Author: Elise Patkotak

My dogs will not move two inches from my side. My birds call every time I walk by, begging for a little scratch on the head and words telling them they are the most beautiful birds in the world. My suitcase is emptied and put away for a long time to come. And I’ll be calling Korean VIP for my takeout tofu stew, my comfort treat on returning home. Life is good. Continue reading →

Don’t know what it is about being an Alaskan, but when I finally get on that Alaska Airlines plane and it heads north, I know I am finally going to where I belong. I really shouldn’t ever leave it for three weeks. I miss my little family. I miss the cold, crisp air. I miss the drivers who think turn signals are for sissies. I miss Korean VIP. I miss curling up in bed at night with my babies by my side, all snuggled in and warm while I play Words With Friends. Fingers crossed that my little family may Continue reading →

Dreaded emptying my suitcase when I got to Judy’s house. Hadn’t really seen the bottom of it for quite awhile. Turns out all I had to do was unzip it and dump the entire contents into her washing machine. Well, except for the chocolate. I saved the chocolate. I  know my crew will be happy to see me when I get back to Bird TLC but they’ll be even happier when I show up with a huge box of chocolate. Continue reading →

Heading home and not one day too soon. Started getting sick yesterday. Am actually rather proud of myself for not getting sick until the last day. Taking antibiotics, drinking lots (water, not vodka!) and longing for my bed and little family. Get to Philly tonight and leave for Alaska on Tuesday. As the kids would say, only three  more sleeps and I can stop living out of a suitcase… and god only knows when I empty it what I might find in the bottom! Continue reading →

Our tour guide drank five shots with us on the bus from Krakow to Warsaw and never blinked once about it as he explained all the different varieties and why vodka made of wheat will not make you sick like the vodka made of potatoes. Don’t know if that’s true but do know that the whole bus is now aware that I snore when passed out. Continue reading →

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving but my post is anything but a Thanksgiving post. It’s about my trip in Germany to a concentration camp. It’s about things we need to remember so that we never allow them to be repeated. It’s about the fact that once we are dead and our flesh has rotted, what’s left behind is indistinguishable based on race, religion or skin color.

We must never let the racists and haters win. Orangeman is surrounding himself with them. Oppose him every chance you get in every forum you can find.

His failure will be America’s success. Continue reading →

I know I’m lucky enough to be able to travel and see the world. But oh how I miss my babies! I know Snowy and Carm and CB and Sassy and Wilson and Baby are being cared for by some wonderfully loving people. But there is a little hole in my heart that they fill every day and that hole has now been empty way too long. Continue reading →

Our guide here in Prague was quite honest about his president and his feelings about him. His description of the president drunk off his ass trying to participate in a ceremony where he held one of seven keys needed to open the vault where the crown jewels are kept was priceless.

Made me realize that no matter how bad Orangeman and his racist buddies are, as long as we can laugh at them, they can’t win.  Want proof? Try to watch (Jewish) Mel Brook’s Springtime for Hitler and Germany without laughing hysterically.

In that moment, the Jews won. Mocking is Continue reading →