Mom is here...and so is the rain!!

Mom and Dan arrived just in time for the rain to start up again. I told her she was supposed to bring the sun with her! LOL!! It's pretty dreary out there today so I don't know what we are going to do. Guess we'll have to figure it out. I think Dan likes it here so far. This is his first time. He got his fishing license yesterday and he's anxious to get out and get some fish. I'm waiting to hear from my fishing buddy, Malcolm, on that end. Anyway, I'm cutting this short for now. It's time for breakfast. More later.

Take Care~ Nanette

Find the Cruise Ship!

Wow! It's Friday again already! The last week has gone by so fast. Tony and I have been recovering from the cleaning job we did last weekend at the B&B below us. My mom will be staying there starting Sunday. Anyway, this morning I was awakened (awoken?) by the very loud sound of a cruise ship horn!! Only in Ketchikan can you look out your window at 4:45am and see nothing but fog and hear a ship going down the channel. I could not believe I could NOT SEE anything but fog when I looked out. I had to take video to prove it to you all!! And this went on for like 45 minutes! At least 3 ships came in this morning blowing on their horns, going down the channel....there was NO visibility whatsoever. I literally saw NOTHING but fog. It was very eary. Unbelievable! I know and have seen the rocks and mountains (helloooooooo!!!) that are waiting for them. How do they do this? I will be sure to ask our friend, Chris, who is training to be a "SeaPilot" the next time he is in town. He's a captain on the ferry so I'm sure he's done this a thousand times with the ferry boat. Below is what a normal day (if you don't count the sunshine) looks like when the ships are coming in!

This was taken literally while I sat at my kitchen table getting ready for work! Nice, huh???

So, as I was saying, this week has gone so fast. Work has been crazy-busy as I've been trying to beat my deadline for billings, which is normally the 10th or 11th depending on the day of the week, since I'm taking three days off next week while my mom is here. My job is very tedious and demanding at times. It requires a lot of concentration and what I call "paper shuffling". You wouldn't think this would be so exhausting but mentally, it is. And when you are under the gun it can be somewhat stressful. However, knowing my mom will be here in a few days, has really kept my attitude in check. I am SO excited!

Tony has been busy, too. He is very much looking forward to this weekend. All the major chores have been done and we are ready for company! We bought a new BBQ grill yesterday so we are set. :)

Jake's last day at daycare for the summer is today. Lori, our daycare provider, is going on vacation so he will be home with us until school starts on Aug. 28th. I took some pictures of him at Judo the other night. Tuesday was his last session for a while since Soccer will be starting up here shortly.

Is that a girl he's pinning down? Yikes! :)

Jake and his buddy, Nolan Meyer!

The last week has also brought gorgeous sunshine and warm temperatures! You would think this would make me very happy, and it has to a certain extent, but all good things must come to an end and with my mother coming....well, you see where I'm going with this! We will probably be fishing in the rain (sorry mom!) I am really praying that the forecast is wrong or that if it does start raining again that it won't last. I really hope Dan, mom's boyfriend, gets to see how beautiful it is here when it's sunshining! They are here until the 18th so more than likely we'll get at least a few days of nice weather (I hope!)

One last item of note...John and Denise Turley went back to POW last weekend. I got a chance to go out on their sailboat for a short cruise up the channel before John took off. It was just us girls...Denise has her captain's license. We didn't actually sail b/c John wasn't with us and I don't know the first thing about sailing but it was still fun to take a little cruise and be out on the water. It took about an hour and a half to get to our house and anchor up out front. I wish I had video of me getting into the little dingy. It was quite scary and something I've never done before. Denise had to row me to shore and it was a very windy day so the water wasn't very nice. But we made it and John came home shortly thereafter and took the boat to POW. Anyway, it was nice to have that last little bit of time chatting with Denise and getting to know her better. I'm hoping to go visit them someday on POW. Jake would LOVE it! John and Denise are the parents of Jackie and Lily that I posted about earlier. Jake really got attached to Jackie and misses her a great deal. Anywhoooooooo....here's a shot of the sailboat!

OK...never mind. Blogger isn't cooperating this morning! Shots of the boat later. OK...I'd better go get ready for work anyway. TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll post some pics of me and mom this coming week. Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Love and Hugs~ Nan

Goodbye Jackie & Lily!

Well, the girls downstairs left this morning for the lower 48 to spend time with family. They will not be back to Ketchikan as their family is moving to POW (Prince of Wales Island). This is a very sad time for Jacob. He spent a good portion of the evening with them last night and said his goodbyes. I don't think I've ever seen him so heartbroken. You know how hard that is on mom as well! Anyway, John and Denise (the parents) are here a few more days but it will be hard to see them go. They have been fantastic neighbors and they are just an all around nice family. (John works for DOT and has been working here for the last 5 months.) Jacob has grown really attached to the girls, especially Jackie the 13 year old. She has such a knack with kids and we had a babysitter right downstairs!! I'm bummed they are leaving. Lily was always up for a game of backgammon and was even willing to let me monkey with her hair (I never did get around to it but she was willing!!) So, anywhoooo..that's our big news for the week. Now we prepare for my mom's visit. She arrives on the 1oth. I am SO excited!!

