Welcome friends and family

Thank you for taking the time to log into our blog! Sorry for the new settings but I am sure Tims next posting will provide more info as to why. He always has a much better spin on it all so we'll wait for him : )

Gas problems, a crazy cat, Glee, and God-Boy

It has been a fairly eventful week for the island of Adak, but a fairly uneventful week for us at the Jones House. The big news on the island is that over 143,000 gallons (that's One Hundred and Forty THOUSAND gallons) were spilled while filling a fuel tank here on the island. It actually wasn't spilled in the traditional sense, it was just the classic case of overfilling the tank. I am guessing this is why you are not allowed to walk away from the pump while filling your car. You know, you might accidentally spill one or two hundred thousand gallons of fuel. So, the coast guard (I always wondered what those guys did?) was out here as well as every environmental agency that you can imagine. Our population grew by about fifty per cent!
Other big Adak news is that the fish plant is due to open very soon. This is a major event that many people have been anticipating for a long time. Apparently there was quite a bit of litigation going on between the previous owners and everyone that the previous owners had ever met. Something weird about having to pay employees and the fisherman made a lot of people very upset, so...the fish plant has been out of commission for quite a while. I grew up on an island that had a "fish plant" (My mother actually worked there one or two summers, God Bless her) and we called it a cannery. It seems every time I use the word "cannery" I am subtely corrected with the term "Fish Plant." I have learned that it is very important to focus on proper nomenclature when dealing with citizens of Adak.
In our exciting lives, it is just back to life as usual (or back to life unusual, to be more accurate). Cassidy and I have been getting up very early to enjoy coffee and talk each day before that child of ours (that has become some hybrid of auctioneer meets Chatty Cathy) gets up and starts bombarding us with questions like "Why do you drink coffee" and "Where does coffee come from" and "Why is Cha Cha orange?" and "Mommy? why is Mommy crying?"
Isabel really has taken off in the curiosity department. It would be nice, however, if she didn't ask three additional questions in the time it takes to respond quickly to the first. As we are explaining what sea otters are, she is asking us what happened to the wrapping paper that her Christmas gifts came in. It truly is remarkable.
Isabel has been taking on more responsibilities around the house. To her credit, for the most part, she does her chores well. An additional duty that she has taken over is the saying of grace before dinner. Although we have tried to instill the basic christian beliefs in our daughter, we feel we have just painted a picture of a super hero that she is anxiously awaiting a full-length animated cartoon to come out. The other night at dinner this was what, to the best of my recollection, was said by our little princess, "Dear God, Thank you for Jesus and all the nice things he does. God-Boy is great and he loves us and loves our friends. Thanks you God-Boy! Amen."
Now, neither Cassidy or myself went to any formal seminary, nor do we claim to be an authority of any type in the fields of Christianity (or any organized or disorganized religion, for that matter). BUT, neither of us could ever remember a "God-Boy" from Sunday schol classes.(there was an Odd-Boy, though)
This particular meal included freshly baked bread by our Isabel. This came about because my wife decided it would be a good idea to make home-made pasta (why wouldn't she, right?). Isabel LOVES helping Cassidy in the kitchen and, since she is four, occassionally the cuteness takes a back seat to being in the way. Cassidy remedied this situation by asking Isabel if she wanted to make her "Own Bread." Isabel, of course, jumped at the chance. So Cassidy quickly gave Isabel a bowl of water and some all-purpose flour. Nothing more, nothing less. When it came time to finish and clean up for dinner, Isabel was ready for her "Bread" to go into the oven. As parents do, we told Isabel that she would have to wait because it takes too long to cook in the oven. Without missing a beat, Isabel said, "I know!" with a huge smile on her face and opened the microwave door. SO...Cassidy and I are seeing Isabel look about as proud as she possible can while she is microwaving her flour and water so we can have bread for dinner. Isabel was nice enough to cut us some big pieces that we could eat with our soup (the soup was delicious, by the way). I bit into that "bread" and smiled as I ate the entire piece and told Isabel what a great job she did. Cassidy, while pretending to eat hers looked at my plate and around my table setting. "What did you do with it?" she asked.
"I ate it!" I replied.
The look of disbelief, compounded by the look of fear that she, too, would have to rise to the occasion (pun intended) was priceless. The bread, well, it wasn't easy to stomach it. But I guess that's part of parenthood, right?
Our geriatric cat, Cha Cha is about as stable as Courtney Love at a Phish concert. This cat doesn't even actually meow anymore. The only way I can describe the sound that this cat makes with accuracy is if someone with a deep voice with marshmallows in their mouth screamed honk at the same pace of the beeping noise a garbage truck makes while in reverse. Only louder. It really is a unique sound that I have never heard replicated. The beauty of this cat is that he decides to unleash this with no cause for alarm. Arbitrarily, he just goes into a marshmallow, deep voice, honking fit. Only louder! This usually occurs somewhere between the hours of 11:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M. True joy.
We have seriously cut down our television viewing. Without cable it is actually quite easy. Cassidy has taken a liking to a show called Glee. For those of you who know what I am talking about and enjoy it, please disregard the rest of this paragraph. For those of you that know what I am talking about and dislike the program, Or have know idea what I am talking about, read on. The only reason this show is called "Glee" is because "A sad attempt at comedy, constantly interrupted by horrible renditions of songs that you once thought were actually tolerable, wrapped up in a horrible story line with annoying characters" wouldn't sound good at the Emmy's. Good Lord, this show makes me wish "Cop Rock" was still on the air. But Cassidy loves it, so, I have to do what any self-respecting man that loves his wife dearly would do; refuse to watch it and think of a show that I like that will annoy her just as much (if that's even possible).

