Enjoying America's other annexed state.

What I had originally anticipated as a summer of frigid boredom and isolation in Alaska has turned into some of the most enjoyable few months of my life. If you haven't yet made the trek to the Final Frontier (and it really lives up to its name), then you should. Alaska is breathtakingly beautiful, filled with friendly people, lots of dogs and lots of salmon. Pretty much all of the stereotypes you think of when you imagine this place are accurate. Bears really do live in people's backyards, being charged by a moose is truly an immanent threat, you could literally catch a spawning salmon with your bare hands in any given neighborhood creek and the produce sucks.

Probably the best part of being here is that it is really kid-friendly. Tawny and I had visions of walking our kids (who are not siblings) around the concrete sidewalks that surround our apartment complex while freezing in the arctic weather. What we've found is a place peppered with public parks and well-manicured walking paths connecting them all, bordered by a clean (and okay, admittedly frigid) river. We're outside enjoying nature just as much (if not more) than we do in Hawaii.

Oh yeah, the mosquitoes really are gargantuan and vicious...






Whether it's Hawaii or Alaska, we can't seem to keep Harper out of the water.

Man, I (don't) Feel Like a Woman

Over the past year, I've come to the stark realization that if I were in a committed relationship with another woman, I would definitely be considered the man. This is probably not a surprising disclosure to many, seeing as my hair is generally shorter than most men's and I tend to dress in oversized T-shirts and haven't worn heels since platform sneakers were all the rage in 8th grade. Still, the true obviousness of my (heterosexual) butchness has really come to my attention since being in Alaska.

In Hawaii I spent most of my time with Lindsay. I think we look equally gay, so it was probably hard to really tell who wore the "pants" in our pseudo-relationship, if you know what I mean. In fact, we'd sometimes playfully argue over who people generally assumed was the guy of our relationship. Here in Alaska, my femininity is contrasted against the embodiment of 'woman': Tawny Catudal.

Each day, Tawny, Teya, Eden, Harper and I take small adventures around anchorage in search of fun things to do. So far, I've been referred to as "sir" once, followed by a sincere compliment of what a beautiful family I have, obviously implying that i was the father of Harper, Teya and baby Eden. Seeing as this comment came from a 70 year old Chuck E. Cheese employee, I pawned the remark off on poor elderly sight and/or dementia. It was only days later that the true nature of said remark became overt and undeniable.

Tawny and I were taking the kids to Bouncin' Bear, an Alaskan indoor inflatable playground. The young lady working the cash gave Tawny and I a good look, then asked me to sign the waiver as the legal guardian of our apparently 'modern family'. Then the cashier told us that siblings receive discounted admission, so Harper and Teya's entrance fee would be reduced. Ok, point taken. If I'm not mistaken for a man, I'm at the very least considered to be the father-figure in a same-sex parenthood.

Our image of being a progressive family unit is not helped by the fact that Harper consistently refers to both me and Tawny as "mommy". Harper absolutely adores Tawny. When Harper sees her for the first time each day, she lets out an excited squeal, holds out her arms and says "MOMMY!!!" And, being the nurturing, loving, quintessential mother figure that Tawny is, she smothers Harper in kisses saying "oh, my baby!" This greeting, when performed in public, only furthers the notion that we are in fact both the mothers of three beautiful girls.

Not that Tawny and I are ashamed of this image. Actually, we kind of bask in it. Hey, if it gets sibling discounts for the kids and stops men from hitting on us (ok, who am I kidding- stops men from hitting on Tawny), then we're all for it.

"Oh, what a lovely woman and her child..."



"...And look at the father. Not wait-is she a girl or a boy? No, not the baby. The baby is obviously a girl. I mean that mother-or is it the father? Oh well, cute kid, at any rate..."

It's been a while. You look great.

Okay everyone, don't get too excited about this post. It's only a quasi-return.

I've been omni-consumed with writing my thesis over the past few months, with time for little else other than full-time motherhood, Rivers, teaching a couple of classes and The Bachelorette (who does Bentley think he is?) But seriously, with the exception of nourishment, the upkeep of minimal personal hygiene (notice the shaved head)and Sunday night dates, I have been glued to the computer researching and writing. The good news is that my thesis is officially due on July 16th, and I am currently in the editing phase which means that my return to blogging is imminent.

I miss recording the events of life in cyberspace. So many things have happened that have been wiped clean from my clotted mind. Memories are nothing without you, internet.

Notice that over the past 6 months, my personal appearance and thesis writing dedication have had an inverse relationship. As the amount of my dedication to thesis writing increases, by personal appearance decreases. Or at least the amount of hair on my head. I guess its subjective. All I know is that I feel like a dude.

Harper and Rivs are still cute though, so that's good.