These last couple months have been especially hard at work..everyone constantly complains and keep threatening to quit. You try to talk to Lucie or Shelby, who don't really listen and just want to be controlling. Business has slowed down a LOT, with customers telling us we NEED to get more new books in. Some good books came in last Thursday, but not enough. Now Bill and I are just to the point of just saying yes to donations, if it's just a box or something..I can't justify saying no anymore. I don't want everyone to forget about us (it's lonely with just Bill there, it was nice talking to my coworkers at the old building!). This has made me depressed, it's been hard to sleep, etc. I didn't think Lucie or Shelby would listen to my concerns, so I've kept it bottled up (not healthy!). It's hard to think of anything else except the state of work lately! Last weekend I took the washcloths we use to clean books to my parents' house to wash them, and brought them back Monday so I wouldn't have to haul them on the bus. I figured someone would be there training the new manager, and sure enough, Shelby and Lucie and Katrina were there, and gave me the weirdest looks! I said "here are the clean rags!" and Shelby said "but it's your day off!" When I told her I hadn't wanted to haul them on the bus, she said "oh." What, not even a thank you?! Then Katrina (who looked very overwhelmed) shook my hand and by now I was feeling super awkward (a common trait of autism is rehearsing conversations ahead of time, and being thrown off when the conversation goes in a different direction), so I said something dumb like "sorry, my sleeve is long." Omgggg. D: I was glad when I could escape back outside haha. I was hurt they didn't thank me. I thought I might have to quit, because I don't want to work with bullies who don't care! I thought I'd wait to see what Katrina was like...

...but when I got to work Tuesday she wasn't there, which I thought was super weird. Shelby and Lucie came over that afternoon without Katrina, and I was thought "oh no...," and that's when they said after training with her for a day and a half, they determined she would not be a good fit and decided not to hire her. Wha..WHAT?? Are you KIDDING ME?!? I took that to mean "she wasn't controlling and bossy like Shelby." If they're looking for someone so specific, it'll be impossible to hire someone (Vicky was perfect, but they drove her away..ugh). So I guess the hunt continues. Me and Bill also got an email about a mandatory staff meeting on Thursday..Lucie said it wasn't a bad thing, but I was still completely freaking out last night. For some reason, me and Bill just knew that Lucie was going to resign..

After a terrible night last night (it was definitely a Clonazepam night), I knew I HAD to talk to Lucie and Shelby today, I felt ready to explode! Lucie indeed told everyone she will be resigning (she wants to be closer to family). She set the "official" date to August of next year, so there's enough time for recruitment, training, etc (the president of the Board of Directors was there, and said they'd be talking about it at tonight's board meeting). I'm glad Shelby doesn't want to fill that position, that would be a nightmare. D: After the meeting, I told Lucie I needed to talk to her and..well..kind of unloaded everything all at once haha. I wasn't screaming or anything, but definitely adamant and firm lol. I mentioned my worries ("we NEED donations! The bookstore is dying! We and the customers are tired of looking at the same stock we've had since April!") and I was actually surprised and impressed at how calm both Shelby and Lucie were! Lucie was like "wow, you've obviously carried this burden for a long time!" and said we should have a meeting next week to talk everything over. She wondered why I didn't email her or tell her sooner..I didn't mention I've TRIED before and they didn't listen, but I did say I was terrified of confrontation and I was afraid I'd get fired for speaking my mind and replacing me. Shelby said "that's called retaliation, and that's illegal!" Phew haha. I do appreciate their calmness when talking with me, and we parted amicably..hopefully we'll have that meeting next week and can talk more about how to receive donations without getting overwhelmed. I was shaky after that, but felt SOO much better lol..Bill said I expressed myself well! I Doordashed a vanilla bean frappuccino and work was fine after that, and it even got a little busy! I keep telling myself things HAVE to get better eventually. It's definitely been a challenging year for the whole organization. "Things must improve," as Cherry's friend Wilson said!

Vicki's birthday was yesterday, and I also got the news her mom passed away. :( Poor Vicki, she's had a hard last few years! I really miss Vicki, and talking about curtains with her haha..I hope we can get dinner together sometime..

( pokemon update )

11. What makes you nervous? Public speaking, confrontation, calling someone, etc

12. Your oldest friend: I've known Meghan (we're friends on Facebook) since we were babies. She still lives in Texas and has a daughter who looks SO much like her!

