Thanksgiving Break

Last week was only a three-day instructional week because of Thanksgiving break - which was a heaven-sent 4-day weekend. :) Who knew that 4 days could last so long? So much went on, so much time passed very slowly (gracefully, and wonderfully dragging the time), it was fantastic.

Monday was Adrianna's 22nd birthday. She and Dan were in Anchorage for the weekend (Friday to Monday) meeting her mom. They came back just in time for the recital at the school, at which the Unalakleet Community Quartet (Me on 1st violin, Sierra on 2nd violin, Teresa on viola, and Janelle on cello) gave our debut performance (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by J.S. Bach), along with all the high school students (band, orchestra, and choir). It was pretty sweet. I was shaking, literally, out of nervousness. It's been a while since I've performed, but I guess we did alright. There's footage somewhere, but I haven't seen video or picture. (P.S. I got my new music in the mail!!) Afterwards we sang and ate in honor of Adrianna. Happy Birthday, A. :)

On Tuesday evening the seniors presented their work from the senior trip we took at the end of October. They were in groups based on what levels of Life Skills and Career Skills they are in, then presented via power point how they met particular standards. The AEC (the community school board, basically), who funded the trip, parents, and other community members were there to listen. It was a short and overall great way to wrap up the trip. I don't have pictures from that, either...

Wednesday was a tad heavenly, knowing that it was the last day before break. Somehow we all ended up at Jake and Janelle's (that happens sometimes) for dinner, and then I fell asleep in a comfy chair and napped for an hour. I must've been sleepy, because apparently Jake was playing Wii all the while. Anyway. Much of my thoughts were taken by planning for a certain 2 week vacation that will arrive in a short 4 weeks. It will be a good time, I think. But really, I need to focus my attention on all the great things that are going on right now. For example:

Thanksgiving Day:

Dan, Adrianna, and I all joined with Jake, Janelle, and Daniel to make a huge Thanksgiving feast. Dan smelled weird, so he had to sit apart from the group.



This is the meal on the table. You can't even see all of the food we had. Part of that is because Dan just couldn't wait to get his hands on that turkey there. Seriously, let us at least give thanks before we dive in. Jeez.



This is a nice picture of the scrumptious deviled eggs that I made. That's right, I made them, all by myself - my very own recipe that I made up myself. (I divided them evenly among the egg-eaters, just like family tradition calls for.) What's that? I'm a genius in the kitchen? I know. I also made the mashed potatoes, which I at least thought tasted good. And I made steamed carrots, because I love them, but no one really ate, and the corn on the cob was only half gone. But I think that's more because we had a TON of food. Or maybe some people just don't eat vegetables.



This is Adrianna and I and Ojo the puppy looking very cute and very full at our sudo-family holiday. It was enjoyable, and I really am thankful for all the good people here. :)



I am also VERY thankful that my "got seal oil?" hoodie got here!! Austen, one of my students, delivered it to me at Jake and Janelle's on Thursday. :) I was so excited!! Pretty sweet, huh?



Black Friday (no, I did not go shopping):

Friday was a wicked lazy day... I read a lot, cleaned my house, rearranged furniture, put up more pictures and decorations (about time, eh?), and even walked out a bit since it was so nice outside. That's right, heat wave in Unalakleet - it got up into the 30s this weekend! It felt great. I put a lighter coat on, didn't have to wear long-johns, and it wasn't even windy. I felt sad that I did not have skis, but I was just glad to be outside.

Friday we had a book club meeting - we just read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (Khaled Hosseini - author of "The Kite Runner"), so we talked about that quite a bit. It was a fantastic book, by the way. Kind of depressing, I don't want to read it again, but it's good to have that perspective in there with all the other things I know and want to know.

