quite a week!

So this week was teacher inservice week. That means that all the teachers from the entire district were here in Unalakleet for teacher inservicy fun. :) Four-hundred extra bodies in a little town made for a good time. They slept in our classrooms, which meant the UNK staff used the computer lab for our work room. We definitely made ourselves at home! Adrianna, Janelle, and I, plus Dean (who just made us laugh) took over the table in the back.



Adrianna and I were very excited to have Katie from Elim back in town. We're the three youngest, so we do young people things, and girlish things. She's super cool, that Katie. :)

With so many people here, there was something to do every night! Monday was the Pampered Chef party at the Snyder house. Jake and Janelle made amazing food!!! We pretty much just gathered around the table and ate. And we played with Daniel. But I forgot my camera that night. :( It's really very sad.

Tuesday night was the Stamp It Up party at Deb's house, although it was given by Carrie, who made all the yummy food!



I felt bad going because I knew I wasn't going to buy anything. Actually, I really wanted to get some beads, but sadly, there were none in the catalog. So I just made a Christmas card and ate chocolate truffles, a secret recipe by Carrie, of course!



The other veteran card stampers made much prettier cards, and none of them spilled tiny little "brads" (those button things that are on the right side of my card) all over the table. It's okay. I'll come into my own one of these days.



Wednesday night was the Body Shop party. I really wasn't going to go to this one, but they talked me into it because Deb wanted people to come, and it was good for me to be around people anyway. I was very sad because I had soooo much work to do! But everyone is great here, and good company always makes me feel better. :) And then I spent the evening hanging out with Adrianna, Dan, and Katie, who stayed at A & D's apartment.

Thursday was a work night, but somehow Adrianna and I ended back up at Deb's with her and Carrie having a toggle* party, though I don't think much toggling got done. (*toggle, tah-gull - to record student progress on a crazy acronymed system called DART)

Friday was NUTS, I tell you what. I tried to get work done in the morning, but by the time the afternoon came around, I was running around like a mad woman! I had to get whipping cream to make whipped cream because the store ran out, and unfortunately, when the store runs out of something (like toilet paper), so does the village. Anyway, I ran over to Janelle's, into her house, and hollered pathetically, "Janelle, I need you!!" So she let me use her mixer, her bowls, and a giant spoon, so that I could make whipped cream for...

Holloween Carnival!! The high school juniors were working on the haunted house (which took over the high school wing) all day long. I spent the evening being disgusting because I was the first face to get pie thrown in my face. We made a lot of money. My hair was nasty. It was great. Mark paid Adrianna a dollar to pie me right in the face. The cheater didn't even throw it. She just walked up in her little Statue of Liberty costume like she owned the place and slammed a plate full of whipped cream in my face.



And she will hate this picture. :) (I'll post as soon as I get pictures from the carnival.)

Even more importantly, however, Friday October 26th was a special day because it was CARRIE'S 30TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!



And so we decked out in costume. I was a lamp. Carrie was a devil clown? Whatever. The AC didn't have any Smarties, so with the time she had left, options were limited.



We still had a great time. You can't tell because we are such great actresses, but this serious face picture was very VERY hard work. How many times did we try this??





There are lots of other great people, such as Deb (1st picture), Hannah (2nd picture), and Jasmine with her new baby, Carter. (so cute!!) I realize that it's a little rediculous, but it was a costume event, although I don't think Hannah meant to look like a Mexican senor. I pretty much think Carter was the cutest one to come through the door.



A & D looked perfect (of course). A was the Statue of Liberty, and Dan was, well, Dan. He also is great with kids, so that was just a cute shot.

Overall, it was a splendid week. I spent the last 24 hours working, however. I had to plan for the week for my sub (Dan) because I am going to Anchorage on the senior trip this week. :) Actually, we will be driving all over... I'll give you the scoop when I get back. Don't worry, I'm taking my camera. ;) It should be a good time. Carrie and I have been working like mad, stressing, being sad, procrastinating, but it'll all be worth it! Of course, the work is never done... but let's not talk about that. I'm leaving for the airport in 25 minutes. Woot. :)



Of course I'll miss my pup very much. Thanks to A & D for taking care of her this week!

and other distractions to keep me from work

This week is the end of the quarter for us, which means I have a crap load of work to do. As if that was something new? Anyway, we also have no school this next week - teachers have inservice, which is work for us, but not teaching work. It came at a good time. I need a rest. But I sure do see now how much work I have to do, and how little time I have to do it in. But I just do not feel like it. I think I've done just about nothing this week - seriously. After school I've been a dud. Much of that time was spent in a meeting, dashing to the post office, and/or chatting. I'm okay with that.