13. A time when someone helped you: Dad rode the bus with me to scope out the route and make sure I was comfortable with it..very nice of him!

14. Something you never want to own: A bird..too loud and messy! I'd rather watch them be free outside lol

15. The first time you fell in love: In 9th grade, with a guy named Nick. He was super honorable, considerate and nice. I pined for him so much when we went to different schools. Weirdly enough, I had a dream a few days ago where he kissed me and said we should be together. That dream would have completely broke me when I was in high school, but I just get a little sad now. Every once in awhile I'll try to find him on Facebook or wherever, but never do. I hope he's alright!

16. Your favorite sounds: A cat purring, a glacier creaking/calving, epic music, etc

Today I turned 36, woohoo! I know I'm getting old because sometimes I forget what I'm talking about in the middle of a conversation LOL. Both Ryan/Jo and dad got me the same cat card from Barnes and Noble haha! I got two gift cards too, so I'll have fun buying lots of books there. :P Vicki and her boyfriend Sam came over in the afternoon, their first time going to my parents' house and meeting Ryan and Jo! Curti was a little overwhelmed by her loud voice, but still walked over to her. I'm glad he doesn't hide when he sees strangers. We went to Chena's Alaskan Grill for dinner, my traditional birthday restaurant spot, which was super fun! Vicki is so much fun to hang out with! After good food and conversation we went back to my parents' house and had cupcakes and ice cream, yum! Vicki got me a game called Exploding Cats, which I'd seen before but never played..we'll have to play it together sometime! I'll miss working with her, but I'm glad to be great friends with her too!

( some pics from the night! )

Mom's birthday is next week, so it'll be my turn taking her to dinner, yay! I can't believe she'll be 70 O_o

7. What adventure do you want to go on? I want to brave the Drake Passage and sail to Antarctica and see the sights!

8. If you owned a store, what would you sell? Books, obviously :P

1. What could use a good shining? My bathroom sink, probably..it gets dirty so fast!
2. When have you recently had to stand in a slow-moving line? Hmm..I've stood in lines recently while traveling and stuff, but they weren't super slow, so I'm not sure lol
3. What was your favorite childhood counting-out game to determine who was it? Probably something like Eeeny Meeny Mini Moe or Rock Paper Scissors
4. Is anything feeling thinner these days? The air in Santa Fe did haha
5. What do you know about Maine? The capital is Augusta, the fall colors are really pretty, lobster is popular there, etc

The aftermath of the move this week has been..hard. It felt like no one wanted to help us (we were told to build a shelf, which none of the three of us knew how to do), we couldn't shelve until today because the shelves had to be bolted down (I miss shelving books!), and Vicki announced she's stepping down as Bookstore Manager, for lots of reasons (she wants to not be so tired and sick so often, she wants a family, she feels depressed when she goes home, she's in too many meetings and managing too many people..she misses the books, etc). A job opened up at her church that she feels like she'd be better suited for. I have been..very sad since she said that. We get along SO well together and she's so caring, funny, and good with people. Of course I supported her decision, but it still made me cry. She said she still wants to volunteer or even have a small paying position, if Lucie thinks that's alright. We will always be great friends though..she said I mean the world to her, and I feel the same about her..it's hard to find a true friendship like that! I'm always nervous about working with a new person, but LCA somehow just finds the right people. Now Vicki will have time to come over to me or my parents' house, and vice versa..I still haven't met her cat, but I hope to soon. Thankfully we had more help in the bookstore today, so next week will probably be better..it definitely won't all get done when we open next Thursday, but with time it'll look great! A bunch of customers have driven up, only to see we're not open yet, which is a good sign people still want to shop there. Hopefully they'll like the new place!

Today was work's first staff meeting in the other programs' new building, which I hadn't been in yet..Vicki showed me around, and on seeing Lucie's office, exclaimed, "you have curtains!!!" Of course I got a picture with them!

