Captain Joe Hits the Road

Joe completed his orientation in Inidanapolis for Werner Enterprises and has begun his 90 days of training. There was a little bit of concern over who his trainer would be, so many in his class were heavy smokers. But it all worked out great. He met Steve on Wed. morning. He's from Ann Arbon, loves football, Red Wings, same age as Joe, family man who likes to be home for holidays, and doesn't smoke. He's a real nice guy. A former banker who lost his job due to merger last year. He's been driving less than a year. Joe is his first trainee! He has a dedicated route, which means goes to the same places. Virginia, West Virginia, PA, IN, and sometimes to Texas, for Kraft Foods. After 90 days Joe will be on his own, hopefully with a dedicated route as well. He leaves Sunday (I will take him to AA), then he will be gone for 3weeks, back for Christmas for one week. Then he will drive for 2 weeks be home every other weekend. I think it will be ok. I'm so glad he could be home for Thanksgiving and everything is working out.

Sal said to keep you all posted on where the good gas prices are and places we might want to visit. So far the best is MI and IN border $1.58/gal. Love you all! Happy Trails kids! and remember. . . no spagetti dinners on paper plates in the backseat!!!

Turkeyday '08

Here is the picture of the crew we had over for Thanksgiving.  Walt Invited a friend of his from the geology group at MTU.  This is Poonam from the Madras area of India.  Her mom and Dad are in India, so it was fun to have her adopt us as her Thanksgiving family.
We had a great meal - A heritage turkey, that was fantastic! and all the good trimmings!
A fun day for sure!!
A movie Recommendation from the day:  "Lars and the real girl"

Always type in Blue Cats!  (Grrrrrrr)

Sue's Views

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is the turkey tureen that Ron got me for my birthday. I couldn't remember if I already sent this or not. Isn't it cool? It's my first tureen. I served pumpkin soup in it once and beef stew in it another time. He also bought me the flowers. I'll be cooking turkey for Ron and me on Thanksgiving, then having his family over on Saturday. It's a little weird, but I already had the turkey thawing, when Bruce called to ask if we could have Thanksgiving on Saturday. By that time, I could freeze my turkey again, so we'll have turkey twice. Candy will be running in her first marathon on Thanksgiving day. She's been training hard. Good luck, if you read this! On Friday I will be a singing baker in full costume as part of a gingerbread house theme in the Alpena Holiday Parade at night. I go at 1:15 to get my make-up put on and top part of my costume. Then at 4:45 we all get the the rest of our costumes put on (all hand made by someone). Some people are chefs and some are gingerbread people, and some just walk along the float. First Federal usually wins the contest. Last year we weren't in the parade. I'll let you know how we fair. Back in Hillman, Brush Creek Mill is having their Christmas Tree Display contest. I have to put up and decorate the tree for the Chamber of Commerce. I doubt will win; there's a lot of clever ideas. By the way, the bricks have been layed that I got in honor of Mom and Dad. I went to take a picture of them today, and they're all snow covered. They look real nice. I'll send a picture as soon as I can. This girl better hit the sack. Blessings to all.

Anchorage at night

I went to the link Aimee specified - so pretty tonight!

hi ya!

Hi ya, everyone!

 

I've been enjoying your blogs lately even though I haven't been commenting (whoops!).  Thought I'd post...

 

I'm working out of the Anchorage office this week.  It's definately different but good, too.  It's about 30 degrees right now (talk about a heat wave compared to Fairbanks!).  Brian's apartment and the office here are toasty warm and it's nice to not be cold all the time.  I've been enjoying the big city-- breakfast at the Snow City Cafe and dinner at Moose's Tooth, Qdoba!, shopping at REI and the brand new Target...  it's pretty nice.

 

I'm also getting pretty good at Mario Kart!  Ha!  I can even beat Brian sometimes.  (just sometimes, he's good)

 

I attached a picture of our office here.  It's the office building on the very left of the picture-- I saved a picture from a webcam close to here.  My office (if you could see through the window) is on the top floor, right about where the camera cuts off the side of the building.  (YEAH, I have a window!!!)  (webcam link)  I face the building where the webcam is.

 

Anyway, things are good.  We're going to Talkeetna (Tal-keet-na) for Thanksgiving with some of Brian's friends.  Should be a good time-- I've got lots to be thankful for!

 

love you all!!!

