Betty Joe

Introducing...Betty Joe!

Well, today we made an investment in our family, and her name is "Betty Joe." (so named by her original owners.)

This 1985 Jeep Wagoneer is a newly rebuilt, repainted, recarpeted, re-wood paneled...and rejuvenated!!

We got a great deal on this "Alaska Classic" - it is the perfect Kodiak Car! She's a BEAST!

Yes, after discovering that "Dan" - our Jeep Cherokee has an un-fixable electrical problem, we had to search for a different second car. As you can imagine, our options here on this small island are limited. And, we were working with a rather small budget...so, we were lucky to find this Alaskan BEAST at such a good deal. I could totally hit a tree in this car, and we'd be ok! Perfect for Alaska!

Time Fly's When You're...um...not doin' much...

Gosh, well, time in Kodiak just seems to fly by faster then anywhere else! I don't know if that makes sense because there really isn't much to do here, so you'd think that time would drag on. But, nope.

The latest and greatest news this week is that I sort of started working again at the radio station. It's only 2 hours a day, so don't get too excited. But, they gave me a time-slot for another show. It's a pre-recorded show and I go in from 2pm-4pm to record my part, which is basically the talking & introduction between songs. So, I go in, set everything up to run and then I leave. It works out nicely with my schedule because I can still pick up Emily in time from school.

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Which, by the way, she's doing really well this week. She's not crying anymore when we drop her off and she is really excited to go. They painted twice this week and she came home in her "spare clothes" both times because she made a mess. She's learning sign language, which makes it a lot easier for her to communicate with us. She's able to tell us what she wants or needs...it's pretty cool. We are so fortunate to have her in such a wonderful place!

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And Chris...well, right now he has a cold...again!!! He just got over a cold two weeks ago, and now he's coming down with another one. I'm going to have to start this guy on a vitamin IV drip to try to keep him healthy!

Caribou Roast

Well, we did it! We survived our first Caribou Roast Dinner!!

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Before Chris left for Astoria, Oregon he butchered the caribou he hunted in St. Paul and made: roasts, steaks, and summer sausage.

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In honor of his return back to Kodiak, I defrosted our first attempt at a caribou roast. I found a recipe online for a Caribou Roast and it was soaked in vinegar and other spices for 24 hours before we cooked it. I think this may have helped with the "gamey-ness" of the roast.

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The meat was tender and tasted wonderful! I think our next roast will be made into a stew with veggies.

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We also made summer sausage. Chris ground the caribou meat and mixed it with ground pork and spices to help with the flavoring. We were able to purchase a Summer Sausage Kit at our local Wal-Mart and it gave us everything we needed to make our very own summer sausage! This was also delicious!! Be forewarned that there may be a summer sausage sample showing up in the mail for you! Don't be scared - you can taste something that many Californians don't normally get a chance to try!

Sleepless Nights

Question for everyone out there:
The last week or so Emily has been continually waking up at night and is no longer sleeping through the night. She'll sleep for about 2 hours and then wake up fussing...and eventually screaming. ALL NIGHT LONG!! Both Chris and I have spent the night trying to calm her down, and as a result, we're sleep-deprived. What do we do?

We've given her bottles (which she stopped taking a while ago)...we've fed her...we've slept with her...we've calmed her down and put her back to bed...we've even let her cry it out...nothing is working!!

(OK...so, she has a slight cold right now...BUT, nothing that would cause this!!) I'm looking for any advice that we might try to get her back sleeping through the night.

Advanced Helicopter Rescue School

This past week Chris has been down in the Lower 48. He attended Advance Helicopter Rescue School in Astoria, Oregon. He had a good time while away and got to experience some pretty awesome rescue scenarios!

Here's a recap of what the school was all about...

And, here are some pics of his time there...

Christmas Has Come Once Again!

The box of Christmas Toys took the "slow boat" to the island. We shipped all of Emily's Christmas toys (well, the ones that wouldn't fit in a suitcase)...but, we shipped them off on January 30th.

And they arrived today!!

The large box came this afternoon and Emily was excited to get all of her California Toys. Now I'm just trying to find a place to put everything!! We've turned the closet under the stairs into a "Toy Storage Area" and all of her toys are kept in the closet. The closet is shown to the right and turns the corner under the stairs to include another 5' of floor space full of toys!

It's just amazing

how much stuff this kid has!

Don't Eat the Yellow Snow

So, there is a problem which most native-Californians wouldn't even think about...dogs and snow. Yes, my dogs love the snow and have a great time running and playing out in the cold...Chloe even loves to lay in the snow that has collected on the porch...they love it!

But, that's not what we're talking about here...

We're talking about "Yellow Snow" -- well, I guess we're really talking about "Brown Snow." You see, back in California we heard about Yellow Snow...but now, in my mind, Yellow Snow isn't really a problem. Your pee is hot, the snow is cold...it basically burns a hole thru the snow straight to the ground. So, your "Yellow Snow Problem" is only about an inch in diameter. No Biggie!!



The REAL BIGGIE here is the Brown Snow! And dogs...what do you do with your dogs in the winter?!?! Our dogs go out about 3-4 times per day to go potty. They're usually pretty quick about it...they go and come back inside. We open the door to the porch, let them out to the backyard...and they come back when they're done.

Well, often times it's too cold, windy, rainy or snowy to go outside with them. We trust them and know they won't get lost or run away. (Oh, did I mention that we don't have a fenced backyard?) It's a big, open yard that has about 6 houses which open up to it. So, the dogs are free to roam where ever they wish to go potty. Usually it's right near our house. HOWEVER, our next door neighbors have been complaining about the poop in the yard and have said that their son has slipped in poop on 2 separate occasions.


First of all...I never even knew that had a son until he slipped in the poop! The kid is never outside! How in the hell did he step in poop?!?! And the only time I see the neighbors outside is when they are out having a cigarette on the patio. But, that's besides the point...


My question is: What do I do about the poop??
I 've changed their food to a more expensive brand, but that only seems to make them poop more...so I'm switching back. We used to buy Nutro Dog Food, which is supposed to cut down the amount of poop they produce, but they don't sell that brand of dog food here on the island. Right now they're on Science Diet and it's costing me about $50 every 3 weeks...but I think we're going back to Ol Roy.


We thought about getting a small fence to create a little dog run so that they were limited with where they can poop...but, guess what...??? The hardware store doesn't sell a waist-high fence! I can't make one myself because I'm not that crafty and I've looked into getting a fence shipped in, but that's going to cost too much. Look, we don't own the place we live...it's "government property" so I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on a permanent fence.


Our neighbors across the street have fenced yards. In fact, our houses that face the lake are the ONLY houses in ALL of Kodiak Government Property that DO NOT have fenced yards! They say that they are "planning" to put in a fence...but they've been "planning" for the last 3-4 years! I'm sure the hold-up is our rather steep hill that drops off toward the lake - and - fenced yards would really spoil the view from the porch...but, why not at least a dog run along the side of the house?!?!?!


Anyway...back to my original question: What do I do about the poop? I picked up the poop 2 days ago and there were about 15 new dog-piles when I went out there today! AMAZING!! I can't follow them around with a pooper-scooper, and I am not able to pick it up on a daily basis. So, the poop sits out there and the neighbor's kid is stepping in it!

How do I handle this situation??

Honestly, I have no idea what to do and I'd really welcome your comments or suggestions on this!