Grateful? You Bet!

There was a short debate as to whether I should post this or not.... I won.
There really isn't a good reason not too.
(Somehow it feels like a shallow victory though.)

~ To the Point ~

Many, many years ago (too many to worry about) some kids had too much stuff. Their names of course were Julie and Bradley. Where to put it, the stuff? Where to put it, the stuff?

Julie's parents had just built a home and WOW! it had an unfinished basement that was HUGE! There could be some room there? Just a little bit of room there? Enough to put our too much stuff there? Without taking up much room of that whole lot of room? Please?

Yay! Thank you!

So it happened many, many years ago (too many to worry about) (really) that Julie's parents made a decision from their hearts, if not from their smarts. Take that corner there. That small corner there. Plenty of room there for your too much stuff. Not a lot there really.

And so it began. From a humble start. Just a little too much stuff in the corner there. Little did those sweet unsuspecting parents realize from what it was they were about to part.
(bwua-ha-ha-ha!) (bwua-ha-ha-ha!) (oh! bwua-ha-ha-ha!)

TRIBBLES!
(Seemed apropos at this point. Don't know the reference? Look it up.)

Two young parents' too much stuff became then theirs plus a first grandchild's too much stuff, then a second grandchild's too much stuff, THEN a third grandchild's too much stuff and THEN a second grandchild's eternal mate's too much stuff.

Oh it was glorious! Oh it was lovely! Oh it was a mess!
Well, a little mess. A little too much stuff mess.

The kindly mistress of the house made a reasoned request that some kind of order be made of the tribbled mess.
The little too much stuff mess. Please.

A date was set and pushed back and then pushed back again. Oh, would the too much stuff ever become a more organized pile of too much? Stuff? Well.....

TODAY WAS THAT DAY!
(for the most part)

We assigned the greater part to Reine of course. She was not happy about it.
Lindsay, Michael, Julie and Bradley gathered in the aforementioned basement for a few hours, a couple... well, a little while and made a dent in the unruly thing.

Julie and Bradley went through and reorganized their little bit of too much stuff along with that belonging to Ryan and Kevin. Michael got through his too.

For the record...
Lindsay has A WHOLE LOT of too much stuff!
She couldn't finish and had to postpone the remainder for another day.

I forgot a flash camera so the photos could have been better, but they are not.

Behold!

Reine was right there in the middle of things but being very tired and hungry to boot she didn't like her circumstances much. She was her usual cuteness for the most part but at times she WAS NOT HAPPY.

See?

SEE?
(Have I mentioned the girl has quite the pair of lungs on her?)

In one of her more tranquil moments she was Momma's little helper.

Michael's gettin' it done.

Finally coming together.

Julie's Dad Don kept us company throughout the ordeal.
Don't he look comfortable?
Julie's Mom Georgia helped making piles, directing the work.
I didn't get a picture of her to my chagrin.

So, on this weekend of Thanksgiving, we are certainly grateful for Julie's parents and their forbearance.
After all this they STILL didn't kick us out!

Just a little bit of too much stuff on our part?
Perhaps.

Evidence of a kind and gracious heart on their part?
For sure.
~ Thank you ~

Alaska State Fair 2010

Hmmmmm..... Let me think.

If I were to be asked which would be the BEST state fair in the country.... I probably wouldn't rank the Alaska State Fair as high as anywhere near the top of the bottom third of the list.

~ Never The Less ~

It is the only state fair within 2000 miles so we'll take what we can get and like it dag-nabbitt it!

One fine day a short while ago the four of us took off for the fair... 45 miles away in the suburbia of Palmer Alaska

The day was beautifully sunny, at the start anyway. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant in the quaint village of Eagle River for lunch. A very cute place with lots of shiny bright colors.

Traffic tends to stack up the closer we get to Palmer so we took a detour through the outskirts of the metropolis of Wasilla in an effort to avoid most of it, which we seemed to have did. (I can speak like that, we're in "farm" country now for crying out loud.)