Lucie was like "I should have told you!," but I didn't mind being surprised haha. Hopefully there will be a good spot somewhere in the bookstore for my cat curtain :P

Here is the picture we took to commemorate our old building:

Yay! Now it's weird driving by the building, knowing it belongs to someone else lol

( may 20-23 )

1. Have you taken notice of which films are nominated for Oscars this year? Yeah, I looked yesterday when I saw the nominations had been released
2. Do you plan to watch the Oscars ceremony? Probably not..maybe on YouTube if a movie I like wins something. I feel like it's not the same anymore..I loved it when the Lord of the Rings movies came out and ROTK kept winning the awards..that was fun haha
3. How many of this year's Oscar nominated films have you seen? I've seen Dune: Part Two, Wicked and The Wild Robot. Most of the other nominations I haven't even heard of
4. Do you plan to see more/any of the Oscar nominated films before the Oscars ceremony? Probably not
5. Do you generally seek out and watch the film that wins Best Picture? If it seems interesting..some I've already seen before the Oscars though

Today I woke up and was surprised to see it was 39 degrees outside! I was very surprised to walk outside and see that it was raining! The roads/sidewalks were SUPER slippery! I walked like an old lady to work LOL, and came very close to falling once or twice..I was literally flailing standing on one leg and have no idea how I stayed upright haha! Vicki and Lucie were there, and we were going to wait to see if any customers came in, but once Lucie saw the school district and other places were closed, she decided we'd be closed too (we'd get PTO for today). Usually I hear about ice storms like this a couple days ahead, but heard nothing this time..weird. We're also supposed to get 1-5 inches of snow. Work might be closed tomorrow too then, but Vicki will decide tomorrow (I heard somewhere in Florida got 7 inches of snow?!? They close for being too cold and snowy, we close because it's too warm! Haha). Next week it's supposed to get cold again, with the low around -30..Alaska weather is crazy this year! :P

I just found out Howard, who I worked with for many years, passed away yesterday at the age of 94. I actually watched him decline through the years, which was sad..he eventually couldn't work anymore because he had a bunch of strokes and it took him a few minutes to put a single sentence together. Unless we told him to stay home, he ALWAYS came in, even if his car went off the road, the roads were icy, he was sick, etc..he would have come in even if the apocalypse was happening haha. He was always so nice and pleasant and had a great smile. He was well-known in the community, everyone on Facebook has been saying great things about him. His legacy and kindness will not be forgotten!

( pokemon update )

18. Places you enjoy visiting: Valdez, England, Santa Fe, Meares Glacier, etc

19. How do you cope with worry? Not very well lol..I stress a lot and try to get comfort from people

20. What do you envy? People who have no problem with public speaking, pilots, people who have been to Antarctica, etc

21. What's your favorite time of day? Evening..the best time to relax, eat dinner, etc

22. Things you always did with your dad when you were little: Went for walks in the woods, traveled to California, swam in the pool, etc

23. What would you do if you were a teacher? Teach polar exploration, and probably get a headache from trying to deal with kids all day LOL

24. How would you like to make the world a better place? Be kind and positive to as many people as possible, be there when they're upset, etc

1. What was especially good for your mental health this year? Work, curtains haha, traveling, etc
2. What was especially good for your physical health this year? I walk a LOT at work, though my knee is "creaky" now because of that haha
3. What did you learn this year? Various facts I've learned in books and stuff
4. As this year ends, what’s trending to make you optimistic about next year? A fresh start is usually nice! A couple books are coming out that I'm excited about too
5. What’s better now than it was twelve months ago? My Internet..much faster now, yay!

Yesterday was work's annual Christmas party! We were able to bring a +1, so mom could go, yay! We ate food, opened our stockings (all of us brought stocking stuffers..my stocking was very full haha), and did a white elephant gift exchange..I was the second person to go, and the present I chose had two books, a fancy Robert Frost poetry book, a journal with a cool cover, and a scented candle (something to do with rain)..I immediately knew Vicki has brought those, it was definitely her style! Last year I also got her present (The Sleeper and the Spindle)..I must be drawn to them lol. The person next to me stole my gifts, and the next gift I opened was..transmission fluid?! Woooow, so special LOL. Mom knew I really wanted those books back, so she took them and she swapped those with the transmission fluid..so nice of her!! My books were safe then because they had been stolen twice, yay! After that we did the "Reindeer Olympics." Each program got together (GED, Bookstore, etc) and we each did one event. The first was picking up a marshmallow with a straw and putting it on a plate, the second was drawing a snowman blindfolded, the third was tossing rings on a reindeer hat one of us was wearing (I was the reindeer, and Vicki got seven rings on my antlers, so we won that event!) and the last was wearing cups on your hands (like reindeer hooves) and picking up marshmallows (small and large..the small ones were worth two points because they were harder to pick up) and putting them on a plate (I also did that one..it was harder than it sounded! I got 70 something points though, nice!). How fun! The bookstore got 4th place, I think. I also got a $300 Christmas bonus!! Considering we're a nonprofit, that's super generous! The bookstore is open Monday and then I'll be off for about two weeks..I hope I don't get bored!! I saved up on hidden cat games, so that'll help too lol

