Life Update

Well, I have been here in Alaska for a week.

Not an awful lot exciting going on...at least not yet. We have had lots of visitors--especially from like 3 to 7pm or so.

Let me give you the rundown on who they are. That way you can match pictures with descriptions is forthcoming posts:

Darcy--my cousin. A sweetheart. Almost 21. Was 2 when we moved here when I was a freshman, and now she can almost go drinking with me. Her boyfriend is 19. She has her PCA certification as of last month, and is slowly working from getting her GED to nursing. Has been dropping by for 6 hours at a time or so.

Sonny-fullback for Kenai high school when they won 4 championships in a row. Part white and part Alaska native. My cousins live in boyfriend. Working toward being a welder.

Janice--middle aged recent divorcee and teaches with mom at school. A sweet lady, but frustrates me that she comes in and unloads all her drama on mom within two hours after we get home from Anchorage. Which gets me kinda defensive of my mother.....but mom is too nice to say anything so I go into the next room

Steve--My uncle. Recovering from cancer treatment. Director of Public Works for the City of Soldotna. Has lost 50-70 pounds with the radiation treatments. Still his same old ornery tenderhearted self. Wears a white tshirt under a flannel shirt and levis jeans most of the time. Says the words "God damn" on a frequent basis, although he has been cutting back with that since he started going to church lately after a break of 30-40 years. After being fishing buddies with a local pastor for 15 years or so he decided to join his daughter in attending the church. Avid fisherman and hunter. Thinks of my sister and I almost like his own kids. My moms only brother.

Anna--Steve's daughter, darcys sister. Was born when I moved here. Graduating from high school this year. Had prom last weekend. Have not seen much of Anna, which is normal.

Tammy--Darcy and Annas mom. Fun woman. Also can be abrasive and difficult for people to deal with at times. But she has a soft spot for the Friar. She is, after all, the one who gave the good friar his nickname at a party where I had o...about 5-6 drinks and danced a lot with my neices who were in grade school at the time. We did not get a long for a while...she called me a braindead pubert at one point, and I told her "better a braindead pubert than a feminazi bitch like you". For some reason we have been better friends ever since.

Judy--Mom's good buddy and next door neighbor. A short chubby woman with a heart of gold. Voice reminds me of Marge's sisters on the Simpsons. Never married. In her 40s or so...but now has a pretty serious boyfriend. She teaches with mom at the school as well. She is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. And she is pretty funny sometimes too.

Lynn--Another one of moms co-workers as a primary grade teacher. The one who has organized most of the meals that people have brought over while I have been here for our family. Her hubby is the HS principal.

Tara--Single gal in her early thirties. She has dropped by twice. Very chatty and down to earth. Brought us stew monday night. Dropped by last night. Probably going to get out of the house and hang out with her a little this weekend.

Dalton and Carter--second cousins that came over and wrestled the whole time they were here.
Dalton got knocked out getting hit over the head by a table while helping put them away. He likes riding his motorcycle a lot. He is 9.

I guess I told you about these folks to tell you more about me.

A lot of people I think get the impression that because I am "Friar Tuck" I come from a churchgoing family with more proper Christian friends. Or that because I am more intellectual that I come from a family that is a lot like that. Neither is true.

My mom loves to read, but generally reads romance novels. My dad is a groundskeeping supervisor who does not read as much any more because he does not like wearing glasses. They are divorced. Both are smart, and would test well above average on an IQ test. Neither one of them care too much about intellectual pursuit though. I was watching Charlie Rose interview someone one night....and mom patted me on the head and said "Its ok to be smart baby"...shook her head...and then patted me on mine and went to bed.

My mom went to church when we were growing up, but most of my influences in my life were not dedicated churchgoers. I wonder at times if this is part of my struggle with churches....I am not from that church world...nor do I want to be. I love Jesus...and I serve the church. I love church people, but dont really groove on churchiness or church culture. Love bible studies that are good discussions. Hate potlucks.

I am an odd duck.

Well I am rambling...but hopefully you are getting to know me better, even if I am not doing my normal thinking and writing stuff.