This morning the sun came up at 9am.  9:08 to be exact.  Take a look outside at your place at 9am and see if the sun is in the sky at your place.  Know that at 9am here, its still going to be a couple minutes before it peeks its head over the Chugachs here.  Here’s a point of reference, Sunday was the first time I watched a Green Bay Packer game (in the US at least) when the sun hadn’t even come up yet.

Tomorrow, we will get 9 hours 17 minutes of daylight.  Truth is, it’s only an hour and a half less sunlight that is in Kansas tomorrow, but its still quite quite …. quite noticeable.  Since the day I moved here, we have lost 7 hours 40 minutes of sunlight.  Before the winter solstice, we still have another 3 hours 49 minutes of daylight to lose.  On December 22nd, the sun will come up at 10:15, and go down at 3:43.  Take a look outside tomorrow at those times to see where the sun is, and know that in December, the sun would not be up.

What’s already starting here, though, is the stranger way the sun is here.  I remember it when I was here in November last year, but seems already starting in October.

Science moment, the sun doesn’t come up and down at faster or slower rates, it just is further north or further south.  The angles change, not the speed.  But when the angle is what it is, then the sun stays just above or below the horizon for long periods of time.  For instance, it seemed like the sun started to set around 4:30p today, even though it went down two hours later.  Then it stayed light for another hour after.  Add that to the morning where it seemed to be sunrise for just as long, it was the “magic hour” of golden sunlight for five hours today.

The orange of the sky makes the snow white of the mountains gleam brightly.  On the clear days when Denali can be seen from the office, it shows pink.  The Chugachs show orange on grey.   The colors stand out like any good sunrise or sunset on any day, they just go on for hours.

With hope, I can appreciate it as the days become shorter, but we will see.

For most of y’all, by the time you read this I would either have finished or in the midst of the first night sleeping in my new house.  Yeah, I took ownership earlier in the week and stuff was moved in on Friday, but I didn’t have it set up for me to actually live here until today.  Bedroom had to be painted (it was lavender before, and that wasn’t going to cut it).  Once that was done, the bed had to be set-up.  Here’s the funny thing about my bed.  I bought it the first weekend of the first job out of college. Not counting the temporary place I had the last couple of months, I have slept in that bed in four of the last five homes/apartments I have lived in.  BUT, I haven’t slept in the full up bed since 2001.  See the box spring never fit up the stairs in my home in Kansas, so I threw the mattress down on the floor and made due.  Setting it all up today was like going back in time to my days living in Wisconsin or in that first place in Kansas.  It includes a dresser and mirror, and that mirror hasn’t seen the light of day since probably the 90s.

But its kinda nice to have a room “done”.  I mean, I still need to put stuff on the wall and make it prettier, but that bedroom is the only one without crap loads of boxes or cardboard all over the floor.  It wasn’t like that this morning, but in a few hours of work the thing was transformed and ready for sleep.

So I am sleeping here tonight, setting the alarm early.  Have a 7am meeting, but I expect to have a mad dash to find clothing, bags, and stuff to make it through the first day — its going to be chaos I think for a bit.  I have alot of work still left to do around this place, far from being ready for anything.  But the transformation will be pretty cool over the next two-three weeks.

First of all, I have new furniture coming Thursday.  I was chatting with a guy on Friday night at McGinnleys whom I have chatted with on and off for the last couple of months and told him about the house.   He said “New house?  You are going to need new furniture.”  Turns out he works at Treeform, a good furniture store in town (second largest and soon to be the largest, specializing in Amish built).  I stopped by there Saturday and he pulled me back to the “orphans” section.  I spotted a 5 piece soft leather living room couch/recliners there that I loved – he said it was returned because the buyer didn’t like how the stitching lined up from chair to chair.  Regular price $6000, I got it for $1950.  There was this rustic wood bookshelf there too that was one-third the price because it has a bit of a wobble (I got a $5 pad that will take care of that).  All and all, $8500 worth of furniture delivered for under $2500.

Picked up a new TV as well, which was dropped off today and will get mounted next weekend by the Geek Squad.  Put a few pieces I should have offloaded in Kansas onto Craigslist to sell, and am waiting for some bites on those.  Went shopping for loads of stuff around the house.

Most of all, I started picking things up for the little bundle of poop coming the first week of November (that would be my puppy).  He’s got a name now,  Aughie (pronounced Aww-gee … like Doggie without the D … or Aussie with a Ga sound … already chanting Aughie Aughie Aughie, Oy Oy Oy).  I am going to Kennel train him, which means when I am at work he hangs out in a kennel … also known as “The Aughie Dome, One pup enters, One pup leaves”.  But I want to have the house in order for when he arrives.  In part because I don’t know if he will tear things apart lying about – but more so I just want to impress him.  I am reminded of a Simpsons episode where they got a new dog, and Homer wore a tie to impress the dog … that’s kinda what I am feeling like.

