knows how old our names are, I wish I knew.)

My grandparents died when my dad was a mere boy and I never knew them. He was forced into a children's home, run by the Moravian Church on the Kuskokwim River. He was there until his uncle decided to take him home, his mom's brother, Ciuliq, Lewis Samson. He passed away, and I hear he was a great man. Loved God dearly and such a very wise man. I wish I had known him, for I love him for taking my Dad in when he had nobody else. From there, my father went to live with James Samson, the younger brother of Lewis. I hear his daughters would tease him and probably made him laugh like sisters would do, for in the Yup'ik culture your aunts and uncle's children WERE your brothers and sisters. To this day, the Kashatok brothers consider my dad their brother.

Growing up, I had 4 brothers and my baby sister. Chester (Pamsuq, named after my Mom's dad) who was born first and died at 16 from leukemia. There's not very much I remember about him and that saddens me. He lived with my aunt Nangyun, next door to our very smallest house. His best friends were Pat and Vern Samson, my dad's uncle's sons (in the Yup'ik culture, brothers) We'd go to church on Sundays and after the services we'd come home and they'd imitate whoever sang that day or did their bit during the service. Most of the time, it would be Qiuran, our neighbor, a bachelor, older than my dad, who'd make little streams for water that would gather in front of his house. And how we'd laugh because they'd imitate him exactly, to the intones of his voice and fluctutations and gestures.

Next is Thomas (Arnaaquq) who we endearingly call Piipicaiyuk (a name given by Pamsuq). He's a comic, a typical Yup'ik man, and a father of 4. If you saw him, you'd know you're seeing a Yupik Eskimo man. He's tall (but most Yup'iks aren't) wide, open, and very friendly. Don't tell anybody, but he likes to hear what the women folk are gossipping about. My mother's friends would come for tea and I, being my curious self, would seat myself next to them and listen in on the latest gossip around the village and BBjai would ask me later what they talked about. I've learned from him that there IS a lighter side of Yup'ik men.

Pin'vuq (James) - my favorite brother, probably because I got along with him the best, comes next. He's 2 years older than me and I love him dearly. He's named after my mother's mother, her Kass'aq name was Julia. I'd try to tag along with him where ever he went. The movie "Excorist" was on public TV and we watched it together. I got so scared and pretended to go to the bathroom and went to bed. And when he came to ask me if I got scared, I said "Are you coming to ask me that because you're scared?" To prove to him I wasn't scared, I stayed up and watched the rest of the movie with him. He saved a life of a Kipnuk boy by darting away a bullet with his hand. The doctors were amazed that the bullet went over and under his "hand bones" and just shattered this pinkie bone area. If you look at your hand and turned it side ways as if you're saluting, is what he did to keep a bullet from smashing into the brains of a Kipnuk teenager. The bullet went in from the pointer finger side and exited on the pinkie side. I remember that day because Acai came running into Lenna's mom's house and said Pinvuq had a big cut. A plane came to take my Mom and Pinvuq to the hospital to see how bad the damage was. I remember somebody had wrapped his hand in lots of paper towels and was holding it up way above his head. When the plane arrived, I was going to sneak into the plane to go along with them, but Tun (one of my Mom's friends) held me back. When the plane took off to flight them away, I was screaming and crying as loud as I could and I flung my rubber boots off my feet as far as they could go. I laughed because one of them went in a muddy swamp. Pin'vuq came back with a hard cast that he would use as a "weapon" against BBjai, his adversary in life. He has full use of his hand to this day.

Next is Oscar, my Puma. I miss him. He lived a short life like Pamsuq did. And like BBjai, if you saw him, you saw a Yup'ik man. We fought like monkeys growing up and there's many funny memories I have of him. He's named after my mother's step father "Arruyak", Oscar Kanuk. OKMP!!! I hope you see this now Osc! He'd call me totem pole, because I'm so short, but have the personality of a totem pole. He was born December 2, 1971. I remember that he was the cutest baby you could ever see, and I loved him to pieces. He'd tease me and say, I should have a dot on my upper lip, and point and dig it in. Just a mere glance of him pointing to a place on his upper lip and digging it in and at the same time sticking his tongue out... I'd run at him and pummel him and then check to see if there was such a dot on my upper lip. (Now I do have a spot, but so close to my lip, it doesn't count, cuz its not the same place he'd point at) The day he died, I thought my world had come to an end--he wasn't supposed to die, he was supposed to be right there teasing me and making me laugh over stupid little things of life. Puma was my "funny bone", the brother who made me realize life didn't have to be all serious all the time. My son is named after him, and he's living up to the name! But I do miss my Puma, which I called him after hearing a thing on TV and I thought the word sounded so funny. Pooma pooma!]

Last but not least is Donna. I used to tell her that she's named after Donna Summer (the singer), I wonder how Mom came up with the name, maybe it WAS afterall Donna Summer hehehehe. But she did tell me that she thought of the name Carla. I couldn't wait for Mom to pop her out. I'd run home everyday to check our house to see if anybody was in there at recess. In the village, (to this day), prego mothers are expected to go to Bethel to wait out the term of their pregnancies a month before their due date. While Donna was hot in the "oven", I had gone to Bethel with Mom to go to the dentist, and I was thinking I'd be there the whole time until Donna was born. Much to my dismay, I was sent home, by myself without the new baby or Mom. One day, as I was rushing home, on my daily checks to see if anybody was at our house, Siiyaq stopped me (he lived like 2 houses away) and said "You're Mom's home!" and I didn't believe him. It had been many, many days that I had been checking to see if Mom was home and it was hard to believe that it had come true. I ran and DID see my mother, with a brand new, hairless, chubby baby! I cried and was so happy that the day had finally come! Thats the first memory I have of my sister ....

