Life in the Fast Lane

It's been a long time since I've blogged. For a retiree, I've been working a lot. I just got back from Anchorage where I'd been since Monday, so 5 days of the Big Wild Life.

Highlights were:
the drive down on Monday with Paul where the Mountain was visible for about 4 hours. In Wasilla, the wind was blowing a gale, apparently causing damage to buildings and causing the truck to parasail.

shopping at REI where I bought a child's size rainpants ($29 as opposed to $90 for women's) and a new pair of Keen Targhee shoes to break in before I hike in February.

dinner at TGIFriday's...I've never been so it was first.

lunch with Dawn at Nordstrom's. She gave me some Ginger Sesame dressing for my birthday that has been great- it even inspired me to make Chinese Chicken Salad for dinner.

work with LYSD people who love to laugh and are very professional, but informal, if that makes sense.

Other things that have been happening:
Paul and I went to Bon Appetit, the free cooking class at Spenard's Building Supply. We watched 3 guy chefs make Polish stuffed cabbage rolls and peppers. It was fun and fairly simple. The sauce was catsup and crushed tomatoes. The secret is using some ground beef but some ground pork too and cooked rice.

We got our new computer- a MacBook. It's easy to use and has a camera for skype and eLive, but I haven't figured out how to save Keynote (the PowerPoint equivalent) as a whiteboard so it is taking me some time. The Numbers (Excel equivalent) has an easy function application that I like. My math class was easier to teach using video though. I'm not taking it on small planes, so Paul will enjoy having exclusive rights while I'm gone.

I received a jury summons for US District Court. I have to be on call from Mar 8-June 8, so that will be tricky with all my scheduled travel. I wrote a humble plea to the judge to allow me some flexibility with my hiking dates and travel obligations, so time will tell.

We packed our hiking food for the 2- six day hikes. For the first time ever, we are trying some Mountain House dinners. We think that just heating water will prevent messy pans, so we'll see how it goes. We ordered freeze dried beef and assorted veggies from PackItGourmet.com and made up about half of our own meals using couscous and Ramen and mashed potatoes. Other than shoes, we dug out our old stinky gear and had a love fest. It shouldn't be that difficult to pack.

This week I'm in Scammon Bay and Hooper Bay (again). I'll be on Facebook though and trying to do better with taking and posting photos. I'm giving inservice presentations which are (almost) always fun and keep me at the top of my game.