28 Days Later...

I knew it had been a while since my last post... but I didn't realize it had already been almost a month! My last post was 28 days ago. I guess I kind of cheated on that post... I pasted the text from an Anchorage Daily News Article about this summer's cool weather then left a quick comment!

A brief (sort of) list of things that have happened in the my Alaskan world over the last 28 days...

1. Luke and I FINALLY hung pictures on the wall in our rental house. We were tired of tripping on them, as they had been leaning against the living room wall since early June:) One thing to note... we actually hung an empty frame on one side of the fire place. It will hold two 8x10 photos... of which we have zero of. I plan to have some wedding pictures blown up to fill the empty frame. (Hopefully before Thanksgiving, considering our current progression rate.)

2. I worked the National Weather Service booth at the International Chapter 99's conference. The Chapter 99's is an international organization for women pilots. Hundreds of women from Australia, Germany, Canada, and the United States attended. On the first day of the conference, my boss Kristine gave a presentation to about 40 women about the National Weather Service's aviation weather products. She concluded the presentation by saying that we would be happy to give personalized weather forecasts to attendees before they left for home, as many of the women piloted their own planes from the lower 48. I worked the booth with Kristine on the last day of the conference... when these personalized forecasts were most needed. No one asked for any weather info... until I was BY MYSELF in the booth! At once, about 12 people surrounded me, asking for weather conditions from Alaska, through Canada, as far south as Arizona! Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed!

At the Chapter 99's conference... this is Dave and Kristine. Dave is a lead forecaster at the NWS Alaska Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU.) Kristine is my boss at the Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU).

3. Scott, a friend of mine from college, stayed with us for a long weekend. I first met Scott in 2003 during the summer Ball State storm chasing trip in the plains. We lost touch after he finished graduate school... and recently renewed our friendship in June after Scott accepted a position at the National Weather Service office in Cold Bay, AK. (On the Alaska Peninsula, in the eastern Aleutians.) He is one of about 50 residents in CDB... so he flew up for a short visit with civilization. While in the only Super Wal-Mart in Alaska... we tried to estimate how many more people were in the store than in Cold Bay! LOTS more was our best guess:)

Scott and me in front of Mirror Lake.

4. We went to the vet... three times. Elsa had an eye infection... so we took her to a clinic that was recommended to me by a co-worker. We saw a great vet whom also discovered that Els had an ear infection. We left the clinic with two bottles of drops... one that we needed to force into Elsa's eyes 2x a day, and a second to squirt into her ears 2x daily. She was allergic to the ear drops and had to be returned for a second visit and was given new drops.

Me, posing with Elsa. Her eyes are looking much better:)

Apollo... my black Persian had emergency surgery... for an scissors related injury that I caused. I was cutting mattes out of his hair... something I have done for years... when I cut him. BAD. He had a deep cut with a gross skin flap that gave me chills to even look at! I took him back to the same clinic we took Elsa to. This time... I saw a doctor that I won't describe as great. He was ok. After giving me attitude about cutting Apollo in the first place, he said the only choice was to cut around the incision that I created... remove tissue, and stitch Polz closed. Poor cat... I was able to take him home right after surgery, still groggy from anesthesia. They had put a "lamp shade" around his neck to keep him from licking his stitches. I carefully helped Polz out of his carrier once we got home... and he proceeded to walk around and crash into everything... the wall, the coffee table... the foot stool. I feel so mean saying this... but it was SO FUNNY! Because he was wearing the "lamp shade," he couldn't hit his head; the shade acted as a helmet! I am happy to say that Apollo is recovering and doing well. I take him back to the vet (now trip #4) on Wednesday. The frustrating part... Els might be returning then as well. Her eyes looked great for a few days... and seem to be really bothering her again. Sigh. Pets are expensive.

No... I did not take a picture of Apollo crashing around in the lamp shade. Yes, I know that I should have.

Luke, with the "patients."

5. My second and third Alaskan Volcanoes erupted. Cleveland and Kasatochi have kept me busy, along with the ever persistent Okmok that was in continuous eruption for over a month! I am relieved to say that all are quiet right now.

For your navigational assistance... I copied this map from the Alaska Volcano Observatory's website. (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/)

The Kasatochi eruption was a challenging one. The volcano is located in the western Aleutians, near Adak. Ash from the initial eruption became caught in a low pressure cell... and eventually made its way to the southeast AK panhandle, causing 41 Alaska Airline flights and numerous flights w/ other airlines to be canceled. Ash was later carried across most of Canada and over the Northern tier sates of the lower 48.

"Composite OMI satellite image from August 12 showing the sulfur dioxide cloud from the August 7 eruption of Kasatochi volcano. This cloud is at a range of altitudes from 30,000 to 40,000 ft. The various colors represent the amount of gas in the atmosphere with dark orange being the highest and dark blue the lowest." (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/)

6. Luke started teaching!! His first day with students was Wednesday. He is excited, overwhelmed, and busy with school-related planning. I'm sure he'll post soon. (Too funny... he posted right after I did!! Great minds think alike!)

7. Elsa has a new spot...

Napping in a folding chair in our yard.

8. Last... but most certainly not least... my grandfather suffered a massive stroke on Thursday August 14th. My mom started a blog... http://beth-thelongroadback.blogspot.com/ to detail the challenges that lie ahead, not only for my grandfather, but for her and my grandmother as well. Following the stroke, grandpa was completely paralyzed on his right side and was barely able to speak. Last week, he started physical, speech, and occupational therapy and has made unbelievable strides towards recovery. He can short distances, with the aid of a walker or a cane. He even climbed a flight of stairs in a hospital stairway a few days ago.

My favorite story from my mom's blog is this (copied from my mom's blog): "In OT, his therapist asked him to match some multi-colored wooden beads. She held up a purple one and asked him what color it was. He said, "heliotrope." (Now, don't go and Google it folks, heliotrope means purple!) Mom and I wonder if Dad might be getting in touch with his "feminine side." :-)"

I googled it anyways... heliotrope really does mean purple!

"Heliotrope is a pink-purple tint that is a representation of the color of the heliotrope flower. The color heliotrope is a brilliant shade of purple. Another name for this color is vivid Lavender. " (From Wikipedia.)

Today, my mom's blog entry says this: "One week ago today, Dad had a vocabulary of less than 10 words and had no movement on the right side of his body. Today, he's reading the paper, feeding himself, walking, and conversing. I am astounded when I stand back and actually assess how far he's progressed in such a short period of time."

I sent a card to my grandfather... but I have not been able to talk to him on the phone since the stroke. I feel really lucky... after Elsa's first trip to the vet, my grandmother asked me to call her and give her an "update" so that she would know if Elsa's ears and eyes were getting better. When I called, Mamaw wasn't home... so grandpa answered the phone. He and I chatted for 10-15 minutes. It was good to talk to him. He had his stroke less than a week later. Even though I am far away... I still think about him, and the rest of my family all of the time.

Before Christy's graduation in 2005... me, Mamaw, Christy, Mom, and Grandpa.