"The" Alaskan Experience

Ice Road to Akiak

2011-12-27T12:31:00.000-09:00

Took a trip with Ben and Suka up the Kuskokwim the other day. It was beautiful! We passed by Kwethluk, Ackiachak and Akiak. Tuluksak was a bit far away and the sun was going down fast. The sun comes up around 10:30 and sets around 5:00. We're gaining daylight now though. About 9 second a day...? We stopped in Akiak to check out the airport and use the "bathroom." They built a very nice school there I didn't know about. It had a small green house as well. We went on a bit farther up river and spotted a red fox and moose tracks. Overall, I think we went 80 miles round trip. So, in the picture is Suka and I next to Ben's red Toyota. It's a sturdy little truck. Starts up every time even in -20 weather.

Most Gorgeous Weekend

2010-09-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Sunny and warm with little bugs. I think I got an overdose of vitamin D... so that should last me for the next 45 days of straight rain.

Alisha and I took quite a few walks this weekend and took some pictures of the fog that would not lift until after 12pm. We also got to see a fogbow... when the fog/mist creates an arch... but without the color. It was pretty interesting to look at. I wonder what is at the end of a fogbow....

There was some bad news this weekend. On one of our walks, my dog Suka was attacked by a dog 5 times his size. We were so surprised! This dog came running from the other side of the road and pounced on Suka. I was shocked for a second or two, then got my wits about me and threw my coffee at the offending dog. It separated them for two seconds then they were at it again. I made kicking motions and stomped toward the fight scene and the dog finally got off of Suka. I was so furious. I walked up to the house where the dog came from and had a talk with a gentleman (who was not the real owner, but he apologized and even offered to refill my coffee). He was put back in his cage and we walked on. Suka is fine, by the way. He just got a little puncture by his manhood area.

I think it might be a good idea to keep my cell phone on me to call the dog catcher whenever I see a dog off it's leash. I'm tired of people not being responsible pet owners. Keep your dogs on a leash, in your house, or in a cage.

On a lighter note, my Yankee Candle box came in and made my weekend. I ordered some fall scents since I can't be home for fall. I have one lit now called orange spice. Smells wonderful.

Village Trip

2010-09-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Just got back from an awesome village visit with Vicki. Erin, Angie, Mark and I took a trip out to Akula (sp?) to visit our friend. We were supposed to go kayaking and camping... but the weather was kind of yucky and we found other fun things to do. We spent most of our time singing, dancing, talking, and eating. It was the perfect Labor Day vacation!

Plus, Vicki's house is decorated so awesomely. When you walk into it, you can tell she lives there. When I got home on Monday night, I immediately started cleaning my house and thinking of things to change or buy. I walked to the AC store to buy some groceries and took a look around the "hardware" area for hooks, wall hangings, and other fun house stuff. But, of course they didn't have anything. I'll have to wait for the weather to clear up to walk to Swanson's.

So, thank you Vicki for giving me inspiration for my house! :)

I also had grand plans today to walk to the post office, but the hurricane force winds hindered me from walking. I wanted to return a shirt from Eddie B., and mail my brother's birthday card. He'll be 13 on Sept. 9th! He'll finally be a teenager! Hopefully, when I go home for Christmas, he'll still want to give me hugs and kisses.

And, today was the start of my grand jury. I was picked to be on the jury, and not an alternate. Also, I shall be the foreman-forewoman. Nobody was volunteering so we were sitting around waiting... and I just thought, well, if I volunteer then we could go to lunch a little earlier. So, I'm on my lunch break now, doing a quick blog. When there's time, I'll post some of the pics from our weekend.

Thank goodness for no fleas in Alaska!

2010-07-31T23:38:00.000-08:00

So I am back home after roaming Michigan for the past 29 days. I left beautiful 85F sunny, muggy weather to come back to 50F cloudy, misty/rainy weather here in Bethel. Ah, sure it's great to be back. It's good to see that my plants did not pass away while I was gone (although I did leave them outside for nature to take care of... and a friend was in charge of watering a few). The grass is a little long 'cause my landlord hasn't had time to mow it yet (he's probably been too busy out on the river). I notice that their boat is gone for most of the evening.

