Miscellaneous

Summer? Did I miss it?

/ Sheila / Leave a comment

Well, well, August 19th, and another cool rainy weekend in the forecast. I’ve definitely had the “summer was on a Tuesday” experience this year. I remember one of the summers we lived in Michigan was like that. You kept telling yourself, believing, that any day now, the full force of sun and warmth would arrive and the glorious summer weather would bring all things good…outdoor cookouts, trips to the park, bike riding, ball games. But no, nothing, it just fizzled before it ever got off the ground. Like this one.

Oh sure, you try to keep up appearances. Can’t tell you how many days in the past few months I’ve worn something more suited to Arizona, complete with a sweater or windbreaker or jean jacket…whatever COAT was best paired with my summer garb. I couldn’t face going through the summer months wearing turtlenecks. But with only a few exceptions, I could have done it and been very comfortable during June, July, and now August. I’m hoping for a bit of an Indian summer season in September. But who am I kidding? I might as well be unpacking my corduroys and wool right now.

20110819-062943.jpg With the exception of a few days spent in California and Arizona (alright, that was a bit warm, even for me), we’ve sailed right past spring and into October. Honestly, some of the rains we’ve had have been wicked! Thank goodness my leak in the bathroom appears to be fixed. (You know the repair has been successful when you forget to check each time it rains.) Many days the temps hover in the 50s. Twice in the next week we’re supposed to hit 60! And this is August!

Raspberries have been impacted by all the wet, or cool, or something. All I know is that the other summers we’ve lived here we’ve had lots of berries on the vines behind the house. This year, there was a dismal, one-cup crop. Yesterday I noticed a few leaves already turning.

Ok, I know for anyone outside Alaska reading this, it sounds petty. I’ve seen the news about the heat wave and the dry spell much of the lower 48 has been living through, and I know my frustration must seem un-imaginable to many. But trust me, if you heard your heat kick on in August, or decided to put your electric blanket back on the bed before Labor Day, you’d be complaining too.

Most days this cruise season, I’ve felt sorry for the poor tourists, trying to have a good time in a downpour. I’ve hardly had a chance to run the AC in my car. I have brats in the fridge. But I need the right atmosphere. I can’t enjoy grilling out when all I want to do is go inside to warm up.

So that’s my lament for late August. What happened to summer? If you find it, please send it my way. It’s not too late.

Random goodness

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Here’s a fun new find: drink in Food Gawker. You can see recipes with a click of a button, sort of like looking through a big card catalog. You can save or share, so click away!

Other discoveries this week: I’m addicted to quotes that are pithy, clever, witty, wise, funny…any or all of these things. Found a great blog that has a roundup of 100 quotes, a few of which I already love, many of which were unknown to me: Visit Demanding Joy.

Made the simplest of shrimp salads for dinner: 1 dozen large shrimp, deveined, cooked, and chilled; mixed greens; fresh cilantro leaves; grated carrot; a sprinkling of lime juice; handful of roasted peanuts; add a light drizzle of Sesame Ginger dresser. Toss to mix. Devour. Serves one hungry diner. Yum!

Discovered a lot of new uses for my dishwasher. Seriously, who knew?! Check it out. (I don’t necessarily endorse all these ideas, but some of them sound good.)

Saw a post about the rising popularity of drinking vinegars, long popular in Asia. I must admit, my grandmother is a big fan of drinking apple cider vinegar…according to her, it can cure pretty much any ailment you’ve got. But I didn’t know she was cutting edge. Here you go, in case you want to serve the latest flavors at your next dinner party: From Serious Eats, the new-old-fashioned drink…

I like this blog: great idea, simple but inspiring: Share some kindness.

See you out there!

Satisfaction and Super Woman

/ Sheila / 4 Comments

There are many types of satisfaction in life, and today, I’m focusing on the satisfaction of acquiring organization tools. Or really any type of tool.  Mind you, this doesn’t extend to using. I’m talking about the simple joy of purchasing, downloading, discovering, and yes, I’ll even include listing as a source of satisfaction.
 
You see, there’s the satisfaction of doing…the “I’m exhausted but really glad that job is done!” feeling. There’s the joy of creating…”I’m really quite clever, after all!” And there’s the pleasure…truly, it’s almost the best…of acquisition. You know, the feeling you have when you find the thing, the app, the tool, that’s going to streamline all your work. Organize your stuff. Manage your clutter. Enhance your life.
 
