February 2016 – Bones Bits & Buns

February 17, 2016Mama B 3 Comments

Hello, Mister!

We are so happy to share that our Baby B is here! He arrived on January 30th, and so far we’ve had a great transition to being a family of four. Little B is the sweetest big sister, and it’s been such a joy to watch her with her baby brother. She and I made a quick trip to the grocery store the other night while Papa B hung out with Baby B at home. After we got in the truck to head home, she told me, “I go see baby brother.” Today, after she woke up from her nap, she heard him crying as Papa B changed his diaper in the other room and told me, “Baby brother crying. I go check on him.” It just makes my heart melt.

Alaska Bound, Part 4

Here’s part 4 of a yet-to-be-determined part series on our migration from Minnesota to Alaska. We resume on Saturday morning (day 2) in Minot, ND.

In Minot I saw something I don’t think I’d ever seen before in my life: diesel was less expensive than gasoline. I’ve spent my life in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and a short stint in upstate New York. Gasoline was always cheaper in those states. For example, at the Super America gas station near our old home in MN a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline currently sells for $1.49. A gallon of diesel will run you $2.05. In Minot (remember, this was back in July before the bottom fell out of the oil market – I’m sure it’s cheaper today) on Saturday morning, diesel was $2.69 to gasoline’s $2.79. From Minot to Homer, diesel would stay cheaper than gasoline. When you’re getting around 7.5-8 mpg, every little bit helps.

Somewhere between Minot and the Canadian border, my phone finished downloading all 34GB of my music library and we collectively decided to add Best Of Lynyrd Skynyrd to the library. We had music for the mountains! Woohoo!

Alaska Bound, Part 3

Here’s part 3 of a yet-to-be-determined part series on our migration from Minnesota to Alaska. Finally, we’re on the road.

The Schedule

The idea was to cover roughly 12 hours a day, each of us taking 4 hours probably in 2-hour shifts. With 60 hours of driving, that meant 5 days of travel time. Knowing full well that something would come up, some days we’d start late, weather, road construction, wrecks (hopefully none that we’re involved in), and wildlife could all delay us I planned for a healthy buffer. We were to depart on Friday morning. Five solid days of driving would’ve put us in Homer on Tuesday night. A day for customs on either side and a day’s worth of late starts, sleeping in, and longer than planned meal stops would put us into Homer on Thursday night. Bad weather, mechanical issues, and any other unplanned events could eat up two days before Mechanic Guy and Tree Guy would need new flights home. If we hit Homer by Friday evening, we’d still have time for a day of fishing on Saturday. Not wanting to jinx it, I didn’t book a fishing charter even though I really wanted to get the Guys out halibut fishing.

Collaborative Quilt Project

My incredibly talented and creative girlfriend in Seattle asked me several months ago if I would be interested in participating in a collaborative quilt she was planning. She was putting together a collection of fabrics, and wanted her friends & family who sew to each make a couple of blocks of their choice from those fabrics (or others from their stash that coordinated). She would then assemble them together into a finished quilt. I obviously said, “Heck yes!”