1. What drink wakes you up best in the morning? Vanilla bean frappuccinos (drinking one right now haha). Probably all the sugar that's in it lol
2. During the day, what do you drink to keep going? Water, Vitamin Water, apple juice, etc
3. Do you drink the recommended 8 glasses of water per day? Why/why not? Probably not, I don't want to go to the bathroom every five minutes LOL, but I do drink a bunch, especially if it's hot out
4. What are the ingredients of your favorite mixed drink? (Doesn't have to be alcoholic!) Vanilla beans, milk, rum, coconut juice, etc
5. Are you a coffee drinker? How do you take your coffee, if so? No

It got hot again this week, and it was super windy on Wednesday, so the forest fires exploded and got bad again. It can't be healthy breathing in all that smoke. D: Luckily by Monday it'll cool off and rain for a couple days. I always want to go watch the fire from a safe distance, but I don't think the firefighters would appreciate that lol

Mom said dad had to go to the ER again yesterday, and then ended up at the VA clinic on base, who then called his doctor (who's on the East Coast right now), who finally prescribed him some Clonazepam (sitting in a chair and staring for hours is no way to live!). They want to do more tests I think, so hopefully the Clonazepam will help him until then. He seems SO much better today, which is nice..I hated seeing him so miserable :(

( some pics of curti! )

2. Your favorite season: Summer, before it gets too hot. Fall is nice when all the leaves change color too

3. When was the last time you cried? *shrugs*

4. What is the best birthday present you ever received? A trip to London, the "junk journal" mom made me, cake haha, etc

1. What item would you be embarrassed for people to know you own? I have some pretty hideous underwear hidden in a drawer LOL, it definitely wasn't pretty like I thought it was going to be :P
2. What is something you splurged on just for you? The first edition (2 vols.) of The Worst Journey in the World
3. What is something that you own with no real world value that is priceless to you? My bus ticket to Wheathampstead, one of the best days of my life
4. Do you collect anything? Sure, postcards of four-poster beds, books, shirts from places I travel to, etc
5. What item belonging to a friend/family member do you covet? I really like the curtains in mom's room, even though I like my own curtains haha..one time I wrapped up in them and watched the Northern Lights from her deck haha!

Yesterday I was reading in bed and heard something fall onto a decorative plate I had in the living room..I jumped up and walked over, hoping it wasn't broken, and saw this:

I about melted from his cuteness and told him to stay so I could get a picture haha (Abby would get up on top of the cabinets too before she got old lol). I told mom he was surveying his kingdom :P (thankfully the plate was fine too)

Our sign at work is finally up!!

Yay!! Yesterday the store made over a thousand dollars, so people have definitely noticed! I was worried by the days that were like $200 something, but people just had to find us first. Busy days make me really happy, I love selling books!

Mom and I saw How to Train Your Dragon this week, and Hiccup's connection with animals made me SO happy. <3 I loved the scene where Hiccup and Astrid were riding Toothless and the Northern Lights were out! Such a great live-action remake, I can't wait for the sequel!

Ughhh it's been so hot this week..my coworker said her arms were sticking to her desk! In the afternoon storm clouds build up over the hills to the north of town (air mass thunderstorms, not associated with a cold front and they dissipate quickly from lack of energy. I love mom's weather knowledge!), and yesterday they looked CRAZY and intense! A volunteer at work lives out that way and she said her plants got pummeled by hail. Of course the lightning caused a bunch of forest fires (I could smell the smoke last night), and people are being told to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice..yikes. When mom was driving me to her house earlier I saw a smoke plume from one of the fires (Vicki's firefighter boyfriend is Sam is off work because he had surgery, but I'm sure he's following everything closely too). Thankfully on Monday some storm clouds associated with a cold front will come through, and on Tuesday it's supposed to be 69 degrees!! That'll feel amazing haha, it's gross sweating so much while trying to work :P

( june 17-20 )

A book that was turned into a musical: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (May 9-June 3). Wow, THAT was an accomplishment haha..probably the longest book I've ever read. It was interesting, but a bit TOO detailed haha. For example: "Who destroyed this? It was the improvisation of ferment. Here! This door! This grating! This weatherboard! This window-frame! This broken brazier! This cracked pot! Hand it all over! Throw it all on! Push, roll, dig, dismantle, overturn, bring everything down! It was the collaboration of cobblestone, rubble-stone, wooden beam, iron bar, broken tile, bottomless chair, cabbage-stalk, rags, tags, tatters, and execration." When I was in the hospital, I amused myself and mom with reading sentences like those..no wonder the book is so long LOL. I'd like to see the musical on stage someday..

