So, with the close of the summer session today, I successfully made it through my first summer of living in a different time zone than my job.  I knew it could work - a couple years ago, I traveled to Germany and my students didn't even catch on that I was out of the country for nearly 2 weeks.  And last summer, I was able to travel around Scotland/Ireland during the summer session and maintain my virtual classroom just fine.  However, once we made the move to Alaska in May, I realized I would have to be aware of the time change everyday.

So, my brother was here for 2 weeks and then my parents ventured north for a week as well.  Their trips overlapped a couple days, so it was fun to spend some time together.  The first night my parents were here we introduced them to Moose's Tooth Pizza and Beer - my mom say's its the "best pizza ever".

So, Jason, Ryan, and I headed north from Anchorage on a Tuesday.  Our plan was to camp out Tues night, so Ryan and I could catch an 8am flight around Denali from Talkeetna - grab breakfast, and then head back.  Well, instead of camping...we found a bar in downtown Talkeetna and we could rent a room above it - really!  So, we did, of course.  I was beat (had been up since 6am for some reason - just couldn't get back to sleep), so after dinner at the West Rib and a few drinks - I enjoyed falling asleep to open mic music from downstairs.  I think my brother and husband

Kim's brother Ryan arrived Wednesday night around 12:30am, which is right after dark. So last night while we were sitting in TapRoot watching Hobo Jim (who it turns out is pals with Seamus Kennedy), I enjoyed watching Ryan periodically looking out the windows in disbelief at how bright it was in Anchorage until well after midnight.  I'm used to it by now, and it reminded me how wonderfully weird this place is.

We'll see if I feel that way when winter comes.

Talk about a LONG day - I started getting birthday wishes at 8:30pm last night (thanks for FB reminders and different time zones) - it was crazy getting birthday messages from so many old friends, but it made me think of various birthday celebrations I've had over the years and stirred up some fun memories (yay FB for making connections)!  

After an hour and a half at the Anchorage DMV, we now have little cards that say we live (and can drive ) in Alaska!  Nothing to it, and now we can reap the benefits.  Hardest question for Jason was - hair color?  (he went with brown, since the blond will grow out)