( a few pics from the night )

Mom said dad had the stomach flu a couple nights ago! Before that, the only time either of us had known him to throw up was when dad and I took the ferry up the Inside Passage in 2012. Very unusual! That is definitely one of the worst sicknesses to have. He's feeling better today, but tired..the stomach flu definitely takes a lot out of you! (Literally and figuratively lol)

14. What’s the Best Gift You’ve Ever Given or Received? The junk journal mom made, a glacier cake, a cat with a sign that says "I love you" that I gave to mom, etc

15. What Annoys You? Being mean for no reason, chewing/popping gum loudly, snoring, etc

16. If the World Was Ending, What Would You Want to Do? Spend time with loved ones

17. What Role Does Procrastination Play in Your Life? I procrastinate a lot haha, especially when it comes to housework :P

18. Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About a Hot-Button Issue? Probably

19. What Are the Best Things You’ve Watched, Read, Heard or Played This Year? The Cormoran Strike series, The Mystery Guest, Stray, "Defying Gravity," etc

20. Was There a Toy You Wanted as a Child but Never Got? I wanted "real" pixie dust..mom gave me a box with stuff inside it (cinnamon, maybe??), but the note said not to open it because all the magic would leak out. She told me when I was older that she didn't want me jumping off the balcony to "test" it..probably a good idea lol

In Shackleton's Wake by Arved Fuchs (Oct 1-3). Recreating Shackleton's lifeboat voyage after Endurance sank does not sound like my idea of fun D:

Antarctic Night: One Man's Story of 28,224 Hours at the Bottom of the World by Jack Bursey (Oct 4-6)

Follow the River by Paul Greci (Oct 7-8). Rowing a canoe through a forest fire?? Intense!

Super Volcanoes: What They Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond by Robin George Andrews (Oct 9-15). Fascinating! So many cool facts, like Jupiter's moon Io has over 400 volcanoes and is the most volcanically active object in the solar system. Some volcanoes can shoot sulfur dioxide plumes 300 miles into space!!

Where the Irises Bloom by Will Lowrey (Oct 16). A kitten's mom gets killed and is alone on the streets until she meets a homeless man who stutters, and they bond. The ending was pretty sad, but hopeful too

The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton's Endurance by Mensun Bound (Oct 17-27). I remember when the Endurance was found in 2022 (exciting!), so of course I had to read the book about how it was found lol. The author also mentioned Stephen Scott-Fawcett, who runs the Ernest Shackleton Appreciation Society group on Facebook! I thought that was cool, since I'm a part of that group too lol

The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie Jaku (Oct 29-30). His revenge on the Nazis was to live a happy life. I have a fridge magnet that says "be happy, it really annoys your enemies!," so that's how I try to live too! Anger and hate just destroys you. I'm always amazed at how anyone could have survived those awful concentration camps D:

