When the wind blows, the cradle will fall...

Aida in her new activity center (named, "Lotty the lady bug")








Amy and Aida enjoying a beautiful day last week at the beach.












Me and my little bug.






Well, the wind really kicked up last night and Amy and I found out that power outages take on a whole new meaning now that Aida is in the family. We were heating up bottles over candle light and cuddling up together for heat. Aida actually liked the candle light. She stared at the candle in the corner of the room for about an hour just cooing at it. Amy and I just watched out the windows as the 100 plus foot spruce trees swayed a good 20 feet from side to side. Speaking of trees, my neighbor fell one of those 100 foot spruces on Saturday and somehow managed to hit my truck with the damn thing. He lives across the road mind you. The nucklehead was trying to fall it the opposite way, but it started to go towards my property and he couldn't save it. The only thing that saved my truck from total destruction was the fact the the tree next to the falling one caught it and there it sat hung up. Sorry no pictures. Me and the family were at the Waffle Shop, which we visit every Saturday morning, while all this was going down *pun*. So anyway, luckily the crew building the house next to ours were working that morning and came to my truck's rescue. From the story I heard, the guys and gal (Lianne - our friend) that were working on the foundation next door latched up a tow strap to the base of the tree and basically stomped on the gas in an effort to pull the base of the tree away from my truck as the tree fell. So they were able to move the base 10 feet or so in the time it fell and that caused the trunk of the tree to just miss the cab of my truck. So all that hit my truck was the top limbs. So my truck rolled away with minor scratches to the top of the cab, passenger door and hood. Pretty fortunate I guess. My neighbor seemed genuine in his apology and offered to pay for any repairs, but I think I'm just going to let it slide. They can probably be buffed out. Plus my truck doesn't have a perfect paint job anymore anyway. I like it that way. I used to own an F-350 Ford, which I bought brand new, but I would get 10 grey hairs a week because of noticing the tiniest scar to the paint. So I promised myself my next truck would be used and the paint would not be perfect. I love my truck I have now, a Dodge Ram 1500 Sport. The interior is nice, the engine kicks ass and the undercarriage is perfect, but the body has a few minor dings and scratches....and now thanks to my neighbor, a few new scratches. Amy was not as forgiving of her Azalea bush and garden trim, which both got crushed by the tree. She's thinking about proper compensation hehehe. The guy will probably think I'm kidding when I come over and tell him that we will call it even on the truck, but he owes my wife $100 for her garden. Now I should get a picture of that *laughing*.

Take care,
~K

Goals, Family, and Babble

Ok, so I met with one of my past professors (Goal attained *snap*), and it was a good meeting, BUT it made me realize that the road has just begun. I have to retake my GRE tests. *crying* The GREs are a set of tests that are both horribly mundane and an over simplification of a persons true aptitude. Of course this is the opinion from somebody - namely ME - that didn't do all that great on them the first time around. But anyway... They are essentially the next progression beyond the SATs, which I also did terribly on. My point - God, do I have one? - My point is that I graduated with honors, published a small research project, and generally kicked ass in my undergraduate endeavors even though my SATs were mediocre. Therefore, I believe the same will hold true as a graduate student. The catch is that it's still possible to get into a decent university with mediocre SAT scores, but virtually impossible to do the same for graduate school with mediocre GRE scores. So, I have to bite the proverbial bullet and study my ass off so I can up my GRE scores. I just wish the GREs could test a person's drive and ability to learn complex ideas. Afterall, isn't the ability to grasp concepts the whole basis of learning. Who cares what you know, I would think that they would be more interested in how a person is at learning new material. Well, when the day comes that I run the system watch the hell out!

In other news....
Amy is peeved that I have pictures of the whole family up on the blog except for her. Go figure. I have to risk life and limb just to get my lovely wife's image on to film, and she thinks I'm crazy enough to post her likeness out there for the whole world to possible view (I'm up to like 20 hits on my sight now LOL). Well, I love you honey. So without further ado.... the above picture is of the whole family unit (Amy, Aida, and me) minus the dogs of course. Grandpa and Nana came up in August to visit Aida (First official grandbaby for grandpa), so we all went out to take photos. This one was taken at the totem at my Alma Matar.

Well that about sums it up for now. We are settling in for winter. Amy and I got a membership at the gym to try to lose some of this nesting-fat we accumulated the last 9 months or so. Amy has an excuse, but not me. We will be back to fighting weight soon!

Take care,
~K

Always Aim High

Goal: noun. The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed; an objective.

I need to make some new goals. I believe that goals are the difference between living "day to day" and "living" today. Goals help me feel movement and momentum in my life, which gives me faith, balance and purpose. I don't necessarily need to attain my goals to feel successful. Simply knowing that I set them and gave my best effort to reach them is usually enough for me.

