The Race is On

I fully acknowledge and admit, I am an Iditarod junkie! I have been following the race closely as usual. There have been many exciting things in this race so far. We have witnessed a missing dog, mushers crashing & being knocked unconscious, bold moves, mushers loosing 5 hour leads because they thought they lost the trail,and other ups and downs of the trail. There are so many big names in mushing running the race this year and it is hard to pick a favorite. This year is a record breaking year as well. I have some favorites out there but I don’t think I could be disappointed with anyone who wins, there are some amazing mushers and dog teams out there!

Some of my favorites this year are Newton Marshall, he is a Jamaican. He is not in contention to win but he just seems to be a great guy and always with a big smile as he goes by! Dee Dee Jonrowe in her pink parka is always a cheery site. She is raising money for a small village boy with autism to receive a service dog. Then there is Sebastian Schnuelle. He has a bold character! I love the crazy hair! He led the way for a long time. There are greats like the Seavey family, Hugh Neff, John Baker, Hans Gatt (this year’s winner of the Yukon Quest), and many others. The two front runners are battling it out trying to reach Nome first. It doesn’t matter which of the two wins, there will be a record broken. Lance Mackey would be the first to win four Iditarod races back to back. Jeff King, who sadly, has announced this would be his last Iditarod, would tie with Rick Swenson with the record holding high of five Iditarod wins.

Ok, enough for now, back to check more stats. The Iditarod rocks!

For some awesome images from the trail, head here.

This, That and Another Thing

The last ten days have been busy, very busy.  My grandmother was here for a visit.  We took the time to see the sites of Alaska.  She celebrated her 70th birthday by watching the Iditarod.  We also took a trip to Seward.  We made it there through the snow storm. There was heavy blowing snow in the mountain passes. You couldn’t tell the difference between the sky, road and snow bank. With 10-15 foot high snow walls on both sides of the road through Turnagain Pass things were a little nerve wracking. We just barely missed the avalanches along the Seward highway.  We spent time at the Sea Life Center and had a relaxing time.  The road  reopened in time for us to leave however we did have a small delay while waiting for the crews to finish the avalanche cleanup.   We made it home in plenty of time to get her to the airport yesterday morning.

Iditarod fever is still running strong.  I am following the race and as of this morning the top contenders have reached the Yukon River just a little past the halfway point.  There has been some excitement along the trail this year already. Going to the ceremonial start in Anchorage was fun but being out on Willow Lake at the official re-start was the best. I am so totally hooked on the Iditarod! Last year at the Iditarod hubby left the camera battery (which had been charging) in the car. No problem, there was always next year – right? This year he left the camera at home. No problem, we had just bought my Gma a camera for her birthday and decided we would use her’s! Except the batteries died as soon as we got there. Hey, I guess there is always next year!?! I may just have to swipe some photos from friends who where there.

I am still dealing with having this cast on my hand and am sooooo ready to get it off!  Ten more days until I go back to the orthopedic doctor for another evaluation.

The bathroom remodel has been resumed and we are still waiting to get my son’s room repaired from the water damage.  This is a priority in the coming days.

Sadly, we are down to about 2 1/2 weeks until my hubby leaves.  It has been great these last couple of weeks with the distractions but now we are beginning to really prepare for his departure and the long separation.  I think the younger children are beginning to pick up on it too.  The younger ones, especially the baby, have been extra clingy when it comes to their daddy.  We  may have a very unpleasant struggle adjusting to daddy being gone but will continue to pray that the Lord will allow a smoother transition.

I am hoping to be back to more regular blogging soon but it may still be sporadic for the next few weeks.

So, if you stuck with my ramblings thus far, let me ask you, what has been happening in your life the last couple of weeks?

Trunks…

Tree trunks, that is……

Sledding Fun

I am now sporting a new hot pink cast for the foreseeable future while the ligament damage in my hand heals.  I am really bummed.  I would love to go back to sledding!  It was loads of fun and the scenery around our house just cannot be beat.  Since I shared the ugly photos of my damaged hand I thought I would share some photos of a few of us having some fun too!

In a Splint…

Sledding was great fun!  Smiles and laughter all around….until Mom wiped out.  Rest over night.  ER the next morning.  Left arm in a splint.  Thank you, Lord, it isn’t the right hand!  No broken bones but I am now waiting to see the orthopedic doctor.  It might be damaged ligaments.  I basically have one hand now until who knows when.  So needless to say….my online life will drastically slow down for a while.  The sledding run was a blast until the crash!  ho hum……. that is the update for now.

A Murphy Visit; Rain in the Bedroom

If you remember from the last post we are beginning the basement bathroom remodel.  We had those three leaks in the basement that are finally repaired.  All of the supplies for the remodeling job are purchased and the evening before we were to start we hear our son yell, “Dad, it is raining in my bedroom!”  Murphy decided to come back for a visit, I think.  This particular bedroom is already missing a good portion of two walls already from the previous leaks.

Let me say up front, “God has been abundantly providing for us financially lately!”  You will see that if you read the Melting Expenses post below.  We also just received our tax return and paid off a few things as well as buy the supplies for the bathroom remodel.  We know the Lord is good and not only good but abundant in his provision!  God is not surprised by what is happening now.  That being noted…….. here is the run down of the last couple of days.

Almost every towel in the house was used to try and dry the remaining water that was flowing and to sop up the once again drenched carpet.  Thankfully, we have an ugly drop down ceiling in the basement.  Hubby was able to move the ceiling tile and reach up to see if he could determine where the water was coming from.  He found a large ice-cycle in the floor/ceiling between the upstairs and downstairs. (son’s room is in the basement)  He them placed a call to our home insurer.

We soon had a couple of men shoveling the top of our house and breaking up the ice dam believed to have caused the damage.  The water damage mitigatory then came out to access the situation.  The report is this……..

Ice damming caused the water to back up between the wood siding of the house and the outer wall.  This ran along the outside until it reached the basement level and found the dryer vent where the moisture then moved inside the house.  The ice melted in the heat of the house and began pouring down the wall and dripping from the ceiling.  We have the entire outer wall in my son’s room which needs to be gutted, dried out, and replaced.  That makes wall number 3 in his room!  Not only that but it looks like our roof (only 1 1/2 years old) will need to be completely replaced.  It appears that the previous owner used a questionable company to replace the roof.  This company is no longer in business, therefore no warranty.  They used the cheap kind of ice water shield and it looks as if that was not even installed correctly.   We will know more next week when our reputable roofer comes out to take a look.

So we have all of this to take care of now, finish the bathroom remodel, and Oh Yeah, my hubby leaves in 5 weeks!!!!

Murphy, thank you for stopping by, thank you for giving us another opportunity to trust in my Lord, now please go bother someone else! LOL