Mom and I saw this girl in Fred Meyer on Saturday. We haven't seen her in two years. I saw her at the Ninilchik fair two years ago and Charlie saw her over Christmas but it's been awhile. This is McKayla, Charlie's daughter. I had the brains to ask her grandmother if I could get a couple pictures of her when we stopped to exchange rather forced pleasantries. She wanted to say no but I didn't really give her a chance. The only other pictures we have of her are almost five years old. She looks a lot like her mom but she has Charlie's teeth and his nose. Amy said she is in the advanced reading class in third grade. She is getting so big and she is sooo curious about her dad, despite her grandmother's best efforts. For those of you who don't know the story, Amy is Charlie's ex and McKayla's mom. Amy's mother has done her best to make sure that none of us and especially Charlie are welcome in McKayla's life. They don't hide him from her. She knows who he is and who we are but she isn't allowed any contact with us. Amy has done everything her mother has ever told her to do and this is no exception. It's my prayer that McKayla comes looking for him when she gets old enough. I just hope she won't be too poisoned against him to care who he is and that she'll be willing to listen. Anyway, I got these pictures and there's not a thing one Alisha can do about it!!!!
Mom goes in for her consultation in Anchorage this week. She and Kathy are driving up tomorrow and spending the night in Anchorage. The consult is on Tuesday. Please pray that they'll give her a good prognosis. I guess she can have one of a few different kinds of lenses put in that have different results. Hopefully she will be able to get rid of her glasses for good.
Dad is going to Seward to get another load of coal. I guess this time he'll get it screened and keep the big stuff. He can get a glass crusher from Carl that will break it into more manageable pieces but the fine dust doesn't sift down to be augered into the fire. It makes a dome in the hopper that has to be poked down. In the middle of the night is not the best time for the coal to dome and the fire to die, needless to say. Fortunately, it hasn't been getting too cold here and we can still stand it if we have to relight the fire, but I hope we get all these kinks worked out before the real cold hits. We should be seeing below zero before Thanksgiving but I'll let you know.
Charlie is going to Anchorage tomorrow to continue his hunt for an apartment. I'm not sure what happened to the other two he had in mind but I guess the search continues. He has gone on the the next level of consideration for the job he interviewed for last week. It's a tech support position at GCI, a telephone company. I can't think of a more suitable thing for my patience-lacking younger brother. He gets mad when people can't use common sense and he wants to go into tech support! Stay tuned for the fall-out.
Phaedra's coming tomorrow and I guess I better get ready for it cause we'll have to go down and walk Kathy's dog a couple times and she really loves going to Kathy's. Like, we go to get India at the end of the driveway and it's "Tathy's? Me do(go) to Tathy's?" Quivering lip and welling tears when I tell her no but seeing Sister get off the bus makes it better.
Night,
~Pam