Hiatus

Things can get you bogged down...and I let the blog slip. Sorry to the followers, mostly family and friends...but in turn I got to see all (or almost all of you) at the holidays!

Alaska has been cold and dark lately; although, the sun is making it's presence known again. The adventures have been abounding lately so I have many stories to keep this thing updated for a while. Best of all has been the village traveling that I have been able to do with my job.

Let's leave this update with a strong note- just basking in a WI victory at the superbowl. I think that it was summed up well in an interview: perseverence. Way to go underdogs!

I sure know how to pick them

We picked up two new kitties last week. I said all I wanted to make sure was that their personalities seemed good and that they were boys. The vet is in this week so I took them in for their first shots and deworming... they are both girls. 0 for 2. Oh well they are both doing really great, super healthy, and amazingly cute. Now it will just be a naming game.

Month in update..

So it's been over a month?! I got to a point where nothing was working right so I just gave up on telling people what was happening. But we finally got the house! It was a long, frustrating, drawn-out process, but definitely well worth it. That and I was so excited about having it that I had everything unpacked in about a week. Theres still a few things - like the den/office/storage room that we just shut the door on for now. I even have some of my decorating stuff done.

The best part is that its starting to feel like a home- home cooked meals, candles, and pets!!!! Got a pair of kitties the other day: absolutely adorrable and hysterical to watch. We still need to work on making sure they use the litter box everytime, but accidents will happen. Also Sadie is on the way! Unfortunately the plane left early without her this morning so she is coming on a later flight but it means an overnight in Anchorage ...and no morning flight so we have to wait until tomorrow afternoon :(

Finally got through my 90 days at work- passed the review with flying colors! There is a lot of exciting things coming up in the next few months. We are expanding our services into the clinics and soon I'll be taking over the Coumadin program- but I have to complete the class first.

Also exciting is the fact that we are talking about holiday travels already. I have finally reached the point where it feels not like another school rotation and really missing everyone from back home.

alright... thats a summary for now, more stories to follow later. oh and its snowing already- started before the end of September

It's here !!!!!

My sewing machine arrived yesterday- a belated birthday gift but excellent. I was like a little kid at Christmas: jumping aorund, squealing, etc. I was terribly excited. It got even better when I started reading the manual and got a feel for all the stitch cpabilities- 60 stitches and all the extras too, especially for quilting.

Now I'm working on gathering fabric for a quilt of my own. I already have fabric and a design for a Christmas quilit. Now I just need the space to spread out and make a mess!

I did it!

I got it - finally got it! A license that is. So finally I can say I'm a real pharmacist now!!!!! Unfortunately that also means Im going to 10 hour shifts starting next week. But on the plus side it means a day off every week too!!!!

I cant tell you how excited I am about this! I've been smiling all day :)

B11- we have a bingo, woo hoo!

I completely forgot to mention that the pharmacy gang all went to bingo again the other night and it was my turn to win. I won on that sneaky number B11 that I always seem to need. It was all the more better that the caller that night was very enthusiastic when winners were announced. We had a little mantra going about needing a new fridge and it worked! It wasnt the big jackpot bingo but hey every little bit helps!

Well thats that

Well the house isnt quite move in ready and my attention to detail may have found a sewer issue... and it got all my hopes up to be in the house again. I had visions of furniture arrangements and decorating themes..... It just makes it that much harder to not be living there yet...

It also doesnt make it any easier knowing that we cant bring Sadie or Simba until we have the house. At least we know they are in good hands and are getting plenty of love back home :)

here's to hoping...

We're doing a walk-through on the house today after work. Here's to hoping that a. Hector has finally completed the repairs more than 2 weeks beyond schedule and b. the repairs are done correctly and completely. Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh and we have a fridge...but no kitchen for it too :(

Postal service gets perfect game

My plates lost out....

I found this really awesome set of plates on super clearance from Kohls.com. I figured that in addition to supporting my sister's salary, the plates would fit a really awesome cabin theme/Alaskan adventure theme.

Well Kohls shipped remarkably fast and they arrived today on the first day of the expected arrival window. However, the post office managed to mangle the box enough to smash every single one of 8 plates and the platter. Thats all 9. Remarkable.

Success!!!!

Banana bread out of the oven and cooling as we speak. This day was a long time coming, but I finally have baked something to be proud of!

