So, Christmas came and went. It was enjoyable as always and I say it again; there is no greater pleasure in this world than witnessing pure and innocent joy of a child. Isabel came downstairs and quickly checked to see if Santa had eaten the the cookies and Egg Nog she left out (ya, Santa went for the Egg Nog this year. Still follows the basic traditional structure, right?). The generosity of family and friends kept Isabel busy for a while opening presents. We discussed how we weren't going to spoil Isabel this year and only get one present for her in addition to stocking stuffers. We discussed this at length and weighed the pros and cons of seriously limiting the number of presents that she receives from Mommy and Daddy and Santa. It was decided. ONE present from us. So, after Isabel opened the fifth or sixth present from us, we acknowledged that we have failed and justified each and every gift as "educational" and "Something she can use for years to come" which blanketed our shame for the most part.
The gift of discussion is, of course, her bicycle. To say it is pink is a gross understatement. It looks like Pepto Bismol is doing some sort of cross marketing with children's bicycles. And in case she wasn't pink enough, we topped her off with a bright pink helmet. We immediately walked down to the only pavement that was not covered with snow; the airport. Isabel is slowly getting the hang of riding her bike and although we had images in our heads of her refusing to let go of the bike and calling her back from the end of the runway, she was more entertained with running away from her bike and playing on the taxiway.
Christmas was, by all means, a success. Our 32" Christmas tree still looks plastic and bright and Isabel decided that she was going to give away some books to some other kids for Christmas and that has made us happy (although she made it clear that she is not going to give away the stuff she really likes).
With Christmas break upon us, we are scheduled to go into the big city of Anchorage today. It is with a heavy heart and a great sense of Karma that I announce we are not making it into Anchorage today. The plane was cancelled. It has been cancelled in the past due to extreme weather which is completely understandable. Today, however, the plane is not cancelled due to extreme weather. It is cancelled due to the airline not KNOWING the weather. The weather system that is used to report the weather is broken. In this event, the back up plan is to call the highly qualified weather reporter on the island. It just so happens that the man that can fix the weather station and the man that reports the weather were actually scheduled to return on the plane today. I truly hope that the question of "So how is the plane evr going to land on Adak again?" has popped into your head, because it was my initial response also. We will see what happens, I guess. So I am stuck on an island with an incredibly beautiful woman and an adorable little girl that keeps me smiling. I can't think of a better way to spend Christmas break, actually!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas Party, School Play, and A new dish
I know that the rat problem has been at the top of your list of concerns over the past week and we appreciate your thoughts. I am happy to announce that the rodent in question last week was disposed of in the typical fashion. Yes, we did what every household that has had to deal with a rat problem would do; throw it out on the yard and watch the symbol of our nation come swooping down and carry it off to wherever it is that Bald Eagles eat rats. Since then the trap has been empty, the cats have been at ease, and Cassidy and I can try to kick this caffeine addiction we have developed by staying up listening to every sound we hear with absolute terror.
In our newly relaxed state, we did manage to make it to the town Christmas party. It was a Christmas party in the sense that people were there and it was certainly around Christmas, but it seemed more like one of those seminar meals you get roped into in an attempt to buy a time share. Basically 100 people sitting in silence eating the side dish that they themselves brought in a not so subtle attempt to avoid the potluck walk of shame. Santa showed up and gave out gifts to the children. It is actually a great program that the VFW of Alaska does by sending out three gifts for every child on the island. Isabel could not believe it when her name was called to go and see Santa on the sled. She got a Barbie and the requisite barbie clothes (God knows she can't be seen wearing the same outfit twice. Especially now with all the crap those Bratz Dolls have been talking lately), and the Aristocrats DVD (because after seeing it 178 times through Netflix, you just have to own it!). She was adorable and I am certain pictures will be posted. In addition to her Santa gifts, my students have taken a liking to Isabel and have given her several gifts. These gifts range from a Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz to a slightly used (and slightly stained) extremely large purple pegasus that comes with its very own distinctive smell of Pall Mall 100's. Take a wild guess at which of these gifts she won't let go of.
