NOVEMBER 1987

Winter was really starting when we finally found a buyer for the white datsun. The Terry Kreigers came out one Sunday to pick it up; Terry's father was the purchases. That lightened our parking lot by one vehicle. The only "non-functional" vehicle left in the parking lot was the van Mark Henson had left behind with us when he moved to Idaho. The "functional" cars that were parked there were the Colt and the Skylark. At one time we had "owned" 4 trucks, 3 cars and had custody of the van. Oh, I shouldn't forget the motorcycle and 2 trailers. But the latter and one of the trucks lived at the house instead of the parking lot. We'd purchased another truck earlier in the year and junked one pickup so after selling the white datsun, we were down to 3 trucks, a van, and two cars. Six vehicles are plenty for one family!

Mark was out of town during the early part of November. He asked me to do his Radio Show. "The head of automation at the library came on with me. We didn't knnow until yesterday afternoon that it was the last show. We thought we had one more week. Fern doesn't really care for the library computer system and lack of card catalog. The library seemed quite excited about having a show presented in a positive way so they can be there to defend themselves. Recently a discussion on the radio implied that the library didn't care to discuss the situation (they are talking about shutting a couple of the branches). My firend Thelma, head of public services, said that the Administration was never approached that the station wanted to do a program on it. The two guys they interviewed were city councilmen so only had one view of the issue."

KHAR, an Anchorage Radio station, has a contest every fall Contestants send in poems pertaining to the season and geese. The judges review each poem and a winner is chosen each day. I decided to enter.

One evening while Mark and I were at a User Group meeting, the pager went off. Trisha paged me to tell me she had heard on the radio that I was a winner; the radio station would be sending me a letter containing instructions for picking up the goose.

The following was my contest entry:

KHAR THANKSGIVING GOOSE CONTEST ENTRY

Thanksgiving is before us.

I'd like to prepare

But WHAT will I feed us

With the cupboards so bare?

In the freezer I have fish,

Or cheese toast may be had.

Even scrambled eggs in a dish

Would not be so bad.

It's a meal without guilt

When not a penny is owed

Than be charged to the hilt Eating on the borrowed.

My relatives down South

Would lke us to see

But....

Don't be down in the mouth

At least,

Hungry we won't be.

We'll stay home and have fish,

Corned beef, or maybe moose.

But--Oh, how I wish--

For a KHAR goose!

I don't know if the judges thought my poetry was wonderful or if they felt sorry for me because I wasn't going to have a Thanksgiving turkey. At the time of the contest, I was trying to cheer myself up because even though we didn't have much money to spare, we didn't personally owe anyone besides the chiropractor and the college loan people.

The goose was wonderful. Mark went to pick it up. They asked him what size he wanted; "as big as you have" was the reply. It was 11 1/2 lbs. This was the first time I had cooked a goose.

Hint: A goose cooks pretty fast, especially in a covered turkey roaster. Be sure to spoon off the fast approx. every 20 minutes or else the goose will fry. Goose is very fat. Also, don't use the drippings off the goose for the gravy. Goose drippings are very strong. The gravy will be too highly

flavored of goose. Mark didn't think the flavor of cranberry sauce went as well with the goose as it does with turkey.

Mark and I decided not to have a big Thanksgiving this year. Besides having a tight budget, Mark didn't think I needed the effort. Mom came out from Anchorage to be with us. Later I wished I had invited my friend Anna and her daughter who had stayed home when their plans had fallen through. But I didn't know that until the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

In addition to the goose, I had one special project for the day. Mark sometimes reminisced about his childhood. His family owned chocolate candy molds shaped like turkeys. In doing some cleaning a few months before, I had discovered the molds in a box. Unbeknownst to Mark, I had arranged to buy a block of chocolate from a bakery through our neighbor Lennie Ruesch.

