Check Alicia's blog for all the info about Mount Redoubt. It isn't the mountain directly across the street from us - it is the next one north. We can see it from upstairs and from the porch and yard.
We are as prepared as people can be = we have dozens of masks and we have water and food and wood heat. they might shut down the power to save the equipment from the ash so we might be out of touch for a few days, but know that we are safe and as completely prepared as anybody can be.
the activity has just now increased and they expect it to blow any minute now, so keep us in your prayers - but we aren't afraid. Being a science nut, I am really excited to be so close to something like this.
(Okay, so the dogs aren't prepared, they can feel all the constant little earthquakes that we don't ever notice, so they keep running to the windows to see what is happening, but if they get too crazy, I think I will give them some sedatives, hehehe ).
See you on the NEWS ! ! !
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Earthquake update
After the earthquake yesterday, Brian went from room to room looking for what had caused all the crashing that he had heard. No damage on main floor, no damage in the Clark Family apartment. Didn't even think about the top floor.
remember I said it felt like the top floor was going a different direction from the floor that we were on.
Today, Alicia and I went upstairs to scrap book and WHAT A MESS ! ! ! Every room on the top floor has stuff everywhere. We were in the middle of rearranging the use of the rooms (turning the sewing room into the guest room and turning her old bedroom into our sewing room). some stuff was lying more than 5 feet from where it was on Friday. Drawers shaken open, books and trinkets shaken off of the book cases and off of the desks. WOW - there is just a mess in the whole upstairs. the bathtub has all kinds of products in it that used to be on the edge of the tub.
We've never had an earthquake that actually shook stuff off the shelves before. I'm curious about the store and restaurant in town. Although, they are single story buildings so probably didn't get the shaking that our third floor did. there aren't too many 3 story buildings in Anchor point.
Fox News said it was a 6.1, but the earthquake site said it was 5.7 or something like that.
remember I said it felt like the top floor was going a different direction from the floor that we were on.
Today, Alicia and I went upstairs to scrap book and WHAT A MESS ! ! ! Every room on the top floor has stuff everywhere. We were in the middle of rearranging the use of the rooms (turning the sewing room into the guest room and turning her old bedroom into our sewing room). some stuff was lying more than 5 feet from where it was on Friday. Drawers shaken open, books and trinkets shaken off of the book cases and off of the desks. WOW - there is just a mess in the whole upstairs. the bathtub has all kinds of products in it that used to be on the edge of the tub.
We've never had an earthquake that actually shook stuff off the shelves before. I'm curious about the store and restaurant in town. Although, they are single story buildings so probably didn't get the shaking that our third floor did. there aren't too many 3 story buildings in Anchor point.
Fox News said it was a 6.1, but the earthquake site said it was 5.7 or something like that.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
4 Days for Alaskans
There are 4 days that every Alaskan treasures in their heart as special. One of them happened this week.
The first, of course, is December 21. The winter solstice. But I have noticed that you have to truly be Alaskan in your heart to celebrate on December 21. The sun still just comes up at 10:20 in the morning and sets again around 3:27 - that's a short day, and the 10 short seconds that adds to our day on December 21 is more in your mind and heart than on the clock. So I have noticed that people who really love Alaska have faith in those 10 seconds and rejoice, but some, like me, are still suspicious that the darkness will really leave.
2nd best day - when you are just going about your business and notice that it is after 5:00 and you can still see outside. It sneaks up on you, unnoticed. We were at scrapbook day and were loading our cars when all of a sudden we realized that we had stopped scrapping at 5:15 and it was almost 6:00 when we left and we could still see - not daylight exactly, but we could see (well, 5:47 to be exact).
3rd best day - the day when you are cooking dinner or watching Tv or something and realize that it is 6:30 and it is broad daylight. BROAD DAYLIGHT. That is a happy day, but again, it sneaks up on you and you don't have a specific date when you know it will be here. So it is always such a happy surprise.
and Lastly, there is the day when the alarm goes off and you can look around the room and see things and you realize that sometime in the past 3 months, MORNING has come back.
