WARNING! LONG Post!

I'm back home. Eating a hot bowl of venison stew that my sister-in-law's husband made for us. It's full of potatoes, carrots, celery, green beans, broccoli, red peppers, onions, and venison all cooked to perfection. I can't tell you how good it tasts. Especially after not eating lunch. It's the perfect time for stew because the wind is gusting 60 and the rain is pouring down. I don't have time to rest, though, because Lucione has a basketball game in 5 minutes and Alexys has a game immediately after. I used my PDA to record my thoughts and things while I was away so I'll paste it here in case anyone's curious about what I've been up to. :o) No real updates on Michael yet, except that we're both home. Results will arrive in a few days, I guess.

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11/11/06: I came to town anyway. I'm not happy about being alone but in a way, it's good to be away from home. I was getting tired of the constant reminders that my husband wasn't there. I almost don't feel guilty for taking 2 personal days. I kinda feel bad but at least I've taken care of my "old hair." :o)

It's strange being in a hotel alone. I haven't done this since I had to travel between here and college.

This is the first time I've ever colored my hair. I was afraid to do it because I didn't want it to "look" dyed. I don't wear make-up very often and when I do, it's minimal. I'm all about being natural. (This is not to say I don't respect the fact that others feel differently.) I didn't need to worry at all. It turned out looking really good. The hairdresser did a wonderful job mixing the color. My hair does not look dyed at all.

The lady who did my hair turned out to be from home. She was raised at home and is, in fact, my husband's cousin! We talked about our families and were sort of amazed at how we were strangers who came from the same small town. At any rate, she did a wonderful job on my hair and I will definitely be paying her another visit.

She not only colored my hair. She chopped it as well. I gave about 10 inches to Locks of Love. Even minus the 10 inches my hair falls just below my shoulders. I've got some subtle layers which helps my head feel a lot lighter. Best of all, my hair won't get caught in car doors or under the elbows of my students.

It has been kind of nice not having to worry about a schedule. Being able to wander in and out whenever I please and go wherever the wind blows me. :o)

I did have one tense moment today, though. I heard a knock on the door. At the time, nobody knew my room number and I wasn't expecting anyone. I went to the door (which had been locked with both the chain and the dead bolt) and looked out the peep hole. I saw a shadow but couldn't tell who it was. I asked but they didn't answer. They eventually left either because they figured I wasn't going to fall into their trap or they didn't recognize my voice and realized they had the wrong room.

11/12/04: It's about 9:45AM right now. I've been awake since about 7:00. That's sleeping in for me and it felt good. Especially since I fell asleep BEFORE 11:00PM. I've already had my breakfast. All that's left is to countdown the hours and minutes till I see the love of my life again. He leaves Sitka in an hour and a half. A short 50 minutes after that he'll be landing HERE!!!

I'm going to go next door and waste some time in the mall so Housekeeping can clean my room. (Oh! I almost forgot...when I first walked into my room yesterday, I was feeling a little lost because it's been so long since I've slept alone in a hotel. So I walk over to the bed to sit for a while. The little card the housekeepers leave behind caught my eye. My housekeeper's name? Mike. I had planned on keeping my husband's name a secret but I slipped the other day so I guess there's no sense in hiding it anymore. Haha I don't call him Mike, but everyone else does.) Now I'm off to the mall. :o)

It's now 11:45. I'm sitting in a small corner booth at McDonalds sipping a coke and watching passers by. This is one of my favorite pastimes. I remember when my mom lived in Seattle. I was in Jr. high. My mom was working for a factoring company at the time and South Center was on the way to her office. She'd sometimes take me to work with her and I'd get $0.10 for every envelope I stuffed. My first real pay check came from that company. It was for $20.00 :o) On the days I didn't feel like stuffing envelopes, Mom would drop me off at the mall. She'd give me enough money to buy lunch and some to spend however I wanted. My only instructions were to look for clothes I wanted and meet her at a certain spot at 5:15 so she could look over my choices and purchase them for me. I'd be at a near run trying to come up with a list Mom and I would agree on as quick as I could. I'd then find a comfortable spot and watch people. Mothers with children, teenagers in love, elderly couples. When I felt like moving, I'd walk a bit, find a new spot to sit and on and on. My mom often said she felt bad about "abandoning" me at the mall for hours but I always assured her I didn't feel abandoned. I loved watching people and making up their life stories in my head.

I have to keep chuckling to myself sitting here because of the other silly people coming and going through the doors of this popular eating establishment. Why am I laughing? Because these people are just as silly as the people at home. There is a bright yellow sign on one of the doors with an arrow directing you to Please use other door. I've watched 4...make that 5 people now push on the door multiple times before reading the impossible-to-miss bright yellow sign.

12:23PM I just got off the airport ferry. Yes...thats right...we have to take a ferry to the airport. Comes with the territory when you live in SE Alaska. :o)

Shucks. I just looked at the monitor. Michael's flight should have landed just as I got here but it won't arrive until 1:00. Oh,well. At least I know he's on his way. Minutes away. 20 LONG minutes away. hehe

They just announced the arrival of flt. 62! YAY!!! :o)

5:30PM: We're at the hotel now. We had lunch at McDonalds because it's right next door and he was in a hurry to eat. He surprised me with a peanut butter pie. He keeps commenting on my hair. I didn't tell him how short it was because I wanted to see his reaction. We went to Walmart for a bit for something to do. They had a big singing Grinch. haha Michael hinted he was going to go back and buy it. I kinda hope doesn't. I like musical things but what will I do with a life size singing, animated Grinch?

We ran into my step-mom in the lobby. She's going to tag along with us when we go to the movies.

11:30PM: We just got home. We decided to go to two movies. The Incredibles and The Polar Express. I was so excited to find that Friday Night Lights was replaced by The Polar Express. We thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

11/13/04: 10:20AM: We just got back to the hotel. We went to breakfast around 7:30 and then went to the store. I needed lotion and Michael wanted vitamins. I'm telling you, he's worse than a woman when it comes to shopping. We got what we needed, but also a tripod for our camera, a saxophone playing Coca-Cola bear, and so much more.

Besides the shopping, the only other thing that bugs me is how he pretends to hear me even when he doesen't. I hate having to repeat myself and sometimes I have to as many as 3 or 4 times. Most of the time I can deal with it but if I'm in an irritable mood, I get impatient. Anyway, at breakfast I was trying to tell him something and he couldn't hear me. After repeating myself about 3 times without success, I said, "You're lucky I missed you so much. I'd normally be irritated by now."

1:43PM: We're finally on the ferry. We don't leave until 2:30 but we had to allow time to return the rental car and ended up being early. We'll get home at 4:00 AK time (5:00) our time.

4:15 our time: We're part way home. The waters are rough. I'm glad I don't get seasick. The rocking is making me sleepy though.

5:15 our time: HOME At least back on our island. I'll be home in about 2 minutes. :o)