I noticed this phenomena decades ago when I was a young mom and into crafts with my kids (and without them…I can admit, here and now, that some of the crafts I enjoyed were just for ME). I realized that buying the supplies was almost as fulfilling as actually doing the project. That’s continued in other areas of my life. When I buy paint and brushes and masking tape, I feel as if I’ve done the paint job, when really, I’ve only selected and purchased. Without one drop of paint leaving the can, I have an enormous feeling of accomplishment. How cool is that?
 
I recognize the same force at work when I find a new app for my phone or iPad. (I try not to do this with apps I have to pay for…you know, it adds up!) Some app gets great reviews for organization tools, or calendaring, or photo editing, and I download right away, as if the work of organizing or photo editing is magically done just with the click of a button. Why is that? I certainly understand that a download does not equal a completed project. But never mind, the main thing is…I’ve got the app, and I can use it any minute. Any time I choose. Any minute now.
 
The magic works with lists I make in my planner. Somehow, writing a chore or errand down gives me a sense of completion. Not quite as much as checking off my list, but still, the thrill is there.
 
With all this effort at being organized, am I? Well, I certainly like to think so. I certainly am in some parts of my life. (Don’t ask my husband about this, we do NOT see eye to eye here.) But like an addict, I’m always on the hunt for the next best thing that will make me invincible, powerful, on time…no, no, I’m not really trying to be a super-hero. Just a woman who has it all together.
 
Judging from the availability of tools for organizing, I’m in good company. We’re either all really obsessed, or really tidy. You know who you are. This is my attempt to  set the record straight and acknowledge my fixation.
 
Well, well, well…I see from my lists I’m a bit behind. Must finish a task or two so I can mark them off. Now to find my marker…must be around here somewhere…think I need an app for that…how to find anything in your house. I could make a fortune! I’ll just add that to my list…
 
 

Funny!

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Saw these recently…I’m not familiar with this artist*, but I like the way she thinks! I saw some cards with these quotes, and one thing lead to another. She has a plethora of items available from a variety of sources. Actually, I don’t know if these quotations are original to Shannon, but I’m giving her credit.

 
Quotes from Shannon Martin:
 
“If it weren’t for my mood swings, I wouldn’t get any exercise at all.”
 
“My liquid diet is going well, so far I’ve lost two days.”
 
“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
 
“Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were.”
 
“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.”
 
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
 
“You can’t scare me. I have children.”
 
 
*You can find her products on Amazon.
 
 
 

My cash-free life

/ Sheila / 4 Comments

So, I’m traveling Friday, and of course I have a list of to-dos before I leave…plans for work, plans for packing, plans for a few things I’m taking care of around the house. The most important thing on my list? Now don’t laugh…this is a reflection of my cash-free lifestyle…I have to stop at an ATM and get cash for the airport ferry.

Airport ferry you say? What’s that about? Well, some very clever engineers, way back in the 70s, decided to build Ketchikan’s commercial airport…on a different island. Yep, that’s right, the ONLY available location for an airport that was feasible in this area had to be on a separate strip of land, across the Tongass Narrows that separates the island Ketchikan is on from the island home of the local airport. And how do you reach the airport? Is there a bridge? NO, there is not. If you recall the infamous “bridge to nowhere” issue from the last presidential election, that was about Ketchikan. No bridge across to the airport, but the local government graciously runs a small ferry that crosses twice an hour, for the small sum of $5 per person if you walk on. If you drive across, the fee is higher.

Now aside from the irritant that I have to back up my time to leave to include the ferry schedule, which is annoying in itself, the ferry operates on a CASH ONLY basis. How is that possible in this day and age? I don’t keep cash, don’t use cash, literally go for months, unless I travel out of town by myself, without seeing so much as a nickel, much less a dollar. The fact that I have to obtain cash to get to the airport is a special irritant to me. This isn’t about the $5 fee, which seems reasonable enough. It’s about the fact that it has to be paid in cash.

I keep a $100 bill in my purse, an emergency-only fund. But if I break it, that defeats the purpose of it being for emergencies only. Because then it would only be a matter of time before it would be nickled and dimed away, on this, that, or whatever. I learned a long time ago, before the earth’s crust cooled and when I had small children who loved happy meals, (and before fast food chains accepted credit cards) that if I didn’t have cash on me, I could be firm and say, “not today, Mommy doesn’t have any money.” And they didn’t know I could have gotten money. It was an effective way to keep us out of fast food restaurants, and to keep money from flowing out of my veins.