That is my family ... a family I was born to, the family I was raised in as a Yupik.

X

2008-07-01T01:15:00.003-08:00

X words I know:

- The letter X - I made that once on a string, in first grade, when we were showing what we could make with a piece of string

- Xylophone - what a nice instrument to hear

- Xray - tooth xrays, (ouch) my mouth's always too small for those big awkward things they need for those and Kayla's had to have some taken on her elbow, oh and Jeff, when our neighbor's kid ran over him with his 4-wheeler

- Xavier - my friend Hazel's brother and a friend from Toksook

- Xenia, a name I've heard before, from the Bethel area, I think

- Xbox - Kay and Jeff like playing Halo and I like the game American Idol

- X- my kids say "You're a big X" and make the sign to me when they're not happy with me and then a circle, when they're happy or decide I'm not as bad as they think I was

- The X on tic tac toe, and nobody wants to be the X

- X marks the spot for treasures we'd like to find

- X the letter we'd try to find on Sears and Roebucks catalogs to bide our time when we didn't have TV

- XXX --- eww LOL

- X the mark people would sign because they don't know how to spell their names

XOXOXOXO - sealed on envelopes

Walls

2008-06-30T23:51:00.003-08:00

There's walls everywhere, a stoppage, a no-go point, a dead end.
Sometimes they're a good thing, sometimes they're not.
My walls are different from yours, but probably not by very much.
I try not to invade yours, because I don't want mine trumpled on either.
My walls protect me, but then keep out other things too.
Things that might be joyous, things I've never experienced, and didn't know I liked.
Walls put up a front that keep others from reaching you, or you reaching them.
They have their walls, you have yours.
Walls keep in everything that we'd like to express, but don't.
Because of walls.

Visiting Etiquette by Ella

2008-06-30T21:10:00.002-08:00

Summer is the time when thousands flock to towns, villages, cities, so many different places to visit families, friends, or just to go. We're going on an adventure ourselves down to visit the breathtaking town of Homer this weekend. We've never been and I hope I'll remember these few etiquette tips while we're down there. Let it be known, we're not visiting anybody, we're gonna camp out (weather permitting).
1. Let whoever you're visiting know way ahead of time that you're coming (a week at least would be nice) There have been times when I'd get a knock on my door and opened the door to people I hadn't seen for years saying, we're here! with a weeks worth of luggage and 5 other people I don't know with them. Its nice to see people, but not when they're expecting you to house and feed them for longer than a couple of days.
2. Don't call from the airport that you're here and need a place to stay.
3. Help out -- whether it be picking up groceries, taking the trash out, or just picking up after yourself.
4. Don't expect to be driven around wherever your whim is to go that day.
5. Pay for gas, we're going out of our way to accomodate you, and its not "nice" to ask you to help pay for some expenses, but please ask if you can help pay, your answer will most likely be "Thank you very much!"
6. Help out in the kitchen ~~ you're an extra mouth to feed, help do the dishes pleeeeaaasseee!
7. I have children, if you buy treats (chips, candy, etc) buy enough for everybody, it'll make my life so much easier.
8. Please don't rearrange my kitchen arrangement, its that way for a reason.
9. Please don't wake up very early and wake everybody else up (esp on a weekend) and please don't shush my kids, I'll shush you back.
10. Reciprocate the favor to people who have welcomed you to their home.

Umbrellas

2008-06-27T20:38:00.002-08:00

**image by adverbox.com

**image by sz-wholesale.com

Tuntutuliak

2008-06-26T21:01:00.002-08:00

Tuntutuliak is situated on the Kuskokwim river, I think. Its a small Yupik Eskimo village with very friendly folks. Religion there is Moravian (Protestant) and Russian Orthodox. The name itself means "place of plentiful caribou" (I think) Years past, the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta had these creatures roaming the country. These days, there's none to be found. Older people reminisce about times when wildlife was abundant. They were probably over hunted or migrated to less populated areas. Anyway, back to Caribou Land. I think I've visited Tuntutuliak 4 or 5 times in my life time. A few times for basketball and every single time (Don, I know you hate that saying, hehehhe) we'd get weathered in. One trip, we got to roller skate in their gym waiting for weather to clear out -- our gym floor at home had carpet (who ever heard of that??? ouch! rug burns!) It was the first time I got wheels on my feet and it was pure enjoyment. I went there for a church thing one winter (and got weathered in till Tuesday!) was supposed to leave Sunday. I had a friend who was a Russian Orthodox who had lived there her whole life and had never attended a service at the Moravian Church. She really loved the songs I grew up hearing and how people would go up and sing requested songs, or whatever they chose to sing. It was an eye opener for my naive young self, for where I grew up, there was only one church. I myself have never attended a Russian Orthodox service. One summer I got to go there with fellow young people to attend Youth Camp (another church thing) for a week. I don't remember too much about it but Christine and Ringo and I stayed at the Enochs, who had two young boys. We'd have to get up early to attend services and do church-type things during the day. And thats all I remember about it. I was probably 14 yrs old. One winter we went snow machine riding through their curvy river, through willows and it was pure bliss, it was beautiful, with the snow so crisp, a white paradise. In Kipnuk, we'd just ride in open country, never in the rivers, because it was bumpy and the scenery was the same. Now, the only time I get to see Caribou-liak (as Sophie says) is when we stop for a mail drop or picking up passengers on the way to for from Bethel on the way to my hometown. Its probably changed just as much Kipnuk has, growing in population, crime rising, kids wilder ... but that is what I have to say about the land called "Tunt".

