Heather & Coal visit

Heather and Coal came up to Fairbanks for a weekend visit in December!

Coal is almost 2 now and a total ham.

going for a walk on Ballaine trail

Katie and Heather comparing baby bumps. Katie gave birth several days later!

Lincoln can pull off a pink tutu but I'm not so sure about this onesy

I love this photo of Coal. Shortly after this was taken, he was on top of the coffee table dancing in just his diaper. Wonder which side of the family he got that from?

Coco's blue steel

Baby Gavin taking a snooze

The Gang

It was wonderful to spend time with Heather before baby #2 arrives!

Thanks for making the trip up!

Dog fur hell

The dogs are shedding like crazy. And it is driving me nuts. Dog hair everywhere. I've turned into one of those people that has dog hair on everything that she owns. And now that we've temporarily inherited 2 more dogs, it's dog hair madness x 3! I've been obsessively brushing Emma, Sammy and Minnie.

Sammy and her spawn. I brushed off just as much from her the evening before! Minnie waiting patiently in the background.

Emma *hates* being brushed. She looks at me like, "why? why are torturing me?". So, I braced myself assuming these other 2 dogs would feel the same. Au contraire! Minnie *loves* being brushed. I'm not sure if Sammy actually likes being brushed or if she just likes human contact - very needy. And even though Emma hates being brushed, she gets very jealous when I'm brushing the other dogs. I'm sure she wonders why the other dogs like it so much.

Emma waiting for her turn for attention.

I am also vacuuming obsessively. I would love to vacuum the dogs. or shave them!

Reverb10

My sister is participating in Reverb10, a creative blogging exercise to 'reflect on this year and manifest what's next'. Since I'm more of a commitment-phobe than Kristina, I'm not going to actually officially participate but I'll try to keep up with the entries via this blog. I'll keep the answers relatively short, skipping the ones that I have no good answers for. None of my answers are profound, but this was a nice break from studying!

December 1 – One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? 

Transitional. 2010 has been a year of transitions. From Seward to Fairbanks (OK, technically that was in Fall 09). Working for a non-profit to working for myself and starting a PhD. Moving from the shoebox into another larger rental.

For 2011: Fortitude: strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. This implies that I'm expecting 2011 to be painful? Well..yes. I am. I'm expecting it to be mentally challenging with my comprehensive PhD exams tentatively scheduled for next Fall. And another 2 classes next semester. Seems like a poor word choice, hopefully it's not an omen. Probably a product of vitamin D deficiency (see previous post).

December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

Everything. No. 

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). 

Ice climbing: cold, hard, spikes, grunting, sweat, white, blue, pain, fear of falling, trust, fatigue, thrilling.

December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

Stress. Because it's not good for anyone. It's a work in progress.

December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?  

*sigh*. I think the last thing I made was a wool hat or scarf. Over a year ago. Heather gave me a skein of her qiviut (muskox wool) and I'd like to make something fun with it.

December 9 – Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. 

2nd Annual B'Arctic Ma'am in April. 30+ awesome women in costume. Bikers pulling rollerbladers from bar to bar. Music? I think there was some steel drum action that evening. Drink? Yes. Shenanigans? Of course!

Cloberella & Su-na-mee

The Gang

Blog (and Shiway) needs some Vit D

Winter has taken its claws, dug in deep and dragged me into the abyss of below -20 degree temps and 4 hours of daylight. If you can call it daylight. My 11th winter in Alaska and my tolerance for these extreme conditions have gone downhill (Figure 1).  If there is more daylight, I can deal with lower temperatures. But if the days are short, even warmer temps aren't enough to keep me from snarling frequently. Once March comes around, days are getting longer and temperatures increase, I slowly revive from my non-human state.

Figure 1. Temperature vs. Grumpiness. Grumpiness is also dependent on day length.

12 days until the winter solstice and it all starts turning around again. Our sun creeps back, gaining a precious 6 minutes a day. This winter in Fairbanks has been a rough re-introduction to the Interior for me. Up until several weeks ago, we experienced unseasonably warm temperatures but not a whole lot of snow to enjoy it with. I've been counting down the days until we leave for Maui (20 days, 22 hours, 45 min). The black background on this blog was driving me nuts. Sucking me into my computer screen even more. I need some sun. warmth. and a much needed break from school and work.

And so does the blog. Thanks Kristina for the help!

I promise I will be in a better mood after we get back. If we come back.

