Where The Coconut Palm Grows...

The easy way and the right way are rarely the same path.

Vince and I had been putting off doing the right thing for Scratch for three months now. We kept looking at him thinking, "He's not in pain." "He doesn't seem unhappy." "His tail is still wagging." Deep inside we knew that when a dog stands on the tops of his toes he is not doing well. When he is falling down the stairs or when he is dragging himself along like Frankenstein things are not getting better.

But he was still walking down the road with me and wagging his tail at me and eating heartily! It was a tough decision to make, but, as I mentioned, the easy way and the right way are rarely the same path...

I was living in Saipan when I was found by Scratch. Woody and I were jogging on the paved sidewalk on the beach road just up from Oleai. I hadn't gotten far (since I wasn't highly motivated to begin with) when I found myself having to encourage Woody to keep moving forward. He was distracted by something behind us. I turned to look and from beneath the roots of an ironwood tree sprung the tiniest little boonie dog puppy I'd seen. (A boonie dog is a wild Saipan dog. The boonies are the jungles. Some people believe that they are the descendants of the war dogs that the military left behind after WW11. They are wild and clever and not a typical domesticate-able dog.)

Because Vince and I had made an agreement not to take in a boonie dog, and because they are so plentiful and pathetic all over the island, I turned and continued jogging, begging Woody to keep up. He was dutiful and kept up with me but was constantly was looking behind us at the tiny puppy who was running full tilt to keep up with us.

I lead with my heart and my heart said to stop. I picked up that tiny puppy. His stomach was distended. His fur was healthy but he was itchy. His eyes were bright. I decided the best thing to do was to find who brought him to the beach. I started back to the ironwood tree and began asking people if this was there dog.

"Is this your dog?" I'd say. "No." They would respond.

After four times of that I came back to the parking lot where I had left my car and approached a man sitting in the shade watching his children play in the surf. "Is this your dog?" I asked.

"No, but...maybe six months that dog be good eating. It's OK. I'll keep him."

Did I mention that in Saipan boonie dogs were a food source like a chicken or a pig. Have I ever told you about the school lesson I gave where I was trying to tell the children the difference between a farm animal and a pet. Rooster? Pet! Dog? Farm Animal!

"Oh..sorry! I think I see his owner over there. Sorry!" I ran to my car with Woody and the tiny puppy and jumped in.

I drove home at lightening speed. I called Vince. "I'm sorry. I know we had an agreement but I couldn't let him get eaten..." Vince understood.

And so, we had a new dog. May 1999. The month Falcom was born to Resihna. Falcom's first word, "scraaatttccchhh."

Scratch will always be the most jungle savvy survival oriented wip smart dog I've ever seen. He could find a weeks old rib bone buried six inches under the sand. He could steal eggs from the chicken coop without disturbing the chickens or breaking the eggs. Leery of men, he would put up such a fit and look so insane while he was doing it he could prevent them from getting out of their cars on our property. He was so fast he chased down a coyote and caught it.

Valda told us after having kept him for us for six weeks, "If there is a nuclear war, I will follow Scratch because it will be he and the roaches that survive."

Vince told me that at the clinic he had been wishing there was some way that Scratch could have a more natural exit from this earth, something that would not involve a back hoe or a cremation. (Once an animal has been given a lethal dose of phenobarbital they can not be ingested by any other animal or that animal will also die.) Then Vince got to laughing. Here was a dog who had devoted his entire life to NOT getting eaten by anything...only to be devoured in the end. No, we could not let that happen. We will work a cremation into our lives in the next week or so and leave his ashes at our cabin near Woody.

It has not been easy saying good-bye, but we take a great deal of comfort in knowing it was the right thing to do.

Ice Castles in Razdolna

Another day of combat sub-teaching! What do I mean by that? This class is a rough crowd. Not a touchy feely group. The last time I was here I had the sad experience of watching a young sub get completely rode over by this crowd. They worked her over hard and by lunch she was a study in the stereotypical burnt out sub: hair frazzled, pulse raised, veins visibly throbbing.

I began Monday by letting every kid in class know that I would not be disrespected. I then followed it up by being authoritarian and following through with many threats of detention. The entire day was full of "Ms. J would never!" and "we can't wait for you to leave!". My personal favorite was when they were going a group brainstorming session 'what makes you happy? What do you wish for?' And it was all, "for the substitute to go away!" "For ms.J to come back!" "No more school on days Ms.J is not here."

Five detentions, a notebook flung in fury, and my fill of snarls later, the school day was over but I would not let them leave until the mess was picked up. "But my dad will beat me if I'm even 5 minutes late!" "Well, I guess you two are going to have to work that out."

Exhausting!