This morning Brian was the only one up when the earthquake hit. It was 9:09 and I could see around the room, but he still had to turn on all the lights to check for damage. It was a very noisy earthquake - I was sound asleep and just woke up for the jolting - but the others heard it before it hit the house and then the whole house just rode up and down like the ground was waves of water. Then it smacked the house and the part I heard was the bottom half of the house shifting east and the top half of the house was shifting west. At the same time, downstairs, they felt it lift about 3 inches up and drop back down.
I'm not a door frame stander. I worked with a girl from Austrailia who would jump into a door frame at every shake. She was always trying to get me to hide under my desk and I was like NO ! ! ! my desk was the originial piece of furniture that came with the mental health center - it only had 3 legs and it was an Lshape so should have had 6 legs. She's was always "get under your desk" and I was always, "NO, I'll be crushed for sure".
I just always try to be sure that I don't hang pictures with glass on the stairways and don't hang heavy stuff above people's beds and try to have valuables in secure positions. I really need to buy some clay that they use in museums to hold some of my special things, but then if they haven't fallen in these 2 biggest earthquakes we have had, they probably will be okay.
No tsnunami warning, which surprised us because the quake was center right smack in the center of the inlet where it meets the pacific ocean, but i'm glad there wasn't one.
So anyway, we have passed 2 our of landmark rejoicing days so far. Two more to go. (and if you are wondering, the saddest day of the year for Alaskans: June 21. The busiest day of the year and the beginning of winter. Very sad.)
Hope Susan had a happy Birthday this week. and hope Mother gets rid of the flu. We've all been sick for about a month now, but it is very subtle: headache, fever, some stomach discomfort. Easiest flu we've had in a long time, but it lasts and lasts and lasts.
The first, of course, is December 21. The winter solstice. But I have noticed that you have to truly be Alaskan in your heart to celebrate on December 21. The sun still just comes up at 10:20 in the morning and sets again around 3:27 - that's a short day, and the 10 short seconds that adds to our day on December 21 is more in your mind and heart than on the clock. So I have noticed that people who really love Alaska have faith in those 10 seconds and rejoice, but some, like me, are still suspicious that the darkness will really leave.
2nd best day - when you are just going about your business and notice that it is after 5:00 and you can still see outside. It sneaks up on you, unnoticed. We were at scrapbook day and were loading our cars when all of a sudden we realized that we had stopped scrapping at 5:15 and it was almost 6:00 when we left and we could still see - not daylight exactly, but we could see (well, 5:47 to be exact).
3rd best day - the day when you are cooking dinner or watching Tv or something and realize that it is 6:30 and it is broad daylight. BROAD DAYLIGHT. That is a happy day, but again, it sneaks up on you and you don't have a specific date when you know it will be here. So it is always such a happy surprise.
and Lastly, there is the day when the alarm goes off and you can look around the room and see things and you realize that sometime in the past 3 months, MORNING has come back.
This morning Brian was the only one up when the earthquake hit. It was 9:09 and I could see around the room, but he still had to turn on all the lights to check for damage. It was a very noisy earthquake - I was sound asleep and just woke up for the jolting - but the others heard it before it hit the house and then the whole house just rode up and down like the ground was waves of water. Then it smacked the house and the part I heard was the bottom half of the house shifting east and the top half of the house was shifting west. At the same time, downstairs, they felt it lift about 3 inches up and drop back down.
I'm not a door frame stander. I worked with a girl from Austrailia who would jump into a door frame at every shake. She was always trying to get me to hide under my desk and I was like NO ! ! ! my desk was the originial piece of furniture that came with the mental health center - it only had 3 legs and it was an Lshape so should have had 6 legs. She's was always "get under your desk" and I was always, "NO, I'll be crushed for sure".
I just always try to be sure that I don't hang pictures with glass on the stairways and don't hang heavy stuff above people's beds and try to have valuables in secure positions. I really need to buy some clay that they use in museums to hold some of my special things, but then if they haven't fallen in these 2 biggest earthquakes we have had, they probably will be okay.
No tsnunami warning, which surprised us because the quake was center right smack in the center of the inlet where it meets the pacific ocean, but i'm glad there wasn't one.
So anyway, we have passed 2 our of landmark rejoicing days so far. Two more to go. (and if you are wondering, the saddest day of the year for Alaskans: June 21. The busiest day of the year and the beginning of winter. Very sad.)