Unfortunately, "they" were routing traffic around the fairgrounds to the other side bypassing a bunch of open parking spots on the way. "They" done a good job imitating the govment. Once we got to the fair it did done take near as long to park as it done did to get there! I was ready for my nap. So was Kevin by the looks of him.

I must now forewarn a certain person that about half way through this blog there will be a couple videos and a photo of a SNAKE! DON'T LOOK!

When you come across a Ferris wheel take care. The snake is just around the corner. You may wish to have someone else take control of the mouse and forward you to past that spot. I'd hate for you to miss the entire blog because of one silly, slimy snake. They're not really slimy though. Actually quite dry, but scaly. I'll grant you that. And they slither which can be unbecoming. And what's up with the tongue? Can't they smell like everybody else?

There were a few guys at the fair that were quite capable with a chain saw. I really like this goat (except for the eyes, weird eyes, spooky eyes, too bad cause it was a cool carving eyes).

We bumped into a few people we know though it didn't hurt too much. This photo is Julie with Michael Hibbert's mom Dawn and his grandparents Blaine and Darlene.

What's a fair without a cool hat?

Or a moose that's been to New Orleans.

Say "what's for dinner"!

Gee, I just can't make up my mind!

Gee, I just can't make up my mind!

They made some beautiful music.

These guys did too amazingly enough.

Not bad for water bottles and sauce pans!

These are working bees. See the sign? They are off at 6:30. The booth was selling honey among other things. Oddly enough they didn't have much business. Not the best marketing idea perhaps.

This girl has a great hair done up.

I wanted to take pictures of other hair at the fair but Julie wouldn't let me.

S M O K E Y !

Motorcycle of the North. I'd kinda like to see one of these in action.

Later in the evening we watched the Lumberjack show.

Funny Faces

Lumberjack Pole Climbing

Lumberjack Log Rolling

If he can't feel it crawling on his neck, I'M not telling him!

Talented chain saw.

We can hardly wait for next year! After all that!

PHAT!

Ever wondered what if?

Weird Science

Does anyone have a lava lamp these days....... other than me?

This one turns on every day during the winter. Takes about an hour to heat up enough to be fluid, making the translucent balls of goo that float up when heated and sink down when cooled.

 

It is an interesting process. The lamp is at the bottom and as the goo begins to warm it forms a dome. Then all of a sudden the warmer stuff inside the dome erupts out shooting to the top of the glass, then solidifies again in a most weird formation.

I find the formation fascinating.

And in a way, disgusting. It looks like an alien embryo perhaps.

Or Julie's gall bladder.

Have I shown you that?

Quite interesting...

My interests and occupations can be quite sophisticated (it is apparent no doubt) and .... well,

I thought I'd share.

Peek.....A.....Boo!

Alas, this blog is about the center of the universe... again.

Reine: The serious, contemplative side.

One of her funny expressions.

The innocence of the little ones are a lesson if we can but learn and apply it. Reine doesn't worry about how she looks, whether serious, funny, goofy or otherwise. She is self-unaware. No pretense, no calculation, no deception. Pure innocence. And endearing. (and in this case, a little messy)

She is so good natured.

Her grandpa teases her as much as he can get away with,
as long as she doesn't mind!

What I like about this video is that about half way Reine lifts both arms and pulls a face ready to squawk about not having something to eat, I think. At that exact time, Grandma puts a piece of toast on her tray and aborts it mid start!

I have so many videos of her. I like to just watch her. This one is nice because she is making cute noises but near the end she gets a drink and coughs a little. I cough with her and she mimics me with much cuteness.


In these next two videos Reine is playing her version of peek-a-boo with Grandma (Julie). It's the first time I've seen her do this. I love her laugh. Too bad you can't see the videos in sharper detail.

Reine with Uncle Kevin

Reine is fascinated with cell phones. She'll turn them over and over, pressing numbers, making the screen light up and calling people she doesn't even know.

Using Unc to climb up into a better position.

(I love her feet in this and the photo before!)

Ah, now she can see the fishies better!

So there you are, another installment of the center of the universe. 
  As seen from her grandpa's eyes anyway.