Countdown To ALASKA!!!!!

31 hours, 11 min till take-off; 47 hours, 9 min till touchdown in Anchorage! Not that I'm excited or anything. Plans are starting to take shape, and I can't wait to begin! However, things here in NY aren't going as quickly or as smoothly as I'd hoped. I started packing tonight, and tomorrow I'm going to have to finish, in and around a million other things I have to do and places I have to be. It will come together, but at the moment I'm not sure how.
So, for the next couple months, I'll be writing about "Life in Alaska". Hope you can enjoy the trip with me through this blog. Almost as good as being there...well, not really. If you get a chance you still need to go there and experience it for yourself. But until then...

Independence Day

I love so many things about this holiday! People are everywhere. Picnics, boating, barbecues, kids playing frisbee on the grass, fireworks, etc. Everyone is relaxed and enjoying spending time with family and friends. For those of us who have family members and good friends in the military, particulary ones who are overseas and the ones who paid for our freedom with their lives, the reason we celebrate the holiday hits home a lot harder than for most. Freedom that was bought through the shed blood of American soldiers. Thank you to all who serve in each and every branch of our military.
Tonight I spent the evening taking care of two wonderful girls - Sis and a 9 year old girl from NYC who is staying with Phippens (part of the 'fresh air' program). The evening was filled with dinner, playing games, reading books, and trying to figure out what to do about one of their heifers who had escaped from the pasture. Yep, life in the country. :)
I agreed to work two days this week for a friend doing office work, which was probably pretty stupid considering I have too much to do in too little time already! Still, it'll be interesting.

NYC - Hanging Out

When we weren't out and about seeing the city, we generally congregated at Vic's house. He had a couple big screen tvs that were perfect for the guys to play Halo 3 and Guitar Hero on (I was impressed that with 12 gamers hanging out together for over a week, they only played one afternoon, and spent all the rest of the time chatting, hanging out with me and Jeff's family). There was a pool out back, and a canopy over a goodsized table, so we could enjoy the weather while watching the kids play. The kids got me to go swimming once, and I pushed Joey 'Avacado' in the first day we were there, but for the most part, the kiddos were the ones who swam most. While it was great to go see the city, I loved those down times in the evenings after we got back when we just hung out. Joey and Jeff had their cigars, Joey introduced us the fine points of good wine and cheeses, Mindy and I (mostly her) made cookies (3 batches that disappeared in a couple days), all of us playing with Samantha, Michael, and Matthew, and just having fun! So many memories made this trip. Pizza and Chinese were ordered a few times, Jeff was a pro with the grill, and Joey made some delicious pasta one day. Yep, we certainly ate well. :)

picnic time!!

The hot, extremely muggy weather has been making life difficult recently. But last night we had a thunderstorm, and the humidity broke. So today was perfect! Sunny, very warm but low humidity.
Perfect timing, since it was my dad's birthday and he chose a picnic in the park. We went down to Washington Park, which is a huge park (they have the Tulip fest there each year), and beautiful. My dad and Zachary tossed a football around, mom and JJoy threw the frisbee, and Zachary and Joanna even played in the water below the fountain.
A wonderful day for a picnic, and because I had been excused from jury duty yesterday (after sitting on an extremely hard bench for 5 hrs while the jury was selected) I could actually be there for it.

Accident

I'm interrupting my posts on the NYC trip to bring you breaking news on current events here in the village of Hoosick Falls. On Wednesday evening, June 16, I was driving to the grocery store and was distracted by what appeared to be a child running into the street in front of an oncoming car. I turned to look at the same time the vehicle in front of me hit the brakes. By the time I had turned forward and slammed on my brakes it was too late, and I rear-ended her. Both my airbags went off, my arms instinctively went up, leaving me feeling fine except for airbag burns, scratches, and bruises all over my left arm. The other lady was fine, and her car was dented, but not too bad. My car had to be towed. POI appeared to be the radiator, though the front in general was pretty banged up.
Yesterday I started hurting much worse. What had started as a dull headache quickly escalated to not having any range of motion in my neck. There was a lump at the base of my neck I was worried about, since the whole area around it by the spine was extremely swollen by that point, and barely touching it was excruciating. Since I was already down near the hospital (my dad had taken me down to pick up a rental car), he agreed it was best to get it checked out, so I went in to the ER. They did x-rays and the initial diagnosis is that it's moderate to severe whiplash, but to watch carefully for signs of anything worse. He thinks I should see steady improvement over the next few days, but if not I have to go in for an MRI early next week. For now, he put me back on Ibuprofen to bring the swelling down. Painful, but as long as it goes away, manageable so far. It could have been a lot worse, so I'm thankful.