Hope Susan had a happy Birthday this week. and hope Mother gets rid of the flu. We've all been sick for about a month now, but it is very subtle: headache, fever, some stomach discomfort. Easiest flu we've had in a long time, but it lasts and lasts and lasts.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Apple Cart Upside Down
Our ward played "Apple Cart Upside Down" today. We have a new bishopric - Bishop Greenmun (Fran Evarts father), Brother Jimenez (sorry, I know that isn't spelled right - I'll fix it later), and Brother Trimble. Brian was released as Elder's Quorum president. He was tired - he's been in the EQ presidency or the bishopric for 7 years. I was teasing him that they would call him to be cub scout leader, but I just read the Clutts' blog and I think they have the cub scouts covered, so that's good. Brian really isn't a fan of the boy scout program - I blame the boy scouts in Joseph, I'm sure Blake will agree.
We don't have a Relief Society President - they changed her to Young Womens a month ago and have just left her post blank since then.
We are still hoping to form a branch here in Anchor Point. We have at least 10 active priesthood holders in the winter and have 30 or 40 in the summer. Our ward covers an area that is 100 miles of road from one end to the other. Makes home and visiting teaching a journey - not to mention the ward members that can only be reached by snow machine or argo.
Well, we will keep you posted. We added another abandoned dog to our house today, but 2 labs are toooooooo many ! ! ! ! Anybody around here need a really nice dog?? She's really sweet, but I just don't know that our house is big enough for 2 big dogs.
Well, I gotta go - Luke just blew up the Death Star so it must be time for me to go to bed. (I'm watching the original, purist version, of course). there is no way that Jabba the Hut was agile enough to walk around los Isley....
NIGHT !!!
We don't have a Relief Society President - they changed her to Young Womens a month ago and have just left her post blank since then.
We are still hoping to form a branch here in Anchor Point. We have at least 10 active priesthood holders in the winter and have 30 or 40 in the summer. Our ward covers an area that is 100 miles of road from one end to the other. Makes home and visiting teaching a journey - not to mention the ward members that can only be reached by snow machine or argo.
Well, we will keep you posted. We added another abandoned dog to our house today, but 2 labs are toooooooo many ! ! ! ! Anybody around here need a really nice dog?? She's really sweet, but I just don't know that our house is big enough for 2 big dogs.
Well, I gotta go - Luke just blew up the Death Star so it must be time for me to go to bed. (I'm watching the original, purist version, of course). there is no way that Jabba the Hut was agile enough to walk around los Isley....
NIGHT !!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
When she was bad, she was horrid
I wasn't going to post this and then I was and then I wasn't, but I guess I will.
My mom used to always say that I was the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead, and when she was good, she was very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid.
I know that Joanne and Heather have both gone digital in their scrapbooking, but Alicia and I are very tactile people and we like to have our hoards of supplies and tools all stacked up on our desks where we can see them and where we have to move them everytime we have a new project. Last winter, my project was jewelry making and I sold a few pieces on etsy (there are still some there, if you are interested) . hehehe
Anyway, this summer, we took up rubber stamping in a serious way and last week while we were in Anchorage, we asked the owner of our cool new scrap book store how to color the stamps and she introduced us to these super cool markers and now we are so addicted. We just want to color all the time. Of course, we can't do that, but still we think about it all the time. I'm terrible at coloring, I always have been. I don't know what made me think that these markers would be the answer to my lack of skill, but I did. I don't know, I will study and try and see if I can get them to behave. There are all kinds of lessons on the internet on how to use them on different paper and with other mediums like colored pencils and such. Alicia is good at them already, but she has an eye for colors that I just do not have. She also got some really good scrap book pages done last week, but we don't have a 12 inch scanner, so we can't scan them in to show you.
Everytime I spend money on craft supplies and then go upstairs and try to put them away and there is no place to put them, I feel like a bad person. It's just REALLY hard to get thru a winter up here, you know?? Last week, it was 35 below and this week it is 45 above and it should be nice and springtimey out there, but up here the sun is still far far away and so when it warms up to 45 all it does is polish the ice. It is so slick out there - the school has cancelled all sports for 2 weeks - last week too cold, this week too warm and slippery. Freaky.
