The past few days, this is what it's looked like outside:

Ice fog is "a suspension of numerous minute ice particles in the air," like exhaust..it can definitely smell bad (when I walked to work, the smell would get in my hair D:). It was -42 when I woke up yesterday morning! Today it's MUCH warmer, -13! It felt downright tropical LOL, and the ice fog went somewhere else. The National Weather Service said "Dec 2025 in Fairbanks was the 8th coldest and 12th snowiest Dec on record. Fairbanks has also seen 29 days+ of temps at or below −15°F." Crazy!

Ryan recently quit his job (probably the happiest I've ever seen him!), so he and Jo have been working hard turning his office into a lava tube/cave. How cool is it?

SUPER cool!!! That's amazing (they're going to fill the gaps at some point, I think). I'm really impressed that they did most of it without my parents' help. Here's another view:

So cool! Maybe he'll let me spend time in there too LOL

Tomorrow I go back to work! (2026 is already going by fast!) It feels like I had been at my parents' house a long time haha. Earlier Shelby texted Bill and I and asked us to come over to their building first for a quick meeting. I'm sure they just want to see us after the break and to meet the new manager, but I'm still panicking haha. I've never been good with the "I need to talk to later" thing. :P Bill said he's been sick the last couple of days, and isn't sure he'll make it in tomorrow. I felt like I was getting sick yesterday, OF COURSE because I was like "but I don't want to go back to work and real life!" I should know better by now lol. Luckily, after saying "wait, just kidding, I DO want to go back to work tomorrow!" some of the day yesterday, I feel better today. Phew! Hopefully he gets well soon. Hopefully it'll be busy since we've been closed since December and people miss us and are tired of being cooped inside lol (I definitely needed that break though, I was SO tired and worn out!)

( dec 3-5 )

Wow, only one day left of 2025! This has definitely been a HARD year. The last week has been super cold, in the -30s and -40s. The ice fog was so bad you couldn't see the other side of the lake. Mom and I went to town today because it was "only" -27, and the next few days are going to be in the -30s and -40s again..the high for Saturday is forecasted to be -43!! Depending what weather site you look at, the lows could be in the -50s!!! I've never felt -50 before, but I'm curious to experience it haha. I'm supposed to work Friday and Saturday, but we close if the weather is -40 or colder at 7 AM, so Lucie will probably tell me to stay home. This is definitely one of the longest, harshest cold snaps I've experienced! Curti has been more snuggly too hehe, he's so cute. <3 Here are the highs and lows of 2025!

Lows: Losing Abby in March, which was devastating. We were soulmates..she stole my heart as soon as she sat in my lap at the animal shelter. She loved everyone! At the end she was so weak she'd just fall over when trying to walk on my bed, and had that "I'm done" look in her eyes, and she was SO skinny..I couldn't watch her suffer like that. I sobbed SO hard at the vet, and mom and the vet did as well..I told her how much I loved her and what a great cat she was. I watched her last breath and then she was gone. I got her cremated and have tattoos of her pawprints on my arm. I cried SO hard again when I walked into my apartment without Abby, and saw her water and food bowls on the floor. It was recently after that I went to bed and felt something at my feet..I'm sure it was Abby, telling me she was still with me, just in a different way, and another time I thought I heard her meow. Oof, that always make me very sad when I think about it. I'll never forget her <3

The move at work, which was very rocky and tiring, and then Vicki saying she was quitting after the move happened (I still miss her SO much). Bill and I felt abandoned during the summer and, the managers seemed to do everything in their power to make us suffer. Everyone was always complaining and hardly any customers came in anymore. Bill and I were about ready to quit! Amanda only lasted like a month, we were abandoned again, until we finally got a temporary manager. That's something I hope I never experience again. I hope the manager starting in January is nice!

