Fisherman's Story (AKA Good News - Bad Bews)

The day after his wife disappeared in a kayaking accident, an Anchorage man answered his door to find two grim-faced Alaska State Troopers.

"We're sorry Mr. Wilken, but we have some information about your wife," said one trooper.

"Tell me! Did you find her?" Wilken shouted.

The troopers looked at each other. One said, "We have some bad news, some good news, and some really great news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Fearing the worst, an ashen Mr. Wilken said, "Give me! the bad news first."

The trooper said, "I'm sorry to tell you, sir, but this morning we found your wife's body in Kachemak Bay."

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Wilken. Swallowing hard, he asked, "What's the good news?"

The trooper continued, "When we pulled her up she had twenty, five pound king crabs and 6 good-size Dungeness crabs clinging to her."

Stunned, Mr. Wilken demanded, "If that's the good news, what's the great news?"

The trooper said, "We're going to pull her up again tomorrow ! "

Chicken Dog

We were going to have Daisy Mae be a zebra for Halloween but then we saw this costume and we couldn't believe it! Is there a more perfect costume for Daisy??? There will be great pics of her dressed up with Rowdy, Maverick and Betty in the background!

Tuna Man!!!

Jim took the day off of work yesterday because it was a hot fish bite and the tuna were only 30 miles offshore (vs the usual 70 to 80 miles). In case you are not aware: hot tuna bite + less than 50 miles off shore = a national holiday!

The haul was worth it --- they got about 30 tuna!!

Just rest assured while you and I are working the common mans jobs.....Jim is out there doing the important work of making sure there are not too many tuna in the ocean!

Aren't you feeling safer now?

A Dog's Bad Day

Earlier this week, I got up early to go running and went thru my normal routine:
Crawl out of bed and while still asleep, get dressed, put in my contacts and head downstairs. Usually before I have even turned on the bathroom light (which is about 5 feet from my bed), the dog has heard me and is there wagging her tail and ready to go.

That particular morning, she was a "no show" for the first time ever!!! As I was leaving the bedroom, Jim said to me, "the dog is in Drew's room". So I figured she was sleeping in there and was just out cold and had not heard me. I assumed that once she heard me walking down the hall and the stairs, she would be up.

So I go down stairs and put on my shoes....still no dog!?!? So I whistle for her. She can hear me whistle a mile away and stops everything she is doing and comes running.

Still no dog!!

What?? Now I am sure she is dead - must have had a doggie heart attack or aneurysm.

At that point Jim comes to the landing upstairs and leans over to tell me that Daisy is in Drew's room and the door is CLOSED!!!

The poor thing must have been screaming......"WAIT FOR ME, I AM HERE, I HAVE NO THUMBS, I CAN'T TURN THE DOOR KNOB, DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!!!!!"

He opened the door and she came hauling butt downstairs looking very concerned!

I would say that was the begining of a bad dog day --- which got better when she got to go out for a run!

Gracie's a star!

Gracie played in her first soccer game of the season this weekend. It was also her first game on an all girl team, the Wild Butterflies. She was awesome! She scored 4 goals and was mowing over the other players....not being mean just going for the ball! She is totally built for speed and could run circles around others on the field.

Kid Sandwich

Yesterday, Deb's kids (Tyler and Jeremy) were over and they decided to use the couch cushions to make kid sandwiches! The blankets represent cheese or lettuce and the kids are meat! The cushions are "buns"!

My favorite place in the world...

This is where we spent the last weekend - my favorite spot in the world - Cherry Lake. This is a lake that is remote and on the edge of Yosemite. We spent the weekend boat camping. For the first time we slept on the boat - it was great fun laying there looking up at the stars. The days were spent swimming, fishing, hiking and inner tubing. The best part was kayaking around in the water that was like glass. Drew and I had a great time fishing for blue gill at nite with our head lamps.

I can only hope that you find a place in your life that brings you such peace. It is really a little bit of heaven on earth.

