Friday You Tube Clip of the Week

I know the song I am dancing to at my wedding (someday!)

Thanksgiving in Alaska

So while you were all snuggled in your big cities, deep frying your turkeys and getting your cranberry sauce out of a can, ReckenRoll was in the big AK getting a turkey dinner together the old fashioned way:

Without electricity.

Oh yeah - that's right - in my family's grand tradition of something going wrong on a major holiday, this year we had a power outage on the big T-Day thanks to a nasty wind storm and a fallen tree. The power went out around 1 pm and stayed out until about 10.30 pm that night. In this case, it was probably a good thing we were at the cabin.

We had a fire going in the fireplace already, were cooking the bird on the bbq anyway, and there were enough candles and kerosene laterns to keep the place well lit. The stove was gas, so was the oven, and the creek behind the house provided water for the potatoes and the toilet. The boys got to pee outside. They were happy*.

In fact, it may be one of the best Thanksgiving meals we've ever had. The food was awesome (2 kinds of homemade cranberry sauce), the company was good, and not having power meant a nice little intimate atmosphere and plenty of time for conversation. We even caught the forgotten plastic wrap on the already baking veg dish before it was too late.

I may just eat in the dark every year.

The part that struck me as the funniest is that when the power went out, we had been joking about, "What if the power goes out?" and then it did, and when it did, no one even really blinked. It was like, "Oh the power's out. Guess I should get to chopping those onions. Anyone care for a drink?" In Seattle, it would have been the headline on that night's local news "TURKEY DAY TRAUMA 2007!!" Instead, I don't think it even made the paper. God bless Alaskans.

Electricity? We don't need no stinkin electricity!!

Oh and Kadonkadonk, AK says hello :-)


*Why do boys like to pee outside? Seriously? What's the big joy in that?

Just a Mile

Yesterday I ran a mile at the gym. I didn't have time for a long workout but had been in a meeting eating cookies all afternoon and needed to do something to burn off all that damn sugar.

I used to run a 5k on a regular basis and since I am just getting back into this workout thing I was thinking let's warm up with just a little mile. If the mile feels good, maybe I'll do 2 or heck, maybe even all 3.1 miles. Admittedly, it's been a while since I ran so I was just going to take it easy and well, let me just say:

Oh.

My.

God.

I had to PUSH MYSELF so hard to finish that one little baby mile. I wanted to stop at about .35 and give in. ONE THIRD OF A MILE. Instead, I cranked the iTunes to one of my most 'pump it up' work out songs, slowed my pace, and tried to think about being in a swimsuit on the beach in Australia in January.

It helped. I made it...at a pace of just above what I think a normal human walks. BUT I DID IT!!!

And today?

I am so tired. I am so so so so tired. I didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to get dressed. I want to take a nap right now. I've had a grande coffee and a diet coke and am now trying sugar. This is so so sadcakes...plus it means I need to keep doing it cause I can't let one mile get me down! I shall rise above!!!

ONE FREAKIN MILE. Ugh.

Happy Birthday Little ReckenRoll

On this day, 29 years ago, I had to relinquish my lead role in the title of, "Only and Most Beloved ReckenRoll Child." When my baby brother arrived on the scene, I got to keep the title of "First Grandchild" as well as "Mostest Smartest" but he got "First Grandson" and "Most Obnoxious."

(I joke)

So today, I wish the best looking brother that a girl could have,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

He taught me that I HAVE to share; that even though I thoroughly and completley believe that MY WAY is best, someone else might have a point; and that somehow I can be fiercely protective of someone who can also drive me crazy.

Because of him, I've watched hours of He-Man, have a guilty love of video games, and am familiar with a bunch of dead Blues men and the music they brought to the world. Because of me, he can recite most of 16 Candles.

I've known him since the day he was born and it's been 29 years of a beautiful friendship.

Happy Birthday Baby Mike!!

