Two Weeks

The last ship of the 2009 season will be sailing out of town in just under two weeks, and I don't know if I'm ready to be done.

This season has flown by, and I am going to miss the glorious sunshine and perfect friends. People are already starting to leave town, and the girls and I are putting the finishing touches on a 1920s musical revue performance for next Wednesday. It's tricky putting up a full show while working nearly ten hours a day, but we all seem up for the challenge. Harmonies may be shaky, but it's the effort that counts.

Just days after we perform, we close up the Red Onion-and most people scatter for the winter. I, on the other hand, have chosen to stay. I'm slowly moving into my lil cabin in town, and I'm in love with my new pink kitchenaid mixer, thrift store plates, and full size fridge. Not to mention the huge bathroom and washer & dryer. Oh, and Oscar loves it too.

I am still persuing my write-in campaign for city assembly, but hit a bit of a snag when I got cast in a play at Perseverance Theatre in Juneau. I leave for Juneau just two weeks from tomorrow, and I am over the moon. It's been four years since I've been in a real play. I'll be playing "Meg" in Leading Ladies. I'll be in Juneau during the week and Skagway on the weekends. The show runs from November 6-December 6 (so book your plane tickets now, as I've heard Alaska is just gorgeous in early winter. hehe).

Yeah, so I'll be in Juneau for the municipal election on October 6th, but hey, I'm not going to give up. Write in HOLTKAMP for City Assembly.

Here's to an awesome last two weeks. Sleep is so soon...

Declaration

Vote for ME!

I am running a write-in campaign for the 3-year Skagway Borough Assembly seat (which is pretty much the same as the City Council).

Yep. You heard me correctly.

I am sticking up for the small business owner and Skagway's beautiful environment.

Giving our little town a fresh persepective.

So, STAMP HOLTKAMP on October 6th.

My Best Friend's Wedding

Nine days away from Skagway, and I am feeling truly refreshed. I visited the fam in Utah for two days, and I haven't felt that happy in a long time. From the moment I arrived I was swimming in family joy. Taking just two days to visit, can really make one feel like a STAR. All my loves were around me the whole time. I could do whatever I wanted, and my family kept me company the whole time. I cheered Gravy and Jen at the finish line as they completed a half marathon side by side. I cuddled and giggled with my nephew, Will, while he happily forked a pancake with a face on it. I mentioned to my mom that we see a double feature at the movie theatre (as spending an afternoon at the movies is one of my most favorite things to do in the whole world!), and I was so pleasantly surprised to find that it was to be a family event! It was true bliss to sit with the fam through 500 days of Summer and Julie & Julia. Long chats on the couch while watching the babes run around was priceless, and listening to Uncle Jim's lighthearted hostility made my heart burst. I was sad to leave.

I left the family party for the Meredith party. I left Utah for Orange County, California. For six days I supported and soothed my best friend as she planned her wedding. The days were filled with freeways, pedicures, tears, sunshine, in-laws, and extreme details. I was her maid of honor-which simply involves keeping the bride calm in every way possible. It could have been horribly stressful, but luckily at the end was a beautiful wedding and some wonderful new friends.

[the bachelorette party]

[the official wedding moment]

[the groom]

[the bridesmaids]

[handmade cake toppers]

[the schmidts]

Congratulations, my Meredith.

You and Aaron are absolutely perfect.

Eat it Up

Oscar loves Alaska.

Where the Heart Is

I'm in love with Alaska again. Even with ex-boyfriends, inconveniences, and expensive lifestyle-I still find it irresistible. So . . . . . .

I'm staying here this winter.

Tehehe.

I'm pretty sure I'll be in Juneau, but I have been fantasizing about nesting in a quaint little home of my own, and wondering if that home is here in Skagway. Wish me luck and happy home hunting-

like some place with washer and dryer, and a fenced in yard. mmmmmmmmm. feels good to dream.

My summer in Skagway has been especially dreamy. Dreamy because the weather has been endlessly gorgeous. Dreamy because the staff at the Red Onion is pretty much perfect-not one loon in the bunch. Dreamy because I am loving my job more and more, and I am so happy I decided to stick with it. Dreamy because the season is officially half over, and I can start imagining sunny long vacations and free time. And dreamy because some crazy stuff has already gone down in this crazy silly town.