It's nice to be back in my home, in my own bed. I missed my bed, even though it is an air mattress (the most comfiest air mattress you could ever lay on). The last few days at my mom's house, I had to sleep on the downstairs couch because my bedroom was infested with fleas! Not from Suka, but from my sister's cat. My sister had her cat living up in the room raising a small liter of kittens and spreading her fleas all over the carpet. Suka took his medicine during our trip so I wasn't that worried about the fleas... until he started itching. It was the funniest thing! He's never experienced fleas before and he would itch himself then look at his foot to see what the hell was going on. I took pity on him and gave him a few flea baths. I haven't noticed any emigrants on him, so I think we've killed them off. Thank goodness! I hate fleas.

I have been trying to finish this online reading fundamentals class that I started last fall. It is incredibly boring and not very interactive. I guess that's what I get for taking an online class. You basically read the material and take an exam. I've done two of five exams... and I hope to be finished by the time school starts. One good thing about these online classes, you can pick your own timeline to complete the course... so thank goodness I gave myself a full year to complete it! And early next week I hope to travel into my classroom and begin rearranging my area. That is my favorite part of the year... at the beginning where you can reorganize your room and make improvements from last year. I'd like to be really ready this year since I will be starting kindergarten again.

Pontoon Alley on Wixom Lake

2010-07-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

It was the 4th of July and Wixom Lake was completely full! Boats were everywhere. Kids were tubing and flying off into the water. College kids were drinking up a storm and listening to loud music. And, my family is in the pontoon, slathering up sunscreen and getting ready to wade in the water. No matter who much sunscreen we put on though, our skin got burnt! I mean, look at the picture with my Aunt, and sister Lydia. She is toasted! I got a little red, but I continually put lotion on it because I really hate to peel.

We had such a great time. The weather was perfect, the sun was warm, I was sucking down water and watching beautiful men stroll by :) We stayed out there for the whole afternoon. The only reason we had to go in was because my sister Lydia made my cousin watch her kids, and we've been out on the boat for at least 5 hours... so we felt a little guilty for staying out so long.

So, after our long afternoon out on pontoon alley, we spent the rest of our night watching fire works, kicking the bonfire, lighting sparklers, drinking, laughing, and spending time together. The 4th of July is like Christmas at my Grandpa's house. Everyone comes over! Even the neighbors were bringing their guitars over and joining in the unexpected bout of singing Beatles and country songs.

As far as food goes, I found these gigantic marshmallows that are three times the size of a regular marshmallow. Of course I had to buy them. These marshmallows required two full graham crackers and at least five pieces of chocolate. We had to make sure to cook them 'til they were bloody burnt, or else the inside of the marshmallow would not be mushy enough to squish down. They were pretty fun to eat. One of these was enough to fill me up on s'mores for the whole night. Delicious!

Good Times with the Dogs

2010-07-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

Suka had the most awful plane ride experience. I thought I sedated him enough, but two pills did not work. So, on the way home, I will be giving him at least three pills to calm his butt down. He wouldn't stop panting the whole first week we were home. But now, with only a few days left in Michigan, I think he's gotten used to the weather.

Here is a picture of my brother with our dog Annabell. She is a slobbery boxer with little social skills. She wanted to play, sniff, and jump on Suka. Suka, of course, did not like this and acted like he wanted to bite her head off. So, we never put them in the same room together. Suka did get along with other dogs after a while. He seemed to like the smaller kind.

Everyone loved Suka though. My family wanted to keep him and let me take the annoying beagle. I said no, I love my Suka. Although I did not love him this morning when I had to give him a flea bath! I don't think his Frontline medicine is working. He doesn't seem to be itching a whole lot, but there are fleas all over his body. I gave him a bath this morning and I'll probably give him another couple before we leave. The last thing I want is to have fleas in my house. I hate fleas! I guess this is one reason to live in Alaska... there are no ticks or fleas :)

Summer Lovin'

2010-06-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

That is I am lovin' summer right now. I'm getting anxious to leave. I've packed way ahead of time, even getting Suka's things ready. Yes, he has his own travel bag. I already gave him heart worm medicine and tick and flea drops. He's pretty much ready, except for the sedatives I'll be giving him right before we leave for the airport. I've got a few extras incase our car ride together is rough on the way home. Lets hope he does fine.

