Memorial Day 2010

Whales, Eagles Sea Lions and Bears - Oh My!

Bob and I spent our Memorial Day at Sunshine Cove this year, watching whales play.  When the day started we weren't sure where we were going to end up when the day first started.  We drove out the road and there were so many cars and people (of course), but as we drove back, discussing where to go, we saw a whales tainl and that was it, decision made.  We parked the truck, sat along side the road for a bit, then Bob found a way down to the beach and that's where we stayed.

Whale - we didn't bring our camera with a lense, so no close ups, but we watched them all day, it was pretty cool.

Cooling off.

Bob went for a little walk and watched the whales play.

We think that there were also sea lions playing too.

These guys used this tiny little boat to check their crab pots.  We watched them bring in some crab and them woot and hollar as the crabs snapped at them.

A new design

I figured that I better get those raindrops off of our blog since it has been so warm and sunny here. 

There are nine days of school left and one big project is out of the way, now onto the eighth grade dance. Last week was GPS (Goals for Personal Success) for our eighth graders and I do some coordinating for that.  It did almost defeat me, I ended up sick, might have something also to do with the clouds of pollen blowing around, and have roughly 5 cold sores all over my lips.  It has sent me home early two days this week and I am seeing what it plans to do with my weekend.  The one in which I need to get things done for the dance!  Anyway, you know I am sick if I miss work.  I have slept roughly 35 hours in 2 days and could still use some more.  Not to mention that fact that it is beautiful out and I would rather stay tucked under the covers.  Bob was also sick this week and our Adam friend too.  We all need to get better so that we may enough the lovely days.

Happy Mothers' Day!

I have been truly blessed to know some many wonderful mothers.  To all of you, thank you for all you have taught me, you are the most incredible women and I am blessed to have you in my life.

To my own mommy - I can't wait until we are "together again".  I miss my mom and wish we weren't so far apart, but I blame that on you . . . you raised us to believe that we can do anything and so here I am thousands of miles away and grateful for the woman that you are.  No, I am not crying, my eyes are just a bit watery.  I love you mom.

Frist Day in the Shop . . .

Today was the first day since the cruise ships started to roll into town that I was in the gift shops interacting with tourist.  And wouldn't you know it on day one . . . "has Sarah been in lately?".  Okay, so I know what he means, but here is my poor employee, her first day, and I can see that she's thinking "do we have a Sarah who works here?".  Anyway . . .
Come on, first if she was still our Governor, it would be Governor Palin, NOT Sarah!!!  Second SHE QUIT - she is no longer our Governor, never liked Juneau and is probably gallivanting around the country overcharging at events that she speaks at!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously, it is day one for me, don't even get me started!
On a happier note, all of our employees seem to be good, it's a nice start to the season.

Birthday Girl

Happy 21st birthday Brit!

Getting started . . .

Tonight I started my Library Science course through UAF.  I am a bit cranky that I have to take a 100 level course, but so be it.  I will be writting a research paper, topic of my choice, I do like that part.  I have an idea in mind, but still want to think about it a bit before I submit my topic.

The wallet has been found

Finally!  The funniest part is that it was with us the entire time that we were gone.  It was in an outside pocket on Bob's carry on that is made for umbrellas.  It took three days to find it and we were so lucky that it didn't fall out.  The pocket is designed to slide your umbrella into so it is open about 6 inches at the bottom.  Woowee lucky.

Our weekend in Seattle . . .

to see the Tigers!!!
We had a wonderful time, lots of baseball and browsing.  We stayed right downtown in Pioneer Square and explored much of downtown Seattle.  What a great town.  It is set up easily for getting around and seeing the sites.  We decided that we will travel to a new ballpark each year to see the Tigers play and explore a new town.

Thank goodness for passports . . .

As we were getting ready to run out the door at 6 am to catch our 7 am flight, Bob discovered that he couldn't find his wallet.  He had it last night and now it's gone.  After ten minutes of frantic searching we grab his passport and headed to the airport.  We then stood in the longest line I have ever seen at our airport and made it in time to walk on the plan, no waiting.

