Making Adjustments

I thought you might be interested in some of the adjustments we've been making the last 3 weeks we've been here. Some of you may have already experienced the awesome phone delay we have here when using cell phone service, like AT&T. Actually, sometimes they put you on hold while they 'try to locate the party you are calling' or they just might not connect you . Maybe AT&T does not know where Alaska is??? This is the perfect way to ruin a joke. By the time the other party here's your joke, there is an awkward 4 second delay that just makes you wish you hadn't said anything at all...until you finally here the laugh on the other end.

In case you were not aware, our boys are serious milk drinkers. Being that milk is outrageously expensive here, we got some shelf ready milk and also some powdered milk. The boys can't tell a difference, other than the container it comes in. I am not a huge fan of the white stuff anyways, and can definitely distinguish between them. Soy milk would be my best option for a glass of milk with a cookie. Yum! This brings up another topic, our 4 month supply of groceries is still only partially here. Soy milk is one of those things that has yet to arrive. So I'm holding off on making some cookies until I can enjoy them with a glass of Shell-approved milk.

Phantom water leaks seem to be having fun wreaking havoc on us. We have a toilet that does not like to stop running. Our fix (while the parts for Chris to repair it are being sent by mail): turn off the water to the toilet when not in use. The other day I walk in on Clint in the bathroom. He is crouched down next to the toilet. When I ask what he is doing, he responds with, "Oh, I was just turning off the toilet." Just so ya know, many people in Galena must have water delivered to a water tank at their house. They must also have it taken away when its used (sewer tank). I am sooooooo grateful we live on one of the two roads where this is not the case! We have city water running to our house, just like you. The only down side is that we pay more for our water: $0.07 a gallon to be exact. Sooo, the boys are learning to be conservative with their water when washing hands or brushing teeth, etc. Our other leaky problem is the kitchen sink. Our free standing dishwasher hooks up to the faucet when in use, and soon after I would find a puddle of water in my cabinet and on my floor. After a couple of experiments we have solved the mystery. As soon as Chris runs to the local hardware store we'll have it all fixed. Ha! No hardware store. You might have caught the part where our toilet repair kit is in the mail. At least I can put a small dish under the leak for now.

My southern blog readers, you are 3 hours ahead of Alaska time.

Many people have asked about how much darkness we have this time of year. We see daylight from about 9:30 AM till 6 PM. Its dark all the other hours. :)

So I saw a shirt that read "Got muktuk?" I immediately think to myself, I am pretty sure I don't but I really don't know what that is. After googling it, I can say for certain that I do not have any, and I am probably not brave enough to try any.
We've learned some other new terms and phrases too. Our house has an arctic entry in it, but its not heated at this point so its just like an outdoor room you walk through to get into the house. (Usually you would remove your gear in this heated space before entering the house). One day Preston is looking for something and mentions, "Mommy, I think its in the dollar tree." Thinking I must have heard wrong, I ask him more about it. I finally figure out he's talking about the arctic entry.

Life without a can opener has been interesting. Thank goodness for Chris' leatherman. The kitchen really did already have just about everything we needed and more. Also, we are thankful for Amazon.com. We've ordered several things we couldn't do without like a Dyson vacuum, muffin tins, can opener, and dog food.

We all enjoy not needing to wear seat belts when riding around town, and the kids are not missing their car seats. Most people use their snow machines as their main transportation. One other different thing, we must plug in our van in the extreme cold if we want it to start. Chris has some good pics up on the Galena blog of the outside of the house and our van. Please submit any suggestions for names after viewing the pics.

I have decided that I must be a southern brat. My coffee just hasn't been enjoyable since leaving Louisiana. I really didn't think I was addicted to Community Coffee, but today I came to the conclusion that I am. Chris got some in the mail (a belated but wonderful birthday gift), and we brewed up a pot this morning, and life was good!

Clint's frames on his glasses broke, so we shipped them off to LA for new frames. They were still under the 1 year warranty thankfully. He will be glad to have his eyes back sometime this week or next!

After experiencing -58 temperatures, its funny what is considered warm. Today I said, "Oh, wow, its 12 above zero. Its a warm day!"

As I've heard it said to me since being in Alaska, "We'll see ya".