Friday night... I have no memory. Oh yes, dinner at Carrie's. I miss cooking. I miss having time and energy to cook. And I hate washing dishes. Anyway, I made dinner over at her house. It was very relaxing. I didn't make the dish as well as I had made it the first time (sorry), but it was still pretty good. In fact, I think it was described as "ecclectic." If you want the recipe, you'll have to exchange me for one of yours. :) But I wish now that I had taken pictures - I need to take more pictures, huh?

Afterwards we all ended up over at Jake and Janelle's. By "all" I mean Adrianna, Dan, Carrie, and me. Adrianna, Dan, and Jake wanted to watch "Taladega Nights," but Carrie said it was stupid, so she didn't want to watch it again, I wasn't so much in a movie mode, and Janelle found our conversation more entertaining than Wil Farrell. So we chatted at the kitchen table while I wrote a letter (I can multi-task), and the word "ecclectic" was used at least 4 more times, but I won't say by whom. It wasn't me. I was keeping a tally. Anyway, by the end of the evening, everyone had enjoyed a tasty cupcake with yummy icing. Mmm.

Saturday was uber lazy. I got up, went for a little walk, played some musica with Sierra and Janella, and ended up over at Nancy's for a "knitting" party. I, however, don't knit. I'm a crochet kind of girl. So I started a scarf. I decided that I like crocheting again. It keeps my hands busy, so those times when I really just want to sit and rest, I can enjoy some tunes and have something done in the end. I used to have crochet needles, but they got lost somewhere in between the 8 times I've moved in the last 2 years... Who knows where they are?



Adrianna really enjoyed learning how to knit. She was very excited to be making her own pot holder. :)

After the knitting party I decided that it was nice out and I wanted to go for a long walk into the tundra. So I did. Starr and I hiked out to First Hill, went up to the top, and enjoyed the beautiful view.



This is the slough - frozen, of course - on the way out of town. The walk there was nice. I was wearing sweatpants and ski pants, my snow boots, a sweatshirt, and my regular winter coat. I also had a hat, scarf, and gloves to protect me from the ever biting wind. Oh, I was so hot, like, sweating, by the time I got to first hill. I had too many clothes on. What the heck, right?



This is the village from the top of the hill. All the rivers are freezing over. It's very pretty, and very much only the beginning.



This is the view of the mountains from up the hill. It almost looks fairy tail-ish, like it's unreal, those mountains were drawn in by some fantastic cartoonist. But no, those are real, and it really looks like that. It was so quiet there. You can't wonder why I love it here.

I also saw some people ice fishing in the river, while others were just playing on the ice. Yeah, village life. :)

In the evening I was back over at Jake and Janelle's with A & D for some Wii and cinnamon rolls. Well, I played a little Wii, but mostly I worked on that scarf, read from Time magazine (so excited that I got a subscription!), chatted, and enjoyed being in good company. I also liked the amusement that Daniel always brings to the group.



Below is Janelle making homemade cinnamon rolls with cranberries, with the able assistance of Adrianna, of course. Holy cow they were good! I like that Janelle is doing Pampered Chef now because she tries out all her recipes for the parties on us. :) Now I guess I'll have to start buying the products - although I am on a spending freeze at the moment... sorry, J.



One last photo, just because it makes me laugh. One of my students in journalism was using my camera to take some photos for the newspaper, and I have no idea how she got this picture. I really don't know what made me give her such a look, if I was joking, or whatever, but I look kind of pissed, and I don't think I was... Do I give that look a lot? Hmm... maybe it's a more telling picture than I realize...