Friday evening was the community auction. The Sewing Circle is a group of people, all women, I think, who make beautiful homemade things (quilts, beaver hats, *kusbuks, knitted and fur gloves, *mukluks, and other beautiful things) and then auction it off at this grand community event. Some businesses will also donate items to be auctioned off, as well. All of the proceeds go directly back into the community, so they use it to help single mothers, children, elders, that sort of thing. They rake it a lot of dough, as you can imagine, but the things that you get from it are pretty fabulous. I got some fish strips (king salmon) and some homemade blueberry jam (blueberries from the tundra), a pair of portable speakers (very helpful for Saturday's event...), a nice pair of thick knitted gloves, and my favorite item of the evening is my very first beaver hat!!!!
*(A "kusbuk" is a shirt made and worn by natives in this region. "Mukluks" are like booties.)



It's okay, you can make fun of me when I wear it, because I do look a little silly (Kamorin has already promised me that much), but this thing will keep my head nice a toasty during the long cold winter. It's all beaver skin and fur on the outside, and it's lined with fleece on the inside where my head is. For now I'm folding up the ear parts and tying it on top of my head, so I look even cooler, but when it gets wicked cold I'll wear them down. It's pretty great, and I love it, and I fought tooth and nail for it, but I got it. :)

H.B.A. Saturday:

Saturday was not quite as lazy as Friday. I spent a lot of time cleaning and cooking and preparing. I hosted a birthday party in honor of Adrianna, since Monday night wasn't a good day to do a late-night sort of thing. Happy Birthday, Adrianna (H.B.A.)!!!!



Lots of people came, so I had to make sure it was clean, gather refreshments, arrange the party music, etc. etc. etc. I have so many pictures!! It was super fun. :) We had tons of food. The beverage of choice was in the cooler (literally, the punch slash Jungle Juice slash Hairy Buffalo slash newly-named Hairy Muscox - Alaska style - was mixed in the cooler), which sat on top of my washing machine, which is conveniently located in my kitchen slash dining room. Adrianna, Dan, and I helped make our own fruit punch, complete with slices of real fruit mixed in to add the perfect flavor.



In honor of just coming out of college recently, we wanted the theme to be as laid back and informal as possible. This is where the idea of the punch in the cooler on top of the washing machine comes in, as well as the neat cake decorating. There wasn't enough icing to write a whole word, so in honor of BSSD's love for acronyms we just wrote "H.B.A." on her cake in small red letters. They got a little skewed in the cutting process. We also wore college t-shirts, at lots of chip and dip and veggie and dip right out of the bowl, and of course, there were small children. What's a party without cute kids? Jack is the big guy there. He's super sweet, super energetic, and, as it were, he loves playing tag in small apartments with older boys. Sweet. The little one is Carter. He did not play tag.



We had a pretty rockin' good time. Some people left early (party poopers), and then some people stayed a little bit later than most. That's when the real fun happened. Break out the deck of cards, folks, we're playing Kings!



Adrianna, me, and Deb - aren't we adorable? Fun people make fun parties.



We also had little photo shoots in between, so we'll be posting lots of those shots. Pretty much, this is the cutest picture of Deb and I, and it may have to be printed and framed.



Damon and Heidi having a good time...



Dan and Adrianna being excited...



And the picture perfect four...



Now it's back to work. Four more weeks of non-stop school until Christmas break. It's always a learning process, so I'm sure there will be lots of good things happening. :)

Life is grand. Let's not get into it any more than that.

never a dull moment

Last week, the week after I got back from Anchorage, brought to Unalakleet the annual Elementary/Junior High wrestling and cheerleading tournament, all at the very same time. How do they do this, you may ask? Well, I tell you what, it isn't calmly. In fact, it's what many like to call organized chaos, though many times in between matches we wondered where the organized part came in.



Anyway, it was actually pretty cool. You know you live in a small town when you get so excited about an elementary or middle school wrestling match that you lose your voice. Don't worry, this didn't happen to me. Actually, it did. But UNK took first place in the Junior High Unlimited weight class for wrestling - it was a pretty sweet match.



The gym was hot and stuffy from all the bodies, and it smelled of sweat and breath. The crowd went wild with each match, and among other various pieces of advice from the stands, one was sure to always here, "Squeeze!" (keep pushing until the other guy is pinned) or "Get on your knees!" or "Roll over!" or, my personal favorite, "Shoot!!" (which means, basically, take the other kid down, preferably, go for the legs). I also liked to throw in a few of my own, such as "Bite 'em!" But that's illegal, I'm pretty sure.