Gifts from my Auntie . . .

What sweet, and salty, treats from home.  It was fun to come home and find and unexpected surprise in my mailbox.  Thank you at Ruthie!  It reminded me of how you always had raviolies and Quick in your house for me.

"Are those bacon?"

That's what a sixth grade boy asked me today about my earrings. 

I didn't reply right away and then, "you know, I really like bacon.  But no, they are not bacon."

Now I'm cranky!

So I had send that I liked the new blogger, but now I am not so sure.  I just tried to load some pictures and you can't download from your computer or a memory card anymore.  What is that?  Not happy.  Did I miss something?

Dinner in the park

It was so nice out tonight that Bob and I went to subway and then went to Marine Park to enjoy our little bit o' time in the sun. 
This week is SBAs, so school is a bit, well, just different.  The students that I am working with are testing at different times so it's a bit to manage.  As long as I don't forget their time slot I am okay.
Bob and I leave for Seattle on Friday morning and since I keep talking about it, you know that we are excited!

A night in Seattle - April 7th

Tonight I spent in Seattle, before catching a fight to Orlando in the morning.  I ate dinner at Denny's, soup, sandwhich, drink and a sundae all for $10.00 - unbelievable!  Then I went to the tiny hotel gym and a bit of a walk, it is so nice out, couldn't miss being outside for a bit.  After, curled up in my kingsize bed with 5 pillows - what a treat.

I will post a few pics later, need to download them onto this itty bitty computer and there isn't internet in my room ...

How Bob spent his birthday

First, he drove me to the dentist and then had to walk to work, which believe me, I heard about.  I left today for a conference and needed the truck.  It really wasn't that far of a walk, just the point that it was his birthday.  Then he worked.  After work he was going to treat himself to a bit of Chinese, but went he went to Foodland (yes, that's where we get our Chinese from and it's yummy), they were out.  So he ended up with McDonald's.
He did say that he received many b-day wishes and was happy about that.
Next weekend our b-days will be celebrated, we are heading to Seattle for a bit of Tiger baseball.  Both of us are so excited.

On a work trip . . .

That's right, Molly is on a work trip.  Usually it's Bob who gets to travel all about Alaska on adventures.  I am headed to Orlando for a PSRP Conference.  I am pretty excited to see what the conference is all about.  I had a hard time deciding which presentations that I wanted to go to, there were many good ones to choose from.  I am also exctied to get another chance to see my sister.  She is going to come over and stay with me for the weekend and we will get to hang-out in the evenings.

LOVE THE NEW BLOGGER DASHBOARD!!!

While I'm waiting . . .

It is that time of year where I am working on the Eighth Grade Dance and I have Parent Meetings/Decoration Making Nights.  This is one of them and now I am waiting for Bob to get off work and come and get me.  These are the times when I do wish we had a second car, but they don't last long and I am always glad that we made the decision to scale down.  So I figured what the heck, I should blog.  I actually have all sorts of things that I have been wanting to blog about:  new rainboots (that are now 1.5 months old, the projects we have been working on, my travel plans for April, getting a cell phone and so on, but never seem to make the time.  Well, maybe now that I will be waiting for Bob from time to time, I should start back at it.
Last week was Spring Break and I spent the weekend working at the Dog to start getting ready for the tourist season.  It is a nice change to work there on breaks.  I enjoy the energy of downtown and seeing how happy and excited, for the most part, that people are to be in Alaska.  I feel really good about what we got accomplished last week.  Now we just start filling in the pieces.  This year is pretty cool for me, because I got to pick some of the styles that we are going to carry.  Here's hoping that they do well . . .
I did take the weekend off to relax and enjoy some quiet moments with Bob.  That was the last weekend we will have together for a while.  He switches this week to having Friday and Saturday off, so these next two months are always a bit difficult for us to find time together.  I usually work on Saturdays for at least half the day.  But summer vacation will be here soon and when he is not at Red Dog, we will again have the same days off.
Well, I guess I kind of fibbed about us not having days off together for a couple months . . . we are heading to Seattle this month to see the Tigers!  WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!  We are so excited, if you couldn't tell.  We redeemed some airlines miles and splurged on the ball tickets - it should be a super fun time.  It's been, yicks, four years since we've been to a ballgame.  Plus we are staying right in the heart of downtown Seattle, I can't wait to explore.