Sue's Views

I just happened to be browsing through a photo album from 1990 when I spotted this uncanny photo of Sally (Palin) Cherry. Now if Sally would have had her ultra cool glasses on...I think it's a pretty good resemblance. I think she copied your hair style. You're such a trend setter. This was taken at Nancy's house during Christmas. (Now that's a fun idea)

Love, Sue

Sue's Views

Sorry I didn´t preview this picture before sending it to you. I did a lot of fall scenes this year. Nancy, I keep forgetting to tell you that you really got me fired up about the beautiful fall leaves in Michigan. I collected more than I can handle. I pressed them, and then painted them with 1/2 glycerine, 1/2 water. It was a lot of fun. I even got into doing ferns and weeds. Now I just need a bid board to showcase them. When itś done, Iĺl show you all the oaks, maples, poplars, ferns, and weeds I collected.
In Nature,
Sue

Sueś Views

It was a big day for the kids n the snow. I got out my new flying saucer ( which I only bought for the purpose of using it for the top of my lighthouse costume) and I showed the pups how much fun it is spinning around and pushing myself with my arms. ell they couldn´t wait to get in on the action. I laughed my fool head off watching them. Rusty put his front paws in the saucer and then walked himself with his back legs. After this went on for awhile, I got a shoelace and tied it to the saucer. Then Ruby pulled Rusty all over the front yard. I should have sent it in to Ämericaś funniest Videos¨. I´m sure we would have won. I cant wait for some real snow to fall. It looks like itś in the forcast. Ya-Hoo! Suicide Hill...here we come!
Sue

painting house

hello family,

sorry its taken me so long to post a blog about painting our house mom but these are our new colors. dozer was out and helping that morning. anyways...its almost finished. just a few more touch-ups, paint the gutter pipes and we're done.

i cant post long cuz church is at 9 and well i am still in my pj's.

i hope you have a safe drive home mom...i cant wait to see you!!

love to all,

liz

frozen lakesicle!!

It is totally frozen! I remember one year when Andrea and Elizabeth could go ice skating on Thanksgiving Day. This is pretty unusual for Nov., it has been pretty cold, well in the teens at night, not so cold for Aim, I suppose that might be a heat wave for Alaska.

Joe begins his new job on Monday. Working for Werner Enterprises. He graduated with his CDL on Monday. Orientation is in Indianapolis, then he trains for 90 days traveling around the USA with a trainer. He is not sure where he will be going. Hopefully home for Thanksgiving, for sure home for Christmas. It's a new adventure for him and me too. Not having him here will be strange. We leave in a few hours (gotta watch the Michigan Game) for Indianapolis, I'll stay over night and drive home Sun. I gave him an early Christmas present. ASUS! So he can keep up with his Detroit Free Press Sports, espn, family and friends. We had a test run last night over dinner at Panera with free WiFi. He's good to go.

Stay warm family, Love ya!! Keep singing!

ps. notice it was too cold for me to go out on the deck for a picture. i stood in the house!! HA!

Matt and Walt are home!!

I don't have much to add, but it sure is nice to have them here!  It's also very nice to have our deaf dog back with us.   I sure missed doggy dog while she was up north.

Hope all y'all have a great weekend!!

(Oh yeah, this is Mid-hair cut for matt, but I do like the look!)

Happier Days before kayaking

Now let's just put our thoughts on happier moments. I think I remember the studio we drove to when mom and dad had this picture taken. It was a little trip around those mountains. Notice the toilet paper bangs? That mother, she sure was quick with those scissors! I remember sitting on the toilet while she placed the toilet paper over my forhead for a nice staight cut, (well unless the toilet paper was a little crooked). I think I even had to hold the toilet paper myself!! Oh brother, was I a sapp! Just look how sweet and happy we were! I think big sister Sally looks very coordinated. Although little Jimmy looks a little worried. Maybe he heard some stories from Mr. Poling? I love my family!

In My Own Defense...

Yes, it's me, atop my weapon of mass distruction. I ask you, could a kind, sweet woman like this ever do anything to harm her little baby sister? Now I'll be the first to admit that I am not the most graceful, as noted by my 5th grade teacher Mr. Poling, who used to say,"Look out, here comes Hurricane Sally" every time I left my seat to approach his desk. I was known for ACCIDENTLY knocking things off desks as I passed down the narrow isles. We all know now it's because of my malalligned back, my bottom half walks in a different direction than my top half, but I digress. I am sure that you would agree that I practically look like an angel with the halo to prove it in this photo. I would NEVER want to harm my poor little Tooty Toot. Now would someone please remove that dreadful photo of Sue from the blog. If that photo gets leaked to the Key
West Citizen, I'm liable to get thrown in the Key West jail for assault with a deadly kayak, and we wouldn't want that to happen right before Thanksgiving. I've got a turkey to cook.

sueś Views

This was the result of my kayaking mis-hap with Sally while I was down in the keys. As Sally and I were launching the boat, she stepped on a rock...I kept walking with the kayak, and jammed it into my chest. It still hurts to the touch. *Thatś qhat I tell Ron, anyway
(no really)
Loved the kayaking on the ocean. Had a super time.
Sue

New Contest!!!