I'm almost finished packing. Just finishing up some laundry and doing a little cleaning around the house. One of my pet peeves is coming home to a dirt place. When I come back home, the only thing I want to do is unpack, not spend time cleaning up a mess I've left.

I'll only be gone for 29 days and will return late in July. I wanted to be home early to help out with the fall inservice and to get my classroom ready for kindergarten. There are some new pieces of furniture I need to move around, and some new ideas I want to implement. I am going to do kindergarten a bit different this coming year. I have some new things to focus on, and my main goal will be to get parents involved in the classroom. Save that for another blog.

So, my summer plans include visiting family, bonfires, cooking outside, trip to Mackinaw Island, movies, dollar store shopping, and cleaning my old room. 29 days seems like a long time, but I already know my time will be short. I guess there will be time to rest when I come back to AK! The only thing I am not looking forward to is the yucky... muggy... sticky... 90F weather.

Summer Free!

2010-06-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

Work has officially ended for me. My job at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge has ended this week. It was very successful. I completed 5 tundra wildlife kits, and 1 tundra plant kit. I gave a little presentation this morning and went through the lesson plans with the education specialist. They were pleased and even offered for me to come back next summer to work on some new kits. I have travel plans for next summer for Ireland and Scotland again, so we'll see what happens.

I've got a few more days left 'till I head off for Michigan. I just got insurance for the car rental and printed off driving directions from O'Hare airport to home. I am looking forward to driving on the highway and listening to the radio! Suka will be traveling with me. The little psycho whines so much in a simple 5 minute cab ride, that I am worried about a 3 1/2 hour trip! Hopefully he'll be able to relax if I lay a blanket down, or perhaps I'll have to slip him some sedatives from the vet.

So, in the meantime, I will be cleaning house, relaxing, finishing my Reading Fundamentals online class, and working out.

Enlightening Walk Home

2010-06-13T22:55:00.000-08:00

As I was walking home from a friends house, two little girls from across the street see me walking with my dog. They come running down their porch with popsicles in their hands (mind you it's about 10pm) yelling "I wanna pet your dog!" Suka was running around, doing his dog thing as these girls run up to me (not even knowing who I was) and tell me they want to pet my dog. Suka comes running up and starts smelling the girls over. They giggle and what not then one of the girls asks me to open her popsicle treat. I tell the girl to go ask her mom to open the treat but she says "my mom is drinking." "Oh, okay then, I'll open it." Then, I ask the girls "who is supposed to be watching you?" "My grandma." The girls start telling me that one of them doesn't live her, she's just visiting and they're just playing outside. After one of the girl finishes her popsicle treat, she throws the plastic on the ground and laughs as Suka goes up and investigates the sticky stuff. I told her to not be a litter bug and pick up her trash. She laughs and does what I tell her. Next, I tell the girls that it's my bed time and that I have to go home. I make sure to remind the girls not to play in the road and to go back inside. They giggle and walk back to the house.

I just kept thinking, "jeesh." I know it's summer, but 5 year olds outside at 10pm... by themselves???? I had an impulse to call social services (wouldn't be the first time I had to make a report). That is one of my responsibilities as a teacher- to report abuse. We hear and see everything at school: we missed you yesterday, where were you?- mom was drunk, and wouldn't let me go; he has a doctor's appointment at 12:00pm so we'll just keep him home all day; sorry, we slept in too late (call at 1:00pm), can you excuse her?; he stayed up too late so I let him sleep in...etc.

There are so many issues for these kids to deal with. And sometimes I have a hard time listening to what problems/concerns/issues parents share with me. I have had parents concerned about instructional time their child is/is not getting, and I'm concerned about my students coming to school without breakfast or without a coat, or giving my students a special good morning greeting to start their day off right. One grandparent told me of her concern with her granddaughter's hat. Someone was putting it on her backwards. And, I'm concerned about a student who has been wearing the same shirt with blood on it for 4 days in a row. Parents want their child pushed in certain subjects, and I'm concerned they don't know how to tie their shoes or zip up their coat.

When I am faced with an issue like safety/shelter/food/clothing/love that a child is not receiving, I kind of feel that all of those other issues seem so small in comparison. First of all, if a child is lacking in the previous mentioned, how much are they really going to learn when they come to school? They might learn that school will feed them breakfast and lunch, give them clothes, clean their head of lice, teachers will give praise and hugs, etc. Some stuff just matters more to me sometimes.

