Where have I been?

Excellent question, not really a very good answer. The short answer is: working and trying to have a life outside of work. Luckily, I'm doing fairly well at the latter, hopefully OK at the former.

I went to SF for a 2 week training (I KNOW). It was a really good experience, and actually I did OK with visiting the city that had so much emotional weight for me with Alicia. It was awesome to stay with my brother for so long and we even still liked each other at the end! Pretty remarkable.

We've been enjoying the great Colorado outdoors, as well. The last few weekends have been perfect Colorado weekends. One of them was spent tubing Boulder Creek with our awesome former neighbors, then getting froyo on Pearl Street after. Bliss.
Another, we drove 5 hours to the Western Slope to hang out in a cabin with other friends, fish a little, and enjoy the beautiful wildflowers. Jasper got to truly walk off leash for the first time ever since we've had him and he was an absolute champ. Then this weekend, we took Jasper on a 5 mile hike to a mountain lake, loaded up his little pack with water, and now he is POOPED today. He just was motoring up the mountain, and now he's recuperating!

We had brunch with friends (and a pool party afterward), then dinner with another friend tonight, so we have been quite the social butterflies!

I've also been sewing quite a bit. I have a quilt top I intended to finish this weekend, which definitely did not happen (see: pool party, but worth it!), and have made several little clutches for friends and myself. So fun to have a project I can finish quickly!

Visiting Alicia

I got back last night from a week in San Francisco visiting Alicia. Well, "visiting" isn't exactly the right word to describe what it was I was doing there. Frankly, I don't know if there IS a word to describe it.

I want to write in more detail about different aspects of my experience later, but for the time being, I will try to describe it in one of my favorite forms: listing*.

My week in San Francisco was:
Surreal
Healing
Cathartic
Emotional
Supportive
Helpful (to some degree, I hope)
Other-worldly

Things I did while there:
Acted confused and bewildered for the first two days
Started to get my shit together on day three
Fell into the "visitor organizer" role, somehow

Took over part of the on-site coordination when the high school crew left

Transitioned the RA crew in

Kept busy so I didn't have time to think

Just *was*

Tried to stay awake for an all-nighter, at the end, but definitely fell asleep

Forgot to eat real food until noon, most days

Dropped a dress size (see above)

Emotions I felt:

Scared

Confused

Really fucking angry

Useful

Productive

Protective of Alicia

Protective of Alicia's friends

Panic

Body-wracking grief

Joy

Love

Friendship (see: rekindled, old)

Friendship (see: new, born of shared adversity)

Awed

Grateful

Many moments of consciously noting the importance, symbolism, or otherwise consciously observing the situation**

Hopefully I can commit more of my thoughts on this incredible, awful experience to writing soon and share them with you. It might take me a little while, and no promises I will publish everything I write. However, if Alicia was brave enough to share her story, I think I can share mine.

*Alicia knew this about me and sent me one of the most awesome books ever, that was written in list form. I need to go find that book now...

**Doesn't fit with the rest of the list, but there isn't a word for that idea***

***I have put more thought into the writing, style, and most importantly, punctuation of this post than any other in this shoddy blog, because I know Alicia would kill me if I made a typo or error, being the great copy editor she is.****

****There are definitely going to be typos. It's unavoidable. Sorry, Alicia. And the style of these footnotes is dreadful. Woe.

Woe, c'est moi!

Tonight, I cried over cinnamon.

Those near and dear to me know that when I am hungry, I cry. When I am getting sick, haven't eaten in 8 hours, frustrated with a hyper dog who just needs attention! attention!, home late due to a broken bus, leaving in 11 hours for a trip for which I have not packed, have an apartment to clean so the dogsitters don't declare us unfit puppy-parents, and desperately want some homemade chicken noodle soup but lack the time and energy to make it, and so make due with some applesauce for which I simply want some cinnamon, and yet the cinnamon is not where it should be! Well then... then I cry. Even while I realize how ridiculous I am. Throughout it all, I just kept thinking, "If Peter were here, HE would know where the cinnamon was!" (In fact he did. He knew it was at school where he took it for a cooking project for his students. Boo.)

Now, my stomach is full(er), the apartment is somewhat picked up, I had an excellent snuggle with Jasper (he really is the best snuggle-dog in the world), and I have exactly two shirts and two pairs of underwear packed. And I think I am going to give myself a freaking break and drive to work rather than try to catch the ass-early bus and attempt to get everything else done before 6 AM. Yes, I think I shall give myself a freaking break.

