Anything But Gray

I have been in Alaska for collectively 15 years.
There are 2 types of Alaskans.
Those who love it.
And those who hate it.
The majority of the people fall into one category or another. You don't see a whole hell of a lot of "in the middle".

In all my years living here I have never seen such displeasure in the people as I have been seeing in the last couple of weeks. But talking with my girlfriends yesterday and realizing that they don't agree and I think they might have even thought I was being melodramatic, makes me realize how completely divided this town can be sometimes.

Being in real estate makes your circle of people that you talk to on a regular basis extremely diverse and over the last couple of weeks, I have heard more times than I can count from countless different people how they are ready to pack up and leave. I have heard people that love Alaska, say it. I have heard people that hate Alaska, say it. Rich people, middle income people, fishermen, retail workers…I have literally heard it from every "category" of person you can think of. And I have just never heard such displeasure for this town from so many different people in all the years I have been here. It's unsettling, to say the least and makes me actually a little bit worried for the future of this town. I don't think the whole town is going to fall apart but I do have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be rough for awhile in Juneau.

Apparently we can handle it when we have a long ass winter that won't quit….
We can handle having a governor that most people believe hates Juneau.
We can handle the threat of the capitol moving looming over our heads constantly…
We can handle mine issues..
We can handle the lack of affordable housing.
And we can even handle our power source being wiped out and having to pay a ridiculous amount of money for our electricity….
But apparently having it all happen at once, that's a bit tougher to deal with.

I predict….Juneau will see the biggest drop in population it has seen in years, this summer.

Let's just say I am REALLY happy we had already planned to move and reserved our uhaul months ago….

Here are some pics of a few things I have finished recently…

Love my family canvas

Love my family canvas depth shot (1)

Love how this came out! Very happy when I have a "vision" and it comes out even better than I imagined it would.

Perhaps they are not stars wood (8)

Perhaps they are not stars wood (7)

Perhaps they are not stars wood (10)

My all time favorite "sympathy" quote. I think it is so very uplifting….I love it and plan to do many other pieces using this quote. Ceci, the biggest supporter of my ideas, wants to buy this. I showed it to her, telling her it was for my etsy store and she asks, "How much are you going to sell it for?" and I tell her and she says "I'll buy it. I want it." That woman is so good for my ego. Whenever I think of a business idea she hires me or buys my stuff! LOL Love it!

If this ring could talk canvas (12)

I indulge…I follow the tabloids….I take everything I read with a grain of salt, of course because I'm an intelligent human being…I don't talk about the things I read in the tabloids as if it were gospel…..but I must admit….it's a guilty pleasure….and this Mariah wedding thing has me practically salivating…LOL

More info!

I know I am truly boring the shit out of everyone and for that I apologize, but damnit, I'm seriously curious about this so you can just humor me…please.

ha!

   No shit!!

I have to say, I was really surprised by this…

Would someone PLEASE confirm or deny….geez!

I mean COME ON….just a simple yes or no would suffice.
I don't even want details….well, okay, I do…but I'd be content with just a yes or no….

J? You must know something…..!!
Help a sistah out, tell me something!

ha!

For as long as I can remember, I've been a writer.
I love it…and it's always been the best way for me to communicate my feelings or to get a point across.
It's also one of the few things I'm good at. Really good at.

I have won several essay contests in my life (met and got Andre Tippet's autograph because of one contest I won!) and I have had countless teachers and professors tell me I should pursue my writing. It's not something I have ever entertained. I just love to write…have a serious love affair with lyrics…and am content with that.

One thing that happened when I got out of school and quit college is that I don't get a lot of compliments on my writing so much anymore. When I was writing lyrics a lot, J was always an excellent objective listener and I always loved her critiques and Ceci has always been there to hear my writing and offer her compliments. But that's it, for the most part.  The subject never comes up. And I'm cool with that…but you know, when you get one? It sure as hell feels good.