NYC - Aquarium and Coney Island

Thursday was nice enough to go out, so we headed to the aquarium to take a look at the sharks (for Joey), turtles, fish, etc, before going to Coney Island for lunch and rides in the amusement park areas. The aquarium didn't seem very big, but some of the exhibits were really good. Coney Island was interesting. They have a lot of rides, in three areas.
I rode on the Cyclone, the oldest wooden roller coaster. That was a blast, though Joey and I didn't have any room to spare since the cars were so small. Samantha and Michael went on a bunch of the kiddie rides, and Matthew went on some, too. We were able to convince Jeff to go up on the Ferris Wheel. He is terrified of heights, so of course everyone had fun with that. He was a great sport, though, and even did several other rides as well (though he turned white as a sheet each time).

NYC - Zoo

Tuesday we went to the zoo, arriving in the early afternoon, since Marco was an hour and a half later than planned. He 'got lost' driving around the block! Seeing the tigers, bears, peacocks, and other animals was really neat. Mantha had a lot of fun, and even got to go on the 'bug carousel' with Mindy and her brothers. Marco and Mike rode it, too. Jeff turned pasty white on the monorail, but the rest of us loved it all.

NYC - Museum of Natural History, Times Square, and the M&M Store

We visited the museum of natural history on Monday. Jeff, Mindy, and the kids had come in Sunday afternoon. Jeff's mom, Rhonda, came with them. We spent all afternoon looking at exhibits. The dinosaurs were a favorite, as were the animals from all over the world.

We also went down to Times Square, and spent some time in the M&M store. Never seen so many m&m's!

NYC - Steve's Piccolo Bussela

One night a bunch of us went out to Steve's Piccolo Bussela for dinner. Joey had been telling us about this place, and how he's known the owner for 17yrs or so. At the end of our 5 course dinner - which was absolutely fantastic - Steve came over to say hi. His accent was so strong that when he said, "Joe DeCarlo!" it sounded like he said "avacado", and from that moment on, Joey became 'Joey Avacado' or 'Javacado'.

12 of the 18 people hanging out here in NYC this week all had met/known each other through an internet game called World of Warcraft.

Since Jeff was bringing his family from Illinois to visit this week, the other gaming friends decided to come the same time. I joined them down there on June 5th, and am planning to head home tomorrow evening, the 15th.

Jeff, Mindy, Samantha, Michael, Matthew, and Rhonda (Jeff's mom) stayed at the same hotel, which was handy.

We visited the Museum of Natural History (dinosaurs), zoo (lions and tigers and bears, OH NO!), aquarium (sharks), Coney Island (hot dogs and chili fries before a fast, rickety roller coaster isn't the greatest idea), and spent a lot of time at Vic's house barbecuing, swimming in his pool, talking, making cookies for the guys, watching movies, playing Halo 3, running around with the kids, and eating some more.

Yesterday Vinny and Justin took Jeff and the family to Ground Zero, the Empire State Bldg, and to see the Statue of Liberty. We all congregated again at Vic's in the evening, and after Jeff and the kids left we went to see A-Team at the theater. Today is just a relaxing day.

NYC!!!!!

I had my last bit of work this morning on my way to the train station. After arriving at Penn station at 1pm, we picked up some lunch and then I took a nap and relaxed for a couple hours.
Now we are waiting for Mike and Scott to get to the house. They just got to JFK a couple minutes ago. Everyone is going to Vic's house to hang out tonight.
Ah, an entire week of relaxation!

Visit to Alaska

I'm waiting to hear back about the job at the coffee shop in Homer. But I decided today that even if I don't get the job I will still go visit. I'm very excited! I'm also taking a trip to NYC for a week at the beginning of June. It doesn't appear that I'll have any down time here, before that point, either. So much to do, with work, and by the end of each day I'm exhausted and run down. Time for vacation!

ALASKA!!!!!

