We're home!

Sunny here today! We had a whopping 6 hours and 14 minutes of sunlight. Sunrise occurred at 9:42 and sunset happened at 3:55. We came home in the middle of the night at 5:30pm. Temperature was a comfortable 13 degrees or so.

I haven't been writing much the last two weeks as we took a holiday south (hence the comments about travel to and from Alaska via plane). It was a very nice Thanksgiving. Both of our families got together. Wait. I should say we got together with both of our families on separate days in separate states and much fun was had by all.

Getting off of the plane in Kansas City it was a nice and warm 40 degrees. Beautiful temperature. A nice change from the minus category. Of course this was one of the early cold spells for the locals and every place we went and shuttle bus we road in had the heaters on full blast. EGAD was it hot.

We rented a family truckster (if a station wagon and a mini-van had kids, this would be it) that screamed "soccer mom" and toodled around Kansas and Oklahoma. Thanksgiving sported 76 degrees and I didn't pack enough summer clothes for this climate. However, I can't complain. Since we drove a lot over the week, I was glad it wasn't in ice and snow as it could have been.

Squirt couldn't go with us this time around and went to a doggy day care. Sending your dog to a place that allows interaction with other dogs involves a risk and unfortunately there was a spat between a Jack Russell and a bulldog. Squirt ran by at the wrong time and ended up with 2 stitches and a very bruised tummy. He was SO happy to get home after we picked him up. Of course the first thing I did was cut his hair shorter to match the shaved areas and then plunk him into a bath. The haircut didn't work. He still looks like a mutt but at least he is a clean looking mutt. Thank goodness he got a sweater for Christmas so we can still go for walks while his hair is growing out. (BTW - even after a haircut and bath he is still happy to be home so he can sleep in his king size bed.)

Squirt also helped me unpack the suitcases. He found the plastic bag with the homemade cookies from Mother along with the hotel turn down service chocolates and was fixing to take them to a hidden location. Luckily I rescued them before he got too far. It was pretty cute though. He was working very quietly and diligently to free the bag before I noticed. He got a biscuit instead. (He has had a lot of guilt biscuits since we got home...poor little nine year old puppy.)

While on the plane home, I was actually wondering how long it would take to see a moose upon return. Due to the blizzard in Seattle, we were late arriving and didn't make it to the house until about 1:30am. During this hour of the weekday morning, there isn't a lot of traffic in Anchorage and we almost hit a moose leaving the airport. Lucky the cab driver saw it in time.

It was really great to see everyone. Holidays with family are some of the best times and memories. However, home is now in Anchorage and I was ready to return by the end of the week. It felt really good getting off of the airplane and breathing in that first breath of -6 degree air. I actually missed the cooler weather. It was however very obvious we lost an hour of sunlight while we were gone. It is pretty amazing how fast people can adapt and accept changes.

The bad part is they postponed counter installation a whole week. This frees up Saturday to go shopping Saturday for "festive attire". I need some for the office Christmas party. But that's a whole other story.... :)