An Alaskan Crisis

There seems to be a crisis resembling Katrina up in Emmonak, Alaska yet Gov. Palin can't be found. Here is a good article in the Bristol Bay Times if you haven't heard about it.

Maybe, after campaigning, she's taking some time off and is lounging on a beach somewhere. Or maybe she's rocking her new grandbaby --or maybe her own little boy. Maybe she's helping her little girl with her homework. But according to the folks up in Emmonak, she's not helping them.

With the inauguration coming in a few days and the current president saying goodbye to all of us last night, here's an old Daily Show episode that still makes me laugh:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Sarah Palin Gender Card

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Christmas is Over

The tree is down and Christmas is packed up for this year, although our own wisemen made a hasty retreat the evening of the fire and have been safe inside their boxes for almost a week now. The figures in the photo belong to the set at church, although they are the same ones we have, just slightly larger.

Back in the day, when the children were younger -- and at home -- the wisemen used to make their way through the house starting Christmas day and ending up at the manger a couple weeks later. We do still preserve the tradition of Youngest Daughter putting Baby Jesus into the manger after Christmas Eve mass, but Dear Husband thinks it's odd to keep the Three Kings moving around the house. It's interesting to see what traditions we keep and which ones we let slip away as children grow up and move away.

How Much Snow?

When we woke up this morning the weatherman on the news announced that we could possibly get up to 2 inches of snow by 10 o'clock. Possibly? Do they ever look out the windows? I'm sure all those weather-forecasting instruments cost a lot of money. But simply opening the blinds can tell you so much -- and costs so little. Even if you wanted to be very precise, a ruler costs less than $2.00! It seems we have 5 inches of the white stuff already, and it's still coming down.

Sticky Notes

I admit to having a weakness for sticky notes. I have a stash of all different sizes, colors, some with lines, and some with words of wisdom already on them. I even have one desk drawer just for holding my stickies.

But I found something else you can use stickies for besides writing notes:


What fun! I'm off to Home Depot now!

Naming the Baby

Yesterday Dear Husband and I visited a local bookstore where we could peruse the half-off tables. You never know what you might find. We found a Stephen White hardback for under $6, a book recently recommended by a friend, a Dover book of royalty-free designs, and a repeat-letter sudoku book -- all for under $25. But the book that I spent most of my time with (because I wasn't going to buy it) was a baby name book.

I'll never forget the day when I was quite young when I discovered a "meaning of names" book at the library. Of course I had to find out what my names, both first and last, meant. Much to my horror my names came together as "girl with the ugly head." No matter how true that might actually be, (just ask my hairdresser) I still find it sad. When I found the baby name book yesterday I decided to remind myself of what our childrens names mean. We have "who is like God?," "holy one," "God's promise," and --------------- "unlucky army-counsellor." What??!!! How could I do that to such a lovely child? Although, with further research, I found that in the book The Worst Baby Name Book Ever, (Why did I think it would be in there?) the listing for this name says, "A beautiful name that means 'bad place.' " A beautiful name it is indeed. And come to think of it, would I really want to live up to a name that meant "who is like God?" or "holy one?" How about you, Middle Daughter?

College Football National Champs?

I'm really trying to figure out the final college football standings. I watched the BCS Championship Game last night and was nearly bored to death. Nearly -- because it WAS a college football game and I can almost always find something good about any college football game. Nonetheless, it was less than thrilling. Florida beat Oklahoma 24-14. OK, championship game so that puts Florida at the top, right? Wrong. According to the final BCS standings, Oklahoma is number one, with a 12-2 record! Now, how does that work? AP poll says Florida is number one with Oklahoma number five. Coaches poll agrees with AP as far as Florida and Oklahoma but the three teams in between are scrambled.

The team I picked for champion, as they are unbeaten, is Utah. They finished sixth, second, or fourth, depending on which poll you read. Hey, they're unbeaten! Texas -- which has a piece of my heart -- finished fourth, third, and fourth. Better luck next year, Bobby.

I agree with President-elect Obama and Russ from the food bank. We should have a playoff.

Fire Update:
From the Rocky Mountain News:

BOULDER — A foothills wildfire that turned life in Boulder upside-down fizzled out Thursday as hundreds of evacuees returned home and firefighters tamped down flare-ups amid dwindling winds.

In the end, the two-day fire burned two homes and three barns, but its spectacular flames and prominent location along the hills just north of Boulder made it the talk of the town, with camera-armed gawkers rushing to behold the strange orange glow that briefly appeared to threaten more of the community.

Dubbed the Olde Stage Fire, it was nowhere near as damaging as more infamous Boulder-area fires, including the Black Tiger fire of 1989, which destroyed 44 structures and the identically named Olde Stage fire of 1990, which destroyed more than 10 homes.

But for a few hours, this blaze lit up the sky — a force of nature fueled by high-speed Chinook winds that shoved flames across grasslands, frightened residents and led to reverse 911 calls to more than 11,500 homes.

"Firefighters made a heroic effort," said Boulder County Sheriff's Cmdr. Phil West. He credited the work of dozens who worked through Wednesday night to conduct back burns.

We Packed Up Our Photos

There's a bad fire burning north of our home -- burning south--- and with winds gusting to 100 mph yesterday we decided we should pack up our photos just in case. The car is backed up ready to be loaded, just in case. We went to bed last night with our cell phones charged and nearby and with the knowledge that the winds had calmed down considerably. This morning, however, we hear that high winds are again predicted for today. Right now there are three helicopters flying slowly overhead, no doubt from the Denver tv stations. Makes the dog a bit crazy.


I was humbled by a dear friend who called last night to see how we were and to offer her home as a refuge if we needed to leave. Thank you, Monica!!

Interestingly, when gathering up things I'd want to take with me there was very little. Since none of our children are home, the pets came first. The photos seemed important. But not much else. A couple dolls from my doll collection, my first Indian doll and a doll my cousin made for me were put into a box with the Christmas stockings and a few other handmade items.


My thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost their homes already and I pray the firefighters stay safe. And hopefully we won't get the winds that are predicted.