A Tenakee Thanksgiving

I thought I would share with you a bit of our trip to Tenakee Springs, AK. We spent Thanksgiving with close friends, good food and amazing scenery.

Tenakee is a 4.5 hour ferry ride from Juneau. We left early on Thanksgiving morning to ride a very crowded ferry.



Somehow Mason managed to sleep on the upper deck, outside, huddled under a coat. I have no idea why this worked for him. He could've come inside...my tough Alaskan boy.

We spotted Tenakee in the afternoon, the only sunny spot in the whole region.


As there are no roads in Tenakee everything is either hauled by ATV, cart, sled or


husbands.

We took a great walk on a sunny day. Took photos of the boat harbor

The Bus Barn...a place to find a book or leave a book among other things.
We also found a microwaveable egg tray, Christmas angel for the tree and a few flannel shirts. Found I said...but left them there.

Tenakee is a great place for happy dogs..

Who feel just like the rest of us on a Thanksgiving afternoon.

Had the opportunity to take several baths in the Tenakee Bathhouse. Curious what this looks like inside, well, aesthetically it's a bit different..but ohhh sooo relaxing. I found a YouTube Video of the inside of the Bathhouse if you're curious turn down your computer volume...this video is only relaxing for the cameraman.

A beautiful day going home too.

Pack it in pack it out.

We brought a huge pumpkin pie on the ferry home..but had time to watch the sun go down before we crammed into the cafeteria to finish the pie.

A Rainbow of Flavor

I just did something I did not think I would do as a parent. I told my child I would not purchase yellow snowboard pants. It's a weird small event in our mother/son relationship. But an event that made me question why I felt the need to restrict his snowpant, color choices to something subdued. I suggested forest green, black and brown. He fought for lime green, bright yellow and a pattern so over the top I thought if I un-focused my eyes, staring at it long enough I could make out a picture of a bird.

He is currently in a phase of color. I call it his Skittles phase. Meaning he would very much blend into a bag of candy, a ball pit or the playroom in IKEA. We are different. As we grow together I am realizing our differences.


I have always been in the blend into my surroundings phase. Like a chameleon I tend to dress in the colors of my world.


He wants to stand out, differ from the crowd, let the world know he is here.



His color passion has made me realize that i am living in a world of subdued color. Dulled by the easy hues of SE Alaska. Dark greens, grey tinged with whites and vibrant blue of the water. In looking at my wardrobe I realize I am dressing like my environment. He is stretching out, begging to fit in a Caribbean world. Alaska does not hold enough color for this child. As we move into winter I understand his need to stand in stark contrast to this grey/blue/brown world.


We compromised and he will have red snowpants. I have committed to buying something purple this winter.

A New Year

Resolution

I had to explain this word to my boys last night. "A resolution" I started "is when you make a definite decision, a promise..a decision maybe to change something you do or say. To change yourself" "to make yourself different".

(OK so maybe that isn't exactly the dictionary version but it was 8:30 and I was loading the diswasher..could you have done better on the fly?).

"Make yourself different?" said my 10 yo. "Why?"

I don' t think I explained it right. In fact I am sure I didn't because I could not talk him into making a resolution to flush the toilet each and every time it had been hardily utilized.

Why indeed. Is a resolution making a pact with myself to change something that I have been doing that I no longer want to do? Or making a pact that I will do something that I want to do.

I had to think if I really felt the need for a change....and I thought..naw not really.

However....

I have been a bit out of balance lately. Heavy holidays. A new found passion for cookie baking. A new job and the desire to clear my life of the little nicky nacky obligations that always weigh on me.

I have heavy weighing nicky nacky things. Things I tell myself I want to do but then never actually accomplish them...which weighs even more heavily..then I feel like I failed...which creates the need to make a resolution.

Resolutions are hard for me. I am highly distractable and easily prone to layering task upon task until it becomes overwhelming and then I just sit and eat soup from the can.

Here's a sample of my resolution thought process

Will be more thankful----will send thank you notes to all the people that gave us gifts for the holidays---ohh geez forgot to stick dad's gift in the mail----back to appreciation---is the mailman angry that I didn't make fudge for him this year----did I get the mail?---wonder if I am getting something cool in the mail today?----would like nice fluffy towels----hate my towels---pretty towels would look better in a bathroom that doesn't have an avocado green tub----must call husband and ask him to measure the bathroom to see if new tub would fit

and it just goes on.