Happy Birthday to You!

September 5 was Daisy Mae's 3rd birthday. We had a little celebration at the lake this weekend complete with candles, cupcakes and dog party hats. Unfortunately, she was so tired from being at the lake and swimming all day that she was falling asleep while we were singing to her!

Sam's 1st day

Here is my nephew Sam on his first day of kindergarten. I am pretty sure he is going to go straight from kindergarten to 5th grade because he is SOOOOOO smart! And handsome too!

1st Day of School

Here we go again -- school has started and I am not sure who is more disappointed, the kids or me!

Drew is going into 5th grade and will be in a 4/5 combo class. He is with all the same kids he was with last year because the class was suppose to be "looping" to do another year with the same teacher. However, the teacher found her dream house in Oregon over the summer and retired! BUMMER. The good news is that she is staying until October to help out the new teacher. And the other good news is that Drew had the "new" teacher in the k/1 combo class he was in when he was in 1st grade and she is fantastic and really into science.

Gracie is going into 1st grade. She is actually repeating 1st grade because she had some trouble with reading last year. She has worked really hard over the summer with both reading tutors and speech therapy - so we are hoping that positions her well to excel this year....as only someone with the nickname "Bones and Dynamite" can do!

They both have great teachers so it is shaping up to be a good year.

What the Cluck?

Here is the exact reason why chickens should NOT wear pants!

In addition, if they were going to wear pants, they should wear something a little more fashionable! The shirt does not match the pants!

PS - thanks to Mari for this crazy pic!

Tubing

We spent all day on Saturday at the lake. We would tube a little, knee board a little and then stop to swim a little. The weather was perfect - warm water and warm air.

This is Gracie and Drew on our new inner tube. It was great fun.

Bones and Dynamite

Bones and Dynamite is Gracie's new nickname because that is what she is made of! This is her kneeboarding this weekend at Lake Don Pedro. It is her second year kneeboarding and she is awesome at it! There is a lot of power in that skinny little package!

The view from my office

The view doesn't look like anything special...but you can't see the chickens running around! I have a perfect view of them as they sun themselves and take dust baths.

The words above the window says (in french): "Eat ice cream and run naked". It is to remind us not to take everything so seriously all the time! The saying is perfect for us because Jim likes to eat ice cream and I like to run!

Jim's desk

This is Jim's side of the new office. Note the sticker on the chalkboard that says "I love chickens". What you can't see is the magnet that says "What the cluck?!"!!!

You can see Jim's "ditch bag" under his desk - this is the bag that he uses when he goes fishing. It contains all kinds of emergency gear. I always wonder why it ends up under his desk.... does he think an emergency is going to occur at his desk that will require a gps, bottled water and power bars?

My new office

Here is my new office. I LOVE it! The kids desk is on the right side and my work station is in the corner. See my new Dell flat screen!? LOVE it! We still need to get new chairs but I have not found any that I like.

Chicken Miracle

Rowdy is back to normal - she was on her roost when we went to bed last nite and got there herself. Three weeks ago, I never would have thought she would have made it. Most of the time when a chicken shows signs of illness, it is to late to save them. And she was REALLY sick!

So, you can call me the chicken whisperer, the mother teresa of chickens of Dr F, DVM. Oh - and special thanks to my assistant, Lani, who was responsible for getting Rowdy to turn the corner!

Rowdy's weekend as a chicken.

We put Rowdy back in the coop with Maverick and Betty. She seems to be doing fine. She has been eating with her chicken friends and is interested again in treats (cheese, corn on the cob, etc). The only thing is she is not going up to roost. The first nite, she was on the floor of the coop and Jim put her up on the roost. The second nite, she was trying to go up the ladder but mean Maverick was pecking at her. Jim shooed Maverick with a broom and let Rowdy get up. I think she will be back to the roost on her own in a couple days.

Delight!

Little Amelia cracking up and Big Brother! He is a funny guy!

My niece

Here is my darling niece complete with mohawk!