I apologize that I have not been writing much lately! I really have no excuse! But exciting news is that I come home to Texas in 5 days!! I leave Homer on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. and have a lay over in Anchorage until 10:00 a.m. and then a layover in Seattle until 6:00 p.m. and then finally (after a very long day in transit) will arrive at DFW around 11:30 p.m. And I just found out on Friday that Sophie girl will be making the trip as well! Turns out that Alaska Airlines will still fly animals in the winter, it is way cheaper to bring her home than board her, and I get to have her with me!! I am so glad she is such a great traveler! What is even more nice is that since I am flyer Alaska Air the whole way, they will be transporting and taking care of her the whole time. I am a little nervous to fly out of Homer to Anchorage. Not only is it my first time to fly in a plane that is smaller than 50 people but I am praying that the flight is not delayed or canceled because of the weather. Weather around here has been crazy!! There is barely any snow on the ground and it has been raining for the past two weeks or so. The temperature vacilates above and below freezing so it will rain and freeze and then melt and freeze again. It has made things very slippery around here. This morning, I went to finish my Christmas shopping and my car slid down the hill of the driveway and I almost crashed into a wood planter on the side of the drive. It was so scary!! So I went out and bought a pair of "grips" (they are things you strap onto the bottom of your boots that are rubber and have metal studs on the bottom). They allow you to walk on ice without slipping. I parked at the bottom of the driveway and walked up to my apartment with my new assurance that I wouldn't fall!
I found a new store in town that I love called Blackberry Bog. I think I could spend hours in that store and if I had a ton of money, I would buy everything in there. I got some Christmas presents in there and managed to buy myself a couple things for me. For some reason, my internet will not allow me to upload pictures right now so I will update tomorrow with the pictures I have taken.
Something that is great about living here is the night sky. I have always been a fan of the moon and stars but it is amazing how much bigger and brighter they are out here. There are some nights when the moon feels like it is hanging in the trees in the back yard and nights when the moon isn't out at all. Tonight is particularly dark and the stars can be seen in patches where the clouds have separated. The head of my bed is up against the window and I like to open the curtains at night and look at the stars before I fall asleep. I also like to crack the window open and fall asleep snuggled in my warm bed.
Surprisingly, the cold really hasn't bothered me. I thought that I would get sick of bundling up or wearing multiple layers all the time but I haven't. The darkness has been an adjustment though. The sun has been rising around 10 a.m. and setting around 4:30 p.m. so when I wake up at 7:30 a.m. every morning, it still feels like it is the middle of the night. I was finding myself getting tired around 5 p.m. every night so I listened to my co-worker and started taking Vitamin D. It is so strange that I am taking it because in Texas there was never a lack of that vitamin! I have been told that on Wednesday (December 21, 2011) it will be the shortest day of the year and that after that we will start gaining a couple mintutes of daylight each day. I feel very fortunate not to be living in a part of Alaska that sees total darkness because I am pretty sure I would go crazy!
Work is going well and I am starting to gain some more responsibilities around the office. I will be able to take on a case load in a month and I am ready. I do not like being the newbie who has to shadow workers because I feel so incompetent and like a burden. However, I love my boss and coworkers. I basically follow around my coworker, April, all day and that is fun. I wish we could convince my boss, Margit, to let us work in teams like police officers and then we could do everything together!
Well I better hit the hay! 4 more days of work, 5 days til Texas, and 7 days until Christmas!! I love this week!! And I love y'all!
No comments:
Post a Comment