Grill Out

2010-06-11T17:52:00.002-08:00

That's me trying to control Suka. I think he was a little nervous about the flames. I went into Anchorage a couple of weeks ago and brought a little grill back. I tried to bring charcoal on the plane, but that was not allowed. I left my bag of Kingsford by the garbage can. Hopefully someone grabbed it as they were walking out. The grill is the perfect size for my little house. I invited a friend over to christian the grill with steak, asparagus, and peaches. It was a very delicious dinner. So, I think I've got steak down, and next time I'll try some chicken... maybe kabobs, and more fruit.

The bugs are so nasty here though. They cling to my door and walls outside of the house. Today after work, I took some mosquito repellent and sprayed around the door. I don't know if it will work though. It was a little gratifying to spray them and see the little suckers flutter to the ground. I bought some coils and mosquito repellent sticks at the store. They don't seem to be working, what with the wind blowing around by the lake. I'd like to get a couple of large citronella candles and set those outside of the door. That might do the trick. Well, how much more can you talk about mosquitos?

Insects

2010-06-07T21:10:00.002-08:00

I've been learning some very interesting things about insects at work this summer. I have been gathering materials for the second grade tundra kit. In second grade, they have an insect theme. Some teachers have asked me to gather more materials for this theme. So, I've been working on this. Today, a biologist let me know that there are some rare dragonflies at Hanger Lake that have been spotted! Cool! He said because of the unusually warm spring, these dragonflies have decided to come out. Dragonflies are more likely to come out at night because of the delicious mosquitoes they feast on. We're supposed to catch them at night because they fly lower to the ground to catch their prey. I found a fantastic net at work and brought it home, hoping to catch some after work. However, as I was riding my bike home, I noticed the dark clouds in the distance and the wind fiercely blowing in my face. Wind + bugs = hard to catch bugs. So, the little storm ruined my plans tonight. I do plan to go bug catching tomorrow during work though. I've got to bring my fingernail polish remover with acetone to drop the dragonflies into. You let them drift in acetone for a couple of days and it helps preserve their colors. Hopefully, I will be able to catch a few and add them to the second grade kit. I will also keep my eye open for water beetle and bees.

New Summer Experience

2010-05-28T16:37:00.004-08:00

So, teaching is done for now. We had an awesome last week together. We went to a park together and had a picnic. The weather was a bit breezy but the kids still ran around having fun. We had some parents walk with us to the park, help with lunch, watch them on the playground, and walk back with us. We had other parents come who didn't really interact with others, children and adults. We had a bloody nose and a couple of spats, but overall an enjoyable time. We also had our grade level potluck. Quite a few parents showed up which was great! It was nice to see some of them interacting with other parents and teachers. The children did a wonderful job reciting poems and singing a song for their grandparents. But, thank goodness this year is over! I've had some interesting experiences this year that makes me believe, even more, that looping from K to 1st grade is not always positive for the student and the teacher. Ah, that would be another blog title later.

I still see some of the kiddos around town, riding their bikes, playing with dogs, drinking soda, enjoying the nice warm weather. It will be interesting to see them after the summer. Given few months, they can mature so much, and hopefully gain skills they were not developmentally ready for. It's interesting to see students read at such a high reading level, but they still can't tie their shoes! They just need some time and kids all develop differently.

I've picked up a summer job this year. I'm working for the US Fish and Wildlife. They've hired me this summer to create themed kits for school use. I've been working on a tundra animals kit this past week for grades k-4. It's coming along very well. The kits include lesson plans for the teacher, demonstration lesson plans for a US Fish and Wildlife worker, hands on materials, and books. These kits are also linked to our science curriculum, so there's no reason why teachers can't use them! After the tundra animal kit is finished, I will start working on a tundra plants kit. The refuge building has a nice herbarium that I get to look through. I'm also hoping they have an insect collection hiding somewhere too! I am really enjoying working here this summer. They are so helpful with directing me where to go, giving advice, gathering information for me, and collaborating lesson plans. I would be happy to work here again some other summer. It is such a nice change from the school setting.

