How many skateboarders does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Three. One to screw it in and two to hold his pants up.

Warning: I am going to jump between topics and this blog might seem a bit random.

When is it okay to be antisocial? Lately I just haven’t felt like participating in much of anything. Maybe it is the crappy weather we have had all summer. Oh well. Life is too short to wallow in self pity. I dropped out of my choir’s first concert, just not enough time for everything and I had to simplify my life. I will do the rest of the concerts though. I wish there were about 10 more hours in a day.

Preparations for Hawaii are going well, I have as much scheduled as I can…our days are packed! We will be doing a lot of geocaching which is a fun and free activity that involves hiking and searching for hidden caches. I figure it is a good way to get to see the more scenic areas of Hawaii.

Last weekend we went shooting with Joe and Karen, the guys were having fun exploding propane bottles. video here. I think Joe and Alan were practicing for the Darwin Awards.

What Do You Always Get on Your Birthday?

Another Year Older!

Forty is a hard number to come to grips with. This year’s birthday I feel like a two-by-four has hit me upside the head and I am staggering around wondering where the time has gone and thinking about what have I accomplished so far. For the most part I feel like I am right where I am supposed to be, but I still have some what ifs; what if I had gone to med school, what if Alan and I traveled before settling down. Thankfully the older I get (and hopefully wiser), the fewer what ifs I have.

So moving on after that indulgence of self pity, I got a lot done this weekend! I hung out with family and a friend Saturday, we had planned to go blueberry picking up Arch-Angel Valley in Hatcher’s pass and maybe watch a movie. What really happened was we did go pick berries in Arch-Angel Valley, but it was raining pretty hard so after getting a scant cup of berries, Karen and I took the kids back to the cars, fed them and waited for what seemed like an hour. Finally Alan, Daphne and Joe decided they had had enough and we drove back to Mom and Dad’s (also Joe and Karen’s) for an impromptu BBQ. Yum.

Not being done with the day, Alan asked Joe to take us shooting so Niall could discern the difference between a real gun and his video games. We all packed into 2 cars and “drove” up the Jonesville mine road in Sutton. Due to the rain the road was filled with craters and had this thick layer of silty mud. Woo Ha! The kids learned a few new words. We finally got to the top of this cliff overlooking the whole Matanuska Valley and had fun blowing up propane bottles. Who knew? Thank you Joe…explosives and guns are a fun mix.

Niall found a fossil while we were up there and the view was spectacular. It would have been fun watching the sunset, but thought it prudent that we head down before it got too dark to see the cavernous potholes…like we could miss them. Alaeric was quite chatty on the way back telling us all about cock fights (he saw a flock of chickens as we drove by a farm) and white trash. The white trash had to do with capturing ostriches (I don’t pretend to understand his logic). Anyhoo he had Daphne and I laughing hysterically. It doesn’t take much to amuse me anyway. Was a fun night all-in-all.

Sunday I processed the blueberries that Alan picked and we got 8 jars of jam. I added that to the 11 jars of rhubarb jelly and felt a smidge of accomplishment. Today we are smoking salmon for the first time.

There is a link in today’s paper to an article which describes what Alan does and will be doing at work for the next three years. Thank you Begich for job security.

Note to self: check to see if rambling is a symptom of old age.

What's the difference between a Rock musician and a government bond?

The government bond eventually matures and makes money.

I am anxiously awaiting the start of a new concert year. I forgot how much I enjoy rehearsal, singing and being on stage…as long as I am with a group I am cool and don’t get nervous. The one time I performed solo (accordion, not singing), it was only 200 or so people and I was terrified. I got through it though. When the chorus performed Carmina Burana last year it was incredible, we had 2 sold out shows in the largest theatre in the PAC and 3 standing ovations each night. I was proud to be a part of it. I hope this upcoming season will be as inspiring.

The best concert of the upcoming season and the only concert I know for sure the when’s and where’s is (this is the one not to miss!):

Compassion and Light: Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
Mozart Symphony no. 36 in C Major (“Linz”) and
Brahms “Ein Deutsches Requiem” (a German Requiem)

Featuring: Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Anchorage Concert Chorus, Alaska Chamber Singers, Soprano Anita Johnson and Baritone to be announced.

Be sure to look for the redhead in the tenor section.

In mundane news, nothing much has been happening. Alan and Niall went to Fairbanks last weekend for a meeting that never happened. They had a nice drive though. Niall and Alaeric are dog sitting a friend’s schnauzer; Alan and I decided he looks like Sir Diddymous from the movie labyrinth. We were planning on going dip netting for reds at Kasilof this weekend, but it is rainy and miserable and we have the schnauzer. The new plan is to go in the middle of the week one night, catch 2 tides, turn around and come back home. This sounds like a good plan…as long as we get some fish hmmmmm.