Sharp Dressed Man

"Coz every girl crazy bout a sharp dressed man." -- ZZ Top

Supportive Parents

Growing up, my parents were always very supportive of the activities and events that my two brothers and I were involved in. They traveled to sporting events, near or far, got us to the bus on time for speech meets, attended our drama productions, my Mom was the local 4-H leader and the list could go on and on. Well, my parents have outdone themselves. When John's team won the regional championship for the Bering Strait School District, my parents, along with my brother Brian, bought airline tickets to attend the games in Anchorage. How cool is that! They are the epitome of supportive parents. Thanks for being so great Mom and Dad. --AnnMarie

Proud Big Sister

My brother John is also a teacher in the Bering Strait School District. He lives in a village called Elim about 150 miles southeast of Brevig. He teaches high school and junior high Socials Studies and also happens to be the boys basketball coach. They had a great season, undefeated in fact. Last night they played for the regional championship. The game was broadcast both over the internet and on the school's video conferencing system. So, C.O. and I took Aiti and Ellen over to the school and watched the game live on the big screen. It was very exciting. We were on the edge of our seats and cheering and having a great time. It was especially great when they won. In a couple of weeks, John and the boys will be traveling to Anchorage for the State Basketball Tournament. John's team was by far the better of the two, and if I do say so, he's a great coach. In fact, at the awards ceremony he received the coach of the year award. What a great evening and we're all very proud of him. Here's photos of us watching John's team last night. --AnnMarie

They've Arrived

My grandma and great-aunt Ellen arrived in Brevig on Friday evening. What a trip they had!

This is Ellen.


This is my grandma,
"Aiti".

The weather was marginal for flying into Brevig on Friday. So I was surprised when the airline agent said the plane was 7 minutes out. We went to the airstrip, waited, heard the plane approach, then quiet. *sigh* the plane had turned around. After, we heard from Aiti and Ellen that the attempted landing was pretty rough, rocking and rolling "like a roller coaster!" The plane didn't go back to Nome fortunately, it landed in Teller. Teller is only 8 miles away so we could drive our snow machine across the ice to go get them. When they got off the plane in Teller, the agent asked them where they were going. Since they don't know anyone in Teller, Ellen said, "We're going to your house." So, they did and called us from there. An hour later we had the ladies bundled up and ready to cross the frozen Bering Sea.

At ages 75 and 77 they're an inspiration!

Feet of a Kindergarten Teacher

Another Point of View

Harold's latest thing is to stop and look at life from a little different angle.

Smoking Bans and Private Property Rights

Minnesota recently passed a state wide smoking ban in workplaces (including restaurants and bars) and now Nome is considering a similar measure. After listening to all of the discussion about this I decided to let people know my thoughts on the matter.

Smoking is bad, smoking bans for private places are worse. Smoking has been banned in actual public places for years, city hall, the court house, library, etc. These are actual public places (owned by the public) and smoking should definitely be banned in there. People are required to go to these places to conduct public business. Bars and restaurants are not public, they are owned by individuals. People choose to go to these places.

This is a private property rights issue and not a health issue. There are two "slippery slopes" that we are starting down. What is a public place, and what is an activity that the government can regulate? We can all probably agree that the city hall, court house, etc are public places that should be regulated, now they are trying to say that a bar or restaurant is also a "public place". How long until the government decides that it is in the publics best interest to regulate your home? The other issue is what are the activities that the government can regulate? Today it is smoking, but it is not too much of a stretch to include consuming alcohol or eating fattening foods on the list of regulated activities. Once you decide to regulate one private activity you open the door to regulating all private activity.

This is just one more step down the road to the complete nanny state. Where we let the government control every aspect of our lives because we are not responsible enough to take care of ourselves.

Start taking some personal responsibility and stand up for yourself.

C.O. Rudstrom

Gearing Up For Work

I've mentioned in previous posts that we've had some pretty severe weather. I wanted to give you a glimpse into what I wear as I go to work on a stormy day. --AnnMarie

Tough Guy

Tough guy had to get four shots the other day. It's not fun at the time, but he recovers well.