Today everyone was on time. They were much better behaved. They did the work I gave them without a hassle. They even seemed to enjoy me briefly! I couldn't believe it!

We will see if they ever call me back. But for now I take great joy in knowing that I faced a challenge and succeeded! Until next time beautiful children!
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Dear Anna

Thank you for your pleading email (begging me to update this blog). It made my ego feel nice and plump again.

Mema took the children, like the hero that she is, so that Vince and I could spend the weekend in Anchorage alone together. I brought my camera thinking of the blog post I could create but really... Anchorage mid-winter is a grey bland place which is finally trying to update the curb appeal of its strip malls but is only having moderate success. It is an unusually warm winter here in Alaska and the roads were dry. The ice sculptures have melted into frigid blobs. It feels like break-up in Alaska: snow melting, water everywhere, sand thick on driving surfaces with no ice to cling to (the dust is unreal!). A part of me kept getting a little joyful that spring was here, but it is not spring. If I give into the feeling that we are nearly past the dark cold months it will certainly blizzard again. The world is not supposed to look this way until late April.

There was an incredible avalanche that closed the highway the day we left town. Because Vince was working late it was cleared before we got there but his co-worker was stuck behind it for 6 hours. She, obviously not a die hard Alaskan, was the only person in the long line who did not get out of their car to take a pee. She had to go super bad but could not bring herself to do it, even when she watched every other man woman and child in her vicinity following natures call.

Vince had pharmacy meeting and convention to attend over the weekend and I...here is my news...have a new job. That's right! I am again blessed to have another small but VERY meaningful job as the parent navigator for Stone Soup Group in Homer for parents of children with learning disabilities! I spent a couple hours Friday morning getting oriented and clarifying what I'd be doing exactly.

Oh, you didn't know I was applying for other positions? I wasn't. I kind of got asked to apply. I am not sure how it happened actually. My new boss said something about hidden cameras. All I know is that I am excited and feel that I can be of service and you know what a huge deal ethical expression in my work is to me...

Vince and I watched the Tiger Woods press conference. It was refreshing hearing someone refer to themselves as something other than Christian. Then when the porn star followed up his press conference with one of her own stating, "he said I was the only one, besides his wife!", we collapsed into laughter and spent the rest of the weekend making jokes that referenced that statement.

It is wonderful to have such an interesting and happy partnership with someone after all these years. I am definitely still enjoying myself in this partnership.

We ate gyros. There was a very tall, very broad shouldered waitress with no make up taking orders in a put off way. She was so compelling to me! Was she gay, straight, Greek? I tipped her for our take out and Vince could not believe it. He sees all that aloofness as bitchiness and not interesting at all. However, I find her attitude so un-Alaskan I can't help but be curious.

I went back the next day but with no more success than the day before in getting a better understanding of this woman's story. Drat! I did have fabulous gyros though!

Vince snuck me into dinner at the convention. Drug reps put on the hourdurve feast. Pharmacists are such a bunch of geeks. They love free stuff and free food. Vince is definitely one of the hippest in the crowd. I was happy with the meal, enjoying the scene, when Vince's friend came up and said, "is this the best he can do? Sneeking you into a free meal?" I said, "We have eaten out at such fabulous places so frequently that this is more interesting to me than spending big money for a meal in Anchorage."
I didn't hear another word about it.
We ended the evening watching TV and eating popcorn in a quiet hotel room. That rarely happens! It was a joy.

I shopped for furniture. How do you take a picture of that? I went to Pennies. I went to the day old bakery. I went to my favorite Asian food stores.

That evening we met up with Homer friends over Korean food. I didn't get out my camera for that. Why? It was such a fun evening and the food was great! Sorry Jean, I don't know what came over me! Vince and Mike had a lot in common and Jean and I caught up joyfully. Great night!

We drove home the next day after going to Target. It was sunny and warm and I had to keep reminding myself that this is not spring.

I am substituting this week in the Russian village of Razdolna. I'd better get ready. I'll write kid updates and substitute teacher warfare in the next installment.

Thank you for your continued curiosity about things in this wild country.

Alana

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Music In The House

Falcom and Maygen practice for the talent show. The house is filled with fantastic sounds. Falcom is happy. Iris and Marina are playing happily. Deejay and Willie are loving the music. It is a happy night.
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Cabin Weekend

No time for posting, sadly. Time for me has been unusually inflexible this past month. Blogging has taken it's hit. Hopefully, I can catch up on this while I catch up on my laundry!

I had the best weekend at the cabin! First Falcom learned how to drive a snow machine and was in charge of his own locomotion. So excellent and exciting. We left from our house. I could not feel more proud of Falcom. He did so great for his very first time!