Just about a month ago, we had a group of 25 Santas visit Skagway, and they showed up to the Red Onion with their wives for a private tour of the Brothel Museum. We kept yelling "Merry Christmas" and the bar sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." We even made the front page of the Skagway News. It was a truly hilarious hour with the St. Nicks, but we are faced with some weirdos everyday, and the Santas almost blended into the daily grind. UNTIL we discovered that some people weren't very happy about Santa visiting a building that was once a brothel.
My proudest moment this summer (which also made the front page of the paper, but has yet to get posted online), was the Red Onion float in the 4th of July Parade. The theme of the parade was "Fifty and Fabulous" in honor of Alaska becoming a state 50 years ago. One of my madams, Johanna, had the brilliant idea to have Marilyn Monroe jump out of a cake dedicated to Alaska. All the madams would flank the cake, dressed in little poodle skirts. The twist is that Marilyn Monroe would be Marilyn MANroe, and boy oh boy-this boy made a fabulous Marilyn.
Do I even need to mention that we one the grand prize? Well, we did.

Nap Then Bed

I am oddly inspired to update my blog after a glorious five hour nap after a ten our day at The Red Onion. Although I still feel pitifully exhausted, it's that exhaustion that I crave every year. I love the feeling of a long hard day at work, and then sleeping like I've never slept in my life. So with my odd inspiration and laziness when it comes to focusing on transitions while I write, I will do the ever popular bulleted blog.

~The season has been running for a couple of weeks now, and tomorrow we have our first four ship day. I am so glad it's going to pick up this week.

~The girls at work are, as always, rock stars. They make me look so good. I worry sometimes that they are too good, and I will be put out of a job. They anticipate my every move, offer to help wherever they can, and make my days off feel like I'm a hundred miles away. Plus, they are my best friends up here.

~I hesitate to mention the weather, but it has been incredible. I know it is still very early on, and there are still over four months left, but we deserve this sunshine. Everyone is giddy, and grateful, and giving. We all smile at each other, and I even let myself frantically wave at strangers. Now, that sunshine is still fickle. I will wake up to rain and wind, but it doesn't stick around. Sunshine has been making an appearance everyday, and I'm not complainin'.

~I have decided to put my athletic abilities to the test. Or better yet, develop some athletic ability. I have joined my company's softball team. For those of you that really know me, you are probably laughing out loud. But it's true. I think I need to branch out, and trust me-I can run the bases. Still working on hitting, catching, and throwing, but I'm inspired by the movie Rudy. Ya know, the movie about the guy with no athletic ability who became the practice punching bag on the Notre Dame football team and finally played the last game and made a play? Yeah. I think that'll be me. Hopefully everyone will chant "Alli! Alli! Alli!"

~I haven't completed any knitting projects since I've been here. I think it's because that sunshine calls my name, and hanging out inside just isn't an option. The sun is up until almost 11pm, and will rise around 3:30-so everyone is out and about until all hours of the night. I have some creative goals, though, and I hope that work will just settle into a lovely little pattern, so I can focus my attention elsewhere.

~I am officially a City of Skagway Marriage Commissioner for the 2009 calendar year. We have had many inquiries about weddings at the Red Onion, so we decided that I may as well get certified to perform them. IN FACT last Wednesday, I performed my first wedding! I looked up some vows, threw in a couple of brothel jokes, got a lil teary and made two people husband and wife. It caught me by surprise how much I enjoyed it.

~The first ship to arrive in town in mid April, was a world cruise. It came to Skagway before our season started, but so far, they have been my favorite bunch-only because they were followed by pirates while they were near Somalia! They just shrugged it off like "of course they would be followed by pirates. It's what you would expect from the culture." HA! So, I felt like my silly brothel stories were no match to a neato pirate stalking story.

I hope to update my blog on a tad more of a regular basis. The ships are full of odd ducks, and those crazy tourists' stories should be shared. Now off to sleep again.