Door Project

We had our door replaced and when the new one went up, the windows were not frosted like the old.  We took care of that!  It was a bit creepy that people could just look right in our place.  Granted they were just looking at a coat rack, but still . . .

Good Morning Monday of Spring Break . . .

The last couple of nights I have fallen asleep pretty early, so this moving I woke up at 4:30 am.  I think that I could have stayed in bed if my darn back wouldn't have been bothering me!  The good news is I get to watch the sunrise, blog (which I haven't done much of in a longe while and get to the gym early.  Then it's back home to get ready for work, yes work, it's that time of year when new merchandise rolls in and one must get ready for the tourist season.  I am excited to see the new producet we ordered, some of which I got to design (pick from designs and say which colors and styles).  So here I go, tackling Monday . . .

Hula-Hoops!

Here are some of the hoops I made and sold in the craft show:

It's winter again . . .

Well, if you read my blog lately you'd wonder if I was still waiting for my last flight home.  It came, I got home safe and almost a month has gone by.  We have gone from spring time weather, back to the arctic winter.  It is cold, snowy and windy again.  Brrrr!  Just in time for Spring Break in about 8 days, seems fitting.

Picture Perfect

Leavin' on a jet plane

Only a Bob, cousin Josh, would stack things his way.

Downtown Milwaukee

One of "THE Lakes":  Lake Michigan, Bob's favorite

Devin Tyler and Denver Edward

Ash and Me

DT and ME

Manda Girl and Me

E. Tate, Me and ARB

E.Tate and Denver being extremely good through the wedding.  Denver even took a wee bit of a nap.

My gorgeous mom

My brother and me

Me and "Z"

ARB and "Z"

Manda Girl on the prowl. Rrrrrrr.

Bacon wrapped shrimp - YUMMY!

Manda Girl, Ash and ARB doing the alligator or the crocodile.

Eleni - I love this pic

Dener Edward eating his shoe.  Apparnetly he didn't eat enough at breakfast!

My mother and me.

Monday - waiting on the last flight for home

It's Monday morning, 6 am in Seattle.  I have traveled all night and taken a bit of a nap on, I do feel a little refreshed.  I am having my breakfast at Starbuck's, the same place I ate dinner last night.  They were the only place open by the time I got to Seattle.  I am plugged in, waiting for my laptop to charge up (sorry As, I still don't know how long the battery lasts, I have had it on and off so many times this weekend) before I move back to the gate.
Here are a few reflections of traveling home so far:
- All of the doors on airpost bathroom stall doors should swing out.  It's not very easy getting your bag in and out when they swing in!
- I am so proud of my self for traveling light, it is a pain to have to lug your stuff all over.  You get yourself a good spot, then you have to go to the bathroom and when you get back you are looking for another good spot.
- I love my netbook and ipod (the ipod I bought just before this trip)  both smart ideas.
- It was worth every terrifing minute to fly to get to be at Josh and Michelle's wedding!!!  and see my fun, beautiful family again so soon!!!  MJ

