Happily Home Again

After a week in bed, I did have a few more days of feeling pretty good in Anchorage. I had a chance to help Mike with his new house a little before I left, which made me feel good after all that he does for me. We got his apartment packed and moved on Saturday with the help of his friend Meghan and his sister Kate and brother-in-law Dwayne. We also did some paint shopping and settled on colors for almost all the rooms. Still pondering the living room. We did get a couple of rooms painted though. He has a huge raspberry patch in his yard so after moving on Saturday we picked a couple bowls full and had them over ice cream later that night. They were spectacular. Its always fun eating something that you've plucked off a vine yourself. So, next time I'm in Anchorage Mike will be all moved into his new place and I gotta say I'm pretty excited about staying there. Its a nice house with a gorgeous, wooded lot and an excellent view. His apartment was great, but it was on a busy corner so it was never really quiet. The house is much more secluded and peaceful so it will be a treat to stay there.

I made it back to Nome this morning about 11am. Its been raining for the entire time that I was in Anchorage so I wasn't too hopeful for good weather in Nome. But, as the plane was making its descent along the coast before Nome, it was truly spectacular. Something about this place seems to be that when its good, its great. The beauty of this region just can't be compared to anything that I've ever known. So, the ocean was glistening and the bare shoreline truly brought me home. I could feel it through my body how excited I was to be back. Its been almost a month since I left so the reunion with the dogs was extra fabulous. They always seem to put on some weight when I leave though, so I was a little surprised and Henry's 4 lb. frame carrying what looked to be at least another 2 lbs. Wow. Diet starts tomorrow. Poor little FAT baby! Got home and cleaned up a little bit. The fur bunnies running around the house were fierce. After a month of Duke not getting brushed and the house not getting cleaned too much you can imagine. I considered knitting a sweater with the fur I collected, but after some thought just threw it out. I also weed wacked my yard today. I have a small patch of grass and no lawn mower so the weed wacker has to do. It ends up a bit patchy and uneven, but it works. I'm one of only a handful of yards in Nome, so I'm not feeling too bad that it isn't perfectly groomed. The smell of cut grass is one of my favorites. It really is the smell of summer to me so getting that done today made summer stay alive a little longer. It was so so so gorgeous outside that I couldn't bring myself to go inside and unpack. Instead, I loaded the dogs up and we headed out about 30 miles along the coast to Solomon where my friend Kirsten is working on rebuilding her cabin. Had a nice day in the sunshine, picking/eating salmon berries, picnicing, and watching the dogs roam around. Back to work tomorrow at last and I'm actually really looking forward to it. Sad, but true, I've only got 10 more days until my next chemo. My oncologist wants me to come back to Anchorage for this one even though its my turn to have it in Nome. Since I've had so many problems with my chemo, he just thinks its a better idea. I'm not sold and would rather be home with my boys so I'm going to rally for myself tomorrow and try to get my appt. changed to be here. That's all for now. . . Be Well!