Parties, and in-laws and cabins, oh my!

Well, weddingfest was a big success! We had about 40 or so people who came from far and wide to help Sam and I celebrate. The keg was pretty much gone the next day so we consider that a good party 'round these parts. My sister, Sam's brother and sister-in-law and his mother have all gone back to their respective homes though my parents continue to linger and will for another few days. The party was an interesting mix of young and old with people from many different walks of life. Dog mushers, professors, students, engineers...you name it. We had friends play music before and after the bluegrass band - even my sister got in on the action, belting out her own skewed rendition of a Johnny Cash tune. Sam's bro Jon played a mean guitar with friend Steve and sang a Bob Dylan tune. The Harrels are truly a talented family. Sam's mum made us a beautiful cake and we even walked away with some great wedding booty. Thanks to all for all the lovely gifts and cards (a special shout goes out to my peeps at the Yukon News for the thoughtful gifts and sentiments). We got cash and gift certificates which will really come in handy with the new house, a phenomenal painting by my favourite artist, wine glasses, several bottles of champagne, a moose antler crib board, a beautiful wind chime...etc etc. Perhaps the most unique gift was a ceramic Santa Claus fondue set. (More like FUNdue!) Thanks Bob, I think my parents want to adopt you.
My leg is healing up nicely and wearing a skirt at the party made for some easy access to show anyone and everyone my war wound. (Sam's nickname for me has gone from crash to slash)
Olaf and Cim are done with the house for the moment. They put in the door to the upper balcony today and with the stairs in, all that remains are the three upstairs windows, which aren't ready yet and therefore can't be installed. They'll come back next week to finish up. Meanwhile, Sam, my parents and myself will work this week sanding the logs and getting them ready to be treated inside and out. We ordered our kitchen cabinets today and picked out lighting and slate floor tiles.
As a wedding gift, Sam bought me a Smith and Wesson .22 revolver. I'll need a handgun for running dogs this winter as the moose around here are ornery and have known to kill dogs by stomping through teams on the trail. A .22 isn't powerful enough to kill a moose or even injure it, but I need to start small, as I've never fired a handgun before. Welcome to Alaska, baby!!!
We went to the range today in between errands, but I couldn't fire it. Instead I got a sudden wave of nausea, started crying and announced that we had to get out of there immediately. When Sam first gave me the gun I was really happy, but when I tried to actually shoot it, I couldn't. What the hell is up with that? I never thought a gun could provoke such a spectrum of emotions. I will learn to use it because I've been advised by several musher friends that the moose are especially abundant on trails near our house and the beasts won't hesitate to not only stomp through a team of dogs, but a musher as well.
Anyway, we'll be working on the house for the rest of the week and recovering from a whirlwind family visit.

There are more photos to come. So. There's a couple of Sam and I cutting the cake and then shrugging 'what the hell are we supposed to do now?' There's one of Trish and Graeme (pals from Whitehorse) and I. There's one of me giving some love to one of Ken and Gwen's retired sled dogs named 'Kitty Cat' and the last one was taken by Sam's bro of a strange and rare female bird that usually is only seen around Kansas City but somehow migrated up here. The bird is very friendly and not scared off by people of any sort. It feeds mostly on red wine and graham crackers but has been known to scarf a marshmellow or ten.

Peace