Thank goodness for no fleas in Alaska!

So I am back home after roaming Michigan for the past 29 days.  I left beautiful 85F sunny, muggy weather to come back to 50F cloudy, misty/rainy weather here in Bethel.  Ah, sure it's great to be back.  It's good to see that my plants did not pass away while I was gone (although I did leave them outside for nature to take care of... and a friend was in charge of watering a few).  The grass is a little long 'cause my landlord hasn't had time to mow it yet (he's probably been too busy out on the river).  I notice that their boat is gone for most of the evening.

It's nice to be back in my home, in my own bed.  I missed my bed, even though it is an air mattress (the most comfiest air mattress you could ever lay on).  The last few days at my mom's house, I had to sleep on the downstairs couch because my bedroom was infested with fleas!  Not from Suka, but from my sister's cat.  My sister had her cat living up in the room raising a small liter of kittens and spreading her fleas all over the carpet.  Suka took his medicine during our trip so I wasn't that worried about the fleas... until he started itching.  It was the funniest thing!  He's never experienced fleas before and he would itch himself then look at his foot to see what the hell was going on.  I took pity on him and gave him a few flea baths.  I haven't noticed any emigrants on him, so I think we've killed them off.  Thank goodness!  I hate fleas.

I have been trying to finish this online reading fundamentals class that I started last fall.  It is incredibly boring and not very interactive.  I guess that's what I get for taking an online class.  You basically read the material and take an exam.  I've done two of five exams... and I hope to be finished by the time school starts.  One good thing about these online classes, you can pick your own timeline to complete the course... so thank goodness I gave myself a full year to complete it!  And early next week I hope to travel into my classroom and begin rearranging my area.  That is my favorite part of the year... at the beginning where you can reorganize your room and make improvements from last year.  I'd like to be really ready this year since I will be starting kindergarten again.

Pontoon Alley on Wixom Lake

It was the 4th of July and Wixom Lake was completely full!  Boats were everywhere.  Kids were tubing and flying off into the water.  College kids were drinking up a storm and listening to loud music.  And, my family is in the pontoon, slathering up sunscreen and getting ready to wade in the water.  No matter who much sunscreen we put on though, our skin got burnt!  I mean, look at the picture with my Aunt, and sister Lydia.  She is toasted!  I got a little red, but I continually put lotion on it because I really hate to peel.

We had such a great time.  The weather was perfect, the sun was warm, I was sucking down water and watching beautiful men stroll by :)  We stayed out there for the whole afternoon.  The only reason we had to go in was because my sister Lydia made my cousin watch her kids, and we've been out on the boat for at least 5 hours... so we felt a little guilty for staying out so long.

So, after our long afternoon out on pontoon alley, we spent the rest of our night watching fire works, kicking the bonfire, lighting sparklers, drinking, laughing, and spending time together.  The 4th of July is like Christmas at my Grandpa's house.  Everyone comes over!  Even the neighbors were bringing their guitars over and joining in the unexpected bout of singing Beatles and country songs.

As far as food goes, I found these gigantic marshmallows that are three times the size of a regular marshmallow.  Of course I had to buy them.  These marshmallows required two full graham crackers and at least five pieces of chocolate.  We had to make sure to cook them 'til they were bloody burnt, or else the inside of the marshmallow would not be mushy enough to squish down.  They were pretty fun to eat.  One of these was enough to fill me up on s'mores for the whole night.  Delicious!

Good Times with the Dogs

Suka had the most awful plane ride experience.  I thought I sedated him enough, but two pills did not work.  So, on the way home, I will be giving him at least three pills to calm his butt down.  He wouldn't stop panting the whole first week we were home.  But now, with only a few days left in Michigan, I think he's gotten used to the weather.

Here is a picture of my brother with our dog Annabell.  She is a slobbery boxer with little social skills.  She wanted to play, sniff, and jump on Suka.  Suka, of course, did not like this and acted like he wanted to bite her head off.  So, we never put them in the same room together.  Suka did get along with other dogs after a while.  He seemed to like the smaller kind.

Everyone loved Suka though.  My family wanted to keep him and let me take the annoying beagle.  I said no, I love my Suka.  Although I did not love him this morning when I had to give him a flea bath!  I don't think his Frontline medicine is working.  He doesn't seem to be itching a whole lot, but there are fleas all over his body.  I gave him a bath this morning and I'll probably give him another couple before we leave.  The last thing I want is to have fleas in my house.  I hate fleas!  I guess this is one reason to live in Alaska... there are no ticks or fleas :)