When we got there Glenn and the kids had just gotten there and had the outhouse trail shoveled and the fire going. Nice.

This is a shot of Glen and Vince hanging out on our new deck. They built this over the summer and it is NICE. It is nice to sit outside without having to sit in the snow. It has been so warm here. There was a heavy snow Friday night but by noon Saturday it was warm enough to make me feel like we were in the Sierra Nevada's.

Vince and Glenn took a long ride and made us dinner reservations at the CCL (Cole's Clean Living Lodge) for Valentine's Dinner. I am still unsure why they chose the term "Clean Living" to describe their lodge. Snow machines are not clean. They are noisy and smelly. I think it is more about the CL initials (Caribou Lake) rather than the actual clean living aspect. It is a VERY fun lodge to travel to and the family running it is really happy and into what they are doing.

The kids stayed alone in the cabin while the four of us adults enjoyed a humorous evening out in Caribou Lake style! Chicken Rice at the CCL was nothing like Chicken Rice in Malaysia. You can see this from the picture. The meal was tasty and very comforting on a cold night.

I will now share with you a story that most bloggers would not share. You might want to skip this if you are at all squimish. You see, I am unable to eat food with cooked sour cream in it. I don't know why but it goes straight through. After the meal I got up and had to immediatly go out to the plywood outhouse in the dark. I fumbled across the snow to the plywood outhouse. I was NOISY with gas galore. Just when I was glad to be outdoors in the dark where no one would have to deal with my problem, I heard footsteps in the snow. "Alana, is that you?" Arg! Ede.

She had a smoke while she waited.

After I made more echoing sounds, I began groping around looking for the toilet paper in the dark, wondering if she was hearing my problem from the door of the lodge. I finally gave up and asked her to come near with a flashlight. Unbenonst to me, I had been groping around in a urinal looking for the toilet paper! How long have I been using outhouses in Alaska and I had never imagined that a plywood outhouse with the word 'restroom' spray painted on the door in an uncute way, would be equipped with a urinal. How could this get worse? Seeing Ede's face and knowing that she had indeed had the pleasure of listening to my stomach. That made it worse.

That evening I slept like a baby! (I know, shocking right?!)

In the morning the kids made breakfast. The "um, duh, how can I make pancakes if I don't know where the mix is?" teenage junk rolled off my back like water on a duck as I chuckled remembering that I told Jerami that that exact thing would indeed happen.

Even the part where Vince broke into laughter and said, "Where the hell do you think it is?"

We came home in the early afternoon. Marina practicing driving while I helped her steer. It takes a lot of strengh to pull the machine to the left and right in the heavy warm snow. We came across this dog sled team along the way. Beautiful!

Yes, it was a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

this picture does not do the darling haircut justice

It's happened! I got my ability to find things amusing back! Whew! And not a moment too soon!

What happened that caused it to return? I realized it was back while I was having a coffee date with Irene. We had been at Two Sisters chatting a bit with Sharon about her wedding. I ate a day old sticky bun. We'd been chatting for about an hour when Irene commented on my new nail polish. I told her, "My vampire lover got them for me. In fact, I can feel him summoning me now... I'd better get back to work."

The vampire lover is Jerami, a reference she picked up on immediately. We both started laughing. Unless you've watched TrueBlood or read the Sookie Stackhouse books, this reference will be lost upon you. If you have not read the books I will give you a quick run down. Sookie lives in a world where vampires are "out of the closet". She has relationships with them. They adore her and constantly vie for her attention. She works for them and they shower her with gifts. Of course, they are sexy and powerful and complex. Of course, she is like the ultimate heroine.

I told Jerami the other day that if he loved me he would get me a $6.50 Alice in Wonderland nail polish set. New vibrant colors! He was preoccupied, looked at me and smiled. When he returned from Anchroage he had no polish. I looked at him and said, "I can see what I mean to you..." and in his most intense southern drawl (because he is from the south) he said, "Oh no you don't! Anchorage was sold out of them and I told the girl at the counter, 'Well then, I guess you'd better pick up the phone and find me some!' They are being shipped to you from Palmer." Oh...

The next day I came in the shop and an invoice was thrust into my hands. "Does this show you how I love you?" and in a large box was an enormous set of Alice in Wonderland polish...for $65. "But this is not what I wanted." I told him. "I wanted $6.50 not $65." He was a bit stricken and then said, "It's up to you...decide." and then he went back to work.

I took the colors I like and we are selling the rest like hot cakes.

Coffee with Irene. Coffee with Emily. Marina and her DARLING new haircut. Falcom picking an appropriate song for the talent show. My brother finally acting like my brother. Vince texting me from Soldotna. Maygen and Iris cooking chicken pesole for us and serving it over a cabbage salad.

