My first birthday in Alaska

Hello there, everyone! I'm writing to you now from this side of 45. Yep, my birthday was last weekend and it was a very nice one, indeed. Thank you to everyone who sent me cards and emails on my special day, and to those who sent them before and after, too!

We got up way before the crack of dawn on my birthday and went into town with James while he took his SATs (long story). Jim, Moya and I ran errands while James was at the college, and a merry adventure was had trying to keep Moya in the back seat of the car. She has a lot of determination, and nothing but time in which to turn her will into reality. It's funny *now* but it sure was frustrating then! Jim took me to the Funky Monkey coffee house for probably the best quiche I've ever had, and we did some shopping in town for food and truck parts and whatnot. When James was done with his test, we came on home.

Shortly before dinner, the guys gave me my birthday presents. James got me Season 3 of Heroes, which we've been spending our evenings since then staying up waaaaay too late watching (not that I'm complaining! Hiro is my favorite), and Jim got me a four-feature set of Wallace and Gromit.

Jim also gave me these:

How awesome! I'd asked for a pair of bunny slippers, but Jim wanted to do something more, something more Alaskan, if you please. So he went to the furrier in Soldotna and found me this pair of slippers. They're a lovely emerald green suede (doesn't really show up too well in this pic) and everybody probably knows how I love green. The brown fur on the top of the foot is otter, the top of the cuff is beaver, and the paler band around the bottom of the cuff is lynx. The lining is sheepskin. They're like wearing a cloud, and so snuggly warm without getting too hot.

Speaking of hot, it was 61 degrees here today! We had to open windows to cool down the house, and we left the balcony door open so the dogs could come and go as they pleased. The sun was so bright it made me squint. James and I finished picking rose hips and found some more highbush cranberries while we were out. I made some candied rose hips from today's pickings, as well as getting four pounds of meatballs ready for the freezer, and my first batch of homemade yogurt done.

Hm, I guess that's most of the news for now. James is studying for a test in his web design class, and Jim is banging his head against his work project. I'm about to start knitting a hat for Jim - going to learn how to double-knit, yikes! - unless I decide to watch another episode of Heroes.

Yeah, maybe just ONE more episode. ;^)