Anyway thats it … kind of a rambling blog tonight, but I’m tired and am ready to go to bed.  Night y’all.

This morning, the great transition of moving into my home turned up a few notches.  The movers arrived to unload the stuff that was packed up in Kansas way back on August 2nd.  For the most part, they have left me to unpack everything, but it was good to actually start spending time in my new house and see what is ahead of me.  Like any time in a new house, I went through and looked for any goodies left behind (of note: a V-8 Engine Block and a Transmission) and start looking for the work that is needed to make it better.  Then I also spent WAY too much money on things today that I think I need — like, nearly a paycheck of money today alone (of course, most of that was one thing, but still).  Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have three things accomplished:
1) Paint the bedroom – it’s a nice lavender color, but  … dude … I’m a guy.  I ain’t gonna be sleeping in no lavender bedroom.
2) Set up the bed & bedroom.  I want to be “living” in house by Monday.
3) Take pictures so y’all can see the place.

Secondary Goals:
4) Find the color for the paint for hallway, cause it needs some touching up, and to put on a whole new coat (or new color) would mean painting half the house, including the vaulted ceiling.
5) Set up “Aughie Dome – one dog enters, one dog leaves” …  That would be the kennel where my new puppy will whine continuously because I left him alone all day.
6) Launder all clothing
7) Wash every dish
8) Figure out how I am going to make up the “Brad Barnes Throwdown Emporium” (aka Guest Bedroom)
9) Take pictures of everything that goes up on sale on Craiglist
10) Put all the crap that I shouldn’t have brought with me to Alaska on Craigslist

But I am in, and that’s what is important for now.

Tonight I am sleeping in the apartment, mostly so I can waddle down to the bar tonight, then stumble back without having to get a taxi to the southside.

Tomorrow I get to work on the stuff that needs to be done, and if I regain whatever crazy work habits I got when I cleared out my Kansas house I shouldn’t be that bad off.

I signed my name 21 times today and initialed my name another 22 times.  With all that scribbling I finalized the sale of the house.  It’s Mine now.  I was asked throughout the day if I was excited, and to be honest I am not sure why I wasn’t.

The house buying process is like it is anywhere.  Search a while, put down an offer, go back and forth on details, go back and forth with the bank, sing loads of paperwork, and its all done.  Nothing really to get excited about if you ask me.

I get the keys tomorrow when the sale goes on record.  I don’t think I will be in a hurry to grab it.

Things will probably turn come Friday, when the movers arrive complete with all the stuff that has been in transit or storage for 3 months.  I’ll be able to start setting up the cool stuff I want to do … the wireless internet, the satellite TV, the Brad Barnes Throwdown Emporium (aka guest bedroom) … but then again, I will have time for that.

But with a firm handshake to the son of the previous owner, the house is now mine.  Turns out there is mail waiting on the mantle … my mantle … with my name on it (the mail, not the mantle).  As the guy was telling me, I realized that I didn’t even know what my mailbox looks like.
Meh … all part of the fun.

For the record, if y’all want to google spy on me or just sign me up for spam — my new address (effective immediately):

Mitch Nelson
1350 W 78th Ave
Anchorage, AK  99518

Winter isn’t here yet, but its advance team is definitely in town.  Saturday, I had a loaded day of errands to run.  Many had certain appointments, spaced just wide enough that I had to kill time in between each one – so gaps were filled with hikes & geocaches.  In the early afternoon, flakes were starting to move in.  During that time I was on the east side near the Mountain View neighborhood and knowing that it was a bit cooler and a bit more snow likely up there I took that as the source.  As the day continued, there was more and more, and it was getting time for me to head down to the southside.  By late afternoon, it stopped being a nice dusting, and started become a good snowfall.

To be honest, it was one of those snowfalls you don’t mind, and maybe even like.  It was thick, fluffy, and sticking to everything.  There was a consistent layer of it all on all surfaces.  There wasn’t patches of piles, no ice patches, no heavy winds blinding you — it was just the nice coverage you think about when you think of Christmas.

For most of the morning on Sunday, the snow stood its ground – but failed to keep as the day’s sun came out.  The snow in the mountains may stick it out now (the termination dust on the peaks last month we were expecting to stick through the winter fell victim to the heavy rains of the last couple weeks), but it was pretty clear this stuff wasn’t going to stay.  We think there will be a few more flurries this early part of this week, but colder temps later in the week may make that stuff a bit more permanent.

In some ways, I am ready for it, some ways not.  Those errands I ran — a coat that can stand the cold more than the wet and snow tires (I went for the regular snow tires, not convinced the need of studs).  I also picked up the payment I make tomorrow to close on my house.  But this cold that comes later this week?  That’s about when the movers show up to move me into the house.

So as much as I liked the snow on Saturday, I could take the snow holding off just a little longer.