S - Seven S's

2008-06-25T18:30:00.004-08:00

S - Sophie I.C.U. - My friend whom I adore and share many sillinesses with. I've known her for many a year. (hehehe) I recall when she had a birthday party and people calling her "Crazy" in an endearing way--she might have been 4-5 yrs old. She probably said the word and people were saying that to her because it was so cute when she said it. And Crazy is what she is and so much fun. She lived with me and Kayla for a time and she is the best housemate anybody can have. I miss being with her, she lives 376 miles away from my house right now, raising two very cute boys, and visiting our hometown at the moment. She hopes to attend several "seal parties" while she's on her adventure to home, so you ladies in Kipnuk, hope you have some planned!

S - Sincerity, Its so wonderful when you meet people that are sincere from the very beginning. I hope I come off to people in that sense. When people say Thank you, or Have a great day, and you can see that they really mean it and see it in their eyes, really makes my day. I stopped at Fred Meyers in uniform one day, and a lady stopped me and said "Thank you for serving our country" and squeezed my arm. That small gesture made me feel spectacular, like a #1 person, it was really touching.

S - Sleep, precious sleep. Resting your body from the stresses of life. A resting period for your mind, your body, your soul ... I love my comfy bed that lulls me to sleep because its so comfy and soft. Cool sheets that seem to drop my body temp as soon as I lay on them and then warm to my body temp to get the flow of sleepiness going, but so hard to get out of when its a dreary day.

S - Serpents, yuck, I'm terrified of those, and those would be snakes. We're not accustomed to those reptiles (are they?) in the Northern Hemisphere where we live. I've seen them in the lakes of Oklahoma. Some would plop down to the water from the trees they were slithering from, and give me the biggest startle. I've seen a garter snake in the gardens of my mother-in-law and screamed away, and all she said was, oh its just a garter snake. I don't like slithering snakes.

S - Sisters, I only have one and thank God for that! hehehe. But sisters are wonderful (and I'm relieved that I am the older one). She's my friend, my confidante, I can count on her, I can be mad and ugly, but she forgives me because I'm her sister (I think).

S - Summers, our very short summers, but very long days. I love them. Days of mosquitoes, barbeques, swimming and rainbows. (I don't think I've ever seen a rainbow in the winter, snowbows?) I love the green of the grass and the trees, fishing, marshmallows, and having my skin turn darker. Colors outside are vibrant and full of life, I love summer.

S - Singing, and singing from the bottom of your heart and tummy. I enjoy exercising my vocal chords, esp with friends at karaoke. I've enjoyed singing at choir practice on Thursdays in Kipnuk requesting any song in the song book and 35 people would sing along and it would be so heart warming! Its most fun when its "Song Fest" time and so many people from other villages show up to the practice and have hundreds of people singing in harmony. Once during teen age service, I think it was on Tuesdays, Tim Samson volunteered people to go up and sing because nobody willingly would. I think it was me and Sofe that he "volun-told" to sing a song and we picked "This is my Father's world" and we sang it so beautifully. What a great memory!

**image from maggiefinchdesigns.com

Raven Tanner Doak (Nagyuk)

2008-06-19T23:43:00.004-08:00

Huggie, as Jeff calls her, is our precious, percocious, 8 year old.

She was born April 13, 2000 at 10:38 in the morning and was in such a hurry that she was delivered by a nurse.

She'd dance to music in my tummy and give my ribs such torture. When she was in my tummy, I'd only eat honey bbq chicken wings from KFC, a whatchamacallit candy bar with beef jerky (take a bite of the candy and then take a bite of the jerky and chew together) I know-- what weirdness.

She loves to sing and has a beautiful voice and can pick up a tune just from hearing it once. Shes a great soccer player, its her 3rd year playing this year and runs really fast. An avid lover of the outdoors, she reminds me of myself, in the summer time, she's out the door as soon as her head is off her pillow. She is trying really hard to stop sucking her thumb (she only does it at night now.) Mint chocolate chip is her favorite ice cream. She isn't a big fan of breakfast, but her fave food is my hamburger pie dish, and can drink Coke one can after another. She loves anything on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, the shows Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters. She has outgrown "Beckblora the Explora". She's an independent growing girl and despises anything her brother does and believes that her sister hates her. Her best friend right now is a 9 yr old boy who lives next door to us. She learned to ride her bike recently and rides it like a pro now. She likes to read books, which I 'm so proud of. She's my besto best, the very best, a goot goot goot, a flying bat.

Qumliyuk

2008-06-19T19:05:00.003-08:00

Qumliyuk: YUPIK (adv) ... a feeling of immense ridicule, contemptous derision, aggravation .....naam -- I can't explain it in English. These are thirteen things that have made me very qumliyuk.

Obvious rudeness, say like, standing in line, and the person you're waiting for, knowing you were standing in line, says to the person next to/behind you, can I help you? Purposely ignoring that you were there already (Not mentioning places, ahemm..... some NP folks are like that --- rudies)
Being a "new" person anywhere, and people double guessing everything you do just because you're "new" there.
When you realize that people you think are mutually close friends with, aren't that close anyway.
An adult being rude/mean/qumli to your kids for no reason other than just being rude/mean/qumli.
People who think they're a higher priority in everything just because of who they think they are over others.
Conversations that go on as if you weren't there to talk for yourself (i.e. my kids "Dad, how come mom says I can't sleep over at so and so's house?" while I am sitting there.)
Our dog, Duke, just for being.
Counting on someone and then they back off at the last minute.
Driving down a long empty straight road and another driver tail gates when they could pass at any time.
Trying to sleep and people seem to obviously make loud noises--talking loudly, laughing as loud as they could, clacking on a keyboard as hard as they could, slamming doors as hard as they could (or so it seems)
Braggy people of every little thing.
People who think they know everything.
Ahhh, last one, save the best for last: I am qumliyuk of when you innocently ask a question because you don't know and somebody answers "Its common sense!" when its not, stupid b*tch, thanks for letting me feel like a total ignorant @ssh0le in front of everybody, and then smirking after that. I hope somebody makes you feel the way you made me feel someday to the most utterest degree.

