A spare moment

Finally, a chance to write! No, I'm not ignoring friends and family and my other readers, but we have been BUSY. Seems like we are always really busy when hubby gets home from work.

A trip to Fairbanks this week made me another new friend. She'll be affectionately dubbed, "Swiffer Girl", since I met her in the Swiffer aisle in Walmart. She and her husband were looking at products, asked me an innocent enough question about the said item, and I started babbling my life story. (anyone surprised by that? No, I didn't think so.) Turns out that I had an extra of the product she wanted to know about, and since the movers finally brought my old one, I offered her the one I had. She stopped by later in the day and as we chatted, discovered we have a lot in common and decided we should hang out.
And hooray for Swiffer Girl being the kind of chick to follow-up! She called the next day to make plans to go to the Fair in Salcha with me and Beans this weekend.
And also really great, while us girls were in the house chattering away like the hens I covet, my husband and her husband were chatting it up outside, and it seems they like eachother too.

I have decided that maybe telling my life story to strangers isn't such a bad idea afterall. (grin)

Well, as fun as the trip to town was... um, actually it wasn't. We have discovered a going-to-town-anomoly. Hubby and I both get pretty crabby and end up bickering most of the day when we go to town. We were both relieved (and I'm sure Madderbeans was the MOST relieved) to get home and start settling into our version of the "weekend", which is what we call Mon-Thurs, since that's when Hubby is off work.

The house is ALMOST put together enough for company. We muddled through the spare room (A.K.A. my sewing room) and got that situated, even though I spent most of that time pretty moody when I discovered that my one material thing in the world that I actually really care about (my 1940s antique vanity) was broken by our movers. I spent most of the day sounding like Yosemite Sam from Bugs Bunny. "Fricka, fracka, fricken rabbit!"
The upside is that my sewing room is coming together, and I love, love, love that I will soon have a room I can shut myself away into and hear nothing but the whir of the sewing machine while Hubby deals with Beans for a weekend.

Other weekend news: Hubby put my clothesline up. I thought it would take more begging, as he thinks it's sort of silly to hang clothes to dry. Luckily, my begging came the same day our first power bill showed up, and he no longer thought my clothesline was an insane idea. (In fact, he's going to build me an indoor line for the winter, the bill was that high!) He also spent a good chunk of time sounding like Yosemite Sam as he went through the house unscrewing lightbulbs and fussing about how we didn't need the lights on in the house when sun was shining 22 hours a day.

Ok, at the risk of my old friends (especially my best friend in the whole world) making fun of me... I LOVE the clothesline. This is why... I dreamily hang laundry (while battling mosquitos) and imagine that I am Laura Ingalls Wilder, living on the Prairie (ok, so it's the TUNDRA). There is a peaceful rythym to being out there clipping clothes to the line, even if the mosquitos have left 15 new welts every load I hang, and even though Bushy the Squirrel threatens me with a high pitched squirrel-shriek every time I am there. (Damn that squirrel. I am going to stop feeding that fricka fracka fricken thing!)

For my friends and family: There really is a strange sense of peace coming over me here. Maybe it was finally hearing (in church) that it's ok to let go of family members that don't treat you well. Maybe it's being so far removed from the things that really sucked about my life. Maybe it's the new independence I am having to develop out here between J's work schedule and the daily-living chores that really do have to be accomplished. (Let's face it, it's hard to brood or worry about people pleasing when you are trying to chop enough wood for the winter!) But I do want all of you guys who know the full story to know that I am really experiencing some much needed spiritual and emotional healing out here. I don't know exactly what it is, but life is so peaceful here.

Ever feel like you were maybe living life in a fog, or watching yourself go through the motions of living, like you weren't really THERE? I've spent most of my life like this. But somehow, here in AK, I feel connected with myself, I feel ALIVE, and I feel like for the first time maybe, I am living my life instead of watching it go by.

So, I will endure your teasing about my dreams of chickens (wait until you hear how J promised me a sheep so I can try spinning wool!). But I do want you guys to rest assured that we are safe, happy, and content here.

Ok, so off my deep, spiritual podium there, and off to say:
We are heading back into town to get J's car (AGAIN!) from the shop, and pick up a few more things. (There's another reason to hate going to town. We spend entirely too much money there!) Then with J off to work again, Beans and I will be heading to the park for a picnic with our new friends, and then off to the Salcha Fair on Saturday with our other new pals. A busy weekend for me and Beans!

For all our back-home friends, Salcha is a teeny tiny little blip on the map. Seriously, if you are watching the view on the drive to Delta, you'd miss it. But I hear they put on one heck of a fair, so stay tuned for our Alaskan Small Town Adventure!