Here's the back story on kitchen injuries that I promised a while back:
I seem to have the worst luck in the kitchen as far as being able to harm myself with the silliest of things. It all started in high school when I burned my wrist taking pizza out of the oven at youth group. Then college came and I managed to scar my thumb with a nice cut from doing dishes (I think this also coincides with my extreme distaste for dishes), sliced my other thumb on a knife doing dishes (didn't help me to reconsider my opinion of dishes), stabbed my hand with a fork doing dishes. College also landed me some more burns too. I also manage to have some freak accidents outside my kitchen. for instance thank you Kim for the shattered glass at bowlkign that flew straight into my knuckle. And of course most recently the burned foot. But it all seems to be better if I have some sort of supervision while I work. But I have yet to figure out how to make it stop. The food turns out ok when I am cooking and baking is a new process that as of today seems to be on the up and up!

Rain is back :(

The rain came back, I think it literally stopped only for my birthday.

Stopped by the house today but couldnt really see much, just made me wish I had the keys. I am starting to get really anxious to get settled in and unpacked. But not yet. It was especially hard to get my couch and not unwrap it like a gigantic birthday present.

Went rummaging this morning. It's really hard to pass things over when they are only $2 or $3 so I keep coming home with many more things.

Stopped at Saturday market and while not overly large I did manage to find the booth selling fabric! Went a little hogwild on that one. But with the promise of a sewing machine for my birthday, it's really hard to resist. I found a great find for a new quspaq (hopefully I can make it tomorrow) and the plans are under way for a Christmas quilt! Why do I always pick expensive hobbies though?

Today Angie showed me that the AC store actually has a furniture section in it as well! I've been here awhile and just discovered that tidbit. Of course everything is marked up 'a bit' due to shipping.

Whew!

Spent the night making 4 batches of jam!!! It wouldnt be near as easy without the help of some great friends though. Not as hard as I thought it would be but definitely couldn't see doing it by myself.

Happy Birthday! what?!

My very first birthday greeting this year came in an advertisement email the message line read:

A Birthday Surprise (Just for you)! Old Navy Women's Maternity...

Happy Birthday to me.

It's here, but oyu cant have it!

Here's the story of Jake's truck arriving in Bethel:
We were told by the moving company overseeing the entire move that his truck would arrive "sometime in August" on the barge.

I called the barge company and told them my story. They asked for my shipping ticket number, I never got one and explained that I was only told sometime in August. Thankfully a really great customer service representative took the time to look it up and provide an exact date- the barge would be arriving August 6th, weather providing. She also told me that the truck may not be unloaded right away but we could call and ask.

August 6th- we called the barge and were told that yes the truck was here but no we couldn't have it as it wasnt running and they couldnt get the truck out of the shipping container. It looked so sad (but amazing how it fits in a conex like that).

Not the out of gas issue we originally thought either. Something electrical.... not a good sign. Overly frustrating too as it was in excellent working order when it left our hands and it had to have been working when loaded in Seattle according to the dock worker as it was backed into the conex.

A quick trouble shooting call to our excellent mechanic, aka Dad to the rescue, and it was assumed that the batteries drained in transit and the alternator couldnt work well enough to charge both and try to run the engine. So a short 30 minute charge on one battery, disconnect of the second battery, and off it went runing smoothly. That lasted all of a few hours until we ran into town and Jake got stranded at the post office. Another quick diagnostic phone call revealed that the bolt made a loose connection and the second battery would need to be reattached. A quick 15 minute idle and it was back in good working order. Has been ever since!

And that's the how close we got to the truck that belonged to us but wasnt quite within touch.

who does that - bonus post!

Umm me that's who.

For family and friends who are well versed in my kitchen adventures (or mishaps I should say) you might find this believeable, for the rest be introduced to my unbelievable luck at injury in the kitchen:

I burned my foot while cooking today.

Yep read it again. Thats right my foot. I happened to be stirring the BBQ sauce on our slow cooked ribs (delicious! by the way) and managed to splash boiling sauce onto my foot. Didnt think it was that bad until I cleaned it up and found a blister.

And that sums up my kitchen mishaps. Maybe tomorrow I'll provide the full saga but for tonight- bedtime.

Has it been that long?

I can't believe that it's been a whole 2 weeks again since my last post. Well since then I have survived the board exams, manuevered Anchorage, become "homeless" but bought a couch :), and am still just plugging away at life.

NAPLEX exam = passed ! Sweet really glad about that one. Nothing shakes your core knowledge more than sitting a board exam. I am convinced of it.

MPJE= well I took this exam first and it flew by. I was done before I realized it. I think that I spent more time preparing for this one though and spent the entire freedom flight (Alaska Airlines Flight 46 daily evening service from Bethel weather permitting) and read the Alaska Pharmacy law book from cover to cover. Here's to crossing my fingers that it paid off.