So tonight was the all too entertaining school play. Although it concludes what amounts to tens of hours of my time, it is just the beginning of years of therapy and what I am sure will resemble a grand mal seizure every time I hear the words "children" and "play" anywhere in the same sentence. It is going to make going to the park with Isabel an absolute hell. To put it in perspective, imagine giving twenty children costumes, props, and music. Now try to get them to calm down. The ten "older" kids lack any sign of motivation or enthusiasm. The ten younger children, however,......the only way I can describe these children is with a question (if that makes any sense at all); have you ever seen the movie Gremlins? OK! NOT the cute ones!!! The ones that were fed after midnight (or whatever weird rules they had)!!
Cassidy has done her best to get me through this trying time. She is always the supportive one. Even when I want to try stupis stuff. Yesterday, for example, I wanted to go Ptarmigan hunting. For those of you that don't know, Ptarmigan is a bird very much like a grouse or pheasant. Only dumber. After going out with my friend Ti yesterday, I came home with five of these birds. If I could stop my story here just for a little friendly advice....Whenever you move to a new location and try to experience things that have been foreign to you, ASK THE LOCALS!!! I say this because Ti said I should wait to breast out the birds and he would show me "later". I waited long enough to go in the kitchen and grab a knife. I removed each breast of meat with the precision of a surgeon. It was beautiful. It also took me an hour (keep in mind these birds weigh about a pound). When I was on the last one, our neighbor Rhonda and her friend Elaine came over to the garage. I was all smiles and proud as could be with my plate of eight clean breasts of meat that sat on the table. She said with all sincerity, "want me to show you how to do that?" In about, oh, Id say four seconds she had just ripped the entire chest out of the bird. Little known fact; it is a lot easier WITHOUT the feathers. I stood there as humble as could be and explained that I just wasted the better part of an hour pretending I was doing some sort of poultry transplant. They giggled a little and my wife laughed a lot (she always seems to show up at the right time to do that).
Cassidy took some of the meat and used a simple pan-fry recipe. There was nothing simple about the taste, though. DELICIOUS! Cassidy breaded them up or something and had some sort of sauce (I should be a food critic, right?) that tasted so good! I think I will be hunting those little fellers again!
So, just to recap:
1)Our fear of rats has been replaced by a fear that our daughter will get emphasema by way of second hand stuffed pegasus smoke.
2)When given the choice between ritual suicide and organizing a school play, take a lot of time to decide if you have done enough good in your life to be completely satisfied.
3)It seems that no matter what animal is brought into the house (save for the rat), Cassidy can find a way to make an unbelievable meal out of it!
Merry Christmas, Everyone! Thanks for reading!
In our newly relaxed state, we did manage to make it to the town Christmas party. It was a Christmas party in the sense that people were there and it was certainly around Christmas, but it seemed more like one of those seminar meals you get roped into in an attempt to buy a time share. Basically 100 people sitting in silence eating the side dish that they themselves brought in a not so subtle attempt to avoid the potluck walk of shame. Santa showed up and gave out gifts to the children. It is actually a great program that the VFW of Alaska does by sending out three gifts for every child on the island. Isabel could not believe it when her name was called to go and see Santa on the sled. She got a Barbie and the requisite barbie clothes (God knows she can't be seen wearing the same outfit twice. Especially now with all the crap those Bratz Dolls have been talking lately), and the Aristocrats DVD (because after seeing it 178 times through Netflix, you just have to own it!). She was adorable and I am certain pictures will be posted. In addition to her Santa gifts, my students have taken a liking to Isabel and have given her several gifts. These gifts range from a Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz to a slightly used (and slightly stained) extremely large purple pegasus that comes with its very own distinctive smell of Pall Mall 100's. Take a wild guess at which of these gifts she won't let go of.