In brief

I've been internet-less for the past week and a half while visiting the in-laws in Michigan. Awesome time, but now I'm playing catch up (per uzh with vacations, I think). So here's the news in brief:

Preparing for thesis defense tomorrow. Alternating between confidence with progress and abject terror.

Still living amid boxes. In-laws nicely dropped off about 20 more filled with the hubby's paraphernalia from growing up (they are preparing to move too). Let's just say boy collected a LOT of stamps.

One of the boxes has these amazing little books that cover all kinds of topics. Thus far, the ones I can't wait to read are "Esperanto for Beginners" and "An Introduction to Philology (The Science of Language)." Other extremely promising titles: "Sex in Psychoanalysis," "Hypnotism Made Plain" and "How to Psycho-Analyze Yourself: A Confidential Analysis of Your Personality." All published around 1923-1924. Amazing.

In Michigan, we killed some time at a Big Lots, discovering $3 DVDs. Most miraculously, MANY of the movies were my kind of stylistic, esoteric films, like Adaptation, The Squid and the Whale, and Lost in Translation. God bless northern Michiganders who would rather see big blockbusters for sending these to Big Lots. I bought 15 of them.

Made a to-do list in MI (while I was avoiding thinking about doing any work). Fills a page of a legal pad.

Sat next to an 8-year-old on the flight from Chicago to Denver flying alone. Cutest damn kid ever, but a bit of a hellion. Too smart for his own good, but reminded me of how smart kids can be (you can get myopic only working with the kids we usually see as SLPs). Reading, spelling, and doing multiplication on his own and not even in second grade.

Got to visit Amish country in MI. Awesome because it's almost totally untouched by tourism. Considering the last Amish country I went to was Lancaster, PA, where I seriously had to leave it was so touristy, this was amazing. Everyone was so friendly and just living a normal life. Very awesome.

In-laws' house in MI is amazing. Right on the lake with a dock and everything. Saw wild turkey, baby fawn (with spots!), lots of birds and fish. Fished every night till dusk at 10:30. Had visions of FIL teaching our kids to fish. Also found out that the line of grandfathers and grandsons fishing together goes back to Peter's grandfather learning from HIS grandfather in Germany. So our kids def. need to learn how to fish, regardless of gender.

Considering doing some stress baking for the defense tomorrow. A dear friend is making brownies. Cookies would be a nice addition, no? Plus, I could break in our new oven. Hmm... can I find all the ingredients and tools needed? What about the cookbooks?

Finally, so grateful for all of the support I've gotten from friends for my defense. They are amazing. The end.

Chicago, Chicago

I thought I had no concept of Chicago. I thought it was merely a placeholder on the flat face of the Midwest; a blank metropolis in the middle of the generic "American-ness" that is the supposed heartland of this nation. It held no allure for me; I did not feel the tug of curiosity that impels the traveler to fill in the details of place along with name.

Or so I thought.

Even upon landing in the dark of winter evening, as the low houses flashed past the windows of the taxi, even then I could feel the city's essence. Hard working neighborhoods, staunchly neat and unpretentious, neither city nor suburb, gave way to huge, hulking shadows of scattered high rises looming over unseen streets.

Unbidden, fully-formed myths of Chicago sprung to my mind from the depths where they had been fed for years by poetry, songs, and stories I didn't remember digesting. In the pizza shop, I saw a tall man in an impeccable coat whose immense breadth immediately called to mind Sandburg's "City of the Big Shoulders":

HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders

A small detail on a bridge reminded me that this was the home of the Prairie school of architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright and that gorgeous aesthetic I had loved in so many other places. And yet it seemed to be so at home here, in a way that I had not felt seeing the style elsewhere.

Everywhere, details sang out to me that this, this place I had never given a second thought was the home of poets, architects, writers who have inspired me and fed my artistic soul for years.

Chicago

HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Carl Sandburg

Oh dear!

It has been QUITE a while since I last posted!

Let's see... right now I am in between a very fun (and story-filled) road trip with my brother from Austin, TX to Reading, PA and starting school again on Monday (boo to that). I also just reformatted my external hard drive, which thankfully only had two months worth of pictures that were not backed up, but it was a very, very scary time when I thought I had destroyed everything.

I've greatly enjoyed my three weeks off, but as usual, it didn't feel like that much time at all. I realized on this break exactly WHY my breaks never feel like time off. It's because I *don't* have any time actually off! I always work through, and often I have to work extra because I need to make up for time I needed for finals, etc. So yeah, I may have a day or two here and there where I have nothing specific to do, but in real life you get those EVERY WEEK. They're called "weekends."