So what's the word on the license then? Assuming I have passed the law exam it's just a matter of the Board of Pharmacy receiving one intsy piece of paperwork proving my work experience which they have previously rejected. It's just a waiting game on the snail mail service from Madison to Juneau so in theory....any day now.

The house: still waiting to close; repairs are coming along- foundation is complete and interior repairs are almost set. The delay here: exterior repairs due to rain delay. I swear it's monsoon season. But not having the keys hasnt stopped my overwhelming desire to settle decorating and furnishing issues- hence the couch purchase (first piece of my own true new furniture) makes me feel accomplished. I was reassured today that we should have keys by the end of the month- but I'm not so sure how well they'll be backing up that statement. So just keep living out of a suitcase and popping on over to the friend's garage to get tidbits out of our stuff.

The homelessness: Well temporary housing needed to be passed on the next new arrival. So oiut we went August 7th. In the meantime we have gracious friends who have offered their guest bedroom. It hasn't been so bad, actually really fun making some great new friends. Lots of cooking and eating and laughing together. All for the low price of pet and housesitting duties as they are off to Anchorage for their wedding. I also had a blast helping her prepare for the wedding by making favors, dog collars- you should see how cute!, and learning how to make jam and jelly! We really are living as if on the last frontier.

I think thats everything up to speed now and I do promise to be more regular on posting.

delays

Sorry for the lack of updates, but with Board exams (yes plural) tomorrow much time has been spent away from the computer. Today at work the computer system has been down for a better portion of the day, leaving time for last minute review and making travel/shopping plans.

But for today I thought I would leave you with this gem as heard on the local radio station id:

Cuter than a spotted seal before it becomes your dinner


And that is an only in Alaska moment prouldy brought to you from Bethel.

Why is the weather always clear at 2am?

I met up with my buddies on the LifeMed team just the other night. They are some good guys and always provide a good laugh. They invited me along again for a short puddle jump flight to Tuluksak for a sick baby- par for the course for me after all my travels during RSV season. It was literally a 15 minute flight but poor weather made us go into a holding pattern. Can you believe it?! I couldn't believe having a holding pattern to land at a delta village runway but it made sense. Despite the poor weather it was still one of the best flights I'd ever been on thanks to trusty
Eric the pilot. So a 15 minute flight turned into 33, those guys have great stories to tell. And an extra bonus is adding another village to my list of visited villages. This trip also provided some photos of tundra during the summer time. These will be added to facebook after this weekend when I go out berry picking for the first time in the tundra!

Really?

There is currently a student on site who had the great opportunity for village travel (as if Bethel wasn't remote enough). Now granted this student could generate a whole soap opera in what I've overheard so far, but thats too much for this space. Let's sum it in that she is in her final year at a very recently accredited school and on her first practical pharmacy experiece rotation. And she really wants to come back and work up here. Overall she's very pleasant to work with but I feel there are some delusions still left behind in her mind despite being in the bush country of Alaska for awhile now. As she was getting prepped for said village travel she was informed that it was a nice coastal village of ~500 people. She was then informed to pack a lunch to which she responded- "Oh what about a restaurant, I'd really like to eat at a restaurant". Needless to say there is no restaurant in said village and if you're lucky the store in town might have some spam and lard on the shelves but that is as exciting as it gets. Welcome to the real bush country of Alaska.

Counter the counter

Well we had a whole week of offer vs counter offer vs counter of counter offer (if I hear the word counter again...) enought to make your head spin; it sums into there is an accepted offer on the table pending the inspection. Whew!

Also spent time studying for the NAPLEX; need to overcome the overwhelming feeling of where do I start reviewing 4 years worth of education?

Payday came, payday went with an early overexcitation of getting paid more than expected...then distracted by a brutally high paced work day. A nice relaxation night of going out for dinner and paying for the first time in a long time and grocery shopping for the week. This culminated in a nice evening watching old Northern Exposure DVDs. It really is a great series.

Another relaxing Saturday sleeping in, getting our first booze run of the year, catching up with some people, online shopping- minimal purchases and creation of wish list should the new home come to fruition, and more Northern Exposure. Today however was a crackdown on the studying. I feel like I found some great resources for practice questions and then felt like there is no way I will ever pass this massive exam. Plunged into a law review instead. I also rationalized taking a topic a night for review and practicalizing the study by maximizing my test taking efficiency. All my friends did it so I can too!

Additionally I spent a lot of time compiling a law review not only for my benefit but also as a presentation to the current students here at YKHC. I'll also be nice and share with my new found frined and colleague who has yet to take the Alaska MPJE. As Alaska's pharmacy regulations are quite minimal, there should be a whole lot of information on federal laws to remember.

And now back to the books before bed.