Paranormal

2008-06-14T18:06:00.009-08:00

Its been a long time since I had dreams where I felt like I could feel my "soul" being outside of my body. And this picture reminded me of that.

Paranormal to me means having experiences with other beings that are not visible to this world--or everyday things that we're used to.

I've never really had any encounters as to what we'd call ghosts but have had very weird things happen, but no real contact with another parallel side of life.

One weird thing that I have experienced was waking up in the middle of the night and hearing noises in the hallway and looking out my bedroom door and seeing my brother Oscar coming down the hallway. I thought nothing of it and started toward my bed. Turning around, I saw that Oscar was already sleeping in the other bed that was in my room (we used to have bunkbeds and had separated them because sleeping on top was too warm so close to the ceiling.) I woke him up and laid down next to him (with me by the wall) and hugged him to me trying to fall back asleep even if he complained that it was too hot.

I do have very confusing dreams too, especially if I take a nap during the day. I'll be aware of myself and then something weird will happen like people I know that aren't in my house are there, say like, anybody who I know is not normally in my house, and then I'll know I'm not totally awake. I could see what is around me, but can't wake myself up and I'll try so hard to try to even slightly move a finger because even the smallest movement will wake my body up. And I wake up very scared thinking I wouldn't be able to awake from the dream.

Octopus

2008-06-12T18:17:00.002-08:00

**image rightwingnation.com

No no no!

2008-06-07T20:25:00.008-08:00

A big fat "No" ... the worst word my kids hate to hear, and probably most everybody. What a disappointing word when you think about it. I say it and dislike it when its said to me.

So, when can a big fat NO, be turned into a positive? Examples follow:

1. From a trooper: Would you like a ticket? (A big fat) NO!

2. From the sky: Rain today with stormy, gloomy weather? Another big fat NO!

3. From a mosquito: Should I insert my proboscis and make your skin itch like there's no tomorrow? NO

4. Our darn dachsund Duke: Poop inside because I'm too dachsundy to poop outside? Disgustingly NO

5. Computer: Act quirky and refuse to do what you want me to do? NO NO NO!

Lastly, do you think my writing is boring? Hopefully a BIG FAT NO.

Marshmallows

2008-06-07T17:10:00.004-08:00

**image from paskesz.com

Its summer time and time to roast these delicious,sugary fluffs of white. The other day I was wondering how this treat was invented. Well, I did a little internet research and learned it was originally used for medicinal purposes. It was used as a syrup and ointment made from a plant called the marsh mallow, native to eastern Europe and the northern part of Africa. The root sap was mixed with sugar and egg whites. The concoction was made to soothe a sore throat. The leaves from the plant were used to remedy chapped skin and minor wounds. The stuff itself dates back to the ancient Egyptians - but thats going a bit too far for my blog.
Alex Doumak patented the extrusion process of this treat in 1948, meaning he found a way to manufacture this product to where its run through tubes and cut into its cylindrical spongy shape, coated, and packaged.
To end my blog, I'm including a recipe for brownies that I made a few weeks ago that includes this yummy sponge:

I got this recipe from Goodhousekeeping.com and it was delicious! For yummier-ness, I added nuts into the batter. Next time, I'll fold in marshmallows into the batter too and bake. Enjoy.

1 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
3/4 cup(s) (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
6 ounce(s) unsweetened chocolate
2 cup(s) sugar
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cup(s) miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cup(s) assorted nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan.
On waxed paper, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In 3-quart saucepan, heat butter and chocolate over medium-low heat until melted, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs; stir until well mixed. Stir flour mixture just until blended. Spread batter in pan.
Bake brownie 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from edge comes out clean. Sprinkle top of brownie evenly with marshmallows; top with nuts. Bake 5 minutes longer or until marshmallows melt slightly. Cool in pan on wire rack. When cool, cut brownie lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 6 pieces.

LOVE

2008-06-04T20:36:00.003-08:00

Today is my husband's birthday. Happy Birthday Stevo! And today's letter is L which fits perfectly. I'm not going to be all mushy, but these are the top ten things I like about my LOVE, (since its his day, I'll dedicate this blog to him :))
1. I love my husband because he is considerate and an overall gentleman. He'll open the door for others and is hardly rude to anybody.
2. I love Stevo because he makes me laugh and just a glance to eachother can set us off with hysterical laughter.
3. I really like that he enjoys the same stuff as I do, fishing, reading, camping, and just being outdoors.
4. I like that he'll switch restaurant food orders with me if I think his food looks better than mine.
5. I love that he'll go take care of our outdoor dog when she's barking and keeping me awake at night.
6. He wakes up in the middle of a deep sleep when I wake up with a scary dream and holds me until I get too hot and moves away when I tell him to move away.
7. I love to hear his laugh that comes from deep in his belly and it makes me laugh just hearing it and most others around him.
8. He's a very good role model for our children and he has fun and cherishes each and every one of them.
9. I love that he's silly and kind of a goofy guy and very handsome at the same time.
10. I love Stephen because he's intelligent, witty, caring, and all of 43 years old today. I love you Stevo!

