Remembering Blackie

We made the very difficult decision today to let Blackie go. He had a seizure last week and he has progressively deteriorated this week. Yesterday when he quit even trying to stand and we had to take food and water to him, I knew he was in real trouble. Last night he fussed all night, so this morning I finally knew that he was telling me it was time to let him go.
Blackie joined our family on Labor Day in 1994. Eagle picked him out of a litter of puppies from the Humane Society. He was the only black one in the bunch! I didn't care for black dogs but Eagle really wanted him, so that's the one we chose. Blackie was about 4 months old at the time so we've always said his Birthday was May 5th. Blackie was SUCH a hyper puppy! He was almost uncontrollable- running everywhere and jumping on everyone! Once we neutered him though he mellowed out into the sweetest dog ever! He was the best, never sick, never bit, never had fleas, and never messed in the house. He grew up with our boys and was a constant in our ever changing lives. He moved with us from Alabama to Japan to Texas, to Virginia to South Carolina to New York and finally, Alaska. When he was young he loved to play with his squeaky barbell toy. He loved to find dark closets to hide in! He will be sorely missed in our lives. Thank you Blackie for all the joy you brought to my family.

Blackie 5/5/1994 to 11/30/2007

Catch Up

I've meant to blog for some time but have let "life" get in the way. First thing- Happy Birthday to my Grandma H. I had meant to dedicate a whole page her but never got to it! Shame! Shame! I hope that her birthday was a great celebration.
We had a nice Thanksgiving here. We sure did miss our Eagle though. He'll be home soon.
Well, sorry this is so short but I'm on my way out the door!
'til next time......

Just SO funny!

Winter Wonderland

Well, not only did it snow most of yesterday, it snowed most of today as well. This pictures is the scene from this morning-around 11 am. Bear in mind, that it continued to snow until after 5 pm.

As you can see, no plow has been through. As I sit here writing, still now plow has been through. Now I understand why everyone here has snow or studded tires. It's because they don't keep up with the roads! The only place that looked well plowed was the highway. All the other roads were packed snow with sand and gravel thrown on top for traction. Let me tell you, it was really fun driving today! Middle son took the money he is allowed to spend and bought himself a Nintendo Wii today. It was alot of money to spend but he's still saving half of everything he earns for a car. On the way back from the store we saw a Jeep had gone off the road and rolled over. He appeared to be okay and police were on the scene. It was a good reminder to remain vigilant on the road. I'm very cautious because of my mishaps last year but it a visual aid never hurts! The gravel does seem to help, I only slid a little bit once, when turning out of a store. The rest of the time I just rumbled along on the gravely ice. On the way home from grocery shopping earlier in the afternoon, middle son and I saw a family of moose grazing along the side of the road. They are alot easier to spot with the white background! They blend it so well to the normal greenery. Now that winter is here, we should see them more easily.

I guess that's about all I have to say today. Sgt Dad will be back sometime next weekend- Lord willing and weather permitting!

Let it Snow!

Well, this morning I awoke to a light covering of snow, finally. After weeks of snow on the forecast and only getting freezing rain mixed with snow, I'm glad it's arrived. I prefer to have it cold and snowy or warm and rainy- NOT the in between stuff! This appears to be the fine kind of snow that lasts all day and accumulates but not to any great amount of snow. My little Lexi just bounces around the snow as if that will make a difference. Blackie seems fairly indifferent to it, other than he hates to walk up the stairs when they are wet. I think Sgt Dad is going to have to build a ramp for Blackie with a non-skid surface. Sometimes the boys have to go out and carry him back into the house. Poor old man.
I just found the COOLEST thing! Kodak has a wireless digital picture frame and it's wi-fi enabled. So, if you have one and your friends use kodakgallery.com they can email those pictures directly to your frame!!! Sometimes technology just blows me away! How cool would that be to come home from a shopping trip and see your frame displaying new photos of your friends or brand new niece or whatever?!!? Of course this is only good for people who have a wireless network in their home (which I do). I suppose it won't be long before everybody does. I think there are a great deal who do already. I put this frame on my wish list and told my boys to tell their father. It's very Harry Potter I think to have a picture frame that displays changing photos and can update wirelessly. This one can even play MP3s if you wish. I think it's a great grandparent gift. That is, if they have a wireless home network. Youngest son saw me get so excited about this (it is totally cool though) and says, "How are we related?" Seriously though, a wi-fi enabled picture frame- awesome!

The Random Thoughts in My Head

I drove into work this morning in the dark- at 8 am! It was a scary ride. It had rained overnight and froze. I drove across the black pavement that glittered like it was full of diamonds and I was scared to death! I knew that sparkle wasn't diamonds but the very dangerous black ice! The first thing I heard on the radio was a traffic report telling of a rollover accident near UAA drive (the last intersection that I pass through on my way to work). I drove slowly and cautiously and carefully observed the roads and was sure to slow down in the worst of the icy sections. As I was approaching the gate and driving past the concrete barriers a great gust of wind blew hundreds of dry leaves from the forest and they danced across the road bringing with them a flood of childhood memories. It reminded me of dark fall nights while I was growing up and the many Halloweens and raking the leaves into huge piles then jumping in and spreading them all right back out again. The pleasure of a crisp fall morning and the crunch of the dry leaves under my school shoes. I've always loved fall! I guess partly because it brings with it the promise of the coming holidays and snow and winter break.
This afternoon on my way home, in the dark, my thoughts wandered in a totally different direction. I observed a few vanity plates in the following order:
HI QT, NVRKWT, AWSMAK Vanity plates are pretty fun I think. After seeing Evan Almighty I thought I would like to get ARK (Act of Random Kindness) but it's already taken. I also thought of KENJEN but decided it was too cheesy. Honestly, I guess there isn't any one thing in particular that I want to say to the world. I would probably change my mind daily based on my mood.
I had to take an hour lunch today because my teenage boys forgot their house key. They had only a half day today and neither boy remembered the house key. I wasn't any too happy to have to drive all the way home to let them in the house. Frankly, quite often one or more doors are left unlocked, of course the day they don't have a key is the day they are all locked! Hopefully they'll remember to lock the doors more frequently and remember their key!
Sgt Dad isn't having much luck with getting online in Japan. Apparently the base isn't very up to date with their tech services. I haven't spoken to him much. He did send a short email stating that he went to the zoo this week. I guess he's doing okay. He's only worried about watching his team play!
I had another thought but it's left me. One of these days I'll keep a little notebook handy so I can jot down things to blog about.

Slow Week

I guess my life is pretty boring as I've had nothing about which to post! Eagle has found a job delivering pizza. I guess it's a pretty common first job. I'm not in love with it though. Sgt Dad and I told him he can take the job but he's got to keep looking for something else. We don't like him being on the road so much. Middle Son got a $50 award at Burger King. I guess every six months they have awards and despite having only been employed there about a month, he has made a good enough impression that they chose him for this award! It makes me feel good that I've raised a hardworking, reliable young man! Sgt Dad has hired Youngest Son to clean up around the house for us for $25 a week. He's loving the cash and I'm loving that I have a clean house every night!
Sgt Dad left for Japan this morning. He'll be gone for 3 weeks. That should be enough time to get the cigarette smell out of the house and hopefully when he returns he'll really quit this time.
That's about it. I had a thought earlier this week that I meant to blog but it slipped away and I cannot retrieve it. I remember it being a pretty good one too!
I'm quickly approaching my 100th posting. I've started working on a post of 100 things about me. It's alot harder than I thought. Hopefully you all will find it fun and interesting!