The candy making was fun but not a huge success. We had problems getting the chocolate out of the molds without breaking. The chocolate, although workable, wasn't the best kind to use for the purpose I had in mind. We did, however, up with several intact turkeys. Some we ate and others we gave away.

DECEMBER 1987

My college graduating class has a reunion at the end of December. They decided this was the best time because many have time off work during the holiday season. Mark and I had originally planned on going. I even sent in the $40 registration fee. All that was done early in the fall.

By the time came to actually plan the trip, it became apparent that Mark would not be able to go. December/January would be the time when the Alaska Court System project would be coming due. He could not afford to be gone.

Mark generously said that I could go. But who wants to go alone? Half the fun of going to these things is to show off one's husband and children. I really doubted if Cat would like to go along to be shown off.

And the other consideration was that Mark wanted to go to InfoCom, the big computer trade show. It was to be in Dallas in February. If I waited to go on that trip with him, then it would be possible to include seeing my parents.

So instead of going on a trip, I directed my energy to buying wedding presents. Three friends and a cousin had been recently married; guess who procrastinated on buying wedding presents! I decided to go with practical for two of the gifts and unique on the other two. Although I'm probably not 100% successful, I try to give things I think the recipients would be able to use. To the couple who both worked, I gave some tupperware; to another couple, a wooden salt and pepper (with peppercorns) set. To the remaining two couples, I sent Ulus. An Ulu is a traditional eskimo knife. I'd found mine practical and easy to use.

JANUARY 1988

I was pleasantly surprised to receive thank you notes for the gifts by return mail. My friends and cousin even wrote real notes instead of a generic "thank you."

On January 6th I wrote my mother, "I've been wishing you could be here just to see the `Winter Wonderland' as you would call it. It's not just the snow. It's been so dry that the snow is evaporating and melted off the trees alot. However, with this dry cold has developed a phenomenon I wasn't familiar with of the frost (for lack of better term) building up. The bushes and trees that don't have leaves (not spruce as much) have a thick cover of frost. so now I really understand what Christmas trees that are flocked are supposed to represent. I never thought flocking looked like snow-covered trees. The out-house mirror had cleared when we had the thaw. It was fascinating to see the patterns the frost made as it got on there. Beautiful!

FEBRUARY 1988

After Mark had gone on a trip in November 1987, I had announced that I was going on the next trip. After all, I had not been out of Alaska since my June 1986 arrival. It seemed like some crisis would occur every time Mark left. I opted not to go to my college class reunion by myself. I was glad as bigger and better things awaited me.

At last my time had come! We left the house early one morning with baggage in hand. We were to spend the day in town and leave that evening. A number of us went to Garcia's for a late lunch. It was a nice send-off--even though the outing wasn't planned for us.

Mark and I boarded the plane to Dallas the evening of Saturday, Feb. 6. We arrived about 8:30a.m. to weather much different than we expected. As we walked out of the plane at the D-FW airport, Mark said "Virginia, we're home!" For a moment I didn't understand. Then I cleared the plane door and made a discovery. It was approximately 30 degrees and snowing.

We never thought we'd arrive in the middle of a snowstorm. Mark afterwards said he'd never felt as cold in his life as the 5 days we spent in the Dallas area. The humidity made if feel colder than the same temperature would have felt in dry Alaska. We headed to the rental car agency I had lined up. It felt so good to be off the plane and moving again.

We headed South to Dublin where my grandmother is in a nursing home. She had had an illness and it was decided she could no longer maintain her own residence. The doctors suggested it would be best for her to live in a facility in the town where she had lived for almost 90 years. That way, she could still see people she knew whereas she would be lonely and isolated if she moved either to Lubbock or to Lake Jackson where she knows nobody except for family members. We were happy to have the chance to see Grandmother again. She had never met Mark! My parents had arranged to be in Dublin that day also so we were able to see them briefly before we had to head eastward.