**image from strawbale.com

2008-05-30T19:16:00.004-08:00

(In the 80s)

I grew up in a tiny community in western Alaska in the cool 80s. Back then, it was so carefree, we left our stuff unlocked, didn't have to worry about anybody taking off with our bicycles if we left them anywhere, we all spoke only Yupik to eachother with an occasional kass'aq word, we spent hours yaaryuiqing and playing "bat". We'd play "Go" where the person who was going first said "Go" and you couldn't laugh out loud from that point on, the person who LOL-ed first would go next. If you forgot to say "Go" before you did your bit, it didn't count. One "Go" I remember was Lenna and I in their old house, she was pretending to play the guitar with a broom, strumming the straw with her fingers and turning her face side to side with her eyes closed singing away to whatever we saw on Hee Haw. When she moved her "guitar" out she hit the cord that supplied light to the room and all of the sudden blackness, Lenna soundless in the middle of her song. We laughed till our tummies hurt, gasping for air I imagine, and probably peed in our pants.

Summers were long and we enjoyed "fishing" in the old dried out lake that had little rivelets running through, using old cans with holes cut on the bottom, and we'd only go after Sunday school for some reason. Our fathers would be out of town fishing and most 20 somethings and older away to work at canneries in Naknek. So the village would be just mothers and children, and we loved those days.

Fall brought mouse food season time. We'd go out to the tundra and feel with our feet for springy parts of the tundra for caches of mouse food. Tear open a piece of moss to find roots a mouse had collected away for the long winter. I'd feel bad for the poor mouse who'd done all that work just to have somebody come around and steal it away, (When I found a cache, I wouldn't take the whole thing and leave some there for the poor mouse.) Lenna had told me when she had went with her aunt Lena, she went to "pakik" a cache and the mouse was in there and popped out!

Winters were long and cold but didn't keep us out. We'd love it after a big snow storm, the big berms of snow to slide down on. We'd build snow tunnels, with the help of the older ones and bring out candles from home to light the long elaborate crawl ways. There was one cool tunnel that I remember where you had to jump in from above and slide down to the lower areas and crawl your way through.

Spring was a new beginning and very refreshing. We'd all go down to the Qukaqllik river to see the ice drift out. As soon as it was out, boats would be zooming past on the cold murky river. We'd be out hunting for eggs of all kinds of shore birds and men in the ocean hunting for seal and ocean birds. You'd wish to be lucky enough to find the bigger eggs. My brother Thomas once found a nest of swan eggs and the shells were thick enough for him to put an egg on each of his back pockets of his jeans while carrying the rest. My mom burst out laughing when he dug out eggs from his back pockets, and asked "They didn't break?"

I wouldn't trade the days of my childhood for anything. All the fond memories, the fun times are irreplaceable. Who else but me have these memories.... Kipnuk is my home, on a bend on the Qukaqllik River.

Jacks

2008-05-30T18:42:00.002-08:00

**image wikimedia.org

I love, I hate

2008-05-23T23:46:00.007-08:00

I love to eat: pasta, any kind, with shrimp, chicken or whatever's available. Chocolate, the expensive kind, or the ones my husband's brother sends us from Norway. I love to eat salt cured salmon with hot tea sharing with friends. I love to eat butter clams fresh from the sand bars, steamed, and with uquq.
I hate to eat: beets, peas, and chicken ala king, yecchhhhh ~~ I was forced to eat them at school when I was younger and hate them to this day.

I love to go: on vacation anywhere, because its time off from work and a little change of scenery is very refreshing. I love to go to the ocean because I love the open water.
I hate to go: to work on drill weekends. Twelve day work weeks suck butt.

I love it when: my kids come up to me and give me a hug and kiss and say they love me for no reason. I love it when I'm driving through town and all the street lights are green and I don't have to slow down. I love it when I'm the very first person in line at a busy store. I love it when anything I'm purchasing is on sale!
I hate it when: people are grumpy and take out their grumpiness on me even if I have no control of what their dilemma is. I hate it when I go to reach for a nice, thirst quenching Coke and there's none left. And I hate it when there's no toothpaste left in the tube.

I love to see: kids exuberant with joy. I love to see hot air balloons in a big blue sky. I love to see people helping other people out.
I hate to see: construction signs on the road. Trash anywhere, dog hair, dog poop, junk mail, and "closed" signs. I hate to see dirty dishes and unorganized tupperware.

I love to hear: a beautiful harmony, birds chirping, waves crashing onto the shore. I love to hear the voice of a friend on the phone that I hadn't heard from in while.
I hate to hear: incessant chatter, mad, upraised voices in anger, and busy signals on the phone. I hate to hear screeching of tires, and especially, outright lies. I hate to hear yelling.

2008-05-23T21:24:00.004-08:00

I can just see on my five year old's face, total honesty. When do we lose that look? I can tell when my 17 yr old daughter is not telling the truth because her cheeks turn red and her eyes are a different sheen. And my 8 yr old, she'll answer too quickly to the untruth when she's been in the wrong, but then she'll tell me later that she hadn't told the truth, and I knew all along.
I myself aren't totally honest all the live long day. To when somebody asks me, how are you? and the automatic answer is "Good" when sometimes its "Not so good".
I remember in 4th grade, I was sitting next to the door with Galecia Evan, our teacher asked me to go open the door when somebody was knocking, (it was a privilege then to get out of your seat) and Galecia went and opened the door instead and I got so mad at him and whacked him on the back with my arm. He cried and Mrs Cyr asked if I had hit him and I said "No" as innocently as I could, and other kids told her that I had, so I had to stay after school for not being honest. I was so embarrassed by my lie. And I wondered, if nobody saw, would I still have been embarrassed? Probably not.
Once I snuck out of the house in the summer time, and Mom woke up when I was walking in the door and I said I was getting something from the porch and I knew all along that she knew I wasn't telling the truth. It was enough to scare me not to do it again.
Thinking of history and happenings in the world, who killed OJ's wife? What really happened with Bill Clinton and Monica? And who killed JFK ..... I wonder...... if there was an honesty pill, how different our world would be.