I've been thinking a lot more about goals lately. Aida was the catalyst, I'm sure, but I've also been feeling a sense of urgency in my career lately. I'm not where I want to be in my career, but to get there I need to go back to school for my masters or PhD. And that is a little more than stressful for me to think about right now. I hate the dog-and-pony-show that has to take place in order to get into a respectable graduate program for sciences. And don't even start me up about the pay cut one has to incur by going back to school. But one thing I'm not is a whiner. So my goal this next week is to dust off the roll-o-deck and make some calls regarding graduate opportunities for me. There I did it. I made a goal. Bam! it's set. Crap, now I have to actually do something about it. Why do I do this to myself. I'm going to feel guilty all weekend about setting this damn goal and not being sure if am ready to go after it fully.

Goal setting with undefined intensions: Verb. Simple way to make one's self feel inadequate, lazy, and unaccomplished.

*laughing in the mirror*
Take care,
~K

Oh Baby!

Hey, I'm back, and this time I have re-enforcements! Yes, yes, Y'all, I'm talking about the newest edition to the family, Aida. Mom and Dad done good! She is about as cute as I could imagine and of course she's the smartest baby in all the world (all parents think THEIR child is the most intelligent, beautiful, and perfect kid to ever grace the face of the planet ya know, and Amy and I are no different *veiled grin*). So she was healthy at 9 pounds 14 ounces and 21 3/4 inches long. Blue eyes and light reddish blond hair (both could change when all is said and done). She is a good baby in the since that she is not too fussy and can actually hangout on the bed or in her swing by her self and doesn't require constant attention (even though we give it to her whether she likes it or not damn it!) All in all, she ROCKS! Yeah its a trade-off, but one Amy and I were ready to make. We were both looking forward to parenting. So let the "fun" begin! [insert sinister laugh here]
Take care,
~K

Hoonah day trip

This is the village of Hoonah seen from about five miles out. Its only a 25 minute flight in a bush plane from Juneau, AK.
Lost-and-Found-in-AK

Flew to Hoonah (a native village in Icy Straights) yesterday. I like Hoonah. The people are nice and there is great hunting in the area. It is very rough country though and there is an average of one brown bear square mile of land, so you better watch your ass. This is a picture of the approach into the airport.
Lost-and-Found-in-AK

Dog days of summer!

My other D-O-double-G, Annie. Got her for mine and Amy's anniversary a few years back. She is a total pain in the ass, but hey she is cute and loyal (she actually stood between Amy and a huge brown bear we accidentally snuck-up on while hiking last year. Annie would have thrown down too by the looks of it, but luckily Dudley - our other dog - was there also and the bear realized quickly that he was outnumbered). Doesn't she look like a little scrapper? Beagle & Rottweiler mix lol.
Lost-and-Found-in-AK

Lord Dudley (for you Auntie Mame fans)

Isn't this the most awesome dog you have ever seen? Dudley is my Doug, Yo. Husky&wire-hair terrier mix. Plus we tease him that he has a little horse in him (the ears?).
Lost-and-Found-in-AK

It's the Ba-by count-down....

So two weeks left till the do-date of Aida (my first child). Mom (Amy) is doing great. Me on the other hand, well, I'm having troubles settling down into a "fatherly frame of mind". I'm still drinking and smoking too much (so I'm told). I think it will all tone down after the birth though. I just hope I'm not drunk or stoned when we go into labor.

I suck at weight-lose by dieting. I can't wait for Aida to be born so Amy and I can get back to working out, hiking and camping to get back into shape.

I'm still figuring out this whole blogging thang, so bare with me. I resolve to post more photos. I think that is the direction I want to take with this blog. Photos are way more interesting than my feeble attempt at prose (I hate self-deprecating assholes). Photos are worth a thousand words (there that's better)

Any way, I hope to get up on it after the birth - as far as this blog goes anyway lol.

Piece and hair grease!
~K

4th of July - an exercise in independence

So, I didn't partake in the fireworks; didn't go to the parade; didn't even wear red, white, OR blue all weekend. But I did think about my independence, and the country I love, which eventually led to me taking a nap. But before you take away my passport, I did a lot of barbequeing...salmon, steaks, burgers, dogs, corn...

I feel like I'm on a team that, despite a historically favorable past, is in last place and banned from active recruiting do to "rules violations." Yet I'm still on the team, but feel complacent riding the bench. Ok, enough of the metaphors. America is a great country. I know this because I have traveled a bit outside of it, and have served it as a soldier. However, we have some serious issues in this country that never seem to take center stage above the grass-roots level. So I don't buy the propaganda our leaders dish out about keeping to a moral high-ground as they "save" these other countries from terrorist interests only to see other countries ignored-including OUR OWN. Our leaders do nothing unless there is a benefit to them personally, professionally, or politically. That is what directs U.S. policy in my opinion. So how does this tie into 4th of July? I have no idea. I'm just feeling lackluster about my country's day of independence and looking for something to pin it on. But I'll tell you this: We are less independent today than we were yesterday, and it will continue like that until something sparks a backlash by the public. Then hello 60's revisited! Cool. I missed the first version but I hear 60's 2.0 is going to be the cat's meow!

Hopefully this will be my only political posting. I generally avoid politics beyond the local level.

Peace and hair grease all............................................
Kimosabe