Quite neglected

..you are. My apologies! For the love of lists and the lack of time I'm feeling now, I thought I'd present a list of topics I'd like to post about (and hopefully will in the near future):
- my utterly fantastic and gorgeous new clutch, whose name is Bess (I didn't even make that up, that's the model name!);
- the joy I got out of receiving great birthday presents from The Roommate, all within the 2008 Birthday Budget, and how good it feels to have a birthday budget in general;
- (potential) work excitement;
- birthday weekend at the fox farm;
- general excitement regarding what is to be soon regarded as My Year of Culture: a membership to the Anch. Museum and season tickets (you-pick) to the Anch. Concert Association;
- All Things Loon Related;
- I'm sorry, did I mention the purse yet?
- Reading a book that my newly-93-year-old grandmother has enjoyed so much that she read twice (and which I could hardly get to the end of);
- Halibut fishing girls weekend!
- Taiko drumming
- The visit by the in laws;
- the anniversary;
- Luna's third birthday;
- Rowing on Trail Lake;
- Biking up Hatcher Pass;
- Head of the Kenai;
- MS 150 bike ride;
- observing Grandpa Bob's passing;
- energy audits;
- Montana, Omaha, North Carolina, San Fransisco, Italy, Deadhorse by motorcycle, Australia! (a.k.a. trips planned in the next 13 months)

I suppose that is all for now. Good pictures coming soon, and a fulfillment of a birthday resolution to blog more (here's at'cha, Captain Colossal)!

Love,
B's Knees

North Carolina

I've recently returned from a bit of a family reunion in North Carolina. I was there for a socioeconomic training course, and in the meantime was able to visit with my grandmother, parents, brother, and brother's gay wife (sorry, Vanessa. Had to spill the beans.)


The transportation between the designated hotel (which I didn't stay at) and the campus where the course was being held was via the Bio Bus - a 1970-something Mercedes Troop Transport bus with these fantastic folding seats. There's a Durham outfit that runs shuttles that had found the bus in someone's old barn with only 15,000 miles on it or something similarly outrageous. They converted it to Biodiesel and voila! we were riding in style. It really was a great way to transport 17 people.

In the meantime, I had this little beaut:

While there, we celebrated Dad's 60th birthday party. He was appropriately humble:
Grandma Bess was looking chipper and likely thinking "60? Try 90, you whippersnapper."All in all, an excellent trip. I was able to enjoy some true springtime weather, see my family whom I adore, and even learn a thing or two. I was also lucky enough to wedge college pal Jennie and new pal Alexis/Loocie into the back seat of my sweet ride:

Rest In Peace, Bozo

My Most Expensive Fish Ever, Bozo the clown plecostomus ($11), has apparently gone to the fishtank in the sky. He was so cool! I wonder if living with all the ammonia waste-spewing goldfish finally did him in. Or maybe it was that I never did get him any Spirulina tablets. Those of you in town may remember my 6-month-long Saint Patrick's Day fishtank, the result of an incessant algae bloom that I could not get to go away. I ended up performing a complete tank change - even washed the inside of the tank with Simple Green (and then rinsed it about one hundred times). And the fish seemed to love it! They were psyched! This was maybe a month ago? Right before in-laws came to visit? So I know it can't be that to inspire Bozo to bite it. The other fish (Fishie, Nice Fishy, and Bruiser) are hanging out on the opposite side of the tank. They're not even eating him. Tells me they must have liked Bozo - they ate the Otto fish that I used to get.
This all reminds me of the first time I fish-sat for Brother and his girlfriend at the time. They had a "fancy" goldfish (=looked like a golf ball with fins) that was black. I think his name was Max. They really liked this fish. Anyhow, I had absolutely no idea how much to feed Max, so I think I covered the surface of the 10-gallon tank with flake food. Every day. Max died either right when they got home or right before. I hope Brother knew that about my fish-killing tendencies. I'd hate for this to be a nasty surprise.

Lifestyle Inversion

So we're back from the tropics (Hawaii) and into the arctic. We were delayed leaving Seattle and ended up landing in Anchorage at 3:00 am instead of midnight, and in the middle of a snowstorm. It was actually great to see snow - after 10 days of heat, the cool air felt wonderful. There's something about getting on the plane in sandals and a skirt and getting off in an environment so completely inappropriate for your clothing. It's been snowing every night since we've been back, and without snow tires on my car or even an ice scraper, it's made for interesting (and late) mornings.

I'll post some Hawaii pictures when I can; I didn't take any pictures myself so will have to borrow some from my resident photog. We did have lots of fun snorkeling and playing with the new underwater housing for the new camera - great turtles!

I read Nathaniel Philbrook's The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex on the plane on the way home - fantastic. I can't believe the survivors went out to sea again! It made me want to read Moby Dick - I can't recall if I've ever read it.

The new bed is being delivered on Tuesday, the college fair is Monday and Tuesday, the Halloween party is this Saturday, and I have a hydrostatic body fat test tomorrow morning (where you are submerged in water).

But the big news is that I'm an auntie!

First Post

A few of my favorites...

Cutest Puppy picture is used with permission by Jim Kohl Photography, all rights reserved. Please be cool and abide by copyrights; don't steal or misuse.