July 17, 2014

Stuff and Things 7/17


This week is both dragging and speeding by.  Something has come up everyday and my plans of making it into my classroom to start setting up have gotten derailed.  I have unloaded ALL THE STUFF there though because I couldn't look at it in my basement anymore.  


I was able to renew my Alaska driver's license through the mail.  I'm amazed at that.  Same picture, new license.  See you by 2020, Alaska.  You can only renew once through the mail.

Hello,  2010 Kristin.

We are remaining Alaska residents.  Scott's end game is to get some land there.  It wouldn't be a permanent home (because Kristin) but it would be his vacation spot.  I suppose I could make it work once a year or so.


I've been going to yoga or Pilates at least once a week.  I've been trying to make it to kettle bell too.  I'm only getting to the gym maybe twice a week because sometimes things interfere with class times, but I'm so much happier than I was last year when I was forcing myself to go everyday.

Denny with his girlfriend, Justine.  

My brother Denny graduated from the state police academy last week.  My parents should be very proud.  All 3 of us are now successful, employed, functioning members of society!  (I'm not even being sarcastic here.  3 out of 3 is a miracle in this day and age, right?)

I made Greek Pasta Salad a few weeks ago for dinner at the neighbor's house.  I was going to do a whole post on it but then every blogger I know started sharing it.  Repeat content is not popular, I know.  At least I have a pretty picture.  And I maintain that my mom made it first (back in 2003).


Orzo, feta, tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, red onion (if you're so inclined).  I did make my own dressing though.  I used Ina Garten's recipe (she's such a snob…a grown-up version of Blair Waldorf).


I bought $2 red wine vinegar from Wal-Mart and I know that's not what Ina is talking about here.  

Everyday I try to take the dogs around the property.  It's lots of sand, brush, and jack rabbits.  


Of course, I took that picture last week.  This week it has not stopped raining for more than a few hours at a time.  The amount of mud puddles I'm forced to drive through each day is insane.

Yesterday, I caught a mouse.  I had an inkling that there was one hanging out in the basement so I set a couple of those traps that contain them so you see that there is a mouse in it (as indicated by the super helpful gauge on the side) but it's opaque so you never actually see a mouse.  Well, the gauge said "MOUSE CAUGHT!", but it didn't seem like there was a mouse in it so I flipped it to "Set trap" and then out popped a dead mouse.  I almost threw up.  And I screamed a little bit too.



9 comments:

  1. I was wondering why you had renewed your Alaska license, but that makes sense since you guys are staying Alaska residents. It's really nice that you can renew once by mail--it'll really help us maintain active licenses, because I'm not coming back just to go to the DMV!
    We've caught so many mice in this old farmhouse it's ridiculous--but our current outdoor cat really likes to hunt and that's helped a lot, we haven't had a mouse in a year or more. I think the cats we had in the past might have been too lazy or too well-fed to hunt.

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  2. This is random and only semi-related to you staying an Alaska resident(which I think is awesome and hilarious!)
    My husband and I have a married couple friend(friends? It's hard to say couple friends, but imply that they are a unit) the husband is from California, the wife is from Florida. They met in Florida at college after the husband got out of the Navy. He got his Bachelor's degree and then joined the Air Force as an officer to go to the military med school(I think it's USUHS but I could be wrong) they then got married in Maryland and she changed her last name there, losing her Florida residency.
    Here's the point: because the husband joined the Air Force in Florida, he will ALWAYS be considered a Florida resident for his career and retirement(his commitment is through 2026? 2030? Something like that). Florida doesn't have a state income tax!! I know he didn't purposefully plan that, but hello, GENIUS.
    How do you like Colorado so far? I bet the dogs love exploring your property!!

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  3. Hahaha, I did share a Greek Orzo recipe yesterday. I guess it is popping up. I don't even realize that sometimes. I was originally going to make mine with pasta, but since I had shared an Italian Pasta salad last month, I made it with orzo, which I liked better anyways. I laughed at, "It wouldn't be a permanent home (because Kristin)", and I agree with yuo on the 3/3 on being contributing members of society. There are four of us and we all don't have THE best jobs, but at least we have jobs that more than pay the bills, right?

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  4. I did a greek orzo in May I think. LOL. I make my own dressing too. I love Ina!

    We're taking my dogs upstate this weekend, they love to run around unencumbered.

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  5. I read that you caught a moose instead of a mouse! lol.

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  6. What an amazing view! My brother caught a mouse in his house which was pregnant... and for some unknown reason he decided he wanted to see the babies. I'll leave it at that. Ewww!

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  7. I will be trying that salad, I have seen a few people post about it.

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  8. Visiting for the first time! I'm going to link up in a sec, going to add your link to my post first :)

    That sunset is unreal! Such beautiful scenery. We def don't have that in LA. and I totally want some of that salad - yum!

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  9. Eek! That mouse story made me shiver! So weird and cool all at once that you could get your license from Alaska in the mail a year after you left.

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