How I Spent My Last Day Off

Things are going well here in Alaska.

Yesterday was my last day as an employee of the State of Alaska. On Monday, I start my new job with DOWL Engineers in Anchorage.

I had every other Friday off with the State, so yesterday was actually an "off-day" for me. I spent the day running errands and getting lots of things done which I probably won't have time to do once I start the new job.

My day began at the tire shop where I had intended to have my summer tires swapped out for my studded tires. Unfortunately, my studded tires didn't have enough remaining studs to get me through another winter. So I ended up buying some new Glacier Grips... Aren't they pretty?

I kept the old studded tires to use as next year's summer tires once we pull out the remaining studs.

Now that Tess has a car and a license, we need to put her on our auto insurance policy. I checked what the rate increase would be to add her to our existing Allstate policy. It was going to more than double our monthly rate and be more than $500/month! The kids are paying for their own vehicle expenses like insurance and gas. I can't imagine Tess trying to come up with more than $250/month... "Executive Secretary" position or not... And that $500+/month rate didn't even include Donald at all as he still doesn't have his license.

Needless to say, I spent part of yesterday shopping around for a better auto insurance deal. We ended up going with State Farm, with whom we had our existing homeowner's insurance for the AK house. Their rate was $303/month. Much better! They were lower than Geico also... Plus, they have a "Steer Clear" program of self-study for the teens. Once they watch a DVD and work through a driving log, the rate drops by another 15%. If you have young drivers, I highly recommend looking into State Farm.

In the afternoon, I picked up Tess from school and stopped into the office to pay for her parking permit for this semester.

Then we went to the brand, spanking-new, Target store in Anchorage. Folks around here have been salivating in anticipation of the Target store opening in Alaska. They opened one in Anchorage and one in Wasilla. These are the very first Target stores in Alaska.

Living here in Alaska, after having lived in the lower-48 means missing the franchises you left behind. While we have many of the biggest franchises here in AK (Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Mickey D's...), there are many favorites which are noticeably absent (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and until this week... Target).

Who says Palin doesn't have foreign policy experience? She's been dealing with foreign policy with the United States her whole life as a resident of the foreign country of Alaska.

Tess has joined the Cotillion Club at school. During the year, the Club has 5 dances at the Hilton in downtown Anchorage. You have to be invited to join and willing to abide by the rules. Basically, you have to act properly and wear appropriate attire. No jeans, no sneakers... Supposedly dresses must come to the knee (but they seemed to be lax on this rule).

The dance went from 8-11:30pm. That was a late commute for me. I'm not comfortable letting Tess drive on the Glenn Highway that late at night on her own.

This weekend, we hope to construct Alicia's play structure in the side yard and get the Christmas lights up before snow falls! The temperatures are up in the 40's, so at least it's warming up!