January 2010

As I was getting ready for bed tonight, relieved that it is Friday tomorrow, I realized just how quickly January zipped by. By far, our highlight included traveling to Nome for Gram's 80th birthday. Tonight I found myself downloading more pictures off of another camera and had to share a couple more from Nome.

FYI-I've started to notice the slightly longer days already, a sure sign of February inching closer. A few more cold spells, maybe 2 or 3 and we're done for the year as far as that goes, assuring!

Today's Reading

Christmas this year was a blessing in many ways, including receiving this particular book from my friend Jeni. It is written by a lady named Shaunti Feldhahn. Part of the back reads, "What's going on in there? Even been totally confused by something your man has said or done? ...Grounded in Biblical hope, you will discover how to love your man for who he really is-not who you think he is..."

Its interesting. It has practical advise, which I love. Let me give you an example from today. Today I stayed home with the flu. Jason has always been especially incredible when I'm not feeling well. So, he has a little extra on his plate with work, me being sick and after work duties. After his day at work, he looks forward to going to the pool with his 3 swimmers to do lessons and get in a little workout for himself. So, he comes home at 4:15 with the mail and has to turn around and get to the pool in about 15 minutes. Time is obviously an issue here. Heres the scenario. I had recently discontinued a subscription to a service that was automatically billed to our credit card. I had called them twice (I had to call the 2nd time to undue a payment they shouldn't have made) and at the time, had told Jason about it, no big deal.

So, when he sees my discontentment with the company for making a mistake the third time, he goes into a certain mode. Let me pause here. This mode, I've seen before in the past. It is one that can be caused by several circumstances, not just when I am unhappy. I can tell that he, at that very moment, has a NEED to take care of business. And he means business. And neither Romay, the dog, or myself should question what he is doing. That is how Jason wants it. Well, reality and me being a wife that learns things at times through trial and error, has questioned this 'mode,' before. And well, this book addressed it!! OH, the lights went off, I understand what is going on in his head and well, I just about enjoyed learning about this as much as I enjoyed my first trip to the theater as a little girl!

This mode is one of trust that he knows what he is doing and needs his wife to reaffirm him in his decision. That he is capable of prioritizing and for the wife to trust his judgement. There were other issues on the table at this moment in time (in this case, getting to the pool soon, making sure Romay was ready, etc...FYI-I'm the one who stresses about time and being on time...) So, instead of 'nagging' him about getting out the door, he makes the phone call, without his wife pointing to her watch...takes care of business (much better than I could have anyways) and gets out the door with his daughter in time to get to swim lessons. Before he left I told him how proud I was of him in taking care of this...YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIS FACE LIGHT UP...He could have just climbed Mt. Everest, in shorts. So...I shared a tip, theres a lot of discussion I totally left out. I thought the story would be of more interest anyhow.

Purple Pillow Hats and Sunsets

This past week, like all weeks, was busy. Last Monday we returned from Nome to -35 to -40 weather. The whole week invloved watching the thermometer to see what kind of crazy cold would be in store for the day. Luckily, we didn't hit -50, it ONLY reached -46 at the coldest! HA! In this kind of weather, the car windshield stays frosty, because the heater doesn't even want to work. Since then, it has warmed to -22 and it was something else to not have to bend over the steering wheel in order to see out the nonfrosted part of the windshield.

About the purple pillow hat. The pictures are from Gram's apartment, of course Romay was laughing at herself and then made anyone who was willing to put it on wear it. She is silly. She is improving with swimming. Jason says that she may be ready to competitively swim next season if she wants to. We got a call today from UPS. I was relaxing in my bedroom. There was a roar after she hung up the phone. Her new swimsuit had arrived, along with Dad's new suit and my swim cap and goggles. She got a grab bad suit and wore it for a couple of hours before she went to the pool.

Jason works so hard. The house we live in has a wood boiler and Jason keeps it running when we are home. He loves to work with wood and going to start fires to keep the cost of the oil fired boiler down. He is also ferverently planning for our upcoming building project this summer, a home. We are going with the first day cottage design. He can't wait to get the ball rolling, until then, he is planning, planning, planning.

Well, another week upon us. We're thankful for each other. Each of us does a job and we work together to keep things going, one body and many parts. God be with you this week!

More Birthday Pics

Ellen is 80!!??

Food, people, laughter, Gram loved her party. She definitely enjoyed her moments in the spotlight on her 80th birthday with stories she shared about her life, with an open story sharing time as the "icing on the cake." I heard terms of endearment, "Auntie Ellen, Gram, Nome Mom, Mom." Because of her light stroke earlier this year, she has limited her intake of fats and salt, but not on this particular night. She glowed with delight as she tenderly ate Marlene's fish agutak, something she has pushed aside from her restrictions, except at her party. As she opened presents, it was evident that people know what she likes...tea, hence the tea pot and books, as she remarked, "thank you, you know I love to read..." And she is a reader indeed. She even remarked, "I'll do more on my 90th birthday..." meaning, maybe she'd like to fly someplace different, why hold limits with age?

Walking to Dog

Jay and I have been taking Kemper for walks at night, walking him on the Yukon River! We live in an area with loose dogs and well, we joke about how we walk on water, ha. Since the house we're living in has huge windows facing the river, Romay will watch from the living room. She usually wants to stay inside and play computer games. The walks have been a nice way to wind down before starting another busy day.

Christmas Break '09

What a refreshing time off from what seemed to be a long haul since August. As you can see, Jason, and I say Jason because he did most of the work, hauled sill logs from a nearby slough for our foundation of our house. Each tree presented different challenges. We did find creative ways to get a chainsaw bar stuck from the tree pinching the chainsaw bar, gravity and wood have an amazing combination and a 16'' bar doesn't slice like butter all the time. Then, as if that weren't enough, it was another thing to get the heavy log onto the sled. Jason only put out his back once from all the lifting. That night, because of his discomfort, I tried every trick, about 4-5 ways, in trying to pop his hip into place. Kemper had the touch. The next day, Jason was drinking coffee, reading a book on the bed with the dog laying on his lap. He sneezed and "click" in it went. Well that was easy, I'll have a good reason to tickle his nose with a piece of hair for those hip displacements. Jeni, a great friend from Koyuk, came and spent Christmas with us this year. We heard ourselves say, "next year, we can..." as it is tradition, almost 3 years ongoing, that she makes it into Galena. We had an uplifting time as we talked about God working through us and of course, the challenges and sharpening we're going through! She is a true friend and I'll have to say that she is one good cook! Well, now we're back to work. Its a good start when we're not grumbling all too much, it'll be good to see the kids again.