So tonight was the all too entertaining school play. Although it concludes what amounts to tens of hours of my time, it is just the beginning of years of therapy and what I am sure will resemble a grand mal seizure every time I hear the words "children" and "play" anywhere in the same sentence. It is going to make going to the park with Isabel an absolute hell. To put it in perspective, imagine giving twenty children costumes, props, and music. Now try to get them to calm down. The ten "older" kids lack any sign of motivation or enthusiasm. The ten younger children, however,......the only way I can describe these children is with a question (if that makes any sense at all); have you ever seen the movie Gremlins? OK! NOT the cute ones!!! The ones that were fed after midnight (or whatever weird rules they had)!!
Cassidy has done her best to get me through this trying time. She is always the supportive one. Even when I want to try stupis stuff. Yesterday, for example, I wanted to go Ptarmigan hunting. For those of you that don't know, Ptarmigan is a bird very much like a grouse or pheasant. Only dumber. After going out with my friend Ti yesterday, I came home with five of these birds. If I could stop my story here just for a little friendly advice....Whenever you move to a new location and try to experience things that have been foreign to you, ASK THE LOCALS!!! I say this because Ti said I should wait to breast out the birds and he would show me "later". I waited long enough to go in the kitchen and grab a knife. I removed each breast of meat with the precision of a surgeon. It was beautiful. It also took me an hour (keep in mind these birds weigh about a pound). When I was on the last one, our neighbor Rhonda and her friend Elaine came over to the garage. I was all smiles and proud as could be with my plate of eight clean breasts of meat that sat on the table. She said with all sincerity, "want me to show you how to do that?" In about, oh, Id say four seconds she had just ripped the entire chest out of the bird. Little known fact; it is a lot easier WITHOUT the feathers. I stood there as humble as could be and explained that I just wasted the better part of an hour pretending I was doing some sort of poultry transplant. They giggled a little and my wife laughed a lot (she always seems to show up at the right time to do that).
Cassidy took some of the meat and used a simple pan-fry recipe. There was nothing simple about the taste, though. DELICIOUS! Cassidy breaded them up or something and had some sort of sauce (I should be a food critic, right?) that tasted so good! I think I will be hunting those little fellers again!
So, just to recap:
1)Our fear of rats has been replaced by a fear that our daughter will get emphasema by way of second hand stuffed pegasus smoke.
2)When given the choice between ritual suicide and organizing a school play, take a lot of time to decide if you have done enough good in your life to be completely satisfied.
3)It seems that no matter what animal is brought into the house (save for the rat), Cassidy can find a way to make an unbelievable meal out of it!
Merry Christmas, Everyone! Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Rodents, Guitar, Work, and Curls
So...a lot has happened since our last post and I am sure we will get to it. However, our thoughts right now are still consumed with the idea of at least one (possibly more) rodents living within the walls of our house. Traps have been set and there have been no official sightings, but we at the Jones house are on the defense equivalent of DEFCON 4. Neither of us having had to deal with this issue before are, well...nervous. I have been assured that they are "more afraid of us than we are of them" (yaddi...yaddi...yadda...) but that is the same thing they say about bears and sharks. You only have to spend an hour on Animal Planet to realize that the bears and sharks...not that afraid. At this point, I am certain that if we have to leave the island prematurely, this will be the cause. Musophobia; We have it.
In an attempt to deal with the insomnia that comes with Musophobia I have begun to teach myself how to play guitar. I am on step two of my program and can, without pause or hesitation, identify all components of a guitar and properly hold a pick (that was the intro and step 1) I smoked through that lesson...my free internet tutorial doesn't speak, but if it did, I like to think he would have said something like, "Mr. Clapton? Is that you?" For the next week I am simply learning finger placement and how to play scales. It is entertaining for me and Cassidy does her best to be supportive. She is very supportive, actually, but the problem is that while I am making noise come out of the wooden box on my lap, she is trying to read. I, of course, have to ask her if my scale sounds good every seventeen seconds. She has read the same six sentences eighty-four times. God Bless her!