I sprained my ankle in March. Very painful! In August I exhausted myself and didn't feel well, I had awful face pain and a migraine and a sore tooth, and had to get the tooth pulled. I then threw my back out, all in the same week! I'd rather not experience that again either lol

Dad's mental health hasn't been great since last summer, and his neuropathy is worse..hard to see :(

Highs: After Abby died, I started looking for a new cat. I looked at pictures online, went to a shelter, etc, but there wasn't an instant connection like there was with Abby. One day a picture of a tiny kitten was posted online..I showed mom the picture, and we both felt a connection, a very good feeling like "this kitty is the one!" We cleaned my apartment and got new cat stuff, and then met the owner in town. The kitty was meowing and scared, but as I held him, he relaxed and started purring. I'd been chosen! (Mom originally said no male cats because they might spray..of course a male cat chose me haha.) He explored around my apartment while I thought of a name. I said "hmm, Wilson? Nah," and then thought "can I shorten curtain?" I wrote it out and I was like "oh, curti!" I called it out to him and he responded right away! I said it again and he answered again, which in total happened in like 10 seconds..he approved! I knew he was smart from the very first day. He can be a handful, but he's SO cute and sweet, and has a fun personality. When he curls up in my lap, I think "just another reason I can't live without a cat" haha. I feel the connection deeply when he's on my lap! I'm very glad he chose me <3

I saw the play The Fourposter in April, which I never thought Fairbanks would do. Super cool!

I went to Santa Fe in May and hung out with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dean and their friends, and saw Drew Lynch live. He's so good at improv and isn't afraid to laugh at his stutter. Pretty cool!

In June, as a birthday present, I went flying around Black Rapids Glacier and the surrounding area with mom and her friend. I wish I had seen more of the glacier, but I still drooled over the snowy landscape..Alaska is just so pretty!

Going to the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics with mom and Ingrid, and helping with the blanket toss, and going to Music With Reindeer with them as well

Those are the major things, at least! I can't wait to do my end of year book post tomorrow, I look forward to it all year haha!

( dec 27-30 )

1. If you were Santa Claus, what might you change about your job without destroying the season’s traditions? I'd go through some type of a portal instead of down the chimney haha
2. If you were Santa Claus, what snacks would you like children to leave out for you? Chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread men, brownies, etc
3. If you were Santa Claus, how would you spend December 26? Sleeping for a very long time, and giving the reindeer some extra pets :P
4. If you were Santa Claus, what would you put under your own tree? Books, cat shirts, gift cards, etc
5. If you were Santa Claus, what songs would be on the playlist you listened to in your sleigh Christmas Eve? "Wizards in Winter," "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo," "A Mad Russian's Christmas" (I miiight like Trans-Siberian Orchestra haha), "The 12 Pains of Christmas" (such a fun parody!), etc

This is Curti's "I want to play!" face

He was looking at the laser pointer in my hand, he LOVES chasing the red dot haha (he's 1 year old this month, wow!!)

Yesterday at work Bill and Juella (the temporary manager) were talking about the move, and Bill said something about me taking time off in the middle of the move, and I chimed in and confirmed it because Shelby said everyone should take time off during the move, to get some rest so we're not overwhelmed. Juella was like "oh, Shelby said you guys blew them off and didn't come in!" WHAT!! I was there in the staff meeting when Shelby said to take time off and Vicki approved it ahead of time. Is that why they treat us so terribly?? That's a lie and SO messed up..everyone is definitely tired of Shelby and Lucie, ugh. At least today is another First Friday 50% off sale, where the bookstore is open until 8. Hopefully lots of people will come and do Christmas shopping!

I'm ALARMED at how many people I see wearing just a hoodie and jeans in below zero weather..that is so dangerous, what if your car breaks down, or somehow get stuck outside?? (Maybe they have extra clothes in their car, but still.) Wind chills as low as 55 below are expected in the next couple days. D: D: Good thing it's the weekend and mom can drive me to work, it would be awful standing outside in that!

( dec 3-5 )

The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (Oct 31-Nov 3). A great Japanese locked-in mystery, with a good plot twist at the end!

Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson (Nov 4-8). Ah, James Patterson finally roped me into reading one of his books LOL. I wonder how many other unfinished manuscripts Crichton has out there, I think this is the third?? I don't know how scientifically accurate the book is, but it was ridiculous..SO many characters died from doing stupid things (you're rowing TOWARDS the lava?? You're flying a helicopter straight into volcanic ash??!). It was entertaining at least :P

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin (Nov 9-12). The mansion in this one had a couple four-poster beds in it haha, nice :D

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman (Nov 14-19). The new Thursday Murder Club mystery! Unfortunately it wasn't as good as the others in the series (probably my least favorite), but was still entertaining

SOS North Pacific by Gordon R. Newell (Nov 20-24). Lots of shipwrecks in the North Pacific! I was glad it mentioned the Princess Sophia, I saw artifacts from the ship when I went to Juneau in 2019!

