We are settling into our home and enjoying it and Alaska immensely. The house has some quirks, but it is solid and comfortable. That’s a good thing because Rob learned during his orientation at the Native Hospital that in Alaska during any 24-hour period there can be 40 or more earthquakes. They happen around here all the time, but are generally not felt. The last significant earthquake was in 1964 and the Alaska Native Hospital at that time fell into the earth. They rebuilt it and supposedly it is now built to some earthquake standard higher than any other building in Anchorage, so I guess we’ll all find our way to ANTHC as our emergency plan.

Our first week in the house I woke up one morning to a Momma moose and her calf laying out in our backyard.  I couldn’t resist the excitement and so woke the rest of the family. The moose stuck around for a couple of hours and then moved on through the brush. Then, about a week later they were back. Our understanding is that a Momma moose with a calf can be even more dangerous than a bear if the moose feel threatened. I was wondering if there was something like a salt lick we could put in the yard, but then thought better of it.  We’ll just enjoy them when they come around, but won’t encourage their visits. About a week ago about 100 yards from the entrance to our driveway we saw a bull moose in the ditch chomping weeds. It freaks you out when you drive by these enormous creatures right next to you, and they inspire a great deal of awe because they are huge!

Another reason we are enjoying our house is because of the views. We are pretty much situated on the side of the Chugach Mountains in a neighborhood called Hillside. From the decks on our house we have an amazing view across the Cook inlet to a mountain called Susitna or “Sleeping Lady”. If you look carefully the mountain looks like a lady laying down. We can see all of Anchorage laid out before us, and at night the lights of Anchorage are very pretty. From one particular spot on the deck on a clear day we can see Mt. McKinley which is part of Denali National Park and the Alaska Range. We can also see the Aleutian Range with it’s many volcanoes and glaciers. It’s really amazing to be surrounded by these mountains. Rob said yesterday that he loves the views and would be willing to live in a shack as long as he had these views. He has a really hard time going to sleep at night – not because he cannot sleep – but because he refuses to come to bed because he can’t pull himself away from the views.

For Christmas we are going to get ourselves a telescope to use to look out at the ocean. We are hopeful that we will be able to see some whales coming into Cook Inlet this time of year. Last week we drove up the Turnagain Arm of the Inlet as if we were driving to Seward and not 45 minutes away from our house we saw a pod of Beluga whales that had come in with the high tide following the salmon – according to the Ranger we stopped and talked to along the way. The Turnagain Arm and the Knik Arm are the two “streams” on either side of Anchorage that come off the Cook Inlet. The Arms are salt water affected by ocean tides, while at the same time they are where the fresh water comes in from the glacial melt, so they are full of all kinds of yummy food for the whales. It’s amazing to witness these things and to know that we can decide to seek out, pursue, and explore these kinds of natural phenomena on any given day.

The girls started school on Wednesday, August 19 – one week ago today – and they are both meeting new friends and settling in. Paisley’s name came up for acceptance into a charter school here called “Steller Secondary”. We already had her registered at her boundaried high school, Service High, but she was super excited about Steller so the Friday before school started we made the switch. On her first day of school she had to bring her backpack and sleeping bag and overnight stuff as the Junior class went on an overnight to Seward up the Kenai Peninsula to the Sea Life Center. She had a great time. Olivia is in her boundaried elementary, O’Malley Elementary. She is meeting new friends and after the third day was already coming home asking if I could bring her back to school so she could connect with some friends at the school playground to catch grasshoppers.

A doctor won’t have any problem order cheap viagra in prescribing anti-impotency medicine to healthy men. A man cannot think of having sex with you?” and she replied, “This doesn’t concern her; it’s between him and me.” In her mind, she was generic super cialis http://djpaulkom.tv/governing-on-engaged-and-getting-married-through-6/ just using him for sex to conceive a child. purchase tadalafil online It has to be kept in the mouth for several minutes, or gulp them down with water. The dosage varies from one viagra uk person to another. Rob started work on Monday of this week and had a good day despite the fact that he didn’t have a single patient. Yikes!! That’s a little scary only because Rob doesn’t do “being bored” well. He will create trouble for himself if he isn’t busy and he thrives on being busy at work – thus becoming a pediatric intensivist. We’ll just have to see how this goes. He wasn’t too concerned about it. This is a whole new gig. It certainly is not UNC’s PICU. Then, yesterday he had two patients and he said he felt great about being able to give them really good care. He was able to give them significantly more attention than he was ever able to give the patients at UNC and one of them he said got a little scary. His hours this week are 7am to 7pm. Monday he left early because there were no patients, but carried the pager. Tuesday he did evening rounds at 7pm and then came home. He missed dinner with us, but he left in the morning after the girls were up so got to say good morning to them and got home before they went to bed so was able to also say goodnight! Yay!  🙂

At this time we only have one vehicle – the mini-van – so I drive Rob to work then Paisley to school then I get back home in time to get Olivia on the school bus. Paisley and I have been having her drive whenever it’s the two of us in the car, so she can get her license sooner rather than later. I’m afraid I’m not a very good driving teacher, but we’re managing. She hasn’t hit anybody or anything yet, so we’re good!!!!  A few fists, dirty looks and horns, but nobody’s gotten hurt. Whew!

I learned from Olivia’s bus driver and Rob’s boss and whomever else you ask around here too that we are likely going to need to replace the van with an all-wheel drive vehicle of some sort. We are learning that up on the hillside here the snows melt and run down the roads and then refreeze and it gets pretty icy. They don’t use salt on the roads here like they do in MN and WI. They plow and use gravel only. There is a road-sign about 100 yards away from our driveway that says, “Winter Warning – roads maintained for four-wheel drive and chains only”.  It is legal to put studded tires on your vehicles in Anchorage from October 1 – May 15, so we will for sure be investing in studded tires and then we’ll just see what it’s like with the van before we just run out and purchase something. Worst case scenario we continue with me being chauffeur for the winter with the pick-up truck Rob just bought. With the help of our friend – Steve Hasse, my brother, and my dad, Rob bought a used F-150 in Minnesota and my dad leaves this Sunday with the truck and a trailer to travel the Alaska Hwy to deliver the truck and the four-wheeler with the plow! Basically all of our winter necessities!

The adventure continues….. (I will continue to update the blog and will encourage the rest of the family to do the same.)