A little birthday tribute to my hubby

Rich's birthday was June 21st, the Summer Solstice.  Unlike his wife, he does not want a fuss made over his birthday.  He prefers that no one even notices.  What's up with that?  He didn't want to go out to eat but cooked for us at home.  Should I feel bad that I didn't even try to come up with a satisfactory birthday dinner for him? We are well established in our roles and I am totally out of practice these days. I was never an outstanding cook in the first place,  but after almost 9 years of living in the same household, I am not sure if I would know where to begin any more.  Besides making sandwiches for myself and warming up leftovers, I think all I've made for the two of us comes down to this: guacamole, taco salad, one birthday cake several years ago, a short run of pies and pastries, occasional holiday baking, and a few desserts for community events.

His coworkers did better than I did!  I stopped by the hotel at lunch time to check our mail and say hi when the kitchen crew brought out a card and a birthday cake for the chef.  Happy 59th!

He also doesn't want presents, or so he says.  I wracked my brain to see if I could dream up something clever he'd appreciate, but came up short.  Once in awhile I will get creative, like the photo slide show I made him a couple of years ago (which didn't work out great, but, hey, I tried).  He doesn't really like public displays but I decided I would write this short list of

The Top Ten Things I Love About Richard Bye:

(In no particular order)

10.  He's super-duper smart.  Like, over-my-head smart sometimes.  He reads constantly and can hold his own in a conversation on just about any topic.  Keeps me on my toes.

9.   He's a genuinely nice person.  He would never purposely hurt anyone's feelings and is a very kind-hearted soul.  Even our stand-offish little cat loves him the best.

8.   He's witty, clever,  and funny. He cracks me up regularly.  Smart and funny are a winning combination!

7.  He's a talented guy.  It goes without saying that he is a fabulous cook.  He also takes beautiful photos, writes well, plays guitar (and I have a soft spot for a guy with a guitar in  hand),  and even knows how to juggle. :)

6.  Although he has no biological kids, he has good relationships with his stepkids and grandkids from his first marriage, and with my kids and grandkids.  He is Grandpa Rich to all the little ones and who would know they're not related by blood?  I think it says a lot for a man if he can still have a nice relationship with his ex wife AND her mom.  It's so pleasant not to have any drama!

5. He doesn't think he owns me or that I need his permission for anything. His actions say that he believes we are equals.  He's the least controlling, suspicious, jealous person I know. 

4.  When I say, "I want to go to Texas and see the kids" or "I think I'm gonna go visit my mom,"  he doesn't ask why,  get all pouty, complain about money,  or act as if he's annoyed.  He always just says, "I think you should!" with a smile on his face.

3.  Even though I am flabby, saggy, and my hair is thinning more every day, he tells me I am beautiful.  He thinks I am smart and funny.  I always feel like he's my biggest fan.  That goes such a long way.  :)

2.  He's still a left wing hippie rock 'n roll anti-establishment boy at heart.  I love it that he has not sold out and changed his values, become conservative or curmudgeonly, a Republican (oh, my!) or a Tea Party Patriot, bought some ammo and joined the NRA, decided to be a judgmental evangelical, or thrown in his lot with "the man." 

1. We are best friends and partners in this big ole adventure called life, whether living the day to day in the Aleutians or traipsing here, there and everywhere.  I wouldn't want to travel this path with anyone else and I am so glad we're on the journey together--I couldn't ask for a better person to have by my side.

  xoxoxo

Happy First Birthday, Luke! And June in Unalaska

We've been home since June 7 and I have been trying to catch up on vacation posts, which meant I missed this sweet boy's first birthday on the 13th!  The photo is a little outdated since it's from my February visit but isn't he the cutest?  Don't mind the fact that I am sitting on the toilet--we were watching Emery take a bath at the time. haha  Anyway, happy belated birthday to my little birthday buddy.  I remember a year ago waiting and waiting to hear from Bonnie or David that he'd arrived.  The last time I'd talked with Bonnie that night, she was in hard labor so I didn't want to bug her.  Finally, hours later, I could take it no more and rang her up.  Oh, funny, Luke had been there for quite awhile and they'd texted us his photo and stats.  Which, thanks to our crappy remote Alaska system, we'd never received.  He's a sweetheart and we are so happy to have him in our family.  Wish we could have celebrated birthday #1 together. I figure one day he will not think it's all that cool to share a bday with his old granny but I am pretty happy about it. 