Somehow...I am going to work in this life..in this year to create a sense of balance. To sit still and let one thought prevail and follow through with one action.

I am signing off to go find some new fluffy towels.

Happy New Year!

Things I know to be true, Thanksgiving edition...

1. I think I should be grateful more days of the year than just this one.

2. Having a husband that will cook three pies, and rolls is pretty awesome.


3. A dog that goes into my dirty laundry and pulls out my underwear just to sleep with
it...could either be classified as sad and disgusting..or wonderfully in love with me. I choose wonderfully in love with me.



4. I am tired of the grammar freaks on the web. I will put periods and commas wherever I want...thank you very much.

5. Two children and a dog means I will probably clean up more puke in a week than most people clean up in a year..and yet I continue to be thankful for them.

6. I was sad when my babysitter de-friended me on Facebook. Then I thought, if you don't want me to see what you are doing on Facebook...maybe you shouldn't be babysitting for me. Then again, it would probably depend on how desperately I need a babysitter.

7. I have a job, my husband has a job and currently my children don't have head lice. Life is good and I am blessed.

and there is more...

Public Market this year in Juneau! Here are a few more items I'll be taking.

Drama of black and red!

I've been playing more with layering my enamels and created shapes and textures.

A bit of sgraffito, aqua blue scratched to the surface with a coat of pumpkin orange enamel on top.

Domed sterling silver disc with 18K gold rectangle insert

I love the contrast of orange and blue.. makes me miss the Utah sunsets..ahhhh

It would be great if you were in Juneau and could stop by the booth (pssst we're in the lobby)...Fri - Sunday at Centennial Hall.

But if you can't...hope you'll have a great Thanksgiving weekend!!

Count down to Public Market!

In the Gallanos household we don't really have a traditional Thanksgiving. This time of year our table is usually covered with boxes, plastic bags, display parephanlia, and bits and pieces of this and that as I prepare for Public Market. I do give thanks to the amazing friends we have that will take us in while I fret and panic the night before the market.

I am very excited to be a part of Juneau's Public Market. I don't do many shows, but Public Market is my fav.

I thought I would give a good sneak peek to what I will be bringing with me this year...you saw it here first. If you're in Juneau...stop by, I'll be out in the lobby with my booth pal Tanna T.P. Designs.

New pieces from my enameling collection..

Red and Black Enameled Tab Set Pendant

Orange and Yellow Enameled Tab Set Pendant

A Dr. Seuss Day Enameled Rectangle Pendant

Glacier Run Off Enameled Pendant

More to come tomorrow!!

You have to ask.. and guess what you have the right.

This free and democratic society has spawned individuals so passionate, so angry, so hostile, that an act of violence is an acceptable method of silencing a differing view.



Grown a movement that believes it is acceptable to give an individual, not a trained or authorized public safety officer, but an individual, the right to handcuff a member of the free press?



Is this acceptable?
It does not matter who you throw your political support behind.
It does not matter who you want to represent you in Washington D.C.
What does matter is that any candidate that knowingly supports any type of suppression of the right to free speech, either by hiring "security" or relying on ardent supporters, must be reminded that they are running for a public democratically elected office. An office in which they will be sworn to uphold one of our most precious amendments.

Ya know the one.

That First Amendment thingy..it's the pesky one at the top and the one that allows Alaska's former Governor to continue to speak freely in that squeaky squawky voice.

And if your unfamiliar with that one...



It's also the one that separates church and state (a quick Wikipedia look up)

Things I know to be true...as of today

1. The brighter the sun shines...the dirtier my house looks.

2. When I go into Foodland to purchase a "few things" I always walk away spending $60 - $67.00.

3. Having Master's degree in Education, didn't make me a better parent.

4. I don't think using sunscreen in my 20's and 30's helped combat the effects of aging in my 40's. Moving to a temperate rain forest probably did.

5. Having a puppy is not like having a baby. My babies never chewed holes in my underwear or rolled around in dead salmon.

6. I am grateful that I bought a new pair of jeans and it was the same size as the pair I bought a year ago. I would be more grateful if I could fit into the same size from 10 years ago.

7. Some people don't like me. I am starting to be OK with that.

8. I have a really hard time remembering to bring a reusable bag with me to the grocery store.

9. I don't know how to change a tire..and I don't really want to learn.

10. I am really good at wasting time, better in fact than being productive with my time.