My Birthday Suit

Last Sunday was my 28th birthday. A couple of things made my day pretty memorable. One is that C.O. got me a present that is quite possible the most comfortable thing I've ever worn.

Dressing Harold in his footed pajamas every night looks so cozy and I wanted a set for myself. Turns out they're great! I wear them every chance I get.

The other memorable part of my day was the opportunity to go on a dog sled ride. I'd never been before. Considering that I grew up in Minnesota and have been in Alaska for 6 years now, I figure it's one of those things I should do. Our friend, Henry, has a dog team and his grandsons have been taking them out nearly every day. So, C.O. arranged a ride for me. The boys took me about 10 miles total. It was an exceptional day, the scenery was beautiful, the sun was shining, needless to say, I had a great time. I learned two things on this journey: 1) it's not quite as fast as I had expected 2) the dogs can do their business and run at the same time. (The second part being not quite as lovely as the rest of the trip.)

Aftermath

I wanted to share some photos of the aftermath of the storm that lasted for nearly a week. As you will see a lot of snow drifted around our house.

Here's the kitchen window from the inside and outside. I love all the daylight at this time of year, so I shoveled it out almost right away.

Before the storm, the snow was drifted about level with the entry into the house. After, C.O. had to shovel steps down to our door.

All of the towering snow makes us feel like we live in a winter wonderland theme park. --AnnMarie

Mac and Mary's Visit

Last week we had the opportunity to host C.O.'s Mom and Dad. We had a great time and were very excited to show them where and how we live. They arrived on Monday in what was was to be four full days of a raging storm. Their original flight to Brevig was canceled so C.O. switched them over to another airline and they amazingly made it in.

After that, we were all pretty much stuck inside the house due to the snow and wind. But I think Mac and Mary made the most of it and enjoyed spending time with their grandson.

"Ahhh, Grandpa did my hair."

The weather finally cleared up on Friday so, we took a walk around town then went to the school for some elementary basketball games.

C.O. and I took advantage of free baby sitters and took a little snow machine ride to the top of a hill and enjoyed the winter scenery. C.O. then took his Mom for a ride to the base of the mountain so he could point out some of the landscape. C.O. put his Dad to work helping dig out our snow machine and fuel hauler after the storm.

The following Monday, the weather was clear and cold so our visitors had no problem getting back to Nome. We hope they made many good memories of their trip to the far north and that they'll come again. Maybe they'd like to see a little warmer weather next time. --AnnMarie

Harold n Friends

When Harold's foster mom gave him to us she said, that he is a very special boy. Everyone who meets him loves him. We have found it to be true and wanted to show you some of Harold's friends.

Harold met Isaiah over Christmas and David gives Harold a bottle.

Christine is Harold's primary babysitter. He loves spending the
day with her and her new baby Ernest.

Ashley teaches Harold how to play many fun things like
jumping in your crib and using a calculator as a pretend cell phone.



Harold and Jesse hanging out, watching the Super Bowl.

Giggles

Side by Side

Ahhh, it's Valentine's Day. A made up holiday so we all go out and buy more stuff. It's junk we don't need but feel obligated to buy to really prove that we love the one we're with. As it turns out, I love C.O. the same amount on every day of the year and don't need to prove my love today with a card or chocolates or whatever. (Hmmm, I didn't really mean for this post to have a cynical tone. On to the sweet stuff I meant to share.)

So, it's Valentine's Day, and one of the things I enjoy doing with the one I love is traveling . When we're in Minnesota, we enjoy spending time with C.O.'s Grandma Ginnie and share with her our plans for travel and adventures. She usually doesn't see the draw towards the trips that we want to take but does see that we enjoy being side by side. One pretty cool thing about Grandma Ginnie is that she knows a ton of songs by heart. And any little phrase will trigger something in her mind and soon she'll starting singing a song with a phrase that was used in conversation. Well, one that she has sung a few times while we have visited her is "Side by Side". We found the song on iTunes and I just made a little video to go with it. Happy Valentines Day. --AnnMarie

