On fire! Literally.

So, this is Alaska. Alaska has Winter, and Summer/Fire Season. We have a lot of wilderness, and thus, we have a lot of wild fires. Every year, for certain. Sometimes they aren’t very close to us, and sometimes there are weeks of summer that we can’t go outside because of the smoke. Usually, these fires just play out and there isn’t a lot of intervention, because, like I said, there’s a lot of wilderness. Usually there aren’t any homes or neighborhoods in danger. It seems like the last few years have been much different, though, and the fires have been alarmingly close to home.

A couple of years ago (2? 3?) there were fires out in North Pole which had a lot of people mandatorily evacuated and I was rather panicky, because I grew up out there and have lots of friends and family (Heather and crew) who still live out there, as well. The fires ended up being literally across a single street from the house I grew up in before they got put out. It was intense!  The year I was pregnant with Kasin, there were fires up by Julie and Bill’s (Corey’s mom and step-dad) house so bad that we couldnt go outside for basically the whole summer. They never got evacuated, but they had fire fighters stationed by their house, just in case. (It was a ways out of town) 

THIS year, they are evacuating a whole bunch of Chena Hot Springs Road and Two Rivers, which is the outside of North Pole, the road that runs between Fairbanks and N Pole and then out past N Pole out to the Hot Springs. It’s a long road, about an hour and a half of a drive, and there’s an elementary school, a movie rental store, and one gas station out that way. There’s a couple little diners, I think, but it’s mostly just forest and houses. There are a LOT of houses out there, surprisingly.. and now most of the road has been evacuated, which is scary. Usually they aren’t so near us. The wind is bringing all of the ash and smoke right into town, and it’s been smoky enough that I have to turn off my window fans and keep the kids indoors.

So, that’s been …fun. :

In other news, Milo has developed a freakish amount of attachment to ME AND ONLY ME.. I feel like this is a direct result of my being home with him all summer, and that in the fall when I go back to school/student teaching FT, it’s going to really tough on everyone. He has been demanding that only I make his food, change his clothes, wipe his bum, give him baths, and so forth. He also screams and gets completely hysterical if I walk out of the room, take a shower, close a door, try to leave without him, go to the laundry room, etc. Two weeks in a row now, I haven’t even had my weekly Girl’s Night, so he is even less accepting when I need to go somewhere without him. I feel like a prisoner. Today while I took a shower, Ross was playing with him downstairs to distract him, but he fell and bumped his head, and then he freaked out because he needed ME and ONLY ME to kiss it better, and I was in the bathroom with the door locked (because otherwise he comes in and throws all his bath toys, all the soaps and shampoos, etc, into the shower with me.) He even freaks out if I walk up the stairs ahead of him and not next to him.

It’s getting old, fast. I hate it. I’m not even going to sugar coat it, I can’t stand it. It’s making me nutty. He whines and cries SO MUCH about me not being directly on top of him at all times. Sometimes he will just stand at the bottom of the stairwell (we have three sets of steps) and cry for me to come get him. Even though he is perfectly capable of coming up the stairs by himself, and does it all the time, sometimes he just decides I need to carry him, for whatever reason. It sucks because I have a notoriously horrible back, and a busted up ankle… so it’s not easy for me to tote an extra 35lbs, especially not on the stairs. 

SO THAT’S BEEN FUN. Advice is welcome.  I know I have a couple of faves who had similar issues with their kids as toddlers. Should I just wait it out and hope it passes? 

Well. That’s all that I have to say for the moment. I’m missing Melissa, TERRIBLY, she’ll have been gone for almost three weeks when she returns on Wed, which is far too long for me to survive without her! I miss her SO HARD. <3

~Me