I should tell you the funny story of the week. The world really should know. So you know those desk-chairs, they used them all over Houghton, especially in the NAB, and they're just a desktop with a chair attached? There are some in the background in the picture directly above. Anyway, there is a bar that is attached at the back of the chair and just underneath the desk, just about at the same level as the desk top. Well, I have a habit (a bad habit, apparently) of sitting or leaning on the desks while I'm talking. So I was sitting on that bar talking to my journalism students (SO glad it was that class...), no big deal, just getting them started. I have no idea what I was talking about. I'm sure it was a profound teachable moment, as always. Out of nowhere, without warning, the METAL bar snapped off (poor welding, I'm sure), and it and me went crashing to the floor. It was fantastic. It hurt my butt, of course, that bar. My face was something like, wide eyed and "o" mouthed, really surprised. We laughed for about 15 minutes or so. I had a really hard time getting us back on track. We took re-enactment pictures. They are on my student's camera, though - who knows when I'll get them? Anyway, it was hilarious. I wish I could make up this sort of stuff, but I don't - it really all does happen. Nancy called me a "disaster" on Saturday because I somehow got the yarn in a HUGE knot, and I couldn't get it out, and I needed her help. Really I just gave her the knot and she did it. It's a little bit true - I do kind of make a ruckus of things sometimes.

morning, noon, and night: the rigidity!

Last week went quickly. This week marks the end of the first quarter. I can't believe it - it kind of makes me want to vomit a little in my mouth. Self-control. Anyway, I've got to make some marked progress here pretty soon. It's hard to tell if they are actually learning anything. What if I really can't teach? But I guess, that's the question that all teachers ask at one point or another, and I've only been doing it for 7 weeks. What was I thinking?

This past weekend was pretty fun, though. The volleyball coach asked me if I wanted to help keep score for the home games on Friday and Saturday, three games per day. There were three teams visiting - Stebbins, White Mountain, and Golovin. I ended up hanging out for all the games, keeping the score book and just watching, and taking pictures, of course.



This game was pretty intense. But UNK won, of course. Our volleyball mixed-six team is undefeated. Woot.



After the game on Friday, which went pretty late, Carrie and I were walking out, and on our way we saw a giant house in the middle of the road. They were moving a house, started too late, got tired, so they quit and left it until morning. I also heard that it started to sink on one side, so they didn't want to deal with it in the dark, or something like that. Anyway, bizarre. Glad Carrie was there to remind me to take a photo for a good blog moment.



Anyway, other than being totally lazy this weekend, volleyball is pretty much all I did, and I'm not even kidding you. I took naps, I read, I took walks (of course), and I worked a little at the school, but mostly I just relaxed. Oh, but we did get a little more snow...



Most of the boats are being winterized now, but I did see some people on the beach the other day who caught 2 seals. They were skinning and preparing them - pretty cool. No pictures, unfortunately. I didn't have my camera. I probably wouldn't have taken pictures anyway - I would have felt awkward.



This is Lucky. She hangs out with a team of dogs on the beach - never tied up. Anyway, she loves Starr, it's so funny. It's kind of cute. Starr's not one to be social all the time, so she gets a little annoyed, but Lucky just keeps playing with her. Whenever we go on walks, Lucky always shows up. Sometimes she crouches, like she's trying to sneak up on us, but it doesn't really work. She's not too stealthy...

I would like to show you a picture of Adrianna and I in our boots and shorts on one of our spirit days, but it would come up sideways, and I think it's a bad picture anyway, so hopefully I'll get a hold of a better one for you to see.

I should go. I have to teach a class in 20 minutes... :)

*insert line from a song about snow*

Well, it finally happened. Unalakleet got its first snow. I have been seeing the peaks south of here cover up with snow during the past couple of weeks. Yesterday the wind made the snow move sideways. I still took the dog on a walk, but the wind was somewhat biting. It wasn't all that cold; the wind just made it feel that way. At least it is warm enough to snow. I couldn't see how snowy the mountains were because the fog was too thick. There isn't a whole lot of snow on the ground, but enough for you to know that winter is on its way. I remember my first year in Houghton - the first snow came on October 1st, and we got about a foot of it. There were still a few nice days after that, but I'm not convinced that winter hasn't officially begun here in Alaska. Although I have been doing what I can to force my body to acclimate to the new colder weather, I'm sure that there is nothing I can do to prepare me for what is coming... I've never seen the ground dry up as fast as it did yesterday.