Violent Teachers

2010-05-19T19:38:00.003-08:00

HOUSTON (CBS/KHOU) When their teacher backed one of their classmates into a corner, students at a Houston-area charter school thought it was a joke - but it allegedly turned into a shocking and brutal beating that was caught on tape.

Sherri Davis, a science teacher at Jamie's House Charter School, allegedly backed 13-year-old Isaiah Johnson into a corner and began beating him while his classmates watched.

At the beginning of the video you can hear the laughter and applause from the students as Isaiah is backed into a corner by Davis after Isaiah reportedly teased a female classmate. But Janiqua Johnson, a student who shot the video on her cell phone, says Davis "snapped" and started beating the 13-year-old, according to CBS affiliate KHOU.

cut and paste the link here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20004788-504083.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CBSNewsPCAnswer+(PC+Answer%3A+CBSNews.com)

I don't care what is going on in your classroom, there should be no reason to beat your students. That is not our job... well, in some states yes, but that job should still be reserved for the parents! There are specific classes for teachers to take that help us to deal with violent students in a safe way for the student and for the teacher. I saw the teacher on Good Morning America this morning trying to defend her actions. She put a bit of the blame on the school not providing students and teachers with a safe atmosphere/building. What also shocked me was that no teachers or students tried to put a stop to the beating. I just cannot see how a teacher can be so enraged at their students to actually physically beat the child (well, I guess we all might have those days when you are just tired of dealing with certain students, but you've got to be able to deal with anger/frustration/stress in a safe way). We have the third most stressful job. I think it is an important priority to figure out your way of dealing with the daily frustration/anger/stress that comes with your job. (ie, yoga, ride a bike, judo, karate, aerobics, hobbies, a glass of wine, etc).

Strange Week

2010-05-14T20:55:00.003-08:00

It's been kind of an interesting week. The weather for one. Warm, beautiful weather, then rainy and even snowy the next hour! Let's hope this weekend will be a gorgeous one. There is a Fun Run at the cultural center that I hope people will go to. I've asked a few ladies from work to join me on the 5K. I only plan to walk/jog some of the time.

School was incredibly busy. I've been testing all week, while still trying to keep up with instructional time. I was lucky to have parent volunteers in my classroom this week to help out with the busy-end-of-the-year-stuff. One of my parent volunteers brought me a gift. They are awesome parents and support what I do in my classroom. The gift was very unexpected and I got very teary-eyed when I opened it. The gift was a beautiful opal necklace (which all my kids know of my opal rings I wear everyday). It was thoughtful and very generous. The volunteer gift I planned to give out at our potluck seems so small now.

My kids did so well on their showcase. There were so many parents in the gym. I was so happy to see them come and support their children. The kids worked hard on using their actor/actress' "voice." Now they are a little prepped for our potluck presentation next week.

The federal papers for my job this summer are finally completed. There was a discrepancy with my previous addresses, so I had to fax a new copy over. I did not realize so much paper work went into getting a federal job. I suppose I should have realized this, but it seemed a 30 day, summer job, would be a simple hiring task. Nope. A giant packet was mailed to me. It was worth the hassle though. I am looking forward to my summer job: making themed lesson kits for U.S. Fish and Wildlife. It will be a nice change from teaching 21 students, to working on the computer/researching all day.

And, lastly, it has been brought up to me that someone is inquiring about my teaching skills. I do not know the particulars, but I get the feeling that these inquiries are not positive. It is a little disappointing to see this happening. But, there is nothing I can do or want to do about it. People are who they are.

I think next week will be so much better. The last week of school is usually the best time with the kids.

Suka vs Ducks

2010-05-10T18:48:00.010-08:00

I think he is ready for summer too. He's been more rowdy and anxious lately (just like my kids at school!). I set up his 20ft lead outside the door so he walk around the yard. Suka doesn't really like it though. He'll scratch at the door and whine for awhile. I ignore him and after a few minutes, he'll sulk off the porch and wander around.

When I took him outside after work, I noticed the lake behind my house had a couple pairs of ducks wading around. They were pretty close and didn't seem afraid of Suka, so I ran inside to get the camera. Suka was interested in the ducks, but not too interested to hop in the freezing water. We'll see if he gets into trouble this summer with the neighborhood fowl.

Could It Be?

