Sitka Sound

While in Sitka I took a bike ride all alone to this beautiful spot in Sitka. Here is a short video of the beautiful sights and sounds of the Sitka Sound.

Porter's jetplane

Christmas wishes came true this year, Santa brought Porter a jetplane and Bodhi a horse. We didn't open any more presents for hours after these toys were opened! Here's a picture of Porter with a chocolate smile and a video of Bodhi riding his horse for the first time.
When we opened the rest, we got things from all over the world, a very diverse, ethnic Christmas. From Auntie Kristen we got things from Laos, Singapore, Burma, Bali and Vietnam - from Auntie Alberta we got things from Honduras and Peru, from Grandma Courtney from India, from Grandma Gail- Australia. We love everything!

Cheers - from tired Mrs. Klaus

Bodhi's Christmas horse

Bodhi Bear in Sitka

Playground shelter commercial

Say hello to your dishwasher!

My friend Kate just recently changed my life, without meaning to. She just sat at my kitchen counter raving about how much she likes and uses her dishwasher while our kid played on a play date. It saves water, it sterilizes everything and she doesn't have to do dishes! I was just listening and nodding along until I had a brief moment of clarity. I have a dishwasher and I don't use it.I was spending 2 hours a day washing, stacking, drying and putting away. I felt as if I had a ball and chain yanking back to the sink if I got too far away.
Then I went over to Kate's house and ended up staying quite a while. Charlie, her husband, was pulling crab pots, so we drank and talked and Kate made sloppy joes. Long story short, Charlie got home and cleaned up the entire kitchen until it was spic and span. Then he just pushed the button on the dish washer, said tada and that was it, it started gurgling and cleaning. I was completely sold. Every night since then, (well maybe not every night) I've loaded the dishwasher and freed myself. I am reading more, have more time for homework, more time to spend with the kids. I also freed up energy so I could closely analyze other things I was doing that were unnecessary and time consuming. I started getting rid of my old shoes and clothes I don't wear. I was so popular down at the homeless shelter they started swarming my trunk when I would pull up and help me carry the boxes in. My husbands old shirts from the 80's, shoes that were cute but had lost their magic, childrens clothes. When I leave there, I feel the weight of years removed. Space in the garage is being freed up. I found money while purging as I always do when I start to clear away the old.
This experience has made me lighter in body and spirit. I have started to dance with scarves as my exercise every morning. My two favorite songs to dance to right now are LOVE by Nat King Cole and Santa Baby by Ertha Kitt. The kids dance with me too.
We went to the park and I used the playground like an obstacle course and I wore this long purple hat that fell down to my knees. You must be playful in the hat. The hat demands it. You cannot be taken seriously. Well, all this movement and dancing and running and extra time gave me more energy.
I worked on the garage some more and added a huge, happy purple rug to our dressing area. We have to have a dressing area because we need proper gear for 4 people for rain, sleet, snow, raining sideways, snowing sideways, freezing, below freezing, freezing sideways... you get the idea. You need to have jackets for all these conditions, hats, mittens, scarves and emergency supplies in your car of extra clothes in case all the ones you are wearing get wet. This is Alaska and you must be prepared for anything. I organized it so well that we are like the Jetsons in the morning. Just gliding through the garage grabbing all the things we will need for the day. I am so much happier...
All of these transformational changes came from making just one adjustment in my life and letting the rest fall into place. So thank you Kate for introducing me to my dishwasher!