66 Days Adrift: A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Open Sea by William A. Butler (Nov 25-30). This book was SO repetitive (his wife saying "we're going to die. I hate you, Butler! You're evil!," battling sharks end horny turtles LOL, praying endlessly, in EVERY chapter), but it is amazing what humans can survive! (Weirdly, this one and the previous one both mentioned how "Pacific" is a misnomer for a crazy ocean..what are the chances of that?)

I can't believe the year is almost over already. O_o Somehow time just keeps getting faster and faster!

A big snowstorm is coming, with a possibility of mixed precipitation and snow
accumulations between 3 and 7 inches..ewww. I hope the bus system posts online somewhere whether the buses are running or not..

( Dec 1. What do you want to be remembered for? )

Last night I didn't feel super great..super anxious, migrainey, felt like I might be coming down with something, and I just could NOT get to sleep. You'd think I'd know by now to take Excedrin right away instead of laying awake for hours in pain haha. When I finally did take some, the migraine was gone in about 10-15 minutes..that stuff is amazing! I still didn't sleep super great, but at least the migraine was gone. :P This morning, when I went out to wait for the bus, little snowflakes were starting to fall. By the time I got to work, which only takes a couple minutes, the flakes were bigger and starting to stick. Soon the flakes were HUGE, which looked cool! I really don't appreciate being a human barometer LOL, the first big snowstorm is always the worst. At least I felt a lot better, even though I didn't sleep well. Here's a picture I found on Facebook:

Instant winter!! I wish I had taken a picture, but I was busy working lol. The giant flakes were very cool!

Yesterday, out of nowhere, I had part of a song come into my head, something about the moon/moonlight..I knew that would be pretty much impossible to search online, since so many songs have moon/moonlight in the lyrics, and the only other thing I remembered was that it was old..I tried searching, but it was as hard looking as I thought it was going to be. It was driving me crazy haha, and I tried thinking about a tiny bit more of the song, but it kept escaping my grasp! It was only after I went to bed (yeah that didn't help my sleep either lol) that the tiny bit more of the song came into my head, and then I thought "huh..there's stuttering in that song, isn't there?" and that's when I FINALLY remembered what song it was, and jumped out of bed to see if I was correct (I was lol). The song is called "K-K-K-Katy" ("when the m-m-m-moon shines, over the cow shed, I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door"), which was first released in 1918! I have no idea why it popped into my head though, I hadn't listened to it since probably last year! (I was probably looking for songs with stuttering in them lol.) I'm glad I was able to think of it though, those kind of things drive me crazy :P

( oct 18-22 )

1. Do you consider yourself to be a good housekeeper? Why or why not? Not especially, I'm tired when I get home from work, and Curti loves knocking things over haha
2. Are there any household chores that you enjoy doing? If so, what and why? Laundry is the most tolerable to me, I can spread it out instead of doing it all at once
3. Which household chore frustrates/angers you the most? Cleaning out the litterbox is annoying and gross lol, and I don't really like cleaning the bathroom either..it can be gross too :P
4. When doing household chores, what do you do to make them seem less of a "chore"? Talk to myself or Curti, maybe sing a favorite song haha
5. Which chore do you find yourself doing most often, and why? The litterbox, have to keep Curti happy! Laundry too, clean clothes are nice :P

For some reason, Curti was sticking his tongue out last night:

Awwww. Some of his features are similar to Abby's! I don't know why, but he likes licking my feet..cats are weird LOL

The bookstore is really hurting without donations..customers tell me we need to get new books in, and regulars have stopped coming in as much, and the store can be dead for a couple hours before someone comes in. It's depressing! I've tried telling Lucie and/or Shelby we HAVE to start taking donations again, but they won't listen to me or Bill for some reason. I tried bringing it up again to Shelby yesterday but talking to her is like talking to a brick wall. I told her the store is going to die and she told me to stop worrying because it's not my burden to shoulder..ummm if I LOSE MY JOB because of your terrible manager skills, then YES, I am going to carry that burden and worry! Shelby didn't used to be this way, but ever since her grandma died two or three or so years ago, she has been super unhappy and grumpy and controlling. Someone from the other building came to get books and she said they're not allowed to talk to each other at all over there. No one is happy with the "management"..I'm surprised people haven't quit yet. It's incredibly frustrating and depressing. I really hope things get better, especially when we start taking donations again, and when we get a new bookstore manager (I really miss Vicki, she was amazing). This has definitely been a rough year for the Literacy Council!