Smartphone is smarter than Shiway

We recently upgraded our cell phones and entered the world of text messaging. At the risk of making myself look like an idiot, I'm going to share one of my first texting experiences. I accidentally saved my phone number under Dave's entry in my phone (easy to do since only the last digit differs) and proceeded to text him. It took me a little while, embarrassingly enough, to figure out that I was texting myself. The 'conversation' went as follows:

Shi: "What time are you coming home tonight? Don't forget to pick up the CSA box"

Immediate response from 'Dave':
"What time are you coming home tonight? Don't forget to pick up the CSA box"

Shi: "After yoga"
Dave: "After yoga"
(This did make me pause because Dave doesn't do yoga. But maybe he was saying that he'd pick up the CSA box after my yoga class...)

Shi: "Stop repeating everything that I'm saying!"
Dave: "Stop repeating everything that I'm saying!"
(mind you, he does actually sometimes do this just to annoy me)

Shi: "Asshole"
Dave: "Asshole"

And THAT's when I realized that I was texting myself. The immediate reply should have tipped me off but it didn't. HAH!!

Cabin trip with the Masons

Some photos of my cabin trip with Jeff & Ellie and the boys. A nice group of rutting caribou along the Denali Highway. First snow of the year and lot's of tail chasing and fighting among the males.

A nice bull.

Why did the caribou cross the road?

The boys with a fine muskrat. Wyatt was very excited and eager to help.

"Muskwat!" or more like, "Muh!" Little man Sam was all about packing that rodent back to the cabin.

Jeffrey in full trapper gear admiring a nice beaver engineering project. This was a giant lodge and the beaver colony had built multiple dams and lodges over the years. Hence the expression "busy beaver". This lodge yielded two nice beavers, one was over 50#.

We had good weather and luck, may have to do it again next year!

Meeting Logan

While we were in Boulder for Sam & Erica's wedding, we were able to get in a couple hours with the Arnows and McMahons! We met little Logan.what a cutie!

We're looking forward to introducing him to some Alaskan adventures!

token deer behind Patti & Jim's house

Patti, Jim & Em - Thanks for hosting!
Great to see you guys, even if it was only for a couple hours.
Can't wait until we get to spend some time together again!

Dave & Chris go moose hunting

and didn't get a moose but it looked like they had a good week with amazing September weather!

fishing for baby pike

and beaver watching

freshwater mussel - huge!

Readers on the Run

The 3rd Annual Readers on the Run 5K was this Saturday. It's a fundraiser event for the public library in Ester. Costumes optional.

Brook & Katie getting readyIt's more of a duathlon for us when we bike from Brook's cabin to Ester.
Luckily there was hardly any snow on the ground.

The original plan was just to wear pink. Then it morphed into the 'Wonder Twins' (remember the Wonder Twins?) which morphed into 'Breast Cancer Awareness' and then 'Wonder Twins' took on a whole different meaning. Wonder twins! Activate! form of... a boob! (i.e., the cone hats). But in the end, we were mistaken for the twin pink fairies. seriously???

Andrea can see the future with those glasses

There's a mandatory poetry composition contest between laps.
I won 2nd place, which is really funny because my creative writing skills went out the window about 20 years ago. The astronaut pants really made it.

Afterward we biked to Coffee Roasters in our costumes for some lunch.
Even fairies need their cell phones.

I'm thankful for having friends with silly bones. :)
I spent the rest of the weekend catching up on school work, Sedna contract work, house work. Dave went to Delta Junction to spend time with the Mason. Photos of his weekend to come.

Sam & Erica's Wedding!

Sam & Erica were married on 24 September in Evergreen, CO.

Kristina made the desserts for the rehearsal dinner. with Ryan's help.fruit tarts!

lemon cupcakes with green tea icing made from scratch!

Some family made it out for the celebration. Aunt Joyce, cousins Ryan, Wesley, Steven and Danny (not in this photo)

Ryan enjoying the Porter pillow

Mom & Aunt Joyce at the rehearsal dinner

Sam's friends from high school that I haven't seen forever

Erica's mom Sherry, her husband Larry, Erica's maid of honor Nichole, Dad, Erica's dad Ken and wife Patty and Mom

Cousin Danny

The boys and Aunt Joyce went for a drive on the Peak to Peak Highway.

Ready Sam?

Dave, Sam, Ryan and Danny. and Porter

There were elk all over the golf course behind the Lake House

Pre-wedding check: Dave making sure the rings are still there (actually checking on the whiskey bottle). Sam & Kristina talking strategy, how to prevent Porter from dragging her into the Lake.

ceremony

Mr. & Mrs. Wang!

Great to see some family - I haven't seen Danny or Steven for probably over 20 years!

Dad & 'Uncle' Hari

It's official!

Our extended Chinese 'family'

Congratulations Sam & Erica!! We're so excited for you guys. Erica - welcome to the family! I'm excited to have another sister!!!