Update for the Hot New TV star

Ok so the time if the show is 7pm my time, it comes on 10pm est on the food network and I hope that you all get to watch it and see the new place I am working. I am not in the show but thats ok my kitchen in there and if it shows the pizza line, thats now my spot 4 nights a week

Diners and Drive Ins

Well thanks to the want of a hot new tv star, the local restaurant I am working at is going to be featured in the tv show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. Its going to be on Monday night at 7 pm, and I hope you all are able to watch.

So The Winter Is Back

Some of you may pay attention to the weather here in Alaska, but I doubt it. For those of you that don’t, just to fill you in, the current temp is 5 above. Last night the coldest temp I saw was 15 below. The snow has been on the ground for about 3 weeks now with a good 4 inches. The trees, minus the evergreens, are bare and lifeless. The birds are gone, with exception to the Alaska Famous Dumpster Chicken (Raven). The like in NC with sea gulls you are not allowed to shoot them. The Natives have a spiritual tie to the Raven, they believe that they carry the soul onto a better place when a native dies. These birds are huge, they dig in your trash, the defecate all over your car, and you have no idea what its like to try and clean off frozen bird crap. Not as much fun.

You can see the tracks of a few snow machines out and about but there is still not quite enough snow to ride just yet. We are all starting to plug in the trucks at night. Nothing is as much fun as getting up and running outside when its 10 or so below and your in your pjs, and then you realize you forgot to plug in the truck and it’s frozen, yes I said frozen. That really sucks. Then when its 60 below and it is plugged and it’s still frozen, imagine how frustrated you can get then. That is cold enough for coffee to turn into vapor when you toss it into the air. I will have to make a point of recording that for you some time so you can all see that. It’s kind of cool.

Still warm enough to wear only blue jeans and a sweatshirt. We havent got to the bibs and carhart stage of winter yet. We still have another month or so before that hits.

Have a wonderful day and I will talk with you again soon.

Life is as normal as it can be for now

Well its time to get back to life at hand. I have been trying for a long time to figure out a way to get back to normal after losing Anna. Well there is no way to get things back to normal. Normal is gone for now. I have tried many different ways to hide, drown, cover, and make go away the thoughts of her and move on with out her in my life. Well I have come to the conclusion that life will never been the same again. I have someone that meant the world to me. She was my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. She carried me through the days with a smile on my face and  a warm heart. Well my heart has been hurting since the morning of May 31st. There is no simple way to get over something like this. There is no easy way to make the pain go away.  There is no way to imagine life without her here. Sometimes through the day I think of her. All night long I lay awake in bed wishing she was still here. Well I know that she will no longer be here with me or be able to share in the smiles and laughs that I have. She was the reason for my smile for a long time. And now she is the reason I cry at night. But I have also learned the she is the reason that I keep getting up in the morning and keep trying to better myself and make things right.  I try to get through the days without thinking what could have or should have been. There were plans made and dreams put into play. There were hopes for the two of us. There were many talks of many plans made between us and trips planned and all the stuff that goes along with it. We had made plans on getting a house together and starting a life with just us. But now things have changed. But now the only difference is, I have to keep on with all those plans and dreams without her. I am just not sure if i can, or if I want to. We did all this together, and planned on doing all this together. I don’t think i want to do any of them without her.

The Loss Of My Love

     Sometime Sunday afternoon, May 31 20009, my best friend and companion was found dead in her bed. Anna Marie Merchant was one of the amazing people i have ever met. Her smile warmed the hearts of many. Her friendship was cherished by hundreds. She was smart, beautiful, kind hearted, warm, sensitive, and compassionate. She was the glue that held so many people together. She kept the balance for so many people. She was one of those people that voluntarily carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, and never once complained about it. She, no matter the mood or temperament, always could put on a smile and a laugh for everyone. She cared about everyone. There was no one she wouldn’t try her best to help.

     She left behind her mother, Gina Raye Wilson, her sister Andrea Merchant, and her perfect son, Joshua Blake Creek. Blake lost his father in Nov of 2007 to a tragic car accident. Now he has lost his mother as well.  Blakes’ grandparents, Paul and Anita Creek, have now lost their son and the their daughter in law. I cant even imagine how her family must feel, but I know how I feel.