I am feeling amused again!

This weekend we will be staying at the cabin. I'll post pictures on Monday.

Parent Teacher Conference Day

While my children attended dentist appointments (supervised by Mema thank God she's back in town) I attended parent teacher/IEP conferences. I was engaged all day. I photographed the entire process and will share it with you now. I started the day by drinking instant Asian coffee. Vince and I have been having a cup of this strong sweet blend each morning instead of our usual drip coffee. When I close my eyes it takes me back to Kota Kinabalu. And Kuala Lumpur. And Singapore... Drifting back to Asia is a sweet divergence from the tasks that my mind needs to be embracing.

Starting with the ever charming Krista Etzwiler, the parent teacher conferences began. Marina is doing fabulously. We are going to work on building a little more challenge into her day.

From there we went to an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) meeting for Falcom. Here we are preparing to begin. We are in the principals office trying to get the school psychologist on the phone. Every three years a student is re-evaluated for their learning disabilities. This is Falcom's third year. This meeting was to plan what testing to give Falcom.

This meeting was difficult for me and aggravating because although this psychologist has Falcom on her case load, and is the person in charge of administering the tests, in the two years she has been with the district she has never met or even seen Falcom. Amy says that this will give her an unbiased opinion. I respect Amy and I can see her point. At the same time I believe I will be calling the district today in order to lodge a complaint.

Veggie box day! This is Teri at Moose Run Metal smiling as we prepare to move boxes. The big boys and Kaylene R. were with me and we moved the boxes with ease. (This picture is so blue because my camera setting was still set for florescent lighting.)

At Two Sisters I bought myself this delicious chocolate bun. I had a feeling I might need it after my three hour stint at the High School Parent Teacher conferences.
Since DeeJay passed the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam, it occurred to me that my coffee dates with Paul were going to be coming to an end after this year. With his graduation, I'll be off Paul's case load. No more vanilla lattes over IEP's and other official business with Paul. Like a phrase from my favorite children's book, "Everything Changes, Nothing Stays the Same." I know that my relationship with Paul will be evolving just as DeeJay's life is evolving. There was a hint of grief in my heart knowing that this would be my last parent conference with Paul.

It's like when your favorite therapist says, "I think you've made it! You've been coming here for three years, but I think we are ready to stop seeing each other." Yes, it is time to move on, but that doesn't mean that hour a week won't be missed...

Today I learned that Willie has officially become eligible for learning disability testing and that means that I will get to continue on with Paul for at least another two years! Isn't that fantastic!

(If you can't read the sarcasm in my tone...) Yes, it's true. In all seriousness, DeeJay is still a worry, but now we can move Willie up in the standing and focus on getting him his slip of paper that will provide him with the ability to have a successful future.

Because Paul did not give me permission to photograph him, I decided it was wise not to photograph the other TWELVE teachers that I met with during those three hours. By the end, my head was swimming. Yes, DeeJay is still DeeJay but doing pretty well considering everything. No, Willie is not doing well and has turned to relying more and more on his friends to do his work for him because he is getting overwhelmed and unable to do it himself. These teachers sang like a chorus even though they did not practice their speeches hand. I left the high school anxious, but knowing that things were being done to remedy the situation.

Picked up the kids from Mema. Marina had one cavity filled and Falcom has one that will need to be filled. Willie and DeeJay looked good. We went to the grocery store and ran into Beth. She was heading to the High School for her P/T conferences after her shift... "Good Luck with that!" I said.

I got home and laid on the couch and called it a night. Done. The End.

After today I realized that keeping the pulse on my family can not take back seat to anything. Including Facebook.

ps Facebook is not proving to be as soothing to my soul as this blog.

In A Sick House

Morning in Alaska. A waning moon is before me through the window. The kids are at school. Vince is upstairs sleeping due to a stomach flu that is burning through the house. I was down for the count yesterday and now he is down. Willie was sick at work, but, kept on slinging fries. Nice.

Marina missed 100's day at her school for the second year in a row. Last year it was because I 'demanded' they drive to Anchorage to pick me up from my trip to Saipan. This year, it was due to barfing.

She said in her sad voice, "You know mom, they (the class) save me the snacks, but they don't save the joy (of it)." That's the crux of the problem, isn't it?

Coffee with Bling

A loyal blog reader commented this week that my life has become much less about coffee drinking and beautiful food eating. "What happened to your extensive social life?"

I decided to make a commitment to posting all about my active life and documenting some coffee drinking.

Sharon is getting married and I got to get an uninterrupted complete breakdown of the entire trip to China and her engagement.

Yes, I've got amazing friends and I don't worry, I'm still drinking coffee.
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