I will post later today (hopefully) about our crazy trip through the Eastern half of the country. It was definitely an adventure, I'm glad I could help my brother out (just imagine what it would have been like WITHOUT me, Peej!) and we got to do some very fun things along the way. Right now, I am uploading all of my pics to Flickr, having learned the lesson of the deleted hard drive.

Back to Reality

Vacation's over; no more pretending that we can while away days without having appointments or schedules or deadlines or work. It was really nice while it lasted. I cannot wait until Christmas break. I don't think I've ever looked forward to a vacation more than this. I'm burnt out with school and work and am so very excited for an actual break.

Before we left, Peter and I worked like mad to clean the apartment, wash all the dishes, do all the laundry and generally tidy up. Though some things didn't get done (our table still has mini-avalanches any time you touch anything on it), it was incredible to come home to a clean apartment. It didn't stink, the floors were sparkling (I finally figured out how to use the omop properly and it's amazing), there was only a teeny pile of laundry, and you could actually see the floor. Awesome. I should really clean more often. But how would it ever stay clean if we didn't leave for a week?

In Nevada Airports

Children under 18 are not allowed in gaming areas of casinos, for very good reasons. Those reasons are being graphically illustrated to me as I sit in the airport, where it is much harder to keep children from the slot machines and other "toys." Three children under the age of seven are watching their father play a blinking, signing slot machine from across the walkway, far enough from him to really be illegally close, but still within earshot. They are enchanted. They track his wins and losses excitedly, calling out "You almost had it!" and "Ooh!" They are thrilled. He his their hero playing the fascinating money machine. They look like a very nice family, but the gleam in the oldest's eye makes me worry. He is too excited, too invested in the game. I can easily imagine him growing up and seeking that thrill he remembers from when he was a boy, forever chasing the glamor that only appears in the eyes of children waiting in a tiny airport, watching their hero playing the magical money machine.

Posting for posting's sake

Just made it back from a fun party, ready for bed. We go home tomorrow. Thanksgiving was great, I'll never be hungry again. My cousin had to put her beloved dog of 14 years down today, and since we sort of knew it was coming, I got some great ones of him and her together this morning. I'll try to post them later when I get them uploaded. I also got to see my friend Alicia (yay!), so that was wonderful. We went shopping for funfetti cake stuff. It rocked. Hope everyone had a great turkey day!

When Las Vegas IS home

Sitting in the airport, waiting for our flight to Vegas, Peter leans over and says, "I forget. We're just going home, but everyone else is going to Vegas." We're anticipating family, friends and food; our co-passengers are anticipating jackpots, shows and food. Very different perceptions, different experiences and different expectations of the same city. I'm happy for these people with their excitement for the experience, but I've flown on enough flights in and out of Vegas to know that the flights going in are always better.

Home vs. "home"

Vacation. Wow, this is great. Last night, I was actually *bored*. We had watched all our Netflix movies (Freaks and Geeks), I had tootled around on the Internet to a sufficient degree, and I didn't have any really pressing homework. So I did dishes.

We are going home to both our families tomorrow, and we couldn't be more excited. It's been way too long since we've seen our family and I miss everybody.

I was thinking about one thing that is easy as pie here that if we want to do it either in Vegas or in Reno, will be much more of a hassle: shopping. There are a bunch of sales going on right now, and I'm in the market for a new coat, but I don't have time to make it to the stores before we leave. However, if I want to go shopping here, I can either literally walk two blocks to a mall, or take an easy ten minute drive up to an incredibly nice mall with every store you could ever want (with plenty of parking).

In Nevada, shopping is concentrated in certain areas, which are near to no one. Every one of the city's half-million plus residents (more in Vegas) has to go to one of these areas in order to do any decent shopping at all, and so you must battle traffic, horrid parking lots and a bajillion people just to get something. It makes me very appreciative of our shopping situation here.

Another contrast between Reno (and probably Vegas too ) and Colorado. A giant new store just opened in Reno (Cabela's) and because this store was so hotly anticipated, some VIPs got to shop early. The VIPs included not only the governor, but also city council members. If Boulder city council members ever got treated so well, I'm sure there would be an instantaneous outcry form the populace and there would probably be some recall-age. In fact, I don't think city council members would even accept such an invitation because of the implications of cronyism and all that rot that they know would immediately come up. Not that the same actions in Reno don't spur the same feelings in citizens (since we all do know that pretty much all the politicians will do *anything* for the beloved business community), but people in Reno are too busy working and raising families and paying bills to do anything about their feelings. So the cronyism continues.