     She was my best friend from the day I met her. We were never apart. We shared everything between us. All the good and the bad and the really ugly. She always had the words I needed to hear to make the day go by. She always had a smile for me when i walked in the door. She used to sit on the couch with me and just cry sometimes because she was worried about me.  There were so many time we would just hop in the truck with me and her and Blake and just ride. I have seen so much of this state thanks to her. I can even begin to tell you how much I love her and how much I am going to miss her. She was the light in my day.  She was one of my Real True Friends. Anna is the only person in my life that has ever taken my hear from me. I didn’t have a choice in, she took it from he and held it close to hers. She will always be with me in my heart and my thought.

Things Are Looking Up

Well we thought summer was here. We had about 2 weeks of beautiful weather. The days were averaging between 65 to 75 degrees and sunny. It has been beautiful and absolutely desirable. Then the mosquitoes came out of the woodworks. You cant imagine how big these things are, its scary. They swarm you like bees to a hive. The bites leave whelps. Not little bumps on your arm or leg like i am used to being back home in NC. But here they leave giant red whelps. You can watch them swarm around your vehicle just waiting for you to step out and give them dinner.

The past week it has been back down to the mid 40’s and as low as 30.  We have only had one day of rain and one 20 minute snow shower since all the snow disappeared. Everyone’s yards have turned into swamps and sink holes. You have to be very careful where you drive and walk, you may lose your shoe, or even worse, your truck. To put it lightly my driveway is only about thirty feet long and for almost a month I had to use four wheel drive low to get in and out. Twice I was stuck and had to have a friend pull me out of my own driveway. If you own a car, there is no way you could have parked in my driveway.

 

The job market as I have mentioned before in my posts has been slim to none, but i did get lucky and found a decent job with a pretty nice company based in Fairbanks. I am now working as the Business/Marketing Manager for Aviators Steakhouse.Sky’s the Limit Catering. Which is nothing like anything I have ever done before but I am really looking forward to getting the ball rolling. I have so far worked two nights for them because they were short staffed in the front of the house, so I got to wait tables for a couple nights. It was kind of nice to be on the front end of the restaurant for a change. I have done it before but it has been a long time since I had to worry about refilling drinks and taking orders. I have been in a kitchen so long i thought I had forgotten how to do that fun stuff. But my first night back on the tables, my first tables was a 13 top and I rocked it, so the boss said. I have had nothing but good reports about my skills and talents with the customers and am looking forward to waiting on some more of them.  We are starting a new marketing program this week that I a heading up. We are going to be opening for lunch at the end of the month. So I have from now to then to get a program vehicle put together, and get radio ads, and television ads, yellow pages ads, newspaper ads, and starting a new web site for them.  This is going to be fun and exciting. Lots of good opportunities with this company to do some really cool work and make a ton of money.

Some of you know about my recent problems with my living situation and if not, to make a long story short, I am having to find a new place to live. Well I have found a place in Fairbanks. Two bedroom, all utilities included for $800.00/month. Which is a great deal. Most places I have found are way to expensive for not enough amenities.  But since I found this deal, which I got real lucky with because my new boss is a very good friend of the landlord, so maybe I can get in the door without having to come up with a pile of money to get in. But we will see how things go when the time comes.

Well for now I am going to let you all go I think I have rambled off for long enough.  Have a great night and enjoy yourselves.

 

Happy Mothers Day to all of you mothers who may read this.

Summer is Approaching

Well things here are finally starting to warm up for the summer. The average daily temps are reaching up to as high as 39 above. The ice is starting to melt off and the snow is getting soft. More and more people are getting stuck in yards and driveways thanks to the melting hard pack of ice that has formed throughout the winter. You now don’t have to go out and start your truck an hour ahead of time now. Most of the time during the day it retains enough heat that you can get away with just leaving. The sun is here until as late as 10 pm now. Its coming up at around 630 to 7 am every day. All I can say is, thank god for sunlight.  The animals are starting to stir around again and making life happy for us. We definitely welcome the birds, birds bring warm weather. The state guys are working full time plowing up the hard pack so we can finally see pavement and driveways and dirt roads again.

But the downfall to this time of year is that work is really hard to find, there is a lot out there, but there are twice as many people looking for work than there are jobs. So you better hope you keep what you got or get lucky and find a spot that you can fill. Just don’t let yourself get down and out. The locals here are all excited about the warm up, they can’t wait for the summer fishing trips and hunting weekends. We are all excited about the summer time coming around the corner. The land scaping companies are starting to get back into full swing and moving ahead with the projects.