My mom is here from New Mexico, so I will be incognito for a few days. We are going to Denali (just overnight) tomorrow. We did all of the Fairbanks hotspots today, and including Fred Meyer, the Botanical Gardens and the Tanana overlook. I'll post some pictures soon.
Have a good weekend, and hope for good weather for us tomorrow.
I have been at this craziness for five years. Five years. A five year record of my life (OK, not all of it, but a good portion) is now on the internet for anyone to see. That astonishes me.
I hope that you and I can look back at the archives and see where I've been, what I've done, and where I'm going. Or at the very least, that you can look at the misspellings and grammor errors and general silliness of it all, and have a good laugh at my expense.
I can't promise to hang onto this forever, but I can promise to keep it up until it doesn't interest me anymore. That's a good rule of thumb for most things in life.
Have a wonderful weekend.
This will be short, because I've misplaced my reading glasses, and it gives me a massive headache to use the computer without them. But I'll suffer for your sake.
I took the bus to my hair appointment today. I haven't taken the bus with any consistency since the 8th grade, and it always feels a little strange. I watch people drive by in their cars and think about that freedom. Don't ever take that freedom for granted, kids. I never had a car until my junior year of college, and it was the best thing ever being able to go out hiking and drive up to the lake, or down to the plaza to sit on a bench and read. Not that I did those things with any regularity, mind you. But I could, if I wanted to.
I think this is coming from the fact that I'm desperate for a vacation. I've really been pushing Denali on my mom, even though it really isn't feasible and she doesn't seem all that excited to go. I realize that it's because I want a break. I need to get outside sometimes, and sit by the water or at the top of a mountain and just…think. I need to do more thinking. I'll find some closer places to take my mom, and I'll make her think with me. She could stand to do some thinking, too.
For now, though, I've got a cute new haircut. (Pictures once the new digicam arrives.) And I've got a meeting tomorrow to get ready for the school year which begins, amazingly, on Thursday. Where does the time go? I blink and R and I have been together almost 2 years and fall is coming again. Soon the leaves will fall and then the snow and I will be warm inside with my love and a purring cat. That's just about right.
I've been taking this sub training class this week, which is sub training in the morning and multicultural education (blurgh) in the afternoon. If I'd known that I would have thought twice about signing up. It takes way more energy for me to sit up straight in my chair and look like I'm paying attention than it does to work at camp. Alas. But I am getting paid for it.
Here's an example of what we're learning in the morning session. "How can you prepare for sub jobs in advance? It helps to have several outfits hanging ready to go in your closet! Also, pack some nutritious snacks ahead of time." I mean, really. Do they think I can't come up with this stuff on my own? Next year I'll teach the class: "Need time to fill some time in the classroom? Booger flicking contest! This can be very educational if you graph the results."
At least we get to end our sessions by holding hands and singing together in the spirit of peace and harmony. (I'm kidding, and the class has actually been fairly informative.) Can I just tell you, there was a VH1 special with clips from "We are the World," with all of the celebrities and everything. It is way cheesier 20 years later. But good. There's just no altruism in the music industry anymore. 
My digital camera conked last week, but I'm counting it as a blessing in disguise and fervently searching amazon.com for a new one. It's a great chance for an upgrade. I found a really cool re-manufactured minolta with a 10x (!) zoom, of all things. I don't think it's the one for me, though– too bulky. I will probably settle for one of the newer Canon A series. My A60 did pretty well with 2 years of hard use, and the newer versions take fewer batteries and have fewer bugs, too.
The weekend has slipped between my fingers, as weekends often do. I got a knitting machine (circular thing with pegs) with my Michael's gift card and now I need to start cranking out the knitted hats. It's been in the 50's and 60's since last week, and fall may be just around the corner. Well, it always is in Alaska. How is it that I'm thinking of Christmas gifts in August? That's absurd.
