Lazy Sunday !

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon and I am trying to redeem myself. Both of my daughters have been reminding that "we" need to keep our blog up. Jessica even walked me through adding a picture today. The one you see will be our wine label, Lehmans Libations. It also reminds us of the moose in our back and front yards the other day. Dad was out there taking pictures, but we have not downloaded them yet. No Alan, I am not talented enough to go straight to the new Photo technology that I got for Christmas. I am still trying to find my way around "windows vista."

By the way, one of my daughters will have to let me know how to allow some of my friends to see our blog. I was talking to kathy Lennartz about this. Since we only talk a few times during the year, it would be neat to share this. Besides Jessica - she asks about you alot.

Dad and I spent the weekend working around the house. It was nice just to kick back and enjoy the weather. It has been melting a lot this past week, so Dad moved the 2 four wheelers and 4 snow machines into the trailer for the season. That was a lot of "muscle" work. I cleaned the main floor and hung lots of pictures and shelves. It has taken a long time to decide where I wanted stuff due to all of the windows and less wall space than we have ever had. I have my kitchen in Uncle Sam. The downstairs bathroom is moose and bear camping scenes. So the colors really blend nicely. We hung the pictures of Independence Mine, Kennicot Mine and the Musher's Cache in the livingroom. I put all of moose sillouettes on the mantle. Over the next month or so, Patrice and I will shop for fabric to accent the the colors and get ready to make window quilts. We will have Denali in the center window and black sillouettes of Alaskan moose, bear, eagles, etc. I really have not decided what to do on the two side window for the kitchen/dining area. Obviously, something very simple since all windows will be seen as you walk in from the front door.

I had approved leave for this next week and we had a great now machine trip planned, but Fred could not get the time off from his job. So I decided to work 1/2 days and spend time in my sewing room. Some cleaning, some mending and then I have summer clothes to sew for my grandkids. I found some cute prints...so I will have to get their measurements! I also want to get the family pictures up. I decided that the stairwell is the best place. One wall dediciated just to the grandkids and the other wall to family pics. That will be a fun project!!

Friday through Monday we will be at Alyeska. It is supposed to be a ski weekend, but depends on the melting and the winds. Upper slopes were closed most of last week due to high winds and this weekend the lower slopes were closed because it was so warm. Maybe we just have to stay in the room, read books, go for walks, and uh.....we'll figure it out!

Work for me will not slow down for the forseeable future. I am really excited about a couple of things. First, I knew that one of my employees was a Christian. She is Penecostal. Shortly after I hired our Administrative Assistant (works closely with me) I found out she is Jewish. Two other employees are also women of faith. One day they asked me to join them in a quiet prayer just before our workday started. It feels wonderful start each like this. Since we pray before scheduled work hours, there is no conflict for me or the workforce. Second, I was nervous about hiring so many new people (9) in a matter of about 60 days. My entire staff is only 13 people in the main office. The staff is really melding as a team. It is a joy to watch this and be a part of it. I have 2 more people that work in the office, supervised by someone else, but I assign their work and pay their salary. (Long story on how that come to happen - the positions were once housing staff.) I have work cut out for me there - one has not shown up for work yet (workman's comp issues from 5 years ago) and the other works when he chooses on the jobs he chooses rather than assigned work. So we have had lots of issues. Beyond that, the workload is heavy. The return of the Brigade from Iraq went smooth, but now we are dealing with all the injured soldiers and their special needs in both family housing and the barracks. We have all the replacements showing up now and through the next two months. Then is will be the routine high summer turnover.

My new mission - take over the management of Barracks. (Called First Sargents Barracks Initiative; FSBI) It will be similar to running dorms, only with Army rules and deployment schedules! The staff and I have been working all the documents, trying to get office space for two 4-man teams and a main office in my building. I am still writing the the contracts for hiring the personnel. We have 3000 sleeping rooms spread across the post. It is really an exciting program!

I have kept up via the phone, so you know that travelled with Command Sargent Major to Fort Hood, TX to inspect and review their FSBI program. After that I spent a few days with Jessica rather than returning to Alaska. I went to Denver for the two weeks - one week was for renewing my property management certification and the second was for the international housing conference. I was back in Alaska for about 5 days. The next trip out was to Orlando for the International Homebuilders Trade Show and associated presentations. It was incrediable - 47 acres - and some companies even buildt houses in the parking lots so they could sell their products. DOD makes has a mini seminar each year to show prospective builders and property managers what we are doig, where troops or offices are moving, and where they can get business. This year the people representing DOD were Army Housing Chiefs and Directors of Public Works from Alaska, Hawaii, Japan and Okinowa. It's the team of professionals I work with each day, so it was awesome to spend time with them. We actually spent an entire day working on issues that jus affect our region.

When I got home in early March, I am ready to stay put. I have one more trip that I know of this year. I will go to DC for a seminar on all the changes for handling General and Flag Officers housing, both single soldier and family housing.

It's a beautiful day - and I want to spend some time out here enjoying it!