I've been really tired all this week because I didn't get to rest after traveling, and it's dark so late now. Today has been the first day this week I've felt more myself. Denise came in to work today and I went to eat lunch, then went to a staff meeting, which Denise seemed fine with when I asked if it was ok. One of my coworkers might adopt a puppy, and brought him to work for everyone to see! After the meeting, of course we had to pet the puppy and show him some love! (He loved licking me and Vicki's hands hehe.) Denise came in the room and I thought she was going to pet the puppy, but she came to me and very nastily said how she'd been waiting for me to relieve her and that she had a ton of work to do. I would have been fine with "hey Heather, would you mind taking over the register while I work in the back?" It's not my fault how long the staff meetings are, and of course I had to say hi to the puppy, so I was pretty upset. Vicki said I was fine and didn't do anything wrong..I had her permission to be there, and she's my supervisor, not Denise. I actually had to wait for Denise to relieve ME for lunch because she's ALWAYS late for work, and I didn't yell at her! Me and Vicki went back to where Denise was and I don't know what came over me, but I just..lost it. I told her I didn't appreciate being yelled at, she started yelling at me about how it makes her super angry when I'm late in relieving her or something, and we've had conversations about it. Uhh..really? I do remember one time everyone was eating lunch in the classroom and she looked at me and made the motion to eat faster, so I could relieve her. I physically CANNOT eat fast without choking, and I've TOLD her that, but she was still annoyed, so now I feel guilty whenever I eat lunch and someone else is at the register. As Denise relieved me today, I told her someone left their drink on the counter, because I knew she'd ask me, but she just gave me this weird annoyed look as if to say "why are you telling me this??" and a second later was like "oh, yeah, I probably would have asked you." I've been dealing with these "looks" and her seeming inability not to get annoyed about EVERYTHING (when she tells me something is her pet peeve, I want to say "what ISN'T your pet peeve??) for YEARS and I'm SO TIRED of it. She's even yelled at customers, once when I was in the back helping unload books, and they posted a review online saying how awful me and Denise were to her. I was MORTIFIED. Probably one reason I just couldn't take it anymore and couldn't control my anger. She was actually yelling loud today it echoed in the building, and I was shaking from everything. Lucie and Shelby also came back and were trying to control us, but I couldn't stop trying to defend myself! Finally Lucie told Denise to go home, and said something about me having to stop too, and I finally got control of myself and apologized. Lucie said she wanted to have a talk with us in her office, first Vicki, while I hid in a classroom and started crying. I was worried I'd be in huge trouble. I almost NEVER react that way to something, especially in public. That's probably the only time any of my current coworkers have seen me act that way. I'm known for being calm and polite, not "yelly" and combative! Lucie then called me to her office, where I apologized profusely and I said I could have handled that WAY better. Lucie and Vicki made it clear I wasn't in trouble, but next time just let one of them handle a situation like that..they're the managers, not me! They said that's their burden to carry, not mine. I just kept apologizing because I was so embarrassed I had acted that way. I said being tired from traveling didn't help, which they understood. I love how calm and comforting Vicki is in situations like this, one reason she's an amazing manager. She said they're going to have a talk with Denise on Tuesday..maybe there's something going on with her that she hasn't told anyone about. I'll also have to talk with her, to hopefully mend the hurt from today. Neither of us acted appropriately, but Vicki said we're only human, and now I know how to act better in the future. So embarrassing! Vicki is positive things will work out next week, when emotions aren't going crazy. Things must improve!

( oct 29-nov 1 )

When I was a kid, me and Ryan and mom drove to New Braunfels, Texas with our friends Julie and Madison (I'm still friends with them on Facebook!) in May 2001. On the drive we listened to a story, which I wrote a little about in my journal, which says "we just listened to a story. It was about a wolf who tries to eat a hen named rainbow and Jimmy Tractorwheel saved her. It was a good story!" I never really made the effort to find the title of it because I thought it would be too obscure to find (though I am pretty good at finding things online). At work today, I was looking up vintage books to see how much they were worth..I picked up a little red one and started flipping through it, and suddenly I saw the name "Tractorwheel," and something about a hen. I about fell over! Could that be the book we listened to?? I have my journal typed up on LJ, so I found the entry where my first journal entries were typed, and it matched the book I had exactly! No way!!! The book is called Wolf Story by Warren Chappell. I'm so glad I have paper journals and this LJ, otherwise I'd forget so many things! It's SO cool that book showed up at work..I had to excitedly tell Denise and Vicki about it haha. I'm definitely buying that copy for myself, it's special! I'll have to ask if anyone else remembers listening to that story lol

Today was the first snowfall of the season! Right as I was getting a headache Vicki was like "guess what everyone?! IT'S SNOWING!!" It wasn't a large amount, but Vicki still had to run around and play in it LOL (thankfully the headache went away by itself)