**image from www.emergingcity.com

Graduation

2008-05-20T16:36:00.003-08:00

Graduation

It’s that time of the season where scholars are donning the cap and gown and completing a chapter of their lives. How wonderful! I am proud of their accomplishments and hope that some day that I’ll be in those ranks.

Some of the days I remember about school are fond and I relive them once in a while, especially during this season. First day of kindergarten was one I’ll always remember. It was raining and us wearing our catalog ordered clothing waiting for the bell to ring so we can go into the school. I was holding my mother’s hand and we were standing in the porch of the old 3rd grade building, along with other eager children and their proud mothers. I remember Mr. Elliot being our teacher and how we’d be scared of him. One moment I remember was when he was trying to coax me to go over this huge jungle gym triangle and I was so terrified to throw my other leg over the top, but I did it – and Dora Dock was right behind me and she did it too because I was able to. I remember not knowing which boot to put on the correct foot and I was always asking Lois which one should go where. So many memories. Graduated from 8th grade at the church and I was wearing the dress Susan’s mother had made for me at Susan’s wedding – with my longest sleek hair wearing those barrettes. John Cyr and I had gotten these very nice ivory key chains with our names on them that Steven Mann had carved. The Cyr’s moved away that year and we went on to high school. How very nervous we’d be being in school with the older kids. We had Civics class with the seniors and we’d be so shy when it was our turn to read out of the textbooks. After 4 years, which seemed like forever, three of us walked down that aisle wearing our caps and gowns. It had been blizzardy and none of our guest speakers made it out to the village so they did a teleconference. And that year, they didn’t have a band class so we had to march down to recorded music. The next day after graduation, I got mono, yuck and was sick for 2 straight weeks right at the beginning of summer vacation.

** image from: www.ecoliblog.com

F is for Fridays

2008-05-16T18:07:00.003-08:00

**image from: www.zwani.com

E

2008-05-09T23:19:00.004-08:00

E is for Ella. E-L-L-A, I'm named after my grandmother whom I never knew. My Dad's mother , who died when my Dad was about 5 years old --from Tuberculosis. She was an older sister of Lewis Samson, Lucy Martin, James "Bob "Samson and Katie Kashatok.
I hear she was beautiful, like most grandmothers would be. I imagine that she was gentle and loving and caring and all that grandmothers are.
She was a mother of only 2, Anna who now lives in Napakiak and my Dad who lived in Kipnuk and his name carries on with my brothers.
Growing up, her friends would call me her "pet names" .... Mom Samson would call me Taqtass' and her daughters call me that to this day. Nayuumiralria would call me "yuquq" (and I would hate that, and say to her, "Elpet yuquuguten" ) I use to dream of her after she died calling me that. Once I dreampt I was looking in a mirror and she was right behind me calling me that and I looked away and looked out the window and she was there again mouthing those words SOOOOO CREEEEPY!!!!
And Katie Kashatok calls me her Alaq after her and I love that.
Lucy Martin, I had a special name for her, I called her my Kukiiyaaq and wouldn't want anybody else to call her that. I don't know what it means, I had just started calling her that out of the blue and it was what my namesake used to call her. She has a special place in my heart.
If I could have known my grandmother, I know I would've loved her with all my heart. I would've cherished every moment that I would've spent with her.
I know that she lives on with me.
Her name is Acuruunaq, and I'm proud that I carry her name.

2008-05-08T18:53:00.004-08:00

Yesterday was Donna's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DON!! Today's blog will be things that I like that begin with the letter D.
1. Donna - she's a great sister. I can tell her pretty much anything and she'll listen to my griping without criticizing. She and I laugh a lot, esp reminiscing about old times.
2. Diamonds - who doesn't love dazzling diamonds?
3. Dining out - no dishes to do afterwards! I've been craving for Outback Steakhouse.
4. Doughnuts - made the yupik style with hot tea to dunk it in.
5. Dollars - its nice to have a little $pending money.

**image from: www.elfinspell.com

I've Thought

2008-05-07T02:03:00.000-08:00

Yo Buddy Old Pal, I missed you, where have you been? (Hug!)
I've thought about you and thought about the fun times we've had.
I laughed really hard when you said "I peed in my pants!" even though I'd done the same.
I thought about the time we laughed, rolling, holding our tummies, cuz it hurt so bad from laughing,
and trying to relax the smile cuz it hurt from so much smiling.
I've thought about the nostalgia of both of us being at the same level of happiness and experiencing the hilariousness at the moment.
And then the next day, we try to tell it, and its not the same .....