A book that came out in a year that ends with "24": The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton (June 4-7). I was SO excited when I heard this was coming out, because I loved his other books..I definitely pre-ordered it haha. It wasn't quite as good as the other two, but still interesting. I like how unique his books are!

A second-chance romance: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (June 8-11)

An autobiography by a woman in rock 'n' roll: The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (June 12-13). Probably a stretch, but I read somewhere pop is a sub-genre of rock. I remember when she released her first two albums, and became obsessed like so many other kids haha..I think I even had a Britney Spears Barbie! It was awful reading about how controlling her father was, ugh..I hope she'll be able to heal from everything she's gone through..

A book originally published under a pen name: The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (June 14-18). Like the first one in the series, I actually guessed who the murderer was! Now I'm addicted to this series haha. The TV show is pretty good too! I like that the main character is disabled (he lost part of his leg in Afghanistan and has a prosthetic leg). I guess having a disability myself, I'm drawn to other disabled people lol

A fiction book by a trans or nonbinary author: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (June 19-22). Omg this book was AWFUL. "Yours in calendrical heresy"??? Stuff about "invariant ice" and the "hexarchate" and using math formulas to do battle in space..ugh, please stop. Definitely not reading the other two in the series :/

A book with a main character who's 42 years old: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (June 22-25). Meh

A book with an enemies-to-lovers plot: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (June 23-29). Lovers to enemies and then lovers again haha. I was actually reading this at the same time as State of Wonder, I was addicted and wanted to keep watching the TV show! The murderer sent the detective's partner a leg, and while she was horrified he was like "it's not even my size!" OMG haha. The fourth one in the series is now on my nightstand..I must read them all!! Haha

( the prompts )

The cooler weather and rain finally came!! (Thanks, Siberia :P) It's supposed to last all this week. It's still pretty smoky, but the rain has slowed the growth of the fires. A new one started yesterday at Denali National Park, across from where the hotels and shops are..that one they are fighting and the park is closed. Scary! It's still very hot at work, but hopefully it'll cool off this week..

29. Do You Have Childhood Memories of Being Read Aloud To? Oh yes, mom loved reading to me and Ryan! She even made a hand puppet thing which read to us too haha

30. Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, a Picky Eater? Yeah, always have been, though I've learned to like other things as I've gotten older (not kale, peanuts and mushrooms though..gross D:)

July 1. How Easy — or Hard — Is It for You to Say No When You Want To? It just depends on the situation

Today mom and I went to the Midnight Sun Festival with mom's friend Sarah (it's the biggest one day event in Alaska!). The day was beautiful and cloudless (except from the smoke plume from that fire south of here) and quite hot. Vicki said she was going to get there around one and watch the silk dancers at two. We ate first (mmm Navajo tacos and a delicious milkshake) and tried calling/texting her, but I imagine it was too loud for her to hear the notifications. We went to the silk dancers (wow, that's cool! I'm definitely not that flexible haha) and I didn't see her, but I did see another coworker watching haha. I figured we'd run into each other eventually. We looked around, spent way too much money haha, saw other coworkers and people I recognized (it's been 16 years, but I'll never forget the first time I went to the festival and didn't know anyone and was sad I couldn't join in their fun, so I'll always appreciate seeing people I know). I went to get lemonade, and as I was walking back to where mom was Vicki was suddenly right there! Of course we saw each other by accident haha. After a fun few hours we left, hot and full haha (the evening crowds get too rowdy for us lol). Here are a couple pics!

A few months ago, Vicki and I saw in the paper a romance bookstore opened downtown..I saw curtains in one picture, and I was like "that's the only reason I'd go there" haha. Well, I wasn't lying!