It was pretty crazy, trying to teach while wrestling matches and cheerleading shows were going on all day. Seriously, all day long. And there were kids here from all over the district. Where did they sleep, you ask? Good question. The girls slept in classrooms. All of the boys slept in the gym. Ew. Anyway, classrooms were packed with luggage. It was pretty sweet. But the kids in my room were pretty great. Koyuk can stay in my room every year. :)


(Some boys on our team getting their game face on...)

I actually enjoyed watching all the matches and such, so it wasn't bad. I didn't teach a whole lot... We'll get something out of it, I'm sure. :) Other great things that happened this past week and a half include the following:

1. Adrianna and I tried our first aguduk, or Eskimo ice cream. It's made with berries and seal oil. I didn't like it so much... but some of the kids told me this was made differently and that I need to try a better kind. This video is pretty hilarious, though. (But I hate the sound of my voice in it... you can totally turn the volume down if you want. The looks on our faces are quite enough.)



2. We also tried other native foods - including muktuk (whale fat), herring eggs (literally), and dried fish (which we've had before, and I love it). The muktuk was gray, which means it's a young balooga whale. Basically, it's a layer of skin, then layers of fat. Mmm. Actually, I liked it pretty well.



3. Pep band played at the tournament finals. Jake and Janelle organized it - it was pretty sweet. We played Star Spangled Banner and the Hey! song. I was on clarinet, Janelle was on tuba? or some weird big brass instrument (sorry...?), Adrianna played trumpet, Dan and Damon both played saxaphone, Tara played flute, Matt played drums, Jonathan played bass guitar, and Jake played the trombone. We actually sounded pretty good, considering. We'll be playing more during basketball season.

4. I finally baked the cake for Carrie's birthday that I promised her. It was pretty tasty!!



5. Somewhere in all that time, there was also a very cute baby Carter who likes to smile. It wasn't so much an event, but he's too friggin' cute to not include. :)



This is me being very teacher-y in my classroom. Pretty much, this is the wench face I make all day to my kids... just kidding. And yes, despite the occassional setback, besides the minor things about which I complain (probably daily... I'm working on that), and other than during the first two hours that I am awake in the morning, I really do love my job. :)



This is also fun. Looks like it's about midnight outside, right? It's pretty sweet that this picture was taken at like, 7:00pm. We're all bundled in our parkas and warm things to go for a walk down by the river, or the mouth of the river rather. Parts of the river are frozen, but the ocean isn't quite solid yet. I really want to go ice fishing. Anyway, I'm trying to spend a lot of time outside so I can get used to the dark. I really need a headlamp so I can go into the tundra past 4pm. ;)

anchorage trip: volume II

I just got a load of pictures from Anchorage. Some are amazing. Some are hilarious. Some might even surprise you.

Events from the trip include:

My first live moose sighting!!! It was through a window on the 2nd floor, and it's a baby moose, but you know, whatever, a moose is a moose! I was pretty stoked.



The bald eagles on the way down to Seward - I saw 2 or 3 different ones. Neato.




Look in front of the mountain. There's a little line right where the snow begins - it's an eagle.

The stuffed bear in the mall... we are way scarier, clearly.



The water from the glacier made the river turquoise. It looks like it's super sweet to drink, but it's deceiving. You really can't drink it. It's dirty.





Driving with 8 high school students was mostly fine, even cool, until we heard the dreaded words, "Open the window!!" Yeah, just about every half hour.



Truth be told, the kids were great, lots of fun, and I was overall impressed with how everything went. They're pretty great. :)

And of course the amazing mountains on the way made for some great pictures. It was a little cloudy, but that's alright. It was still frankin' amazing.

anchorage trip: volume I

As most of you know, I spent the week in the big city of Anchorage. We took our seniors on a trip around the area to visit various schools (UAA, ACC, AVTEC, AEC, Job Corps, and a College Fair, in no particular order). It was good for them, of course, to see. I was pretty excited, too, about seeing more of Alaska.