Courage

2008-05-06T18:22:00.006-08:00

Wikipedia says: Courage, also known as bravery, will and fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.
I wonder if it means the same as "Capriteq" (Yupik) Cap = block? riteq = not having? (My poor attempt at breaking down words) I've been told I was capriteq, and sometimes the way its said to me is, kind of, in a bad way. Some people say it in a certain way where it makes me feel that I had done the wrong thing.
Joining the military took a lot of courage on my part, and so many people ask me how I was able to do that. Well, I had two choices, live off my parents in the village (with no running water to this VERY day), doing a dead end job, or create a life for myself and my daughter going to places I'd never dreamed of going and doing things I never imagined myself doing.
I've been to countries that I would have never been able to afford to visit, observed cultures so very different from mine, met a lot of kewl people and saw a lot of things I would have never been able to see stuck in a village 4 miles from the Bering Sea.
Some of the neat things I've been able to do, being COURAGEOUS have been: rode a bicycle to an island on a man made "trail" over the Atlantic ocean in Panama, went shopping in a gondola on a river market in Thailand, experienced a sand storm in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, rode the subway in Tokyo, shopped the street shops in Korea, and saw a magnificent sunset in Italy. If being "capriteq" is that, then:

My message to you my friend is: Be COURAGEOUS and do something different today!!! (If I did, so can you!)

**image from: www.womens-wellness.com

Bingo!

2008-05-03T00:01:00.004-08:00

Todays letter is B for Bingo!!! I haven't played in a while but I love the game. I like walking into the bingo hall full of older people, the smoky tinge in the air and feeling "I'm going to win tonight!" I like the exhilaration when I have one number left to mark and then seeing it on the screen, then yelling BINGO!! and hear the groan of the other folks cuz they were one number off. I like seeing my old buddies there and telling eachother we needed I-28 for the thousand dollar game and congratulating the winners of the night.
On another note, beginning is another word for b. There is a new beginning, every day, every hour, every second.

**image from: www.jadedwritings.com

2008-05-01T02:06:00.002-08:00

I'm copying a theme that I saw on a different blog. It is where you blog about every letter of the alphabet. Today is A.

A is for Alaska, the great land that I'm from. Where asveq (walrus) is a delicacy especially when sharing with friends from near and far. For akuutaq after and yummiest when its sweet. The aurora, a magnificent sight to see. A is for Alaska, my home sweet home.

2008-04-16T23:15:00.002-08:00

So, there was this older guy at my husband's old workplace, so, they'd ask him everyday, "Earl, whats the word?" and his answer would be "Legs, spread the word."

100 things about Me:

2008-03-13T21:12:00.001-08:00

1. I love tea - any kind, but mostly Earl Grey and Plantation Mint
2. People who keep saying "Hah?" annoy me
3. My favorite smell is bike tire rubber
4. I’m scared to go on the Ferris wheel
5. I’m afraid of deep water
6. I get sea sick on big boats, but not the smaller ones
7. Rude and unfriendly people should keep their rudeness and unfriendliness
to themselves.
8. I believe in working smarter, not harder.
9. I enjoy country, pop and rock music.
10. Reading is one of my passions.
11. I love to sip Cafe Zinfandel
12. I can snap my toes
13. My worst fear is losing my kids and my husband
14. Scary dreams creep me out
15. Prime rib is my favorite meal
16. I’ve lived in Alaska and Oklahoma
17. I met my husband in a gas station (ha ha haaa!)
18. Fishing is one of my favorite past times
19. I enjoy watching The Price is Right, Dr Phil and House
20. One of the weirdest things I’ve eaten is fish eyeballs
21. I’ve been to Japan, Thailand, Panama, South Korea and Saudi Arabia
22. Stride Spearmint Gum is the best thing invented ever
23. I dislike cats
24. Karaoke is a lot of fun
25. I’ve been in the military for 13 years
26. I learned to ride a bike at 7 yrs old
27. I do not enjoy doing dishes
28. I’ve ridden a sea doo off the coast of Florida
29. My childhood best friend is Lenna White
30. I’ve driven from Anchorage to Oklahoma City with my sister and my
daughter and then OKC to Fairbanks with my family
31. I wish my hair was thicker and longer
32. I threw a snowball from about 75 feet and hit the face of a teacher
right as he was turning around
33. Steam bathing is the best way to relax and cleanse your body
34. Vicious and huge dogs terrify me
35. My husband says a lot of corny and eye rolling stuff
36. I hardly ever have cash on me anymore - I love the debit card
37. Being a passenger in a car puts me on edge
38. I do not like beets or peas
39. I can crochet and knit
40. Excessive cussing bothers me
41. Yelling disheartens me
42. I wish I had a Yupik style mink coat
43. Watching people slipping on ice makes me laugh
44. I would love to visit the northern part of Alaska
45. My favorite place in Alaska is Valdez
46. My favorite restaurant is the Pepperoni Grill in Oklahoma
47. I miss the restaurants in Oklahoma City
48. I’ve never ridden in a helicopter
49. I’ve seen a whale’s fluke (tail) going into the ocean
50. I’ve never had a manicure or a pedicure
51. Family Guy is sometimes hilarious
52. My favorite movies are Memoirs of a Geisha and Jerry MacGuire
53. Twix is my favorite candy
54. My dream vehicle is a Toyota Highlander
55. I do not enjoying shopping
56. I love receiving real mail, flowers, gifts and money
57. I sometimes delete forwarded email without reading them
58. I don’t like hearing a phone ringing off the hook
59. I don’t like the saying "Have a good one"
60. I’ve seen Green Day in concert
61. And Randy Travis and Alan Jackson
62. And Aaron Carter (with Kayla) and a few others, can’t remember their
names, George Jones
63. I’ve dismantled a beaver dam blocking a river with my dad
64. When people stare at me, I stare back at them, esp kids
65. I was at M-16 training when I heard about the September 11th attacks
67. I was walking into the Wood Center at UAF when I heard about Desert
Storm.
68. My brother Oscar fought in Desert Storm
69. My first memory was going into Carrie Amik’s (Aranassaagaq’s) house and
she gave me Bazooka Bubble gum, I think I was less than or about 2 yrs old.
70. Over confident, cocky people irritate me
71. I love hearing uncontrollable kids laughter
72. I don’t like the word cacophony because I don’t know how its pronounced
and the word just bothers me
73. I wake up very grumpy from afternoon naps
74. I’ve been to Hawaii twice, Maui and Oahu
75. I need to thoroughly clean my entire house
76. I think people say "okey dokey" or "okey doke" on purpose because of my
last name
77. I’ve only gotten into a disagreement/grudge type thing only once with
my brother James my entire life and it didn’t last very long :)
78. I’m allergic to penicillin
79. I have a friend that grew up with a Mennonite family
80. I have visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC
81. I have never been bitten by a dog or any animal
82. My typing speed is about 70 words per minute
83. I have run out of gas going somewhere in my car (embarrassing!)
twice!!! (doubly embarrassing!)
84. I have laughed uncontrollably during a church service trying not to
laugh out loud more than a few times
85. When my 4 yr old gets mad at me, he says "I’m going to spell your name
wrong" or "I’m not going to like your shirt"
86. I’ve seen wild horses and wolves in Canada
87. I believe my prayers have been answered a lot of times
88. I enjoy looking at the stars at night
89. I think I’ve seen extraterrestrial objects in the sky - driving to
Florida
90. I’ve experienced tornados in Oklahoma City
91. I want to color my hair to a darker shade
92. I don’t like being the new person anywhere (work, groups, etc)
93. I have never utilized some kitchen gadgets I’ve acquired
94. Being put on speaker phone makes me uncomfortable
95. I’ve seen Aaron Rodgers, who is replacing Brett Favre, in person at the
NCO club at lunch today - he looked good!
96. I own a Zune and not an iPod.
97. I prefer generic type sodas but just grape, orange and black cherry
flavors
98. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you - is my favorite
verse
99. I’ve had lasik surgery - I don’t miss wearing glasses or contacts
100. People should blow their noses instead of sniffling forever when
they’re around me