Not saying one is better or worse, but living in a different place can sure give you better perspective on home.

Winter Park

OK, we're in Winter Park (or a town nearby), internet access is sketchy, I'm hoping this will make it under the wire, but I'm not sure! More tomorrow when we get home...

Loving Sunday, Dreading Monday

Man, Sundays are great. Especially when you take the time to truly have a day of rest (seriously, I think all those religious traditions are onto something!). Peter and I both had naps today, though at different times. I have spoken before about my passion for naps, and today was a wonderful example of why. Drowsy afternoon, full belly from lunch, sunny but with a chill in the air and no appointments to make. Wonderful!

We went to the wedding of a friend of mine from school yesterday in Colorado Springs. It was the first time we had been there, but it probably won't be the last. It's actually a lot closer than we thought! Another good thing that happened yesterday: The Buffs WON! Amazing. I keep thinking about those of little faith, the scoffers and the disbelievers who didn't want to give
Coach Hawkins a chance. I hope they are changing their tune now! My family has followed him for several years now, since he was at Boise State, because one of my high school classmates from Reno went and played for him up there. He took that team from exactly the kind of fame Idaho has always had, and brought them to the national spotlight with the Fiesta Bowl game last year (even if he wasn't actually the coach, it was his recruits and his former coaching staff).

You could see the spirit even last year. I don't really know sports, I will admit, but even at some of the games last year, it just seemed like if we only had a little more time, we could have made a great comeback. The momentum would shift late in the game, but never soon enough to win. This game, I guess we managed to get *just* enough time to make that amazing field goal with seconds to spare. Now if we can just keep pushing that margin of time back, that would be great!

Well, Monday's less than an hour away now, which makes me sad and excited for next weekend already. I'm just so tired of constantly going with no breaks. Even a lunch hour would be heavenly. I don't know what I would do with all that time. In the meantime, I should probably look at my work for tomorrow and make sure I didn't miss something huge. Merry October too!

Second Day of Alaska

The picture of our second day in Alaska are up. We were still in Ketchikan, but it had begun to mizzle. We walked around town a bit as we had the day before, but the main event was a hike up to Deer Mountain. It started through old growth temperate rainforest, then ascended above treeline to where nice views would have been if it weren't raining. Apparently, the top was covered in snow, so we didn't make it quite that far. The hike itself was incredible and the misty rain just made it feel more magical.

After our slow soaking, we came back and wandered the small boat harbor while Peter caught small, bizarre sea fish. We then returned to our room on Creek Street, which is the old red light district. I think that pretty much explains most of the pictures, so enjoy!

Living a James Bond Movie

As promised, a blog about Whittier, Alaska. Motto: "Unique, even in Alaska!" And that's saying a lot.

The Lonely Planet book promised us that no matter where we went in the world, we'd never find another place like Whittier. I thought, yeah right. But now I'm a believer.

Whittier was built by the military in WWII as an alternate ice-free port to Seward, which was the northernmost at the time and not as defensible as the military would like. So they carved out a spot in between these huge mountains where it was cloudy most of the time so the place couldn't be spotted. PS Did you know that the Japanese actually occupied several of the Aleutian Islands during WWII and that there were huge battles there? Yeah, me neither. So this base was not some silly military paranoia.

Anyway, the flat area was practically nil, plus it was freezing-ass cold in the winter (duh) so the military built one huge building with everything in it: barracks, hospital, even a shooting gallery. For a while, it was the biggest building in Alaska. Eventually, they built another huge building as housing for spouses and families. The military peaced out in the late '60s, I think, which left the town in its current state. And what is that you ask?

Let's take a little tour of Whittier as it is now. To get to the town from the ferry building, you follow this pleasant sign:
Ah! A pedestrian tunnel! How thoughtful! How very urbane and sophisticated!

And then you enter the tunnel:

The camera makes the light seem much warmer and friendlier than it actually was. It was a cold gray tube that was impossible to see the end of, as it had a turn at the end, and that made me feel more claustrophobic and trapped than much else I've done. The first time in, it felt endless and maze-like, exactly like we were Cold War spies or refugees. But at last, the tunnel did end and we emerged into the sunlight (AKA not raining. Not raining= a beautiful day in much of Alaska).