I had actually forgotten about that place until I saw it at the festival. Yep, I am the weird one hugging/petting the vendors' curtains LOL (I also went to that coin store that has books and bought a rare book from the 1800s. That place is dangerous!! Haha)

After dropping Sarah off, mom and I went to the university to see the smoke from the fire to the south..when we got up there, I saw there was another smoke plume. I read later the fire started yesterday from lightning, and is only 15 miles from the bigger one. Interesting they're so near to each other. It's being monitored, but not being fought because there might be unexploded ordinance since it's on military land. D: Here's a pic from the bigger fire:

A little bit of pyrocumulus, but not epic like the other day..

( 22. Did You Ever Have a Summer Job? )

Happy 35th birthday to me! So weird haha. Mom made me a big breakfast (eggs, hash browns, strawberries, etc), and we sat outside for a couple hours, enjoying the nice weather. We must be having a Chinook, because it's been SUPER windy all day (it has finally quieted down now), and was in the 80s. It was cool watching the wind move the water on the lake in an interesting way. We had milkshakes, then dad took me to Barnes and Noble. On the way, I noticed a smoke plume to the south..definitely the right conditions for a forest fire. I read later it's called the McDonald Fire, and it's burning near a military training area. The Alaska Wildland Fire site says "it is burning in an area designated for limited management, meaning that unless the fire threatens property or people, it will be allowed to play its natural ecological role." They're not sure how it started yet. I'm glad it's not threatening anything so far though. After that, we all went to dinner at Chena's Alaskan Grill, where I go every year on my birthday. It was too hot and windy to sit outside, but it was still nice. Amazingly, they were way OVER staffed..the place wasn't even full and there were at LEAST 10-15 waiters/waitresses milling around..weird. O_o After that, we went home..mom had decorated while I was at the bookstore, so there were cool balloons and other festive decorations, cake Ryan made, and an intriguing wooden box with a bow on it. Inside was this cool book journal, which mom made herself. I was completely awed and stunned at all the details and effort that went into it..she dyed/aged paper, made bookmarks, sewed around some of the pages, found authentic original polar exploration little cards, had little charms hanging from the outside (one had "16" on it!), etc. Months ago I remember mom watching all these crafting videos, and now I know why..she'd been preparing this journal for a very long time. I'm absolutely amazed and touched she did all that work just for me..she outdoes herself every year with gifts haha. She was worried she wouldn't get it done in time, especially since we went to Kansas and then me getting sick, but she did (she also stained the box..it smelled interesting haha). I probably took too many pictures, but it's too cool not to share! Then we had red velvet cake, which Ryan made with espresso for some reason..it would have tasted better without the espresso, but I appreciate his hard work all the same. And now I'm tired..phew, birthdays are exhausting! Haha. It was a nice day though :)

( birthday pics!! )

8. If You Were a Super Rich Philanthropist, What Causes Would You Support? Animal shelters and things like that, literacy ones, etc

1. What is your favorite thing to learn about? Polar exploration, glaciers/nature, etc
2. What is your favorite thing to do with your friends? Go out to eat, watch movies, travel..
3. What is your favorite place you’ve ever been? Valdez, Switzerland, Wheathampstead, etc
4. What is your favorite way to relax? Going online (I'm really into choose-your-own adventure games right now, they're super fun and keep me occupied for days!), reading, taking a nap..
5. What is your favorite thing to cook? I don't really cook lol

It's in the 80s again..August is usually one of our rainiest months, so that's rather odd. There are a bunch of forest fires to the north of us..it was pretty smoky this morning, ew. Hopefully no one has to evacuate!

( aug 2-4 )

...you see this scene in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and drool over the four-poster bed instead of shirtless Benedict Cumberbatch LOL. It's so fancy and exquisite! I wish I could afford a fancier one :P

There's a lot of fires in the state now, and today was pretty smoky..eww

( 22. What was the last TV show you watched? Did you enjoy it? )

Today's trivia: Queen Elizabeth II's dairy cows sleep in waterbeds that help them protect their knees, umbilical cord and udder

Meet Pretty Kitty!

