Just Some Meandering Thoughts

"She gave me more than just a sweater vest that night. She gave me all this. Nothing. She gave me nothing. That's what I need. No phone book, no Game Boy, no pasta maker, TV Guide. Nowhere to go, nothing to do." Dr. Joel Fleishman, Northern Exposure

A friend of mine sent a package, I got it today...I thought it was from Mike but surprisingly so, it wasn't. It was from a friend who probably laughs to himself and shakes his head when he thinks of me here. At any rate, in the mail today he thoughtfully sent me...an electric blanket. Exactly what I didn't realize I needed. I confess Mum's voice immediately jumped into action echoing in the recesses of my mind (I really am working hard at only giving her a say once in a while, sorry Mum). "Electric blankets catch on fire!!! They're not safe." she'd warn us. Yes, the only 'electric blanket' we used in the Skime household was forbade to be plugged in. And a good thing too, eh? Hard to believe we all managed to survive the driving of the army jeep at 11, 9, and 7 years old, stampeding around on horses, hauling guns all over tarnation, jumping out of the barn, and flipping over 6 wheelers... whew, it's a darn good thing Mum woke up long enough to make sure the electric blanket wasn't plugged in. And this is where I should throw in the fact that Gram was evidently all the while, trying to burn the house down unknownst to us (but that's another story, for another time) my point is, you can see the futility of Mum's best intentions. Anyway I'm feeling like a rebel here and am plugging in my dangerous blanket as I type.

Speaking of Mum's best of intentions, she had been blocking my requests for Red Bull to my family members back home. She's real sneaky-like if you don't keep an eye on her;) The fam would be asking if I needed anything way up here in the cold tundra. My one little petition was always for just a simple smallish piece of civilization, "Yes," I would request, " Could you please send me Red Bull." But no one ever did. Come to find out, my cautious Mum was again 'saving' me from myself and kaboshing my 1 measly request. "It's bad for you!" she protested when she was called out on the carpet at Christmas. Yep, everyone present was nodding in agreement as to where the fault lay. "She wouldn't let us send it up," they apologized. It was a conspiracy headed up by none other than my electric-blanket-phobic-mum. She means well and I love her. So I got my own Red Bull.

I-Can-A-Rod, I-Will-A-Rod, I-Dit-A-Rod
So Steph and I went for a walk down to the beach this weekend with our pack o pups and decided it was a very good idea to become mushers. Stay tuned this could get really entertaining. Steph even spent the weekend researching where she will be purchasing her sled and equipment! Guess what of all the places in the world, she found the best price in Hayward, Wisconsin at Affordable Dogsleds! Imagine that! The dogs, as you can see from the very factual pictures were more than enthusiastic. Ani and I have a bit of work ahead of us as you can see, lol.Duct Tape is the best thing ever... it holds me together up here, my freezer stays shut cause of a sturdy piece of duct tape, my coffee pot keeps perculating because of duct tape, my floor has no hole anymore and my luggage is like new...thank God for duct tape:)

Getting From Here to There
I was perusing the local shopper after it arrived in my p.o. box the other day. Half way through admiring the two page spread of snow gos (snow machines) for sale by misc. businesses, I realized there were no ads for cars or trucks in this paper. All the major dealers of vehicles buying space in our weekly news tribune are those snow crossin' companies like: Arctic Cat, Ski Doo, Polaris and Honda...lol. Just made me chuckle, I forget how different the concept of transportation is here.

Extra Extra READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!! Principal Eric and family are featured in COUNTRY Magazine this February/March 2010 edition. Eric wrote the article about living in the Quinhagak, Alaskan Wilderness and Jim (our 5th grade teacher/resident photographer/ and Steph's hubby) took all the great pics. If you want to take at fun peek into someone else's Quinhagak, Alaska experience pick up the issue and find his article. I think it's called: A Family Day in Alaska or something like that, either way it's written by Eric Pederson, photos by Jim Barthelman. Enjoy!

Shout Out to Sinduk (sorry if I spelled that wrong)! Quyana for always delivering my yummy fresh produce that we get from Full Circle Farm every two weeks! It's like a christmas present when he knocks on my door and announces "special delivery" then hands me a box of fresh green food!!!! And Happy Birthday Bobbi Ann! Celebrating you today:)

"One day one of the local officials asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to deserve eternal life?"
Jesus said, "Why are you calling me good? No one is good—only God. You know the commandments, don't you?
No illicit sex, no killing, no stealing, no lying, honor your father and mother."
He said, "I've kept them all for as long as I can remember."
When Jesus heard that, he said, "Then there's only one thing left to do: Sell everything you own and give it away to the poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me." This was the last thing the official expected to hear. He was very rich and became terribly sad. He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about to let them go. Seeing his reaction, Jesus said, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who have it all to enter God's kingdom? I'd say it's easier to thread a camel through a needle's eye than get a rich person into God's kingdom."
"Then who has any chance at all?" the others asked.
"No chance at all," Jesus said, "if you think you can pull it off by yourself.
Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."
Peter tried to regain some initiative: "We left everything we owned and followed you, didn't we?"
"Yes," said Jesus, "and you won't regret it. No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children—whatever—will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime.
And then the bonus of eternal life!" Luke 18:24-34