It snowed this morning! Winter is coming fast D:

( sept 20-26 )

There are so many wildfires in Alaska right now..Fairbanks is basically surrounded by them. Yesterday it rained ash! It seemed somewhat smoky this morning, but not too bad. More smoke came through when I was at work..Bill and I were taking pics of the sun haha. After work mom and I went to the Midnight Sun Festival..omg so many people!! Mom and I like to go earlier, but I couldn't this time since I had to work. A couple people there had their CATS with them!! I always see dogs, but cats is a first for me haha. I melted and had to pet them hehe..I was really surprised by how calm they were! More people bring your cats to the festival, please :P (there was also a dog wearing sunglasses, and another wearing a hat..awesome haha). I got my favorite festival foods (a Navajo taco, lemonade, Dippin' Dots) and stopped by that coin store with cool polar books..I try to limit myself to once a year since I always spend too much money in there haha. We didn't stay for a long time since we were hot and sweaty and tired of being crowded..as we left, we saw this crazy huge smoke plume to the south..we figured that fire near the Parks Highway (Bear Creek Fire) had gotten way worse. I checked online, and someone had posted pictures of the fire next to the road, and they said the fire jumped the road after they passed it. Yikes!! It definitely looked apocalyptic. O_o That part of the highway is closed now. A lot of people are having to evacuate. Scary! It'll be so awesome when that cold front comes through on Monday..it'll be in the 70s and rainy for a few days, nice! I prefer cuddling under a blanket to being too hot lol. Hopefully no one will lose their house/pets, etc!

( a few pics )

21. Foods you hate: Peanut butter, olives, mushrooms, pickles, ham, asparagus, etc

1. Have you ever been to summer camp? Yeah, when I was a kid
2. Have you ever made a s'more? Yeah, I prefer to stick the marshmallow in the fire and watch it burn though LOL
3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)? No
4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house? Yeah, when I was a kid, though I had to sleep in a different room than them though (I understand why now, but not back then, which annoyed me
5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)? A full (I think) four-poster bed!

Ughhh it's supposed to be in the 80s for the foreseeable future..the weather service put out a heat advisory because it could get up to 89 and people/animals here aren't used to that. Trying to sleep when it's that hot is awful. Work's new building gets hot, but we put lots of fans out, which helps some. Customers are getting annoyed we're not accepting donations yet (me and Bill are still trying to unpack everything!), but they like the new building too! I saw on Facebook that a new bookstore opened downtown on Friday! I'll have to check it out someday (shh, don't tell my bosses LOL)

I had my regular doctor's appointment this week and she said my blood pressure was high..considering the craziness of the last new months, I'd be surprised if it WASN'T high haha. Hopefully it'll settle down soon. My cholesterol was also high, so she told me to exercise 20 minutes a day..mom said she'll give me her bike. I'd be more likely to do that than take a walk lol. Hopefully that'll help some

( june 9-13 )

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

I decorated my bed for Thanksgiving/fall! (Even if it is more like winter in Fairbanks lol)

How fun, though it hurt my arms trying to reach that high haha. It's hard to tell but on top there are turkeys, a squirrel, fall leaves, etc. Next is Christmas..I haven't decorated it "Christmasy" before, but it'll be a cool place to put ornaments I haven't gotten around to putting up yet lol (I have a tiny Christmas tree, but my bed is cooler :P). So fun :D

Some leaves fell on Abby!

She didn't seem too bothered LOL (I remember soon after adopting her I put a stuffed fox on her, but she didn't care then either :P)

We're supposed to get 4-6 inches of snow tonight/tomorrow..yaaay :P (at least it's warmer, in the 20s!)

( nov 23-24 )