Life on the Beach

I had a thought this morning..Yes..A THOUGHT!! LOL!! Actually, I have thoughts all the time but this was more of an "epiphany" of sorts. Wow...that's TWO in one week's time. More on the other later. Anyway, my thought this morning came as I watched a Humpback whale out in front of the house. His "hump-back" came way up out of the water and I got a good look at him before he dove down not to be seen again for a while. I was bummed that I was scrambling to get out the door for work. I probably would have sat around and been late for work but that would have meant Jacob being late for school as well and that is just NOT acceptable in our household! LOL! Anyway, we haven't seen whales in quite some time so we get quite excited when something big comes our way. We did have a "group" of Sealions going crazy out there tonight too but we are getting used to that. :) OH...my thought was "How are we ever going to move out of this house???" It is just so wonderful to be down here on the water. It's nothing short of amazing. Sigh.

AnyWHOOOOOOO....my other thought I had was on Sunday. I arrived at church and found out as I walked in the door that another family is leaving Ketchikan. This is a young family with two small children. Sigh. I asked Kristina why they were leaving and found out that her hubby got a great job in Anchorage and they couldn't pass it up. You can't blame them for that!! It still makes me sad and I cried the whole way home. I didn't cry because I am especially attached to them (well I *am* but...) it's just that it seems like everytime I turn around we (the congregation) are saying good-bye to someone. And it's especially sad when it's a family with children b/c we won't get to watch these little ones grow up!! Needless to say...I hate it more and more as time goes by. Sooooo...I was in my kitchen making lunch when I had my other "epiphany". I thought to myself "Wow! I finally found something I hate about Ketchikan MORE than the RAIN...I hate saying good-bye to people!!!" Wow. This is BIG. Well it was BIG to ME. Everyone knows how much I hate all the rain here. I'll tell you what, tho, it's the people here that make this place livable!!!!! Why do you think I've stayed here all these years???? Can ANYONE relate to this??? Please speak up if you do. SIGH. My friend, Carla, is right. This is NOT the place to be if you hate seeing people go. I never thought of Ketchikan as a "transient" kind of town but that's exactly what it is. We have a pretty big community of Coast Guard families...most people don't have family here...jobs aren't always plentiful...yada, yada, yada. There are plenty of reasons to leave. I get it. I don't like it...but I "get" it. That being said...it's fun when NEW people come. We actually have a new pastor coming!! Dave and Bonnie Hunter decided Ketchikan is the place for them and we (the church actually) offered them the job of pastor/pastor's wife. I'm sure that's not the correct "term" but you get my meaning!! We are excited to finally be getting a full-time leader. Yay!!

On a completely different note...I have moved into my office at work. It is DIVINE to have my own space. It was just the attitude adjustment I needed. :) I still need to decorate but that will come with time. The sun has even been streaming thru my window! Lord knows I need as much of that as I can get.

Speaking of the sun, the weather has improved here. It's still really chilly even on the nice days but there is light at the end of the tunnel as far as Spring is concerned. Last night it cleared off and got cold...the windows on the car were completely frosted over...but we can live with that. I think any threats of major snow are over...Thank Goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whew! Hard to believe it's the end of March and it's barely hitting 40 degrees out there. It's coming, tho.

So, last week was Spring Break for Jake. Tony and I were sick all week but we are doing lots better now. We didn't get hit as hard as most people out there. There are some really NASTY bugs going around. The postman came in today and said his little girl got sick and was down for 9 days!! Poor thing! My friend, Marina, and her entire family are really, really sick...her dad even came down with Pneumonia. She sounded like she was not far behind him. :(

Not much else is happening. I'm having some issues of a "Gynelogical" nature but hopefully I'll get in and get things taken care of soon. Let's just say it put me on my fanny today...I was home by noon. Lots of Motrin and red wine! :)

OK...I won't bore you any longer. Hey...Is anyone watching American Idol??? It's SO GOOD this season!! Wow!! What are your pics???? We like Matt but my favorite is Danny Gokey. Wow!! Speaking of which...gotta go!! It's ON!!!!!!!!!!

Love and Hugs~ Nan XOXOXOXO