Kids

2007-11-10T02:41:00.000-09:00

My son Jeffrey - in advance, my kids aren't allowed to hit anybody, but this is how it goes. He says this all in one sentence without me getting a chance to respond till the end: "Mom, can I please watch Polar Express? If you say no, I'm going to hit you, if you say later, I'm going to hit you later, but if you say yes, I'm not going to hit you." (Big smile) The answer was, "After you brush your teeth."

Pilot Bread

2007-11-06T10:01:00.000-09:00

There's an article in the Anchorage paper about the rumored discontinuing of this wonderful invention of one of Alaska's staple food. Article says Alaska buys 98% of their stock! You can read the article here. Being Alaskan, I grew up on this flat circle oversized cracker. Ate it with butter spread on top, with whatever jam was available, put cheese on top and microwaved it to melt the cheese. I still eat it for breakfast with peanut butter and raspberry jam, piled high with chicken or tuna salad and with any soup. Growing up, we'd put it in a saucer and then let it "melt" with hot tea, sprinkle sugar and top and eat it with a spoon. Yum!

To Friends

2007-11-03T00:40:00.000-08:00

To my friends, thank you for laughing with me on the funnier sides of life, and sharing my sorrow when it came to be. Thank you for sticking with me when things weren't so great. But most of all, for loving me, no matter what, because thats what friends do. I thank you for being there and considered me your friend too.

How Bizarre

2007-11-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

So, one day, we were traveling back from visiting my mother and we happened to have a long lay over in a town between where she lives and where we live. Not wanting to spend the whole day at the air terminal, I decided we'd visit with friends that live there. After a short, uneventful ride from the airport we got settled, after saying hello and all those niceties. Our host put in a movie for the kids to watch (she had two of her own). She also had an array of other folks visiting/living with her, typical of households in the area, and not bizarre. So, one of the kids there was wearing an interesting outfit. It was a camoflauge pattern, but not the same design as military uniforms and it looked vaguely familiar to me. I thought nothing of it at first until he took his jacket off. His arms were covered in black, so I asked, Why are your arms so dirty? His reply was "Oh, its just from the jacket" Upon closer inspection with my keen, ever inspecting eyes, I found he was wearing a chemical warfare suit! The whole sha-bang with the charcoal lined jacket and pants! I was astounded, thinking, where would they have gotten a chem suit and why? So I asked his mother, "Why is So-and-So wearing a chem warfare suit?" His mother informed me in a nonchalant manner that her friend had bought it for him and he was wearing it as everyday wear. So I started chuckling and thought, who woulda thunk? How bizarre. But it doesn't end there.

So after having coffee and a few snacks, one of the ladies got the craving to have a few puffs of those cancer sticks. She asked one of her boys to give her her bag, and out came a cigarette making machine! She proceeded to fill the box with loose tobacco, and inserted a stick, just like the picture shows and cranked the handle to create the cancer stick! How bizarre!

2007-11-01T08:29:00.001-08:00

I am an avid reader of all books, I enjoy the outdoors, I love learning, I get annoyed over not so important things, I like the smell of rubber, as in walking through the bicycle aisle at Walmart or the tire section. As weird as it may seem, the few times I go there a month, when I walk through those sliding doors and past those cheery elderly greeters, I can't leave the store without walking through the bicycle and tire section just to take in the smell of the wonderful scent. To be honest, I can't even remember when I realized I liked the smell of it. And now that I think about it, I've never met anybody who shares this weirdness. And to let you know, L's really not the word, should be E, but my name kinda sounds like L, since its an El kind of name. So, the L kind of words that would apply to me, I think, would be: learning, laughing, lively, or lucid to name a few (in my own selfish opinion), but not: languid, lame, or livid.

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