Mark sweetly wanted me to be able to see some of my friends while we were in Texas. From Dublin we drove to Tyler to spend the night with my father's cousin, Nell Murdaugh. From her house, I called several of my friends to say we would be at the college dining hall for Monday morning breakfast if they could drop by. Nancy Worthen and Joyce Coleman were able to come. We also saw many students as they came through for the meal. Then we made a quick trip to the Library and some other offices where friends were working. It was such a rewarding three hours.

Mark had looked at the Uniforum schedule and decided we didn't have to be in Dallas until Monday afternoon. That was why he felt like we had the time to go to Big Sandy. When we rushed over to Dallas and got settled into a room. We found a fairly nice hotel near the InfoMart building. If I had realized that we would usually arise at 6:00 a.m. and non return before mid-night, I would have let Mark get a room for us at a cheaper location. I had requested a hotel that was ritzy enough for a bathtub and an indoor swimming pool. As busy as we were, we didn't have time to use either.

We had a full schedule. There were many booths at Uniforum. Mark enjoyed talking to the various vendors while I busied myself filling out contest applications and putting business cards in fish bowls. Every evening was full with evening seminars and open houses. There was enough food floating around that we spent very little besides the cost of the hotel.

One evening we were invited to dinner with the President and Vice-President of MicroProject Corporation. We went to the restaurant at the top of Loews Anatole. I'd always wanted to go there but never had the opportunity. I didn't know that------------ was the President and Founder of the company. Mark get's a kick out of how startled I was when discovering that I had been sharing french fries with a company president. But, as a Vice-President myself with Mark as President of our corporation, the group was on fairly equal footing.

Another thing was accomplished that evening. I ordered a plain salad (the cheapest appetizer on the menu). I was surprised when what came out was a wedge of lettuce. Leaning against it was a slice on tomatoes, a slice of onion, and a slice of cucumber. French dressing was dribbled on top. I was surprised. It certainly didn't look like much; however, it was quite filling. Thereafter, whenever I don't feel like making a real salad, I just cut a hunk of lettuce and dribble dressing on top and tell Mark we are "Putting on the Ritz" tonight with a fancy salad.

We wanted to spend the weekend in Lubbock. Mark had arranged to visit Champion in Golden, Colorado, the second week of our trip. We needed to turn in the car we had rented in Dallas. We investigated several options for getting to Lubbock. The cheapest and simplest turned out to be $42 each tickets on Southwest Airlines from Love Field in Dallas to Lubbock. We had a lovely weekend with my parents. The O'Dells came to visit. It was decided that since they had to leave early on Sunday, that Mark would drive to Amarillo with them and they would put him on the bus for Denver there. That saved $24. Mark rented a car and stayed at the Days Inn on Arapahoe Road. He left Lubbock on Sunday. I was to follow by bus on Wednesday.

I had a lovely time visiting with my mother. The time flew all too quickly.

MARCH 1988

The AKLA conference was in Fairbanks that year. Mark combined my trip with GCS business. A friend wanted to buy a computer and various software packages.

I really liked Fairbanks. My impression of it was a feeling of home. It was a flat town with a few trees, reminding me of West Texas. We had a real enjoyable weekend, staying with our friends, the Gentlemans. Mark worked with Mr. Gentleman while I was at the AKLA seminars.

APRIL 1988

All our months of going to the Chiropractor, Dr. Lizer, finally paid off. On April 29, 1988 I was thrilled when I my checkup revealed that my whole back was in for the first time. Dr. Lizer said at our next appointment, we would consider if we could start coming in for treatments only once a month.

MAY 1988

I kept Bronica a couple of days in early May. I've never had much experience at baby-sitting. I tried to schedule work between keeping her busy. We washed the dishes. She ehlped me until she got tired. She got a thrill out of getting to dry glass dishes. I decided to trust her; I was just ready to spring if something looked like it was about to get dropped. I was pleased to later report to her mother than she had done such a good job.

May was a month of decisions. While our financial situation wasn't bad, we were tired of not having enough extra money to take care of some of the extras we were wanting. We never had enough to make improvements on the house. A steady income would help. Mark sent out several resumes in the Anchorage area.