Oh, and I threw a fit a couple weeks ago because I could not get a single computer in this house to print ANYTHING, so we broke into our savings and got a new computer. We dreaded getting Vista because everyone says it was awful to work on, but so far we love it. I can turn it on and check all my email and blogs and etsy and my bank account in less than 5 minutes. the other computers took at least 10 just to boot up. It's really fast.
So, I know I can't single handedly jump start the US economy, but you know I always have to try. It is my patriotic duty. So I've been bad, but I've also been very patriotic and good.. :))
My mom used to always say that I was the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead, and when she was good, she was very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid.
I know that Joanne and Heather have both gone digital in their scrapbooking, but Alicia and I are very tactile people and we like to have our hoards of supplies and tools all stacked up on our desks where we can see them and where we have to move them everytime we have a new project. Last winter, my project was jewelry making and I sold a few pieces on etsy (there are still some there, if you are interested) . hehehe
Anyway, this summer, we took up rubber stamping in a serious way and last week while we were in Anchorage, we asked the owner of our cool new scrap book store how to color the stamps and she introduced us to these super cool markers and now we are so addicted. We just want to color all the time. Of course, we can't do that, but still we think about it all the time. I'm terrible at coloring, I always have been. I don't know what made me think that these markers would be the answer to my lack of skill, but I did. I don't know, I will study and try and see if I can get them to behave. There are all kinds of lessons on the internet on how to use them on different paper and with other mediums like colored pencils and such. Alicia is good at them already, but she has an eye for colors that I just do not have. She also got some really good scrap book pages done last week, but we don't have a 12 inch scanner, so we can't scan them in to show you.
Everytime I spend money on craft supplies and then go upstairs and try to put them away and there is no place to put them, I feel like a bad person. It's just REALLY hard to get thru a winter up here, you know?? Last week, it was 35 below and this week it is 45 above and it should be nice and springtimey out there, but up here the sun is still far far away and so when it warms up to 45 all it does is polish the ice. It is so slick out there - the school has cancelled all sports for 2 weeks - last week too cold, this week too warm and slippery. Freaky.
Oh, and I threw a fit a couple weeks ago because I could not get a single computer in this house to print ANYTHING, so we broke into our savings and got a new computer. We dreaded getting Vista because everyone says it was awful to work on, but so far we love it. I can turn it on and check all my email and blogs and etsy and my bank account in less than 5 minutes. the other computers took at least 10 just to boot up. It's really fast.
So, I know I can't single handedly jump start the US economy, but you know I always have to try. It is my patriotic duty. So I've been bad, but I've also been very patriotic and good.. :))
Saturday, January 10, 2009
One more gone
Alicia's friend from Joseph passed away last weekend. He first was diagnosed with cancer when he was a senior in high school and he has fought off that and 2 other bouts of different cancer and just got done with chemo for a return of his original lymphoma and he thought he had pneumonia because he couldn't breathe. They took him to the ER and the doctor said it was cancer and Levi said, NO IT ISN"T. I don't have lung cancer. so his dad came and took him home to Joseph for Christmas and the doctors in Enterprise found that it was indeed cancer and he died a day or two later.
I know he couldn't take another round of chemo. He was so tired and so sad. His name was Levi Bobbit - I know we have written posts about him before. In kindergarden, Alicia said his name was Levi 501 Jeans, so that is what we have always called him.
We are thankful that his last months were spent leaning on the Lord and finding his relationship with God and we know that he must be in a better place where there is no pain or swelling or chemo, but he was so young - just 28 - and instead of being a teenager and a young man who experienced life, he spent the greater part of the last 10 years fighting to just breathe.
We love you Levi and we'll be thinking of you.
I know he couldn't take another round of chemo. He was so tired and so sad. His name was Levi Bobbit - I know we have written posts about him before. In kindergarden, Alicia said his name was Levi 501 Jeans, so that is what we have always called him.
We are thankful that his last months were spent leaning on the Lord and finding his relationship with God and we know that he must be in a better place where there is no pain or swelling or chemo, but he was so young - just 28 - and instead of being a teenager and a young man who experienced life, he spent the greater part of the last 10 years fighting to just breathe.