It finally stopped raining today and actually got quite nice. I went for a long walk after work with my friend, Buffy. It felt good to be outside. No pictures today as I didn't bring my camera but that's OK. There's more to come.

For those of you that haven't been able to leave comments...I have finally changed the settings on this blog so anyone can post a comment. I'm so glad I figured that out!! Yay me!! :)

Well, it's gettting late so I'd better go eat something. Hope you are all well. Hugs to you all~ Nanette

When It Rains, It Pours.

Well, our sunshine lasted all but a day. Wow! All day yesterday it poured and blew. Poor Jake. It was a miserable first day of soccer camp. I felt so guilty dropping him off. It wasn't cold...just VERY, VERY wet. Yuck! We had to turn the furnace on last night just to get his shoes and shin guards dry. I hope this isn't par for the course for this season. It's just as bad today and we probably won't make him go. I know I wouldn't want to be out there...why should I force HIM to endure it? No way. On a more positive note...our water tank is overflowing!! Woo Hoo!! With company coming next month, that is a good thing. Doesn't look like we'll have to conserve or buy water. You HAVE to find the silver lining, right? All I can say is I am REALLY re-thinking the whole "moving away from Ketchikan" idea. This weather is just GROSS and depressing!! I am already noticing the days getting shorter. It was already SO dark by 9pm last night. That's not normal for around here when the days are supposed to be LONG! Anywhooo...this is turning into a whiney post so I better come up with something else to talk about. Oh yeah...they keep talking about the gas prices going down. Yeah, right! Ours keeps going up. Last post it was $4.35. It's up to $4.41 as of this morning. Gag!!

OK...I'd better get to work. Nothing much else is happening that I can think of. It's Tuesday and we are already looking forward to the weekend. I think the forecast is for sunshine on Saturday but I'm not holding my breath!! :)

Hope you are all well and having an actual summer!!!! I know MOST of you are. :) Nanette

Sunshine & Gasoline!

Well the sun is out, finally! It's gorgeous out. I may leave work early today to take advantage of it. The weekend is almost here and it will probably rain so I'd better get my tail out there while I can. :) I decided since it was so nice to take a break and go fill up the Subaru with some gas. So, I pulled up to the pump and there was a dude filling up his motorcycle. I couldn't help but ask "How much is it to fill that up?" He said, "Sixteen ($16!!) Dollars." THAT'S AMERICAN DOLLARS Y'ALL!!!!!!! Anyway, then he proceeded to say, "That's for 3 gallons...it will last 15o miles." OK. So, I'm sorry I asked at that point as I went to fill up MY empty tank. Sheesh! I'm thinking "I should get one of those for Tony." Then I remembered how much it rains here and it wouldn't be safe. Life just isn't fair, man!! My bill came to $52.11 and that was with a 30 cent discount at Safeway!!!! Oh well...I just emailed my co-worker over on Prince Of Wales Island and they are paying $4.98 (we pay $4.35 right now). Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!! What are the rest of you out there paying??? Leave me a comment. I'm curious. Or perhaps a glutton for punishment! :)

So, soccer camp starts next week. I've got Jacob all signed up. I hope the weather is decent. Games start on August 16th. I can't wait to put pics on this blog. I'm glad I started this. Well, I'd better get back to work so I can get out of here and go enjoy the sunshine. Hope you all are doing well and having a nice summer.

Over & Out~ Nanette

My Walk Part 2!

I just had to post more of my pictures that I took on our walk today. There may be a third with tonight's sunset. We just have such amazing views of nature up here. It is truly "God's Country" as some might say. Even when it's cloudy we get the most spectacular views of the sun trying to come thru the clouds. And some of our most magnificent sunsets (like tonight) are the best when there is "cloudage" in the sky. LOL! Yes...that's my new word for the day. Anyway, Enjoy! Of course, I had to get a pic of an eagle in there. I am fascinated with these giant birds and they are everywhere this time of year.

Fireweed!

Well...it finally stopped raining (PTL!) and I went for a walk with some friends after work. I got some amazing shots along the way. It was such a gorgeous night. Cloudy, but it was still nice to be out getting some fresh air instead of laying on the couch watching TV (again!) Anyway, I was quite tickled the way my "Fireweed" shots turned out. This is a plant/flower/weed? that grows everywhere in these parts this time of year. I just love it! I'm not sure how but you can actually make Fireweed "Honey" from this. One of our MHAs (Mental Health Associates) did it last year with some of our kids! I guess it's good, too! Go figure, huh!?! Anyway, enjoy the pics. I'm sure there will be more. It's supposed to get up to 60 tomorrow. Woo Hoo!!!!