Mark had an interview on May 5th with a law firm that wanted a computer man. He got the impression they thought he was overqualified. And of course they didn't want to pay as much as we wanted. It seems like that is standard in nearly any profession.

About that same time, Mark got a call from a company in Denver, Advanced Expert Systems, who helped us with one of the Court System references. Mark had visited them while he was in Denver in February. They were impressed with his entrepreneurship qualities. The owner called to feel him out about coming to work for them. Mark decided this possibility was worth checking out. He sent them a resume along with a letter asking specific questions about them. After all, he would be having to "shut down his moderately successful firm."

There were many calls back and forth. Finally it was decided that, indeed, Mark would accept the position in Denver. Mark arranged to go to Denver for the Summer. If it didn't work out, he could come back to Alaska and pick up the pieces. I, with the help of Jim Neeley and Wil Gerken, would do any business that needed to be done. The Willy Doemeland family graciously said Mark could rent their spare room. It was nice to know that Mark wouldn't have to stay in a motel.

JUNE 1988

Mark left for Denver on June 5th. I hated for him to leave. He wanted to leave early that Sunday morning. My usual Sunday morning rountine was to go to the Circle S convenience store to buy a newspaper. Sometimes I walked, other times I drove. We decided that I would drive out with Mark. He took me to the store. There we said goodbye; he left and I walked home. The walk gave me some fresh air and something to think about besides how quiet the house was.

JULY 1988

4th of July 1988 was a different one. No Mark and no church campout. My brother-in-law Chris was doing commercial fishing with the Clucas family on the Kenai Peninsula. We hadn't seen him since the beginning of the summer when he arrived from California where he was going to college. Mom proposed that we go down to visit.

It was so much fun. Everybody was so relaxed. We didn't get to see much of the fishing. Regulations permitted fishing only at certain hours; we didn't get up in time. However, we did see the fish. I took a picture of Chris holding up a King Salmon. They are pretty good--but so delicious.

I'm not a big fish eater. But tuna salad doesn't hold a candle to the taste of salmon salad. The following is the recipe which I developed.

SALMON SALAD

cooked salmon

lemon juice

sweet pickle relish

celery

mayonnaise, miracle whip, or salad dressing

onion or onion powder (optional)

In a bowl, separate the salmon into little pieces, being sure to take out any bones. Pour a dab of lemon juice on the salmon. Using a clean fork, add a couple of forkfulls of relish. Chop up celery into tiny pieces--judge how much celery you like. Onion lovers will appreciate the extra pizazz of onion--again use your judgment. Stir in salad dressing until you have it as "wet" as you want.

Salmon salad can be used the same way one uses tuna salad. It goes over really well as sandwiches.

The 4th was on Monday. The Clucas family had a get-together at a lake. When Mark was young, his family and the Clucases used to visit each other often. Mark knew most of the Clucas relatives. They were happy to meet me and treated me as one of the family.

Many of the young people went water skiing. Without Mark there for moral support, I didn't have the courage to try it. I'd only tried water skiiing once before--about 20 years ago. I didn't feel like trying my skill unless Mark was there to rescue me. Obviously, I'm not very athletic. I did enjoy riding in the boat while the more adventurous did the water skiiing. My brother-in-law tried the sailboard.

Most of all, I enjoyed the nap I took in the back of the Clucas's van. It was nice to go to sleep without worrying about missing phone calls or being unproductive. And the van was nice and warm, heated by the sun.

AUGUST 1988

During Mark's absense, I must have overdone it with some of the lifting I had to do. I began to have a pain in the rib. I was glad I was already going to the Chiropractor. The pain in the part part went away fast but the side continued to hurt for several weeks. It mainly hurt when I had coughing spells. Previous to my pain, Trisha had been having trouble with her ribs. I hasn't pictured it as being any worse than "normal" aches. I had to apologize because the pain was much worse than normal. I did find that I felt better when I was up moving around because when I laid down, my muscles got stiff and it was painful to turn over. It did help to lie down with the heating pad.