Remember the first building the government built? So now it's abandoned and as creepy looking as you can imagine. There are stalactites on the calcium leached out of the concrete hanging visible through the empty windows and the concrete has molded and mildewed until it has turned some interesting shades. Why not get rid of this eyesore? Well, for one thing it's full of asbestos and for another, the guy who owns it lives in Anchorage and basically doesn't give a shit. So this hunk of poisonous concrete just sits there, visible from anywhere in town, and serves no purpose, except maybe as an excellent place for the poor children of Whittier to get some truly life-threatening thrills at midnight.




Because really, who wouldn't want to just hop on into a building like this:

Let's continue on our tour.

Now that the big building is out of commission, everyone lives in the OTHER building the government built, called Begich Towers. Yes, pretty much everyone in town (all 88) lives in the 14 story high rise. Oh, a high rise? Sounds very urbane and sophisticated! Well, remember that this was built by the military. In the 1960s. The outside doesn't look bad at all (lots of windows, you can see it in the background of the tunnel sign picture), but the hallways inside are exactly like living in a dorm built in the 1960s (which Peter and I did for two years each. We know.).
This could be home! On the first floor is a post office (with a very friendly post mistress), city offices, a laundry, a church. a general store, a clothing store and probably several other things. And the hallway looks exactly like this. Only the doors lead to stores and offices, not apartments. Odd, but handy for the 251 inches of snow they get, on average.

OK, all of this is slightly odd, probably quite unique, but not enough to qualify as a James Bond town. No, for that we need to head back toward the giant abandoned building. Imagine you are walking along a street (in the middle, actually; it's not that busy), with warehouse-y buildings on either side, when all of a sudden, you see this:

Men in head to toe white plastic suits, with only a hole for their face. They look a little like giant oompa-loompas (but not orange). Nuclear testing facility for an evil laser? Or fish packing plant? You decide. Ultimately, the henchmen sealed the deal for Whittier. Oh, and plus the only way to get in or out of Whittier (aside from the ferry or stowing away on a boat) is through this hole in a giant mountain:

It's only as big as a train will fit through, though they've now opened it up to car traffic. It was the longest tunnel in America until the Big Dig (finally) finished, but it still gets to be the longest highway-rail tunnel (cuz who's the competition?). When we were on the ferry, one of the guys was under the impression that since it was a "shared" tunnel, the cars drove alongside the train. Ha! Nope, cars get to wait 20 minutes or more for the train to go through one way, then for traffic to come through the other way, and THEN you can go through your way (does it look big enough to fit two lanes? Hells no.). When we were first walking toward it (our best hike began right next to the tunnel) I totally thought this was the little hut where you had to pay your toll or whatever. Check out this picture from Wikipedia and tell me it does not look like a toll hut:

Yeah, but no. That IS the tunnel. It was very exciting to go through on the train. Very dark. We talked to a guy about his new iPhone the whole time. Astonishingly, it didn't work in the tunnel under the mountain. Truly astonishingly, it DID work in Whittier. But poor Alaskans can't get iPhones because AT&T doesn't have a network up there, just partner carriers. They get mad if you use the partners every single day of the year and cancel your contract. So no iPhones for poor Alaskans, and they already suffer so much.

OK, I've blabbered on for WAY too long (kudos if you are still with us!), but I have to say they very best thing about Whittier is its stunning scenery. The hike from the tunnel led us to our own personal overlook of Portage Glacier, there were more waterfalls than I could count (literally), and the mountains rose out of the water in such a stunning way. Here is the view of Whittier from the top of our hike:



Thanks for reading!

Mmm... red meat

Home!

We got in to Denver at about 8 this morning after a restful red-eye (ha!). My body is so whacked out it doesn't know what to do. We slept for a few ours when we got home, ate whatever we could scrounge, did some unpacking, then I went back to sleep for another hour and a half. By 8:30 PM when we got home from Costco to restock the basics, I was so hungry I seriously was not able to function. A quick dinner and I'm ready for bed again. Peter went out to hang up some laundry and said "It's dark!" Weird. Darkness. Plus, um, have you noticed it's freaking hot? and humid? And supposedly it was cooler today. Woah.

In good news, we managed to get all the fish in our freezer:

We only had to take out almost all our veggies, nuts and fruit, but who needs those things when you have fish? Isn't protein all a human needs?

Oh wait, you want to hear more about Alaska? Who gives a flying crap about our freezer, you say? Fair enough. Since I'm tired and have a bowl of half-frozen strawberries to finish, I'll just give you a little update on how our trip ended.