Cherry's uncle Hugh did a talk yesterday at the Royal Geographic Society, which was recorded and posted on Cherry's group page on Facebook. Hugh is Angela's sister, whom Cherry married. Pretty much the only time Cherry was happy was in Antarctica (before Scott and the others died, of course)..he hated having to manage his estates and thought being a part of the "landed gentry" was pretty boring. Even though Hugh remembers him as curmudgeonly and uncomfortable around kids, he still has good memories of Cherry. He still has the Worst Journey copies Cherry bought for Angela! He talked about how unfortunate it was that people blamed Cherry for Scott's death, the museum curator not caring about the eggs he brought back, and that after he was invalided out of WWI, someone sent him a white feather and called him a coward. WOW. I'd be grumpy too! I've said this many times, but there's nothing Cherry could have done to save Scott..he would have died in the blizzard looking for them. After the talk, a guy stood up and said his father was a member of the Dorset House Club, and he said as a "special treat" he was allowed to go over to Cherry's table and ask him questions about the expedition!! That's amazing! He said Cherry was always a gentle, kind person and was a bit too modest about his answers to the questions haha. Aww, that's the Cherry I love. <3 It's great there are still people around who knew him and his kind side! I'll always be honored he said hi to me through my phone when I was at his grave!

( oct 7-8 )

This week Denise took off work for both her jobs, because today is her birthday! She asked me if I wanted to see Twisters with her today, and I was like "ummm YES" haha. This morning I read "the $80.5 million domestic opening makes it the biggest opening weekend ever for a disaster film and the second biggest for a live-action film this year," so that made me even more excited! Mom and I met her at Wendy's and then saw the movie! I was worried it was going to be a cheap meh sequel, but it was actually pretty good! It kind of had a similar plotline to the original, but still entertaining. The "redneck" storm chasers were super amusing haha. One thing that did bother me was that people at events like baseball, rodeos, etc were caught completely unaware when a storm/tornado suddenly appeared. After living in Texas, I know that would NEVER happen..outside things would have been canceled right away if a storm was coming, and it would be all over the news. I didn't expect to see Maura Tierney, who played Abby in ER!! Nice! Mom rolled her eyes at the tornadoes that kept "growling" haha. Very entertaining! I don't think I'll be driving into a tornado anytime soon though D:

Vicki has covid, and since Denise is on vacation this week, I've had to come in later and close the store. It's not the same without Vicki's cheerful energy! This weekend Adam had to get his appendix removed, and now he has covid too! It seems to be hitting Fairbanks hard! I REFUSE to get covid again, I've been drinking Emergen-C every day and mom gave me some zinc tablets to take. I must keep my immune system strong!!

It's been HOT this week, in the 80s!! (It was 89 when mom picked me up from work D:) I don't do well in heat anymore, especially since Prozac makes me feel hot super easily for some reason. I hate trying to work and being covered in sweat, ugh. The hot weather stirred up the fires again, it was kind of smoky today. Tomorrow will be the last day in the 80s, then it'll rain and cool off and be in the 50s and 60s. That'll feel nice!!

( july 20-24 )

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? )

1) What are your five favorite birds? Chickadees, ravens, redpolls, Swainson's thrushes (their birdsong is SO relaxing), penguins
2) What are your five favorite pet-type animals? Cats, dogs, Guinea pigs, horses, hamsters
3) What are your five favorite wild animals that live in your locale? Moose, lynx, foxes, chickadees, ravens
4) What are your five favorite zoo animals that you always want to visit? Big cats, birds, penguins, manatees, fish and other underwater creatures (aquariums are cool!)
5) What are your five favorite cryptids that may or may not be extinct, may or may not exist in this world? The Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, the Yeti, megladons, Chupacabra

At work we've been having performance reviews, where you review your supervisor and they review you, and Vicki told me I'm doing SO well..I'm detail-oriented, take good care with the books, I'm great with customers, and have just grown so much over the past year. Out of nowhere, I'm suddenly able to say "have a good day!" to customers..maybe one day I'll be able to say "thank you"?? (I was also able to say "post" out of nowhere too..mom's "oooh!" reaction was amusing haha.) The other day I had two carts of books to shelve, and didn't even flinch (before I went on my leave of absence, I had a huge meltdown when the cart was overflowing). I even had someone helping me, which I wouldn't have liked before either. It's ok if I don't have time to shelve everything and books are on the cart..they'll still be there tomorrow and no one's judging me. It's crazy Prozac can help me out so much..it's a literal lifesaver! I'm glad I enjoy work again, and have someone so caring as Vicki to work with! Yesterday was her one-year anniversary of coming to Alaska, so I got her an Anniversary Coffee haha. Both of us definitely have grown in the past year!

Along with Vicki's coffee, I got a vanilla bean frappuccino, and I was like "now dad's probably going to come by with one," and sure enough, an hour later, dad brings me one haha. I was definitely full after having two of them LOL

( may 4-10 )