What I Learned This Weekend: Thanksgiving in Alaska Edition

It was a long learning weekend...

1. It's possible to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal without electricity. In fact, it might be the preferred way to do things.
2. No one likes the jello mold. Even if you use extra cranberry sauce to make it.
3. Mom is stingy with the leftovers. Dad is not.
4. The Nutcracker only plays for ONE WEEKEND in Anchorage. Just one. You miss it that weekend and you miss it. Oh, and even though the Nutcracker only plays one weekend it still won't sell out on the Friday night performance. (You can bring the culture to the people but you can't make them drink!)
5. Guessing how many minutes until the snow is clear off the highway is only a fun game to play on a long car trip for about a minute. After that, you need new distractions.
6. The Glacier Brewhouse still rates as one of my #1 all time favorite places to eat.
7. The Avenue Bar is the place to be in Anchorage...they even have their own local version of a Backstreet Boy.
8. The "Starbucks Cafe" at Barnes & Noble in Anchorage makes the HANDS DOWN WORST cup of coffee I have ever had. Even after it's been taken back to be remade. Terrible. Undrinkable. Disgusting.
9. Alaska and Seattle are having the EXACT SAME weather right now (thank you Global Warming). It was actually warmer in Anchorage when I left then when I arrived in Seattle.
10. Into the Wild is a good movie.
11. I am a Guitar Hero.
    

Happy Thanskgiving Everyone!!

The ReckenRoll has headed north to Alaska for the holiday weekend. Our regularly scheduled program will return on Monday as she's currently too fat to type from all that turkey...

Who Watches VHS anymore?

Quick side note on yesterday's post: They call to harrass me from the pub and force me to yell things like "ARE YOU GUYS DRUNK?" really loud from my cube and yet, not ONE of them, not even Kate, can be bothered to leave a comment. I even turned off that annoying word verification thing and still...no love.

I SEE HOW YOU ARE LONDON!!!

In other news, I am taking off to Anchorage tomorrow for the annual ReckenRoll family Thanksgiving feast. I called my mom last week to demand discuss the menu and make sure that everyone was catering to my will on the same page. I think we are in a good place now. I am in charge of the pies. I like making pies. I will be making the crust from scratch. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

The ReckenRoll Thanksgiving will be held at Kenai Lake this year. I am taking my entire VHS collection with me to donate to the VCR library. I have like 30 VHS tapes that I bought before DVD took off (yeah, I'm old) and were in storage when I got home from the UK. I can't watch them anymore because I would be the laughingstock of everyone I know if I had a VCR but I also can't sell (who buys VHS?) or throw them away either.

The cabin is the only option left. It's where all ReckenRoll family appliances and household goods go to die. It's fully furnished with grampa's old couch, grampa's old microwave, our old TV, my cousin's old VCR...old pillows and linens that look like they were very hip in the 60s, boardgames that are worn around the edges. You get the picture.

At the cabin, the VCR is a luxury and the movies I am bringing are going to make us the most popular cabin for miles around. Seriously. It's like our own little recycling plant for ancient technologies and household goods. If you're nice to me, maybe some day I'll let you come along and enjoy the tour. If you want to watch 16 Candles on repeat, you move to the top of the list.

Now, if I could just find my snow boots...

A Shout Out to My London Peeps

Some things I learned today:

• THIS BLOG is the #1 blog read in Tower House, Covent Garden.
• I have a demanding and opinionated blog audience, if not a slightly silent one, on the other side of the pond.
• El Jeffe and Kate like to compete for my affections. I enjoy the competition kids, keep it up!
• Sir Ian McKellan frequents The Sun Tavern in Covent Garden. He is not recognizable with his current beard to everyone but Kate can spot a celeb a mile away.
• My London peeps miss me. They really miss me!

Thanks for the drunk dials team!

Friday You Tube Clip of the Week:

A little sumpin sumpin for the weekend.



ReckenRoll out.