JNU to MKE

Reflections of my trip here:
I was reminded of a few things on the trip here:
* I have a strong faith and again I "see" that if you let God in, He will be there.
* I am married to such a wonderful man.  Even though he didn't feel good last night, he put me first and did just what I needed to get me on that plane.  Thank you for always believing in me, supporting me, loving me and letting me be who I am.  I have so much to learn from you.
*The community we live in, never stops amazing me.  A couple of our teachers also work at the airport.  Last night, our PE teacher, who is one of them, he knew that I was flying last night and harassed me all day at school.  He didn't really have any idea of my fear.  Well, last night he was working and he boarded my flight to see how I was.  I had just left Bob, not looking back of course, that's my mo, it's the only way I can do it.  Look forward, complete the task at hand and don't look back.  How do you think that I made it to Alaska? Anyway, poor guy, I had my head down, trying to talk myself into being calm and stop the tears, I didn't even know that he had sat down next to me.  He asked me how I was doing and to my credit, I tried to stop crying and I looked over "fine".  That poor guy, you could see that he wasn't sure what to do.  But I laughed and tried to talk about something else, like how rediculious my crying is.  But it agian reminded me of how caring the people are in our community are.  They look out for you, even when they barely know you.
So anyway, that's what I've done, I've gone from Juneau back to the Midwest and how I do love the Midwest, there is just something about it.  I left Juneau last night at 8 pm Alaska Time and arrived in Milwaukee at 8 am Central Time.  It was terrifing, I won't lie, I hate to fly and know that God and Bob, got me on that plane and here.  There was lots of praying involved.  My flights were smooth and on time or early, so if I wasn't so scared, I'd say it was a good trip, but I do still have to fly back. 
Cousin Josh meet me right outside security and we were off.  It was cool to have that bit of time with him.  I mean he is the groom and has lots to do, but I got about an hour to catch up with him and I feel pretty lucky.  He had lots to do with Michelle, so it worked out perfect, he dropped me off at his place, I got to shower and nap, both of which I needed.  By the time I woke up, I only had about an hour before Uncle Phil and Aunt Mary arrived. 
Uncle Phil had to go and get his tux, so we went to the mall before we came to the hotel.  I must say, he looked pretty handsome in his tux and a Coastal baseball cap.  The mall was pretty nice, I think that I could have walked around for hours, all the smells and lights, it was pretty.  Anyway we didn't stay too long and then came to the hotel.  We are right downtown Milwaukee, just across the street from The Lake (for those of you who don't know, that's Lake Michigan.  It's beautiful.  We hung out a bit and then Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil went to dinner with Josh and Michelle.
So I am feeling like a big girl right now.  I am sitting in the hotel bar, Aura, it is a lounge and the bar is actually acrylic with bubbles in it.  I will get a picture before we leave here.  I have had Ahi Tuna for dinner and cheese cake for dessert.  It's been fun to sit here and listen to music, real music! 
Well, it seems that this has been a bunch of babbling.  Aunt Mary, Josh, Michelle and Uncle Phil are back.  Tata for now. MJ
PS  The time posted is in Alaska Time Zone, add three hours.

RTW 2/6/2010

- This week is the third week in the wait to hear if my job will be reclassified.  It started back in November, the 19th to be exact.  I had gone home early and was checking my email, since it was two days before the Robot Jamboree and I need to keep in contact with parents.  There in my work email was a "new" job announcement for In School Suspension Assistants for each of our three high schools.  Well, to some this is new, but to me and our school, this is my job.  So I started dialogue with my direct supervisors and it has gone from there.  It is three job classes higher then where I am currently classified at.  So, the three weeks had come and gone, on Monday I will send an email to inquire as to where we are at.  You know I lack patience and I am very proud at how well I have waited.

- The weather has stayed surprisingly warm, it is hard to believe that it is only the beginning of February.

- Our Disney Album had been finished and ordered, there is great anticipation for it's arrival!

- Next week will be a busy one:  meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving for Milwaukee on Wednesday, keeping myself from becoming a nervous-coldsore reck about flying.

- I am more and more considering changing this blog to a fun, girly pink!  Bob never blogs and I am thinking that I should call it like it is:  Molly's blog!

$500.00 - That's what it costs me . . .

for not getting back out of bed and paying for my plane ticket that I had on hold.  I was all excited this weekend because I had found round trip tickets to Denver in July for $400.00.  I reserved them, sent an email to make sure the dates worked for those that I planned to visit and told myself that I would buy them on Sunday.  Well, I forgot and went to bed.  I did think about it, but didn't want to get back out of bed, so I left it.  This morning the deal was gone!!!  You were right Tristan, only good in January.  So, here I sit waiting for another deal to pass my way . . . what a fool I am sometimes!!!  MJ

Headlamps: Not just for hiking anymore . . .