Big City, Buffalo stories, Friends, and a whole lot of shopping

After the FAA figured out how to land a plane on a one mile runway, we were able to leave the metropolis that is Adak for a getaway. It was a bit discouraging to have payed for a Bed and Breakfast and not be able to get off of the island right after Christmas, but thanks to the Carr family, our accommodations were outstanding! The aforementioned b&b (I know it is supposed to be capitalized, but I just don't deem this particular establishment worthy of upper case letters) was happy to inform us of their no refund cancellation policy. After a phone call from Cassidy in which I swear I overheard the words "wall-to-wall counseling" they modified the policy to include 50%. Ya, that's right, She is a fierce and determined woman.
We had a great time in Anchorage and as mentioned, the Carr family is AMAZING! Kristin and Ross Carr and their two amazing daughters, Gena and Whitney. Let me give you a breakdown of the family. Ross: Wonderful Father, Outdoorsman and can and has successfully built everything from a house to a computer (no joke). Kristin: Incredible Mother, brilliant, educator, and about as nutty as a 20 lb. Christmas fruitcake (in the coolest, most amazing way). Gena: Brilliant college freshman that always has a smile on her face. I not so secretly hope that Isabel turns out a lot like Gena. Whitney: whitney is a fourteen year-old that shot a buffalo while we were in town. Incredibly smart young lady and will shoot anyone that says otherwise from 350 yards.
I know Kristin through her brother, Tony, one of my oldest friends from my childhood that probably knows me the best (and still accepts me, which is saying somthing). There are moments in my youth that I actually developed a profound fear of how much Kristin was going to make fun of me. I actually believed for a short while that Kristin sat home all day and thought of new ways to humiliate me (in her defense, I actually thought EVERYONE did that for a period of my life). I only mention this because that fear was resurrected and compounded when the realization came to me that Cassidy and Kristin would be in the same room...with...me...in the...same...room. I found a happy place and blacked out during the first few runds of the all too fun game called "Let's relive humiliating events in Tim's life." Things like "Remember when you wore a Tutu to the eighth grade talent show?" and "He looked like a new born foal with his skinny legs and knobby knees" were overheard. It was great. My wife couldn't see my tears of pain and anguish through her tears of laughter. It was great.
Isabel was, of course, a hit with everyone (save for Whitney, perhaps). I fear that we are no longer welcome to enter several homes and establishments in Anchorage if we are "sans Isabel."
Cassidy shopped the etire time we were there and filled her quota for the quarter. It really is remarkable how fast she had the layout of several shopping centers as well as road systems committed to memory.
We did meet up with several other friends while in the big city. First was the Lewis Family and, as always, a great time. Walking into the Lewis house is like walking into Ward and June Cleaver's house. That is, if Ward was a cop. brewed his own beer and June worked and raised seven kids and didn't take any shit from anyone. Other than that, it is pretty much the same. Mitch entertained us with stories of general public stupidity that he gets paid (whatever it is, it isn't enough if you ask me) to deal with on a daily basis. Jeanne is about as genuine a human being that you will ever find. I don't think that anything that has ever come out of that woman's mouth was not one hundred and fifty per cent sincere. Oh! They have seven kids! So, you know, that makes things easy. I have met all but one and it amazes me how incredible and unique each of them are. I have trouble sometimes with Isabel. It's One kid and she is FOUR.
Next stop was the Tsunami warning center to visit Cindi. We met Cindi out here on Adak while she was out here for work and did presentations for the classroom and the community. That place is Amazing and while we were there, an earthquake occurred in Eureka, CA. I don't want to be insensitive or downplay anyone that has been adversely affected by a natural disaster, but when you are sitting in a room that looks like some sort of NASA control center and alarms start going off and monitors with world maps start flashing and graphics are jumping off the screen, well...it is pretty damn cool. Cindi is about the most laid back person I have ever met. She makes Frank Zappa look like Bill O'Reilly. She is extremely good at her job and has more knowledge than anyone should about what I like to call "Earth Stuff" (I apologize to all my earth science teachers throughout my childhood). Isabel had a great time and even got to create a miniature tsunami in a tsunami tank which she is very proud of (pictures will probably be posted).
After leaving the center, we met Erv and his wonderful wife for pizza in Eagle River. I believe I mentioned Erv in previous posts and how we were both in Pararescue, but one of us has a lot more distinguished career in it than the other (hint: it's the shorter of the two). Although I can't compare anything I have done in my life with Erv without some hyperbole going on, I did find one thing we have in common; We both probably don't deserve as wonderful wives as we have. It is always nice and inspirational to see couples that are past the newlywed stage that are still obviously in love with each other. Hell, to be honest, it's nice to see couples that are past the newlywed stage that still talk to each other. Erv has definitely found a diamond in the rough and it was great meeting his wife, Derri.
We made it back to Adak with seven checked bags, three carry-ons and 412 pounds of freight. I mention the freight because one of the perks I get for throwing luggage at the airport twice a week is a freight allowance. Theoretically this is a good thing. In reality, you have to ignore everything you know about common sense. I am allowed 250 lbs. (focus, it's a word problem here) of freight per quarter to be shipped to Adak at no expense to me. Now, a reasonable person would say, "Hey, if we go over the 250 lbs., we will just have to pay the difference. NO! Alaska Airlines can put a 25 ton hunk of metal in the air for sustained flight, but they refuse to tackle the complicated math of subtracting 250 from 412 (it's 162, by the way. It wasn't really a quiz). If you thought Cassidy was pissed at the b&b lady, you should have seen her face when we found out that we had to pay the entire shipment. I just want everyone to know that if I should seem to disappear and with no explanation, you can be certain of two things: 1)I really pissed my wife off and 2) I most certainly deserved it. Hell hath no fury....