We weren't sure what we were going to do with our last day in Anchorage; it was a much bigger city than anything we had seen before, but we were still trying to find things that interested us (we weren't feeling the museum vibe). We happened to see something about the World Eskimo Indian Olympics in the newspaper that morning (thanks Hilton!), but there wasn't much info about the when, where, etc. I guess they just figured you'd know all that if you were a local. So after some investigation, we found the spot and headed over (but not before stopping at the coolest bookstore after Powell's in Portland, Title Wave Books).

The newspaper had mentioned the crazy events in the Eskimo Indian Olympics, things that had to be seen to be believed. Read this for descriptions of the games. And if you want, go to YouTube and type in "World Eskimo Indian Olympics" or "WEIO" for some video (not too much there and none of it mine... yet).

The best part (for me) was the processional with all the different dance group from all over the state, with a few from Arizona and New Mexico thrown in for some variety. The songs, the drums, the traditional dress and the dancing were so incredible they brought tears to my eyes. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the processional. The lighting and the distance weren't great for my camera, so most of the pictures are mostly for memories, not so much to showcase the incredible beauty and diversity. Peter was taking video as well, so hopefully I can get that imported and digested somewhat soon.

Southeastern group:

My favorite picture of them all. Isn't she amazing?

Where time has no meaning

So much to say! So much has been done, seen and felt since I last had access to a computer (God bless Homewood Suites and free internet). Aside from the constant feeling of rocking earned by three nights on a ferry boat, I'm experiencing another new feeling. Time has no meaning in Alaska, at least in the summer, and especially on a ferry boat. The sun doesn't set, it doesn't rise, the days are perpetually cloudy and there are no appointments to make. Even eating becomes a matter for when the stomach declares it to be an issue, not when you "ought" to eat. I learned this the hard way when I started getting grumpy and hungry without understanding why until I looked at the clock and realized it had been many hours since I last ate.

Sleeping can follow this path too. We were scheduled to come into Prince William Sound, a lovely area by all accounts, very early in the morning so instead of going to bed early, I took a nap when nothing much was happening, woke up when Peter came in with reports of tons of porpoises (which were mostly gone by the time I got out, sadly) and a lifting of the clouds so that that mountains could be seen. So we stayed up until midnight, watching the sun set ever so slowly over the Gulf of Alaska, then woke up five hours later to see the incredible mountains and glaciers of Prince William Sound (no orcas though).

Even now, as I type, I am refreshed from a nap that I took after a shower in our lovely hotel room, awake at 11:30 PM so that I can use the busy business center for this little update. With any luck, I should also have some pictures to post as well.

I'm afraid my sleeping schedule will be even more off this far north, as the sky apparently is only dark for about an hour, but unlike on the ship, there is much to do here and certain times where things happen. May you all sleep well tonight!

Familiar and Unknown

When I flew into Reno, the pilot took a different route than I was used to, so I sat peering into the dark, trying to identify landmarks and coming up completely lost. I suddenly felt that maybe this wasn't "home" anymore, that everything that was so familiar to me might have changed to the point of unrecognizability and I would be a stranger in my own hometown.

As it turned out, they are doing construction on the main runway, so that's what caused my disorientation. Reno has changed, but I still recognized people everywhere I went, and as usual, my reaction to these encounters depended on who I happened to see. Most of them I didn't greet, either because I thought they might not remember me or because I had no desire to speak to them. Mostly the latter. Even though we've lived in Boulder two years, I'm certainly not to the point where I know people anywhere I go, and I'm thankful for this. I'm also thankful for not having drama and a past in Boulder. I lived a very boring, drama-free life compared to most of my friends, and yet even I have ghosts I'd rather not run into while shopping.

This is why people from small towns leave.

It's just that time of semester

Everyone is on the verge of a meltdown. I have more things due next week than I really care to think about and I'll probably spend most of this weekend working on them. I'd like to actually complete all course requirements this year and just be done! Graduation is in two weeks, and though I still have a teeny bit of work to do before I officially get my diploma, I'm so close I can taste it!

Also fun is that this summer is shaping up to be filled with traveling and visitors. My parents are coming for graduation, then I'm going to Reno for my brother's graduation shortly after that, then we have a possible trip to Northern Nevada with Peter's family, then Peter's family is coming here, then we go to ALASKA!!! Very exciting. We haven't traveled very much at all in the past few years, and we (I) have missed it. Be sure, I will be taking a LOT of pictures (especially in Alaska), and hopefully I will get some of them posted here.

It's very hard to write a 10 page paper on hereditary neurological deafness when I can daydream about all our fun trips!