Cassidy is in her second complete week of work. She is doing an incredible job and truly enjoys working with Logan. I love seeing her at work and we both think it is great for Isabel to be with Rachel and her daughter, Sienna during that time.
Isabel is becoming quite the little reader. She amazes us every day and we are the ones that think the sun already rises and sets on her adorable little head. She can read and write simple words and well on her way. She loves playing with numbers and letters. We are very excited to see where she will be in September when she starts school. I know, I know, EVERY parent thinks that their kid is the smartest kid in the world and I am here to say that we feel sorry for those parents because ours really is.
Isabel went to bed tonight with curlers in her hair that she has been asking about for weeks. Cassidy put them in and we are probably (who am I kidding? DEFINITELY) more excited to see what her hair looks like than Isabel is. Pictures will assuredly follow.
I think it should be mentioned that Cassidy has become what a like to call a "Kitchen Magician" and shows no signs of slowing her magic. Key Lime Pie to die for. Home made EVERYTHING. Tonight she made Spiced Chicken with Barley that was simply amazing. I don't know who the hell Barley is, but apparently he was in there helping. Thanks, Barls!
Until Next week, let us know if you are reading this, will ya?
In an attempt to deal with the insomnia that comes with Musophobia I have begun to teach myself how to play guitar. I am on step two of my program and can, without pause or hesitation, identify all components of a guitar and properly hold a pick (that was the intro and step 1) I smoked through that lesson...my free internet tutorial doesn't speak, but if it did, I like to think he would have said something like, "Mr. Clapton? Is that you?" For the next week I am simply learning finger placement and how to play scales. It is entertaining for me and Cassidy does her best to be supportive. She is very supportive, actually, but the problem is that while I am making noise come out of the wooden box on my lap, she is trying to read. I, of course, have to ask her if my scale sounds good every seventeen seconds. She has read the same six sentences eighty-four times. God Bless her!
Cassidy is in her second complete week of work. She is doing an incredible job and truly enjoys working with Logan. I love seeing her at work and we both think it is great for Isabel to be with Rachel and her daughter, Sienna during that time.
Isabel is becoming quite the little reader. She amazes us every day and we are the ones that think the sun already rises and sets on her adorable little head. She can read and write simple words and well on her way. She loves playing with numbers and letters. We are very excited to see where she will be in September when she starts school. I know, I know, EVERY parent thinks that their kid is the smartest kid in the world and I am here to say that we feel sorry for those parents because ours really is.
Isabel went to bed tonight with curlers in her hair that she has been asking about for weeks. Cassidy put them in and we are probably (who am I kidding? DEFINITELY) more excited to see what her hair looks like than Isabel is. Pictures will assuredly follow.
I think it should be mentioned that Cassidy has become what a like to call a "Kitchen Magician" and shows no signs of slowing her magic. Key Lime Pie to die for. Home made EVERYTHING. Tonight she made Spiced Chicken with Barley that was simply amazing. I don't know who the hell Barley is, but apparently he was in there helping. Thanks, Barls!
Until Next week, let us know if you are reading this, will ya?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Da Plane! Da Plane! Roast, and a welcome home!
Well, the plane came in. It might not sound like much to people that live closer than 1500 miles to a metropolitan city, but around here there are two things that everyone pays attention to; the weather and the plane. It had been cancelled four times previously to showing up on Friday. This was big news because not only did our friends Ti and Rachel come in from vacation from Hawaii (they got stuck in Anchorage for over a week waiting for a flight back to Adak), BUT we got our mail. Big shout out to Brother Brad for the Coffee and package of assorted goods. Another loud thank you to Rebecca (Mom) and Evelyn (Grandma) for their packages as well. Out here it is quite the treat to get things in the mail. For in the mail we receive luxuries such as butter, milk, and flour. dog food, etc... There isn't really the option of running to the store around here. Well, there is. However, when that option is taken you run the risk of paying fourteen dollars for a gallon of expired milk. SO...the plane came in, Ti and Rachel are here and all is right with the world.