We started looking for a way for Mark to come home. He wanted to leave his car in Denver. As we were moving, that would be one less item to worry about if he didn't drive it home. I decided to call MLT vacations. They arranged charter flights from Alaska to various locations. It was my lucky day! Sept. 2nd was the last day and they had just put on a special to get rid of the last of the tickets. I was able to buy a ticket for half price.

What a blessing!

Mark's mother and I visited the Franssons in Palmer in August 19th and attended church services there that weekend. While there, I made arrangements for a goodbye party at the Tom Schmidt's house with some of our Palmer friends who we probably wouldn't see again before we left. We began to make plans for the party.

(Since leaving Alaska, many people have asked us about the long days in Alaska. We got used to having more hours of daylight. However, we did actually have nights. On August 20th I wrote to my mother, "You asked about sundown time. 9:44 tonight. You can still see outside until quite late. I really am going to miss the summers up here with the long days (just wish it were 10 degrees warmer). Fall is in the air; leaves are beginning to turn. I've noticed it is darker in the house now. I guess the sun has shifted so it doesn't come in at the same angle for as many hours.")

One day I "baby-sat" Christina Gates. Anna had to go to town so I took Christina to her swimming lesson and then back to the house. She was pretty good about entertaining herself while I did work.

Monday the 20th was a somewhat trying day for me. Mostly because of the cat. I wrote "5:44 p.m. Monday. The cat is sitting on my lap while I'm typing. Or I should say she's trying to decide if she wants to stay on my lap. She really wants to get on the table and sit on my papers but I won't let her do that. She was a good but naughty cat yesterday, twice! In the morning, I was eating my breakfast and thought I heard a crunchy noise over my own chewing noise. I looked over and there she was by the coat rack with two bird legs and feathers hanging out of her mouth. Then later I heard more crunching noises and she had caught a mouse (Mark claims they only have shrews up here but she had most of it consumed so I couldn't look at it to tell what it was.) I should have yelled at her for bringing them upstairs. But I'm always scared she's going to throw up like Conrad was always doing if I get her excited and I don't feel like cleaning something up. Mark thinks shrews are poisonous at least to upset the tummy but she never seems to have any problems. Then after eating two animals, she had the nerve to come over and meow while I was fixing my supper. Needless to say, she didn't get any."

For dinner I opened the grape jelly I'd worked so hard to make earlier in the summer. It was disappointing, tasting kind of tart and was gritty. I later found out that after extracting the juice, one should let the juice sit over night so "things" can settle to the bottom. Then the "good" juice is poured off the top to make the jelly with.

But I did have a high point that evening! Brenda Zook called to say she would be able to come over the next day to help with packing.

On August 29th, I wrote to my mother, "Hard to believe it's almost 4 days until Mark gets home. I'd better get busy."

I wanted to plan some little surprises for Mark. One thing I did was to buy him a pretty card with which to greet him at the airport. I made some homemade coupons that promised him meals at people houses, a free message, a walk in the rain with me, etc. I wanted to be funny plus show that I had been thinking of things we could do together.

SEPTEMBER 1988

Mark returned Sept. 2nd. I sure was happy to see him. This was the first time I'd seen him since June 5th, almost three months before.

The first thing we did was make our "plan of attach" for our trip to Germany and moving.

In a letter to my mother the previous month, I'd asked her to get the Kulcar's address in Canada. Stephanie Stone, a friend whose parents live in Lubbock, had married a Canadian and lived somewhere in Alberta. When the response came, it turned out Stephanie and her husband Frank live in Coaldale which is near Lethbridge where we would plan to cross the border from Canada into Montana. That was neat to anticipate seeing them. I wrote a letter saying that we would be passing through some time in October and would call if things worked out.