A couple days ago I received a phone call from a guy in Homer, AK, asking if I could move up there and work for him this summer. I had to turn it down because I am in the middle of the Census job, and he wanted me there by the first of June! I did talk to my supervisor, though, and she told me she thought they could find someone to cover as Crew Leader for me, so I am planning on calling him back today and seeing if he would still want me if I came by the middle of June. He owns a coffee shop up there, and I would absolutely love it! Imagine, being in Alaska during the warmer months, having a job that pays pretty well, and having plenty of time to enjoy fishing, boating, and all the other outdoor stuff available there! I do hope it works out, but it is definitely short notice.
No more incidents this week with work, which is a relief. I'm slowly finding my way around the area, getting to know more roads, as I drive them so much. :)
This week I've actually had a chance to get to know a few people in the area, at the Johnsonville FD, and have spent a couple evenings chatting and reminiscing with them. Stories of my grandfather, and life in general. It's amazing how NOT thinking about work can ease the stress so much. Time slips away so quickly.
So now I'm off to enjoy the sunshine. I have a book, plenty of water, and a camping chair, so all I need to find is a place to settle in. Yesterday another heat wave began, with temps in the upper 70's to mid 80's all this week. Ahhh...much better than rain!

"Fire! Fire! Fire!" And Other Random Occurances

I was in the park on Friday doing Census paperwork when my phone rang. It was one of my enumerators. She sounded slightly panicked, telling me that she was "in the middle of nowhere" at a house where an alarm was going off and an automated voice saying "Fire! Fire! Fire" but she couldn't see any fire or smoke, and what should she do? I called a fire fighter I knew and he said to call 911. Because we reported it, I had to go out there, since I was her crew leader. 911 sent Johnsonville FD, so two engines, the chief, and a bunch of their guys showed up. Funny thing was, by the time they got there, the alarm had shut itself off. They were as confused as we were, but checked the house anyway. No fire, no people, so no one knows why the alarm went off. Since we had to wait until the NY Trooper arrived, I chatted with the firemen to pass the time. The chief offered to help out however he could, and said we could use their fire department parking lot to meet at if we wanted. After an hour and a half out there, I headed back to town, only to get a call from another enumerator asking what to do, because she had just been bitten by a dog. So I headed back out to the country to meet her, take stock of the situation, and get her to the hospital for treatment. The dog punctured several points behind her knee, and bruised the area pretty good. She can now bend her leg again slightly, and is back to work. Poor gal!
I don't think the office knows what to make of my crew, with these two incidents and the one the previous week with automatic weapon fire. Apparently no one else has had any difficulties. Gotta love it! Can't wait to see what comes next!

Hassles of Being a Crew Leader (otherwise known as a CL)

I can't believe it is already the middle of May! Unfortunately, the heat didn't last, and we've been back to cold, cold, cold weather, with rain, clouds, and overall dreariness.

My life has not slowed down in the slightest, and if anything, seems crazier. I began with 17 people on my crew for the Census, laid off three, had one quit, am 'not-quite-firing' three more today, and just had three more new ones added yesterday. My entire crew has problems I have to resolve for them each day, and I have to meet individually with each one in their job area each day. So I am constantly on the go. Back and forth between W Hoosick, Petersburg, Hoosick Falls, Johnsonville, White Creek, and everywhere in between. I'm seeing all sorts of roads that aren't even on the map! If I wasn't always in such a hurry I'd thoroughly enjoy every moment. Right now, it's off to work again.

Summer Weather

The heat has begun, and with it, the mugginess that is AWFUL! The last two days were in the upper 80's and it was so sticky and humid that as soon as you walk out the door you are drenched with sweat. I had a busy day, but it was difficult to keep going with it like that.
After church I went over to visit a friend at the armory, and then back to the local high school to see a drama performance that some of my 'little sisters' from church were in. They did a wonderful job. As soon as that was over I went to work meeting with my crew members, which took the rest of the evening. By that point I wanted to relax, so I went for a walk around town.
The officers on duty were driving around bored, trying to stay cool since the AC at the PD wasn't working. So they kept driving by, stopping to chat. There were a couple skateboarders out who were annoying me, so the officers drove by them real slow repeatedly until they moved in another direction. As I was finishing my walk, one of the officers pulled into the parking lot beside me, followed by the other one. Still bored, so we spent the next half hour or so talking (I was between both cars with their AC turned up, so I managed to stay pretty cool myself. :)
It was a long day, but I'd rather have heat than cold, I think.