We love you Levi and we'll be thinking of you.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Back from the Doctors
We have just walked in the door from Anchorage. It is zero here which is 25 degrees warmer than it has been for 3 days in Anchorage (well, okay, sometimes it was only 15 below - but sometimes it was 35 below)... But the wind is here and it is about 35 below wind chill. As of today, we have set the record to be the third coldest period that Alaska has ever experienced. I'm not sure how many more days to be the coldest, but it is supposed to stay this cold for another week at least.
It is so hard to navigate in this kind of cold - everyone in Anchorage was cold and tired and grouchy. Except the people who were visiting from the bush and Fairbanks and stuff. They thought it was kind of toasty and didn't mind so much.
So the news is I do have to have surgery. We start the pro-op work here in Homer and have to get clearance from my doctor here. I have to start some physical therapy that will help me manage the post-op recovery. It should mostly be laproscopic. for sure we have to take one ovary, we are still looking for the second ovary, so we don't know if it needs to come out or not, and they I have to have my uterus taken out and some kind of procedure done on my bladder. I'm not that excited about it, but in a way, it is a relief to finally have something planned. It will probably take a month or so to get all the pre-op tests done and such. We'll keep you posted.
Hope you are all warm - I wish we were. hahahaha
It is so hard to navigate in this kind of cold - everyone in Anchorage was cold and tired and grouchy. Except the people who were visiting from the bush and Fairbanks and stuff. They thought it was kind of toasty and didn't mind so much.
So the news is I do have to have surgery. We start the pro-op work here in Homer and have to get clearance from my doctor here. I have to start some physical therapy that will help me manage the post-op recovery. It should mostly be laproscopic. for sure we have to take one ovary, we are still looking for the second ovary, so we don't know if it needs to come out or not, and they I have to have my uterus taken out and some kind of procedure done on my bladder. I'm not that excited about it, but in a way, it is a relief to finally have something planned. It will probably take a month or so to get all the pre-op tests done and such. We'll keep you posted.
Hope you are all warm - I wish we were. hahahaha
Monday, January 05, 2009
55 below
The HIGH today in Fairbanks is supposed to be minus 55. That is the HIGH. I didn't hear what the low was supposed to be. YIKES. Makes our 15 to 30 below look more liveable, except that I have to spend the week in Anchorage getting in and out of the car to go to doctor appointments and shopping and such and that degree of cold is really painful for my body. Please keep me in your prayers. It is kind of a good distraction = I'm not nearly as freaked about the biopsies and the ultrasound as I am about getting too cold. (well, I'm a little freaked - there isn't any change in my condition since I was up there in June, this is just my followup - I'll probably keep doing this until something changes).
I'm on page 300 of War and Peace. Ihate to tell you, Jed, but the beginning is just like the middle. Tolstoy just drops us into the lives of these people and continues on like that for the rest of the book. I love it, but it seems more like a woman's book than something a man would enjoy. It's mainly about going to dinner parties and getting married for profit and getting ahead in life or in politics. The best thing I can think of to prepare someone to read it is to read about Marie Antoinette and the time of the French revolution - that was the subject I studied last winter and this just sort of picks up where that left off. The russians were so into all things French in this time period.
I keep waiting for the great items of "doctorinal import" but so far I haven't found anything of the sort in the book. All the characters are looking for that one thing in their life and just like in real life, that one thing is different for each person.
Well, stay warm. A HIGH of 55 below.... too cold to even consider. BRRRRRRRR
I'm on page 300 of War and Peace. Ihate to tell you, Jed, but the beginning is just like the middle. Tolstoy just drops us into the lives of these people and continues on like that for the rest of the book. I love it, but it seems more like a woman's book than something a man would enjoy. It's mainly about going to dinner parties and getting married for profit and getting ahead in life or in politics. The best thing I can think of to prepare someone to read it is to read about Marie Antoinette and the time of the French revolution - that was the subject I studied last winter and this just sort of picks up where that left off. The russians were so into all things French in this time period.
I keep waiting for the great items of "doctorinal import" but so far I haven't found anything of the sort in the book. All the characters are looking for that one thing in their life and just like in real life, that one thing is different for each person.
Well, stay warm. A HIGH of 55 below.... too cold to even consider. BRRRRRRRR
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