All work and no play....makes Greg a dull boy

You remember the movie "The Shining"? I make a real good impression of that twisted teeth-bearing smile that Jack Nicholson made before he lost it. Its not that bad...yet. I keep wondering about the darkness of winter. Hee, ha, hee, hee! The point I am making is that this is becoming alot of work re-establishing the basics of life at the new home. Maybe its that I am spoiled that we had everything up to date and in tip top shape at the cabin in Dorrington, and the only worries I had there was what I "wanted to do next". Or maybe its because the previous owner of this place didn't do a thing to keep up on it or do things right. Oh, I am not going to say it's a 'money pit', or as uncle Bob would say...."a diamond in a goats ass". No in fact it is beautiful here, and very livable. But. There is alot to do to bring it to the comfort level that we had and somewhat want again. And as I mentioned the fact that it was not kept up on isn't helping matters much. So my list of projects and chores is growing, and I am becoming a tad frustrated. I would really like to go join the 'head-bobbers' ' out in the river and catch some salmon to stock in the freezer that we haven't bought yet because we have no reason to.... yet, for the winter. The list of wants could go on I suppose. But things like the woodpile for the winter, situating the well which is all but sucking mud, the on-going job of setting up the garage with all of my tools and making work space so's I can take care of other looming projects, and more. This all has a priority. And we cant forget work as it comes in. Ahh yes, the all mighty buck! Good news on the 'buck' subject is that we were spending....and this is no exageration...$850.00 a month on gasoline, petrol, before we left Dorrington. Here we dwarf that amount at around $200.00 a month. Mind you we aren't working full time yet, but at that we are going into town almost daily to work or network, or run errands. Gas is at $3.03 a gallon here, and has been that price since we touched down on June 14th. Hasn't budged. What is it down there???????? So after yesterday being just flat out and simply, "one of those days", Maryann took me out on a date last night around 10:00PM. She took me to the cafe at Safeway in Kenai to have a scoop of Dryers ice cream. The cafe was closed and the ice cream locked up. :( I guess some folks here have no tolerance for 'daylight endurance'. So then we trekked over to Fred Meyers in Soldotna to hit the Starbucks.....guess what. More intolerance! We eventually just got grocery shopping out of the way, and Maryann....clever as she is...snagged a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a couple...no, 3 spoons after the way the day went, for the two of us for the road. We ate it in the parking lot and watched the local cop letting his 2 dogs, one at a time, out of the cruiser to go potty. It was cheap entertainment. Wasn't like Roscoe P. Coltrane or anything, but nonetheless entertainment. The fun thing about coming home at midnight was that it is getting darker at that time now and you get to see all of the lights that you never got to see when the sun was up til 2:00AM. That and moose are out grazing that time of night! As of today there is 17 hours and 44 minutes of daylight. It is overcast today, after several days of beautiful weather, 50 degrees and a chance of rain tonight. Anyways, we have only been here a month and a half, and as I stated earlier it's not like we didn't already know it would be work, so it is not surprising. It is just taking alot of patience and some dedication to making things right. My suggestion to anyone who wants to pick up their entire life and move to Alaska....DON'T. Naw, just kidding about that! DO. And do so knowing that it is a task man, remembering that 'knowing' and actually 'being one with' is two different things. You aren't sensing any regret in my words here, by no means. Just wanting to convey to all of those 'tiny grasshoppers' out there who dream of following our que, that it is one of the biggest tasks you may take on in your life. When you want something bad enough, like we wanted this, you will make it work. But just make darned sure its what you really want, otherwise.....'all work and no play, may make you a dull boy'! Hee, ha, hee, hee!! :#