I was talking to some old friends of ours that moved out of town last night on yahoo messenger and they told me they had read some of my writing on my myspace page and they told me "You should publish your writing, it's very good!"

and that, I must say, felt good!
It's been a long time since I've had someone compliment my writing.
It's a little reassurance that yeah….I still got it!
And it's inspiring…it makes me want to write!
I love it!!

🙂

So I stumbled across this….okay….I know she is going to release this as a single next and so I was desperately searching for the video, but I honestly had no clue I would actually find something!
BAM!! jackpot, baby!!

awww…Jen, say it isn't so!

He is such an icky boy! 

I am not a John Mayer fan.
He had a snide comment about Jon Bon Jovi a bunch of years ago and I've not liked him ever since.
I have hunted for this comment too and I can't find it…I might try and look again tonight….

J linked me to a story about them earlier and then I saw this on People.

Please, please, PLEASE let this one not last…for my sake. LOL

See…I post this, but I'll feel bad later. I'll think to myself "boy..how did I feel when people wished me and Zak wouldn't make it?" (you know who you are…!!) And here I am doing it to someone else.

It's just he's so….icky.
And I love looking at her and the pleasure I derive from looking at pictures of her will be significantly marred by Icky Boy being in the picture.

Is that so wrong?
To not want my Jennifer Aniston viewing marred?

Ben is sick, so I'm going to keep him home.
This will actually work out well for me because there's some things I need to get done that I can't seem to get done!
Maybe if I make my "To Do" list online, I'll get something done!

To Do

• write time line
• call and check on my sister
• go through/pack bookcase
• work on canvas project
• call or email Kim W. (I miss my friend!)
• dishes
• laundry
• update website
• check mail
• Jaime's bird nest homework

Honestly, I just like using the bullet feature and the cross it off  strike through feature.
🙂
ha!

Seriously, lists work for me.
I need them to function.
And I figured I'd make it online today so I can have more fun with it. lol

And I'm going to put a disclaimer in right now….a lot of what I can get done depends on how needy Ben is today.
He is the first and foremost "job" I have to do today and I can't forget that and get all frustrated that he's interrupting me while I'm doing something else. (A bad habit of mine that rears it's head from time to time….)

Good luck to me!

Let's get the loathe out of the way first…

• Power disaster
• running out of friggin' oil in the midst of said power disaster…
• getting sick
• it being almost May and I'm still wearing my WINTER JACKET!!!
• time getting away from and not getting hardly anything I needed to accomplished.
• people that drive 35 mph in a 50 mph zone….WHY IS THAT NOT AS ILLEGAL AS SPEEDING????
• not having time to finish a project I am really excited about.
• not getting to talk to my mom
• death that happens to someone far too soon. 39 years is YOUNG..way too young to die.

Loves

• visiting with friends and getting super awesome hugs from their kid. 🙂
• volunteering in Jaime's classroom. I really am going to miss those kids!
• Giving real estate advice and being spot on…so says master realtor zak.
• cuddles with Ben
• sunshine!
• my sister doing well after surgery
• J calling me from work. I just love when she "has" to tell me something RIGHT THIS SECOND. It makes me feel close to her and more of a part of her day.
• J's pregnancy going well.
• boy and girl twins. (Congrats Rachel!!!!)
• Kayla having a blog
• browsing online..WINDOWS SHOPPING ha! get it??? I'm a friggin' riot, huh?? Ha!!!

nighty night!

So this power crisis is starting to really piss me off now.

I go to the mall and there are signs up that they will be closing at 8pm until further notice.
Nice.
It's because of the power, they are obviously trying to conserve….fine. whatever.

So I go into JoAnn's. It's FREEZING cold and half the lights are out in the store!
How the hell are you supposed to look around a craft/fabric store in the DARK.
Unreal!

Every store has half their lights out…it's like a ghost town. 
I cannot believe this is really happening…
I feel like I'm in a bad dream…just waiting to wake up.

I, for the record, am seriously solar powered.
Dark makes me depressed, sad and just plain pissed off.
Dark and cold…now that is just not cool…

This is so not working for me….