Kuspuks

Here's a photo of my latest sewing project. This is the fourth kuspuk I've made for myself. Kuspuks are a traditional style shirt worn here by the ladies in Brevig and by Native people throughout the state of Alaska. I've grown to really love the look and the styling of kuspuks. They are comfortable, beautiful and practical. They are perfect for almost any type of weather. Worn alone, they are loose and amazingly cool. And since they are so roomy, you can easily layer clothes underneath for cold weather. I have a lot of fun finding beautiful fabrics to use and coordinating trims to add around the pockets, cuffs and ruffle. I'm not excited about quilting but I do love all the materials for quilting so this is a perfect way to use the fabrics I like. Now some of you may be saying, "Oh my gosh, she doesn't seriously think that looks good." But keep in mind that styles, tastes and fashion are all influenced by the media and the culture around us. Well, that's what happened to me. I see kuspuks everywhere I go and before long, I want to have a pretty kuspuk too. Here's my collection so far. --AnnMarie

Go, Go, Go

Oogruk . . . It's What's For Dinner

Oogruk is the Inupiaq word for a type of seal. Our friend Kenny gave us a few cuts of meat a while ago. The meat is very tender and actually pretty tasty. We ate our oogruk with a side of pesto pasta for a little blend of cultures.

Google Reader

I recently learned about Google Reader from my coworker, Ginger. I wanted to pass along the information to anyone else who might be able to benefit from this service. As the Google guy explained on the website, Google Reader is basically "an inbox for the internet". You can subscribe to various web sites or blogs and each time they are updated, it shows up in your "inbox". It's great because I can go to one spot and check to see if any of my favorite blogs have been updated. I can read the posts and look at the pictures right there instead of going from site to site to site. It's free but you do need a google account, which, those of you who use blogger, already have.

Our friend Bill was here for a quick visit and told us about a similar program that he uses called, NetNewsWire. I thought I'd throw that out there for another option.

This may be old news for those of you who are tech savvy (savvy has a strange spelling doesn't it?), but for those of us who are just a little behind the times I hope you can benefit from this little tid bit.

Around the World Rosie

In 2005 / 2006, we had an interesting winter in Brevig as far as visitors went. We had two parties, yes two, that were walking around the world. The first person to arrive was Rosie. She started her walk in Wales, U.K. in 2003 and arrived in Brevig in October 2005 via her own two feet. She walked across the U.K., Russia and then took a flight across the Bering Strait in order to arrive in Wales, Alaska and continue her journey. Here's a little excerpt from her web site.

"On 2nd October 2003 my 57th birthday, I'm going to set off to run around the world. Making my dream come true and practical necessity, go together. I shall be solo, self supporting and on a very low budget. . . . . The death of my husband Clive from prostate cancer last year, taught me more than anything about how precious life is; How short it can be, that you HAVE to grab life, do what you can while you can, and try to give something back. I'll be trying to raise awareness of the following very special small charities - to represent the world:- The Prostate Cancer Charity, The Siberian Railway Cancer Hospital at Omsk. The Kitezh Community for Orphan Children Orphanage, the hope of the future of European Russia through its children. The Nepal Trust that achieves so much with almost no money, in the Hidden Himalayas.

I am extremely grateful for the generosity of my family and friends, without their help and faith I could not succeed. Regards Rosie."

When she arrived in Brevig I was fortunate enough to meet her and walk with her for a bit on her journey.


I'm sure Rosie has met an unbelievable amount of people. I really came to realized the number of people she's met during a family reunion this past summer. I had seen that she had been through Park Rapids, Minnesota and had spend quite a bit of time there getting some dental work done. Anyway, I have a lot of relatives from near Park Rapids and I started talking with one of my Dad's cousins who works at a little flower shop. I asked if she had heard about Rosie. Turns out she actually got to meet her, how cool is that? We both got to chat with this lady who is walking around the world. We met her just 2 years and 3,000 miles apart. Rosie continues on her journey and is currently in Greenland. Check out her website, it's a pretty neat but totally crazy endeavor. --AnnMarie