This weekend there's a tattoo expo in Fairbanks..Ryan and Jo already had an appointment for today, but I hadn't known about it, so I went with them. Someone was available for me right away, so this is what I got!

Very cooool (haha). The coloring in definitely hurt more than the outlining, but it's such a nice color! I was finished before Jo (he got these swirly lines on his leg), so Ryan drove me home while his was being finished. Somehow getting tattoos is addictive, even if it is painful :P

Since dad has neuropathy, he doesn't have a lot of feeling in his feet, and two or three months ago he discovered one of his toes had an infection. He tried antibiotics, which didn't work, and his whole foot became red and swollen. He had an x-ray done, which showed the infection had basically eaten his bone away, so today he had to get the toe removed in Anchorage. It went well, and mom sent me a picture of him hanging out outside a few minutes ago. Hopefully the recovery won't be too painful!

It still amazes me how well Prozac works for me..I'm so much happier and can enjoy things again, like work, going out to eat with mom and Ingrid on Wednesday (yay! We love when Ingrid visits, she's so fun lol), etc..before, even the sound of rustling papers was overwhelming, I was always angry and dreaded just waking up in the morning, and my face always hurt from being tense all the time. It's so relieving not being miserable all the time! I've learned a lot and have come a long way..things that used to stress me out (like unexpectedly having to cover the register at work) no longer do..now I just happily go with the flow. I had forgotten how to have fun. I'm finally getting my CPAP on Tuesday, so hopefully that'll make things even better! I'm grateful to everyone who refused to give up on me <3

( aug 12-18 )

1. How good are you at wrapping gifts? Absolutely terrible LOL
2. When are you likely to begin your Christmas shopping this year? Why are they asking about Christmas already?? Haha. I always seem to do it very last minute, even if I think "I'll do it early this year!" lol
3. How do you feel about candy canes? They're whatever
4. Have you been naughty or nice this year? I've tried to be nice lol
5. In what way was today most December-like? It's cool and cloudy

For the first time since covid, Ingrid was in town earlier this week! She's SO funny and positive, so mom and I always love hanging out with her lol..we had yummy Indian food and she came over to pet Abby and experience my bed haha. She'll be back in March!

The other day I went to watch the music video to "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion (I have no shame LOL), and about died when I saw this:

OMG no way! *swoons* What are the chances?? I love the various glimpses you get of the bed throughout the video. :D That's an odd and complicated-looking way of how they put the curtains up though..

( august 22-26 )

Look what I have!

ALL editions of the South Polar Times in ONE book, published this year!! If you want the 4 books as a set, it would cost you $1,648.24. D: This version was amazingly cheap, so I had to grab it before someone else did haha (here Cherry, just take my PFD from now on :P). It is sooooo much fun to read!! So many fun inside jokes and good humor lol (in Taylor's book of the expedition, he said Cherry "chortled muchly" when editing the SPT, and I can totally see why lol.) There are way too many cool things to see, but here are a few of them!

I read that there were silhouettes of the expedition members, and couldn't wait to see Cherry's!

Squee!!! I'm surprised he didn't burn it, considering how much he hated his glasses LOL

( more! )

Ingrid sent me kitty Halloween socks and a card she made..there's a cat design on the front and she wrote "this is a cat!" LOL. Ingrid is so fun. :D She said she's going to be in town around Thanksgiving, yay! We'll have to meet up when I get back from Florida

It got COLD today..it was 10 degrees when I woke up! Crazy how fast the temperatures can change here..

October 29 - What is the best halloween costume you’ve ever had? Legolas, Obi-Wan Kenobi, etc (I remember wearing my Obi-Wan costume before Halloween, and put my hood up and went on the swings..somehow I couldn't figure out why everyone was looking at me weirdly LOL)

October 30 - Do you like horror movies? NOOOOO no nonooo..they give me such an awful feeling and scar me for life lol..I don't even like watching the trailers! *shivers*

Thankfully, Abby is doing fine and has recovered completely..I don't know what it was, but I definitely wasn't ready to lose her..she's 13, but I feel like she has more life left in her lol. I hope it doesn't happen again, it was scary seeing her weak and not wanting to be pet! *gives her extra hugs*

Today mom and Ingrid and I saw Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Mr. Rogers. A TV channel was sponsoring it, so it was free! That theater was packed lol. I don't think I'd ever watched Mr. Rogers when I was a kid, so it kinda felt like I was missing out, but it was a great documentary..Mr. Rogers seemed like an absolutely amazing person. I didn't know he died in 2003, for some reason I thought he died in the 80s or something. I can't believe the Westboro Baptist Church picketed his funeral!!! WTF! Those people are seriously evil. Now I have "it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood" stuck in my head haha

Today at work an old man came in and found the stuffed lion Kathy had put in the store, and OMG he was absolutely ecstatic and like a kid again! He was pretending it was growling at me and biting me, and I was pretending to be scared, it was so funny haha (his wife seemed embarrassed though, oops :P). After he left the next customer was like "thank you for being so nice to that man, I think he had a touch of dementia." I said "I believe in being nice to everyone, no matter what they have" and she said "absolutely!" The world needs all the kindness it can get..