The plane ride was, of course, great. I was right next to the wing, as always, so all my pictures have a propeller in them. Oh well.



We did lots and lots of driving. We drove down to the Kenai Peninsula, first to Saldotna to visit ACC (Alaska Christian College), spent the night there, then to AEC (I don't remember what that stands for... something Alaska Education Construction? College?). And then we drove over to Seward to visit AVTEC (Alaska Vocational Technology Education C...? I have no idea). I've heard that Seward is beautiful, but it was wicked cloudy, so I saw just about nothing.



But Seward is right at the base of this gigantic mountain. There's probably more up there, but this was all I could see. It was still pretty cool, even in the rain.

The drive was fun, though. I drove most of the long distance stretches, which is just fine with me (I kind of miss driving, minus the mass amounts of gas we used in those giant vans). Carrie was one of the chaperones (her and I, then Jason, the shop teacher, and Gary, one of the senior's parents and a previous teacher at the school). Her and I were in one van, Gary and Jason were in the other. It worked out, we had fun. It was nice to drive and rest my mind. Anyway, Carrie said she'd take pictures for me while I drove, which was pretty sweet of her. Some of her pictures were pretty great.



I don't have her pictures yet, but I'll post a compare/contrast of my driving photos and hers. These are a couple I took while she was driving.



It was so foggy, you can barely see the mountains in the background. Oh well - another time.



My favorite one of Carrie's pictures was the one of the bald eagle... This was our conversation:
C: (nonchalantly) "He-hey, there's a bald eagle."
K: "Whoa!!"
C: "What?"
K: "Take a picture!"
C: "Of what?"
K: (are you kidding me??) "The EAGLE!"
C: "Oh, oh right!" (reaches out the window, snaps a shot of said eagle) "Well, I got a dot in the sky."
K: "Sweet..."
C: "Sorry! I see them all time, I forget that other people don't."
(ensuing laughter)

I don't yet have those pictures, but that one I will be sure to share.

Anyway, that is pretty much how it went. I said "oo oo" and she took a picture. Or, after a while, I just sort of put the picture idea behind me, but Carrie was dedicated, and she took a file full of pictures for me, in between her naps. You probably can't see it, but the glacier water made the river so blue, it was awesome.

Ironically, I actually know someone from Houghton who lives in Anchorage. I gave her a ring, and we were able to meet up at the hotel. It was super to see a familiar face and share stories of our new lives in Alaska. She's pretty cool, that Meredith.



Hopefully I'll get to visit her again (without 16 high school seniors) in Anchorage soon. :)

All in all, it was a fantastic, although absolutely exhausting trip. The city was very hectic, everything was fast and busy and everyone seemed to be running in circles. By Monday I was beginning to really feel the difference between bush and urban life - it's only been 3 months, but I'm getting used to the quieter life. It's nice. I was definitely ready to come home by Thursday!



So was the dog. She's ready for things to go back to normal.

I got some new pictures from Halloween, and some of them are just too good not to share.



Adrianna Lady Liberty and Janelle, the Wicked Witch of the West. (Songs from Wicked are running through my head...)



And I was a lamp. Underneath my shade is a headlamp that I tried to rig with a chain to turn on if I pulled it. It didn't work, but you can see the little circle of light inside my lampshade. I think was actually smiling for this picture. You can't tell, but I was really having a good time.



But my face and hair were covered in whipped cream. It was neat. I was glad to have the after-party with normal people...







This weekend was very do-nothing for me. I didn't want to hang out, I didn't want to be a teacher, I didn't want to do anything. I don't know how I dragged myself out of bed on Friday, but I was glad that the rest of the school was as tired as I was, because it made my life easier. I had to play lots of music on Saturday. I am re-learning the clarinet for pep-band. We play on Thursday. Here's hoping! And the talent show with our quartet (2 violins, viola, and cello) is on Nov. 20, or so I hear. That should actually go pretty well, I think. I hope. Anyway, it's good to be back home. Now it's back to work!! :)