I don't have any pictures of the snow - there honestly isn't much to take a picture of. But I did get some paintings that my brother did. He's pretty fantastic, so I'll give you a teaser of some of his work. It will be displayed in an art show in London (right, K?). Pretty much, I have the coolest brother in the world.


Untitled
Karl Koett, MFA

Look at it from far away, look at it close up, click on it to make it bigger, appreciate the workmanship... I could go on.

the truth goes like this

Sometimes I don't realize how wide my audience might be because no one ever comments on my blog. (hint...) Anyway, it is that time again for my now weekly update. I can't promise I will always be this dedicated.

Lately I have been reminded too often, I think, of reasons why this was a crazy and perhaps too drastic a move, for me to pick up and fly to Alaska, move my life. I realize that I also had reservations about the change before I came. Of course I did. I only mailed up six boxes - although that had just as much to do with my lack of funds as it did with, I just didn't know what to bring. I still live fairly small-ly. But I am okay with it. I enjoy myself here, and as much as I may complain (it's not too often, is it?), I really am happy here, and I am happy with my decision to move here. And it was my decision to come, and it will be my decision to stay, or to leave, or whatever. There is not much I can say that will convince everyone that wants to help me or give me advice that staying here is the right thing for me to do. I know people think it's crazy; I know that for those of you who do not live here, or have never been here, there is probably little I can say to explain myself. It just is what it is. Alaska is where I live.

Maybe I am just feeling grumpy and discouraged, lack of rest, perhaps, and maybe you don't want to read this. That's okay.

This past week and weekend was okay - it went by really slowly. I played basketball with the city (city?) league women, and that was basically a blast. I met a lot of people here, so that was excellent. There were a few nice days last week, the sun was out, it was warm-ish. Berry picking was in the works, but the rain quickly shot that idea in the face. Saturday was a little lazy. I played some musica with Sierra and Janelle - it is actually going pretty well, although I am getting a little bored with the same music. We need to get some more... but Janelle thinks we're going to rock the talent show, which will be sweet. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I am. I mean, I love to play the violin, but I didn't know it would get this big and be so neat.

Also on Saturday I volunteered at a carnival fundraiser thing for the volleyball team. Basically I sat underneath a basketball net rigged so that when they made a basket a water balloon popped over my head.

I was totally soaked, and sad, and disgusting looking. But it was worth it. Some other people went before me, and they were equally wet. When I got up, a lot of the kids were just like, "Yesssss!" And I was like, "Craaaaaap..." So the video is taken by one of my students who felt the need to document the joy of the cheating kids who didn't want to pay a dollar to get me wet.

On Saturday evening Janelle had a Pampered Chef party. It was a little last minute because she had just gotten the stuff in on Thursday. I didn't buy anything yet, but perhaps once Christmas starts getting closer, once I am more financially balanced, etc. I ate a lot of food... whatever weight I've lost since moving here I am sure I gained back all this weekend. And then we watched one of my favorite movies: "Stranger Than Fiction." I highly recommend it.

Today is Jake's birthday, so yesterday we had a sort of party, although Jake was watching a football game the whole time, so I guess he had a good time... The cake was fantastic - homemade carrot cake. There were actually quite a few people there, which was fun. Daniel was a total goof - made me smile. :)



I had brought a cantelope that I bought from the AC - it looked pretty good, and fortunately tasted fantastic, so I was sharing with Daniel. He was way into it. It also made a great hat.

We made calzones and pretty much just sat around doing a whole lot of nothing - chatting and cleaning and cooking and eating... eating a LOT. I was basically full for the rest of the day after lunch, chowing on chip and dip, cake, pizza toppings, icing, whatever. I didn't actually get a whole lot of pictures, at least not blog interesting ones.



The refridgerator magnet toys were a pretty big hit. I really do have a life...

I spent the rest of the day napping, on the phone, then back to school to work. By the end of the evening I felt a strange bitterness towards grammar in general. I opened up my book to plan for a lesson, and my first thought was something like, "I hate you, participles." So I went home at a decent hour, you know, a little after 10.