But wait, you say, you don’t have to actually be cashless to resist spending money. Well, that’s true, and being cashless doesn’t mean I don’t spend. Of course not. But it helps me be thoughtful about what I spend, and how I spend. One of my personal spending guidelines is that I don’t buy anything on a credit card for less than $5…that just seems unfair to the merchant, who has to pay a fee for credit card usage. For small expenditures like a Starbucks coffee, I buy a Starbucks gift card so I don’t have to pay in cash or ask the merchant to pay a fee for a very small credit card charge. Tips for meals or services go on my card, and there is really nothing that I buy, no where that I shop, that I can’t pay with my VISA.

The benefit to me, besides giving me an almost complete history of my spending habits and actual expenses, is that I use a card that gives me airline miles. And I use those miles. I pay the balance each month, so I’m not in credit card debt, and I make the card work for me. I figure, if I’m buying a gallon of milk, I’m flying on that milk. Or someone is. It’s a way to get a little more bang for my buck, and when you live in Alaska, flying becomes an important part of life.

I use direct deposit for my salary. I get a digital copy of my pay stub. I write a few checks each month, primarily for charitable contributions, with an occasional check written on a health savings account for routine care. But that’s it. Everything else is paid through my credit card. Except the airport ferry. They got me, and I can’t fight city hall. What would happen if I forgot to have cash on hand? Well, if I’m with Rob, not a problem. He seldom uses cash, but he always has cash. And if I’m not with him? Well, I might be stranded. You pay the ferry fee after you ride across to the airport island, but before you enter the airport…a real no man’s land. No ATM, no credit or debit cards accepted, and nothing but a grouchy woman in the booth to say, “Sorry, but rules are rules!” No, I’ve never gotten caught in the ferry wilderness…but I wonder what happens to poor souls who do. They’re probably still wandering about on the airport side, looking for a friendly face, an ATM, a five dollar bill on the ground.

And I wonder…how many people out there are like me, going through life without seeing, touching, or using real money on a regular basis? Sometimes I read about saving for purchases by emptying your change into a jar, and that amazes me. Do people really still have change every day? And why? I’ve lived this way so long, I’m not sure if I’m in the mainstream or an oddity.

Work? What work?

/ Sheila / 3 Comments

A day at the office…

20110629-103357.jpg
Photo from here

No, no…I’m joking, of course! But I could not resist this image!
Happy Friday, and don’t let the office follow you home!

Alaskan Afternoon

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Monday was a postcard day here. After a cool and gloomy weekend, Monday was bright, and even better, warm!

I was so energized when I got home from work, I:

washed my car
trimmed my hedge and cleaned up the clippings
planted two tomato plants
harvested my rhubarb
did laundry
tidied the house
wrote a blog post
caught up on email
placed an order on line

Why can’t I do that every afternoon? I usually need morning energy to be that productive, but this was after work. Must have been the extra Vitamin D!

Vitamin D

photo from here

What would I take?

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I’m sometimes inspired by other blog authors. It’s amazing what a variety of topics people blog about, some of a serious nature, some funny. There are how-to blogs, travel and cooking blogs; parenting and relationship blogs. Some are written as essays. Others have a kind of gritty reality that can be a little unnerving if the subject matter is also gritty.

Now and then I run across a reference to a website that I have to check out for myself. I recently found a website, http://theburninghouse.com/ that poses the challenge to readers: if your house is on fire, what would you save? After you sort that out in your mind, you gather the items and make a photo and submit, along with your list, to the site.

I scanned a few of the entries. As you might expect, the items in some lists seemed randomly chosen. In others, there were the more the practical and sentimental objects most people would select. The photos are interesting. Do you think you could put into one photo the MOST important things (not including people or pets, this is about STUFF) in your home?

I challenged myself to work through this exercise. Not only would it be useful, just in case my house should be on fire and I happen to be around to secure my items to save; but also, thinking it out would help me to assign priority and value. Surely that would be worthwhile.

Turns out, not too much made my list of the essentials. I would grab my purse (has all my cards, id, planner, phone); my iPad; some favorite portraits of my children and family; my jewelry; my recipe collection that has the handwritten and tried and true treasures I’ve accumulated over my adult lifetime; my Bible I’ve had since high school; important documents; a few favorite old books; and a handful of items that I have sentimental attachment to…a few things from family, and from my kids’ childhood. That’s it. The furniture I love, the decorative items, clothing, framed art, kitchen stuff, china, knick-knacks…it’s all good, all meaningful to me. But would I save it from a burning house? No.

