Well, I made it two days before getting pissed off. What is it about siblings that can annoy you so much and bring out the worst in you?

We had a decent flight. The puddle jumper from Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis was pretty rough for some reason, but the 5 1/2 hour flight to Anchorage was alright, except for my butt falling asleep. I ended up taking three naps - one in the Minneapolis airport during our three hour layover, and two on the plane, so I was pretty well acclimated to the time change. The change back is going to be horrible, I just know it.

Em and Matt met us at the gate, and we stopped by Denny's on the way back for breakfast 1 a.m. local time (4 a.m. Iowa time). We slept in until nine or ten, and then went downtown to the Saturday market, where they sell local produce and crafts and souvenirs and stuff. It felt kinda funny buying my souvenirs the first day there, but there was some pretty cool stuff. I bought a wool jacket and a Russian teacup. Which seems odd for an Alaska souvenir now that I think about it. Oh well.

We got a driving tour of the base, and went grocery shopping for the week. Prices were a little eye-opening. Eight bucks for a 24-pack of pop, and my favorite granola bars, usually $1.16, were $2.38. That and throwing pop cans away feels really weird.

Today we started out by going to see where Emily works, and we all ended up getting our hair cut. Then we went to the Alaska zoo, so that if we don't see one the rest of the time, at least I can say I saw a moose. We also went to Earthquake Park, which had an excellent view of Cook Inlet.

Then Matt invited us to the load barn where he works, and we watched him take his recertification for loading missiles onto an F-15. It was really pretty cool, but not as cool as getting to sit in the cockpit afterwards. There will be pictures.

Then as to what I'm pissed about - I cooked dinner tonight. I made lasagna and garlic bread while the rest of them finished watching Alien vs. Predator. Obviously, the movie was more important, because they finished watching the movie while I ate. Then Lew had the nerve to ask me why I didn't tell them it was ready. Besides saying, "It's ready", I counted down the time to them "Fifteen minutes" and "Five minutes to cool. What do you want to drink?" and ate alone in the adjacent dining room. Now they're downstairs, pissed because I'm up here pissed and not wanting to act like my feelings aren't hurt.