I turned 59 on the 13th.  I still find it very hard to believe that I could be 59. On the other hand, Rich and I have mistakenly referred to ourselves as 60 more than once. It's like we've totally glossed over the whole 59th year.  :)

We don't do a whole lot for birthdays because we have typically just returned from a trip and we really don't seem to need a thing.  Still, I definitely like to have my birthday acknowledged and to feel a little spoiled that day (call me shallow, it's okay).  My friends took me out to lunch the day before and my coworkers on the day of.  I got up in the morning to find a sweet card and some lovely earrings on the table from my husband, had lots of calls and emails and Facebook greetings and then Rich and I went out to dinner.  So I would say my need for attention was met and I was a happy gal.

 This past Saturday was a gorgeous, sunny, even warmish day so we went out for about a two hour walk.  It was great to be out in the air and sunshine. 

The first wave of unique Aleutian flowers are making their appearance.  I love the way the flowers appear in cycles and change the look of the landscape with each new burst of color and texture.

 Eagles overhead are a constant sight.

This is a view of the small boat harbor and part of the UniSea complex.  Our house is on the hill in the center of the photo, for those of you who have asked where we live.  It's a duplex and we live in the bottom half.

We passed this little eagle party on the walk home.  I was a little leery because they have been known to attack people that they feel are threatening them or their nests. I didn't see a nest anywhere but one of the birds was kind of swooping around.  I've learned to keep my distance!

The hills are greening up, the snow is melting off the mountains, the temp is getting a little bit warmer and we are looking forward to all the beauty that continues to unfold.  Happy summer, everyone!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Our flight did not leave Palm Springs till evening so we drove out to the Aerial Tramway and took a ride.  It's touted as the world's largest rotating tramcar, taking us up the cliffs of Chino Canyon.  The tram begins at 2643 ft. elevation and ends at 8516 ft.  The floor rotates, allowing a 360 degree view on the way up and down.  Pretty cool.

 At the top, we walked up a bit further and took in the sights

If we'd had more time, we would have taken a hike around the area but we could only stay long enough to walk around a little and ride back down.

We flew from Palm Springs through San Francisco and on to Seattle, spending the night, and then to Anchorage and Unalaska the next day.  I'd been dreading the flight into Unalaska for a week but it was no problem. I need to quit worrying!  Another fabulous vacation finished!

Breakfast and Goodbye

Bye-bye, sweeties!  We love you!

Last Night Together

I love a "bonus visit"--those trips that just kinda work out even though we hadn't planned a get-together. Even though it was short, it was fabulous!

 We went out for a nice dinner at a cool place downtown called LuLu's

 What a fun time we all had!

 After dinner we took a walk in downtown Palm Springs

 Standing under a huge Marilyn Monroe statue (yes, she's wearing panties). haha

 We walked past a band playing and the kids started dancing--so cute

Grandpa playing with the kids before bedtime

Fun in the Sun

 Elle is quite the water baby and LOVED the big slide best of all. 

 She convinced all of us to take a turn at the slide. Thankfully, there are no photos of me coming down. That thing was FAST! 

 Little swimmer

 Sarah and Elle

 On the other hand, Beck preferred the sandy beach and played happily for long periods of time.

Here are a few photos of the resort. We got a good deal on Sniqueaway and were mostly pleased with our stay.  Meal service in the restaurant was super slow and not the best food but otherwise everything was great.  (I was a little disappointed that my "fondue" was chunks of cheese in a bowl. When I asked about it, I was told, "we just CALL it fondue."  Really?  Shouldn't you tell your customers that up front?!)  But there were certainly lots of things for the kids to do, which was our main objective.  

Ahhhh, lots of sunshine and beautiful scenery....I loved it.