Tuesday With The Judds

I'm always running my mouth about all kinds of things, but today...I got nothin'! Sorry. The brain just doesn't want to work. Lets face it, do you really want to hear about how I took Brandon to the dentist (he did great, by the way, and got his cavity filled with no complaints) or any other everyday errands? I was thinking about things that we've done here and realized that I never shared my pics of the concert we had last summer here on Elmendorf. So here goes.... Unless you've been living under a rock, you recognize these people: Wynonna Judd and her Mom Naomi Judd. Formerly of the country singing sensation duo...The Judds. I hate to admit it, but I've never really listened to their music that much. Apparently it was my loss. These ladies were fantastic in concert. They came here to do a free concert for the military and performed in a hanger on the flight line during our Air Show last summer.

Can you believe this lady is in her 60's? She looked amazing! Looking at her, I would have guessed late 40's at the most!

They were a lot of fun to watch perform. They joked around a lot and had a great time on stage.

If you ever get a chance to see Wynonna in concert, jump on it. Even if you aren't a huge country music fan, you will be impressed. This woman can really sing!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter. Wishing everyone all the best.

Manventure to Eska Falls

Russ and Brandon headed out on another Manventure yesterday. They went north to Eska Falls for a 4-wheeling adventure with a group of Russ' friends and their sons. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful day. There is no better place in the world to go 4-wheeling than Alaska. Lots of mountains and valleys to explore, and a fantastic view from just about everywhere.

One of the most important elements of a Manventure is the food. Lots and lots of food. And Root Beer. As Brandon says, "Don't make fun of the Root Beer, it's a life choice." Just a shut eye to recharge the batteries, and they are off again. To give you an idea of how deep the snow is, check out the wheels. Those are not hubcaps.
While the "old folks" are hanging out and talking, Brandon takes the 4-wheeler and heads out to do some donuts.

Unfortunately, it's getting late and the sun is starting to set. It's time to pack it in for the day.

Did Anyone Else Feel That?

Either we just had an earthquake, or someone spiked my lunch. I suspect the cat. They say that animals can sense these things just before they happen. Tink was oblivious. I was just sitting at the computer desk, trying to see the screen. Tink was, of course, between me and the screen, trying to keep me from seeing it. Then I heard a creaking sound from upstairs and the whole chair jerked around. And the desk. And the room. Just one big motion, and then...nothing. I, for one, do not want to be trapped in the basement with all of those exposed pipes if the Big One is coming, so I headed upstairs. Tink decided to risk it and wait it out on the desk. Nothing else. Nada. Zip. Very exciting, and better for waking me up than a cup of coffee, I must say. I wonder if Redoubt could be to blame. They aren't showing anything major on the website right now. Just the regular stuff. She still has an ash and steam plume, extending 10-15 miles south east of the crater. They have noted that a lava dome is forming again at the summit crater. She could blow again, without warning. Could this be her way of making sure I stay home and clean closets? OK. I'm going.....I'm going.

Procrastination

That seems to be the word of the day for me lately. As my list of things that I need to do for this move grows longer, the more I seem to find other things to do to escape it. I am the queen of lists lately. I've always been very keen on lists anyway. There is something to be said about having a long list of things that need to be done and then slowly crossing those things off. It's a great feeling of accomplishment when you finally cross off that final item. Unfortunately, with a military move, I can't do anything until certain steps have taken place and certain things are cleared. Until then, I sit here and slowly add more things to my list. Then I decided to start another list. A list that I have control over. Things like decide what will be shipped in the first shipment, the second shipment, or just stuck into storage. Go through all of the closets and add to the stack of things to be sold at the garage sale. Arrange for the kitties to fly to the Grandparents house. It goes on... Then I started trying to take care of these things. I'm going to be proactive. The curtain rod in my closet pulled loose from the wall, and my clothes are tilting sadly toward the ground. I decided to start with that project first. I'm going to sort out my clothes and get rid of things that I don't wear any more. As I started rifling through them, I realized how sad and dreary my clothes looked, all drooped to the side like that. So I decided the best thing to do was get them a cheery new friend to remind them that spring is on the way. I shut the closet, headed out to Khol's, and bought two new shirts. After all, it's my civic duty, seeing as how we only just got a Khol's in Alaska. They opened on Monday. I have to show my support for the community. And they are lovely shirts. Short sleeves- one is a pretty salmon color, and the other is lime green. They practically shout Spring! I proudly brought them home, opened the closet door, quickly put them inside (I have more room on the left, now that the clothes are all sagging to the right!), and shut the door. There! A job well done. I'll tackle cleaning the closet tomorrow. I think I've done enough for the day.

Also Free To Good Home...

Anyone need a nice black bear? He's probably not too good with kids or pets, but I'm sure he has his redeeming qualities. Remember when I mentioned that a black bear woke up from his winter slumber a couple of weeks ago and treed a guy at a local park? Well, heeeessss baaaaackkkk! And he has not been a good boy. Seems he's been hanging out in the park and chasing the cross country skiers. Then he REALLY crossed the line. On Wednesday morning, he got onto a porch outside someones bedroom window and peeked into their bedroom. That's not the worst of it. He then proceeded to nuzzle through an empty case of Budweiser Select that was sitting on the porch. That's where we draw the line, Mister. If there had been beer in that case, he'd have been shot dead right then and there. Luckily for him, it was empty, so they put an APB out on him with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Yes, they plan on shooting him. They won't even attempt to capture and relocate him, because there is just nowhere to put him. If you don't believe me, just ask Rick Sinnott, a biologist with Fish and Game.

"The biggest problem with moving bears out of Anchorage is neither the Kenai, the Mat-Su Valley nor the area across Knik Arm from us wants any of our bears," Sinnott said. "They're chock full of their own bears and they have their own bear problems."

So if anyone out there has some room at their house (and a REALLY big kennel), maybe you can cut a deal with Rick and have him send the bear to you. You know you want him. You can hang out and read Winnie The Pooh stories to each other.

April Fools From Mother Nature!

I think I have used the phrase "You have got to be kidding me!" about 3,000 times this past year alone. I'm afraid I am going to be using it again. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I walked in to the Commissary to do my thing this morning with partly cloudy skies and the snow melted from the parking lots and sidewalks. By the time I came back out, this is what I saw.

Mother Nature thinks she is so funny! At least by the time I had driven home and put the groceries away, the sun was back out and the skies were blue. April Fools! Jokes over. You got me. Now give us Spring! This is the latest picture of Redoubt. She is still going strong. I have a feeling that if she pulls an April Fools on us, it's not going to be pretty. She is releasing ash and gases, but at a low level. Still cranky. Maybe if Mt. Spurr sent her a nice box of volcanic chocolates, she forget about all this eruption nonsense and relax. (Then I'd start getting more mail again!)