( July 15-17 )

Today's trivia: In China, animals are forbidden to use human language. This belief led to the ban of the book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

I'm totally addicted to this song right now lol..I looked up the lyrics for a survey yesterday and found this extended version of the song (it's from the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie). I might not have listened to it if I hadn't been intrigued by the word "sepulchral" in the lyrics (I'm not sure a pirate would know that word..I couldn't even pronounce it at first haha!). The song sounds so cool, I love singing to it! I especially like the part near the beginning where the guy says "yo ho, all hands, hoist the colors high" slowly. Yay, random song addictions :P

Ingrid's in town (yay!), so mom and I went to lunch with her today..I always love seeing her, she's so happy and fun lol

( march 20-22 )

Today's trivia: King Tut's third and inner coffin was made from 243 pounds of solid gold

Today I finally got to see the movie I've been dying to see for months: Dunkirk! Ingrid's back in town (yay!), so mom and I saw it with her, even though she had seen it already. OMG WOW. What an intense, amazing movie!!! Christopher Nolan is a seriously amazing director. It amused me that Harry Styles was in the movie haha. I'm glad it didn't disappoint me! I like to read trivia about a movie on IMDb after I watch it, so I'll post some interesting ones here!

( under here because spoilers lol )

I also know the movie I am never in a million years going to see: It. I actually had to look away and shield my eyes during the preview. NOPE D: *shudders*

Today's trivia: Plymouth Rock is a glacial erratic (!!!)

Today mom and I went with Ingrid to a sled dog kennel near the White Mountains (about 45 minutes north of Fairbanks. I think Ingrid's son knows the couple that runs it). It was thankfully a nice day and not too cold. The couple showed us the sled and the equipment they use (they ran the Yukon Quest a couple times!) and of course had to pet the sweet doggies hehe. There were a couple that jumped up on you and it was literally like they were hugging you..awww hehe. While the lady's husband took the dogs for a run (I was hoping we'd get to ride, but I don't think their sled was big enough for more than one person) we went inside their lovely house (which is entirely "off the grid"..they have solar panels and stuff..wow) and talked and had snacks..they have a pet dog that covered me in kisses when I picked him up hehe. Fun :)

( here are some pics! )

( pics for march 13 and 18-20 )

Today's trivia: Oregon's state flag is the only one in the US with a different image on each side: the front side has the state seal, and the back has a beaver

On Sunday we drove to the start of the trail to the cabin..we were worried there wouldn't be enough snow on the trail since most of the way there was barely any snow at all. There were spots with no snow, but we managed. That hike was HARD..everyone kept postholing and falling over. Ingrid carried a heavy bundle of firewood a lot of the way since Bonnie's sled was so heavy..I was impressed, that thing was heavy and Ingrid's almost 70! It took us three hours to get to the cabin..it was so nice getting in there and starting a fire and having dinner lol. That cabin has AMAZING views of the Alaska Range and is right near a lake..it was the perfect spot for a cabin! It was so hard sleeping..I was on the top bunk and it was SUPER hot and there was some snoring..

..buut we all made it to Monday morning, though none of us felt super great lol..mom said she felt like she got run over by a truck (pulling that sled looked hard!!). We lazed around by the fire and had breakfast and then went for a hike..the mountains were SO beautiful..it's scenes like that which make me love Alaska. I'm surprised we didn't see any moose since there were lots of droppings around. Eventually I reached my limit so mom and I turned back..I'm always nervous hiking or geocaching with Bonnie since she never seems to want to stop lol. I think she and Ingrid hiked 6 miles, they were gone a long time! They saw caribou though, nice! I need to get in better shape lol..mom said I did well anyway though. We got a text from Bonnie's friend Christine that she was gonna join us for the night..we played Apples to Apples while we waited for her..that game is so fun lol. She got there earlier than expected, probably because she wasn't pulling a sled lol. After she got there we had dinner..mmm pasta. After dinner everyone else played Yahtzee while I just lazed in bed lol (I hate Yahtzee, too many numbers and thinking lol). It was too hot on the top bunk again, so I moved down to mom's bunk (luckily there's room for two people!). We also opened the window for awhile, which helped. We didn't start the fire again, so I was too cold the rest of the night..no happy medium I guess. :P Christine also snored like crazy..eventually I did sleep though

Today we had breakfast and then packed up and left..I was dreading the hike back, but it was soooo much easier than when we hiked up..it was early enough (10:05) that the snow was thicker and there was pretty much no postholing (we saw our deep tracks from before though, poor us!! Haha). Those two miles took exactly an hour..we took a break and took pics by the Pipeline and then continued down, which took maybe 30 minutes. We were all glad it was so easy lol. We stopped in Delta Junction for food and then continued home..weirdly enough, we didn't stop for any geocaches (we did stop for one on the way up though). Taking a shower and a nap in my bed felt amazing lol. I'm glad I went, it was fun! It was nice to get home, but I usually still feel a pang of sadness returning to "real life" haha. I'll post pictures soon!