So what is really important? Mostly, I would save the things that represent the people that are important in my life: my husband, my children, my family. The portraits and few items that I would save for sentimental reasons are important because I can’t replace them…portraits of my children from years ago, or my wedding, or of family that is no longer here. The books are writings that have been old friends to me for many years, that have taught me and sustained me. The jewelry that I own is not so much valuable as it is meaningful: each piece was given to me by my husband or my parents, or my children. The recipes are full of memories of people who have shared with me, and who have had a place in my life.

Now, to collect everything and make a photo…what would you save? I challenge you to think it through. Hopefully no one has to find out the hard way if this is truly useful…I certainly don’t need a house on fire to help me know what’s important. But it gives context to the question, and gives me insight to myself as I walk through the house and craft my answer.

Bumps in the road!

/ Sheila / 2 Comments

Last week I was in vacation mode. I was in sunny southern California. There was not one drop of rain the whole week. I got some sun, actually had to wear sunscreen; sat out by a pool one day; ate several meals out doors; wore summer clothes and sunglasses; and I shopped, ate, and slept in. Better still, I was in birthday mode, and we stretched Rob’s big 5-0 celebration out over several days with events and cake and ice cream on multiple occasions.

It was a good week, but now I’m back to reality. 5:00 AM was hard to face this morning, as was the cooler weather of southeast Alaska. It was a nice day here, but I stretched it a bit with my summer clothing. I wore a sweater, but couldn’t bring myself to wear a coat or…horrors…another turtleneck! All done with those options until fall is back on the calendar.

So the birthday week was good. However, there was a casualty of travel. My little netbook that has been my daily companion for the past couple of years had an encounter that effectively ended its life. I’m still not entirely sure what happened, but somehow in the course of travel, the screen was damaged beyond use or reasonable cost for repair. At the time this occurred, the computer was in its padded case, inside my backpack. But the backpack was with some other luggage and must have been jostled, to say the least, in transit. All I know is that everything was fine when I powered down the morning we headed to California, and when I booted up that evening, the damage had been done.

So, I am now the proud owner of an iPad. Since I primarily surf the internet, do email, and write my blog…no gaming or serious use of programs in general…I decided to try the iPad as a replacement. So far, although there are a few losses, there are also some fun gains.

I also came home with an allergy flare, or a cold…can’t quite decide which variety of drippy nose I have, but I’m leaning toward the allergy theory.

Last week was great. But I have to admit I woke up this morning thinking: I’m broke (well, for the month anyway…the iPad and other outings consumed my fun money for June); I’m on an air and water diet after a week of indulging; and I’m sick.

It’s hard to come down from 13,000 feet!

Community at The Point

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There’s a little art gallery/beading store/restaurant that I love here in Ketchikan. It’s called The Point, Ketchikan’s only “waterfront art cafe,”

The Point

and it is housed in a building that overlooks the water. You can have lunch and watch float planes landing, or see the big ships docked down the way. On a nice day, the water looks so blue it’s amazing.

The food is just the simple fare of lunch: soup, sandwiches, quiche, cookies. They serve artisan freshly baked bread with their soups, and the cookies are baked in house as well. In fact, from what I can tell, everything is done in house. Which is amazing, when you realize that it is more an arts business than a food business. Or at least that’s the way it began. Not sure these days that the restaurant side of the business isn’t taking top billing.

You can eat at The Point, or if you have a work meeting and want to order, they’ll deliver their full menu for the day to your office. Simple as a phone call and a credit card. And the food is so good, if you let staff know where you’re ordering lunch, they’ll show up with appetites.

But the best thing about this restaurant is that it’s local. Owned and operated by people who have been here for a long time, it reflects the personality of the place. Local artists are prominently featured in the gallery displays. Classes are held there, and at lunch you see a mix of people from town, from all ages and walks of life.

I think the success of the restaurant side of the business is a bit of a surprise to the owners. They seem to be growing in popularity and in menu offerings. I and others have asked if they plan to publish their recipes. I have a sense that they’re on to their own little “overnight” success story. And it’s refreshing to see a small town enterprise doing well…not a chain, another fast food place, not linked to national advertising: just a local effort that is paying off and is the result of hard work and risk taking.

Good for the entrepreneurs! And good for me at lunch!