Someone I used to work with (Liz) went out of state, and asked me to take care of her cat while she's gone..sure! She said Pretty Kitty is pretty (heh) low-maintenance, just needs the usuals and a nice lap..I can do that lol (I met PK once some years ago too, but she wouldn't remember me haha). Liz said she's pretty quiet, but she did meow some on the drive over, and when she was exploring my apartment, but she didn't seem TOO scared (unlike Abby, her voice is soft). She definitely loves being pet..I love how soft she is! Hopefully she'll have a nice time at my house (though she might get addicted to Greenies LOL). She's 15, the same age as Abby..cool!

This is how close that fire got to Chena Hot Springs:

OMG scary!!! D: The owner refused to close the resort and evacuate, so there are actually pictures/videos of people in the hot springs with a raging forest fire in the background!! "Ahhh, a nice soak while the forest burns around me, so relaxing!!" The guy actually said "I *suppose* we'll have to leave if the buildings catch on fire." Umm yes, I would hope so! All the "this is fine" memes that have come from that are amusing though. :P The fire slowed last week since it was cooler, but it's "perking up" (that's what the fire info website says haha) since it's been hot today..ugh. At least no structures have been lost!

There are a bunch of ducks at the lake at my parents' house, and one mom has NINE chicks!! Mom says they're an armada haha. It's been cool watching them grow up!

( july 10-12 )

Today's trivia: The resolution of the human eye is 576 megapixels

1. For what ability do you seem to have a natural gift? Reading/words
2. What’s pretty good about the present moment? Getting off work, because it's way too hot to function lol
3. What nearby, everyday object would be a good symbolic bequest to someone in your life? Umm..maybe a book or one of my old maps?
4. What recognitions, large or small, have been bestowed upon you? Student of the Semester, the bookstore's volunteer award for the year, perfect attendance, etc
5. What was your most recent charitable donation? Books lol

On June 18 a fire near Chena Hot Springs (around 50 miles from Fairbanks) was started from a lightning strike, and it had been smoldering since then, but it blew up after it got in the 80s yesterday (the wind didn't help either). On Thursday afternoon it was 7,000 acres, and by the evening it had grown to 9,000 acres. It's burning in a boreal forest, an ecosystem that needs occasional fires to stay healthy (some trees only release their seeds during a fire), so they're not attempting to contain it, just steering it away from structures. It's definitely been smoky the past few days, ew. They've asked people who live on Chena Hot Springs Road to be prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice. One of my coworkers lives up there, so she was rather worried earlier. I hope no one has to evacuate! It's supposed to be 69 degrees tomorrow, MUCH better haha. It seems that in Alaska, summers are either hot and smoky or cold and rainy..weird :P

( 2. What was the last thing you bought used? )

How busy was I at work earlier? Well we made $400 in the first hour we were open!! It was awesome, but exhausting haha. We're open less hours, but we're still (mostly) making the same amount we did when we were open longer hours..that's pretty cool! Customers keep thanking us for being open..I'm as happy as they are LOL, that was a long two months we were closed :P

Today the air looks smoky, and I was really confused, because it's rained too much this summer to have forest fires, till someone told me the smoke is from Siberia..thanks for sharing LOL :P

And a little meme thing!

Been to an NFL game? No
Been to Canada? Just through the Inside Passage
Visited Florida? Yeah, my grandpa lives there
Visited Mexico? No
Visited Vegas? No
Eaten alone at a restaurant? Yeah..makes me feel lonely lol
Ability to read music? No
Rode a motorcycle? On the back of one with dad when I was a kid
Ridden a horse? Yeah
Stayed in a hospital? Just after birth and a couple eye surgeries
Donated blood? Yeah
Been snow skiing? Yeah
Been to Disney World or Disney Land? Land, yeah..I got autographs from the different characters hehe
Slept outside? No
Driven a stick shift? No
Ridden in an 18-wheeler? No
Driven a boat? Sure, with dad's help
Eaten Escargot? Once, it wasn't too bad actually
Been on a cruise? Glacier cruises lol
Run out of gas? No
Been on TV? Yeah
Eaten Sushi? No

( july 25-30 )

Today's trivia: The world record for the most world record titles is held by Ashrita Furman, who's held more than 600 Guinness World Records in his lifetime, ranging from heaviest shoes walked in (323 pounds) to most baseballs held in a baseball glove (26)