We had company the other night. It is kind of a big deal to have company also. Al came over for a visit before he left for Hanes, Alaska to meet up with his wife and daughter. Al is seriously one of the most genuine men either of us have ever met and it truly was a pleasure to have him over. Cassidy made a roast. Not just any roast, though. This roast was a product of the very caribou that Cassidy had shot just a week earlier. It was delicious. It is so nice to have a beautiful wife that can put such a delicious meal together. I just never thought I would ever be married to someone that killed dinner too. She is the total package.
So...we saw a rat. I was sitting in the living room and Cassidy went to look at the cat staring at the ceiling. She saw a mouse in the light fixture and just laughed and laughed and laughed. She said something like, "Oh, how cute is that? A cute little friend." Actually she spoke very loudly in a language that the clergy do not know and has a look of terror on her face. I know a lot of things, but dealing with rats is not one of them. So...I heard pine-sol and steel wool is a good temporary fix. I have nothing to support this other than it seems like a good idea. I have to be honest, though, if someone said whip cream and Lemon Heads wrapped in tin foil and singing songs from The Carpenters Greatest Hits worked, I would be in thereright now screaming Close To You at the top of my lungs. We will keep you posted on the rat issue. Here's hoping for sleep.
In other slightly less disastrous news, we had an earthquake today! It was pretty powerful and I was at work. Cassidy called me immediately and Isabel was actually awake for this one. She was a little curious about why the house was shaking and really unphased overall. She's a trooper!
Cassidy had her first couple of days at work with her student. She loves it and is doing a great job! It is actually fun seeing her at work and not nearly as freaky as I thought it would be. She actually looks the part, too. I can't wait to see her in action when she finishes school.
So that's the news from Adak. Stay tuned and please feel free to leave comments. Cassidy changed the setting so anyone can leave a comment without having to subscribe or pay into Isabel's tuition fund(it sounded like a good idea at the time).
We had company the other night. It is kind of a big deal to have company also. Al came over for a visit before he left for Hanes, Alaska to meet up with his wife and daughter. Al is seriously one of the most genuine men either of us have ever met and it truly was a pleasure to have him over. Cassidy made a roast. Not just any roast, though. This roast was a product of the very caribou that Cassidy had shot just a week earlier. It was delicious. It is so nice to have a beautiful wife that can put such a delicious meal together. I just never thought I would ever be married to someone that killed dinner too. She is the total package.
So...we saw a rat. I was sitting in the living room and Cassidy went to look at the cat staring at the ceiling. She saw a mouse in the light fixture and just laughed and laughed and laughed. She said something like, "Oh, how cute is that? A cute little friend." Actually she spoke very loudly in a language that the clergy do not know and has a look of terror on her face. I know a lot of things, but dealing with rats is not one of them. So...I heard pine-sol and steel wool is a good temporary fix. I have nothing to support this other than it seems like a good idea. I have to be honest, though, if someone said whip cream and Lemon Heads wrapped in tin foil and singing songs from The Carpenters Greatest Hits worked, I would be in thereright now screaming Close To You at the top of my lungs. We will keep you posted on the rat issue. Here's hoping for sleep.
In other slightly less disastrous news, we had an earthquake today! It was pretty powerful and I was at work. Cassidy called me immediately and Isabel was actually awake for this one. She was a little curious about why the house was shaking and really unphased overall. She's a trooper!
Cassidy had her first couple of days at work with her student. She loves it and is doing a great job! It is actually fun seeing her at work and not nearly as freaky as I thought it would be. She actually looks the part, too. I can't wait to see her in action when she finishes school.
So that's the news from Adak. Stay tuned and please feel free to leave comments. Cassidy changed the setting so anyone can leave a comment without having to subscribe or pay into Isabel's tuition fund(it sounded like a good idea at the time).
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