Caption this photo to win a fantastic prize!!!

Winner is to be judged solely by me and my decision will be final!  Employees of the International house of Amway should be darn happy they have a job and should not be using up band width to play a silly game! (Sorry Shawn). 

Be creative!

Finishing Iceman

What a fun day I had at Iceman!  It was a very exciting race for me.  I took 34th out of 54 people in the Single Speed, over 40 group.  If I would have done a regular Mountain bike (with lots of gears) I would have been 20th out of 73.  So, not to blow my own horn, but I race in a pretty competitive group.  I like single speed biking - It reminds me of younger days, spinning around the block on Oriole Dr.  

I took one tumble on my bike, about 1/2 way through the race.  I got caught in some deep sand and went to the side a bit.  Then I had to pick my self up and wade through the sand to get back on my bike.  It sounds dumb, but man that took a lot out of me.  

One of the cool things was Shawn was in two places to cheer me on!  She is an awesome support crew and great team photog!  Thanks Shawn! (I'm the second one back in this photo)

Keep the rubber side down cats!

Jim and I are sitting here at our B&B in Bellaire, preparing to head to Lexington (MI), smelling breakfast and watching the snow fall outside. We've had a great weekend and the snow is so nice to see - ya gotta love Antrim county!!! Jim did very well in his race yesterday - set a personal record by riding about 10-15 minutes faster than last year. It was a little wet out there and sometimes a few sprinkles or a bit of sleet, but all in all, can't complain! In fact, I heard some guys say that the damp weather made the dirt on the trail just about right.

We forgot to bring our camera cord, so the pictures will have to wait. But we will have some pictures to post. Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

Aimee says...

Hey all!

I keep thinking of things I want to blog and then I never do it... so
tonight I blog.

First off, things I've learned in Alaska:

1. Things freeze fast. Our first snow never melted. Nor did
anything ever melt on the roads. The slough froze up pretty quick and
the river is mostly iced up.
2. Planning is good. Since I don't drive every day, I don't keep my
car plugged in. I plug it in to warm up the oil a few hours before I
want to go somewhere. Usually that means I plug in the car at lunch
if I want to go somewhere at night.
3. The weather is easy to predict. No clouds? Expect it to get
bitterly cold (about -10 these days but I think that will go down).
Overcast? It might stay around 10 degrees which feels surprisingly
warm. Over 10 degrees? It will snow. Never expect plows.
4. Slippers are your friend. I think this is self explanatory.

I thought of those while riding my bike. It's been winter here for a
month now! They do things a little different, seeing as they get less
snow than MI but it gets much colder.

I had a really fun weekend. Brian came up Friday afternoon. He
wanted to stop by my office and experience Beer Club. He also brought
up the halibut I caught in Kodiak! He made me halibut etouffee and it
was delicious! What a guy! ;-) Plus that halibut I caught is
tasty! It's the first time I've had food in my freezer that I caught/
killed myself.

Tonight I used the leftover veggies and chicken broth from the
etouffee to make some soup. I just threw stuff together, which is new
to me. Once I figured I had it tasting pretty good I threw some
dumplings in! Yum! It was a hearty and easy meal! Picking out
spices and vegetables to go together isn't a natural thing for me so
it was a big step. ;-) Man, good food the last few days for me!

Tomorrow I have class and I've got to squeeze in my voting... It's
close so maybe I'll bike there at lunch. Then I don't have to plug in
the car! And if it takes a long time, at least I have a good excuse.
I will be glad when the election is over.

The picture is of my new slippers (thanks Mom and Dad!) and Mr.
Chungo. I think we've got matching shoes!

Thanks for the northern lights comments, everyone. I can't wait to
take more pictures of them. Brian said he heard once it's actually
"northern lights season" I should be able to see them 5 nights a
week! I have ideas for camera settings for the next time... it's hard
to play around with the dials when it's so cold!

Like Dad would say, "don't forget to vote, cats!"

A cop, a goblin, a cowboy and a football player walk into a bar...

No they didn't, they came to our house to trick or treat!!!  We had so much fun and gave away so much candy!!   It's always fun on halloween!

And for the MSU fans out there...Do you think the real Wolverines would have been better off with this little guy playing on the team??

Happy November cats!