Didi's on her way!

Hi!
I talked with Didi this morning and she was on her way to PDX. By now she's here in Alaska! I'll see her Monday, somehow. My plans are a bit delayed since I caught a bad bug several hours after same bug caught my roommate. We've both been quarantined for a few days but today was a day of healing! Whew! The bug is still catching a few other people by surprise but I feel I've been initiated - and hope to stay resistant now for quite a while. Tomorrow I'm back to work. I'm still hopeful that I can get a day or two off with Didi but will know more after finally returning to work tomorrow to ask. urgh.
ALSO today all our team at LBCC received the NEWS that Parenting Time has been renewed until January. Hey, that's something! After taking life one day at a time for a while, a few months really is nice to ponder - and it gives everyone the opportunity to ponder their own life's pathways. Perhaps it will continue even beyond January - in some form or another - or perhaps this is just a short reprieve. I don't know. I still know only that I don't know where I may be going but I do know where I am.
For a few days the sky was overcast with smoke. I asked but no one seemed to know where the forest fire WAS!
I could barely believe their nonchalance. I suppose it's like Alaskan earthquakes. Unless they're of a certain size, no one even mentions them much. Yesterday the news announced 43 forest or tundra fires are currently burning in Alaska. They have lots of firefighters out there taking care of business. Everything here is so BIG or so plentiful - even the fires!
So, outside my open window today smelled like a campfire. Somewhere not so far away is yet another fire. Alaska is big enough to take all that in stride.

In the meantime, I've considered working at a nice hotel in Switzerland, at Grand Canyon, at Mammoth, at DHS, at Headstart and I've considered fulfilling my lifelong dream of teaching here in Alaska in the "bush". I enjoy having t i m e to consider all the possibilities while devoting my energy to working through each day one at a time.
I had three goals set for myself this year. One was to move the house from 5th and Oak to my lot as my retirement home. Another was to get a job with Princess in Alaska for the summer. The third is still not to be mentioned. The job in Alaska is everything I'd hoped and some things I couldn't have expected. The house has been demolished because I just couldn't swing it financially - no matter what I figured. That's the great thing about goals. If they were all easy and doable, they wouldn't be worth writing down and trying so hard.
I received two letters from my lifelong friend, Per, today. Letters are so precious. I'm opening them both tonight once all the hustle and bustle are done for the day. She believes in hand-written letters. I try to write back but am not so graceful and thoughtful. My letters sometimes look like scratches across whatever paper I can dig up and throw into an envelope. I keep trying, though, because my friend mails me real letters. And, sometimes we talk on the phone - and I find myself telling her things I didn't even realize I knew or felt. I hope she does the same.
Obviously, I've been in bed for a few days and not talking much. Now I can't seem to shut up. Before I do, let me brag.
Maria earned 3 A's and 2 B's this term! That's remarkable. She and Laurie are adults in our home without me there to nag. What an achievement!
Laurie earned a 4.0 this term.
Perhaps I should stay away!
I'm very, very proud of them BOTH!
Laurie is preparing to attend OIT at Klamath Falls in September. Maria wants one more year of high school. Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers as they move toward their goals.
The internet appears to be somewhat more reliable here now.
I always look for replies to the blog but am realizing that those are "public" . So, please, talk with me. If you don't want to write on the blog, please e-mail. It sure helps with any possible homesickness that might periodically appear!
My only working e-mail is bnewt46@yahoo.com
I simply can't open my old e-mail address anymore from up here.
I look at your names and your pictures and think of you. Thanks for being here with me.
It sure helps!
g'nite,
love,
barb