Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I thought I was going brunette . . .

But my hair only took as far as brown.  My style will return to the usual tousled, curly-ish look. This is the straightened version that I always have Valerie do because I will never take the time to do it myself.

What do you think?


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Isn't Denali spectacular?

Yep. That's what it looks like from inside the park, on a clear day. Isn't it nice that there are people that take these beautiful pictures and post them to the internet so that you, too, can see Denali. I'd have posted the pictures we took on our trip but the mountain that is Denali makes its own weather and the weather it makes most often is clouds. And apparently rain. Boo.


Steve and I did, however, have a lovely time. We packed a cooler and a little bbq and stayed at very a moderate but very clean and comfortable hotel. The weather was indeed lousy but the company was excellent. I did the driving (Steve is amazingly willing to fold up his very large body and put it in my relatively small car) and he did all the cooking (I happily supervised from a reclining position). We played a fair amount of cribbage (I was five games ahead of him when we started but he narrowed it to three before we were done). He was a great co-pilot on the long drive. He's retired from Federal Fish and Game and worked for many years as an observer on big fishing vessels all over the world and then worked as a detective for the agency (he was a "fish dick" ha ha). He had some pretty good stories from both lines of work. And there's nothing like a long car trip to find out what your communication skills are like. Steve is as good a listener as he is a talker and I really appreciate that about him. It would be swell if y'all could meet him but you'll proabably have to come to Alaska to make his acquaintance.

Thomas is still slogging around the Carolinas spending time with family. While he has been glad to have time with his mom, he is itchin to get back home. Jilli and I have been having some nice slumber parties at Tommy's, taking advantage of cable and DVR to watch So You Think You Can Dance. What a great show and what a great group of dancers on it this year. If you're remotely interested in dance, this is a must see!

Oh yeah, earthquake this morning around 10:00. A 5 point somethin. Even if there's no damage, it's always unsettling to feel the ground move under your feet.


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Golf

I love it. Shot 9 holes today. If I play 18, I need a cart. I decided that I should shoot 9 so I can walk it. It's my hope that in a few weeks that's no big deal and I can walk all 18. But today, those three miles, swinging clubs were pretty challenging. But I shot a 46 and that's pretty dang good for me. I'm particularly proud of the fact that around the 7th hole when I was starting to get pretty fatigued, the wheels did not come off. My worst holes were just double bogeys. Tomorrow, I will be renting a cart and playing 18 with Jeff. That is always a good time.

Planning a little Denali trip with Steve for early next week. Because of weather, there is only a 25% chance of actually seeing the mountain on any given day. So we're going to go Monday and return Wednesday. I know it's math and I'm a girl, but I believe this brings us to around a 60% chance of seeing it. But even if Denali viewing is a bust, there should be moose, bear, caribou, fox, and the like. And we'll bring the cribbage board and the books we're reading. I'm working on a Robert Ruark book called the Old Man and the Boy. It really gives great insight to the values and skills of hunting and fishing. It's quite charming. And we'll pack a picnic and take a drive into the heart of the park. I will report back, hopefully with pictures to post.

Friday evening will be another fun family and friends game night. We've made that kind of a standard happening and it has been great fun. There seems to be less excessive drinking happening of late and I am very glad of that.