2010-05-06T20:04:00.003-08:00

Is it break up time yet? We have had such beautiful weather lately that I am hoping spring is here to stay. Suka and I have been going on walks down by the river. But, the other day, we decided to walk down by Pinky's Park and explore the boardwalk. There is so much trash around town! Pop cans, chip bags, plastic bags, everything you can buy from the AC store. Isn't there some kind of community event to clean up the town? On the last day of school, the classrooms go outside in the morning and clean up the school area. And, I think there has been a clean up crew on the highway... but other than that...? In my home state, prisoners (the non-murderous/violent kind) are able to walk along side roads and pick up trash. Are the prisoners in the Bethel jail able to do this? I have never seen them out in their orange suits. It could be there is not enough people to watch the prisoners along side of the road, or Bethelites might not prisoners in the "downtown" area no matter what they are doing for the environment. I guess it is an issue of safety... but, if other states do it...?... (yeah, I know, will we jump off the bridge too?).

Mother's Day Project

2010-05-04T18:07:00.002-08:00

This is one "holiday" I love to do in my class. We worked on some special stuff today for the moms. The kids work extra hard on these kinds of crafts because they know it will be going home to mom. We had a little discussion about how mom's like to keep their children's work so they can look back over the years and see how much their children have changed. I still remember making Mother's Day cards, flowers, vases, poems, wall hangings, and hand pictures. My mom still has that special school box in our attic. So, I want to give my students the same experience I once had, and I want their mother's to appreciate how special and unique their children are.

One of my students told me his mom still has the flower that we planted in kindergarten! Awesome!

Volunteers/Changes

2010-05-04T06:32:00.003-08:00

I have been blessed this year with having the best volunteers for my classroom. I've also had the best parent support in the classroom this year. It's great to have parents come in and work with the children and help out the teacher. It's great to have them know what we are working on in the classroom and support what you are teaching. The classroom is a different atmosphere than home, so it's interesting for parents to see what their child is like with twenty other students.

The educational system is changing in this town because of our 5th year without AYP. The community has been informed through board meetings. Also, there are so many changes happening in the school district. New math curriculum and program, reading program, two language programs, and a new grading system. It is great to know that your classroom parents support the positive changes the school district is doing to improve our AYP. These changes are challenging for the teacher and for the students. The school needs all the support it can get. I hope next year I can have an awesome group of parents like I have had this year.

Less than three weeks of school left....

2010-05-03T19:39:00.002-08:00

So, we've got about 14 days left of school and I am definitely feeling the crunch. I've been testing my students since the end of second quarter, but I still feel behind. So many indicators to complete and so much content to cover! I never feel satisfied at the end of the school year. Yet, I don't want the end of our year to be negative. We have had an awesome year. Hatching eggs, learning about plants, migration posters, field trips, showcases. We were a pretty successful classroom.

Our end of the year potluck is coming up. Our theme will be family and celebrating Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Grandparent's Day all in one afternoon. I'll probably get teary-eyed too. That's what you get when you have the same class for two years. Your really get to know your kids. You get to know their families, behaviors, problems, jokes, attitudes, mood swings, accomplishments. So much time is spent together. So, I want to make sure I end our year on an awesome note.

Bethel Spring

2010-05-02T13:40:00.004-08:00

So, I woke up this morning and found 3 inches of snow outside of my home. The snow kind of crushed my springy feeling. It feels like we should start singing Christmas songs again.

Some good news though, I have bought my ticket home this summer with my miles. Bethel to Chicago, 40,000 miles. I haven't decided if I should fly from Chicago to Lansing or if I should rent a car and drive the 3 1/2 hours home. Driving would be quite an adventure with Suka. He can't even behave in a 5 minute cab ride. So, I'll be home for the month of July. July in Michigan is the best. Bon fires, fire works, family sitting around drinking and playing cards, road trips to Mackinaw Island, skate park with my brother, playing with my nephews in the backyard, and mowing my grandpa's lawn. I can't wait.

School is also finished in three weeks. I have had this group of kids for 2 years. It has been a long two years. I am going to be sad yet happy to see them go on to second grade. But, I will also be glad to get a new group of students. This group of kids have been wonderful, but they came with some challenging baggage. I learned, with this group of kids, that you can never please everyone. They will always find something at fault with your teaching and will probably always share the negative aspect of your teaching instead of informing you of the positive things you have done for their child. But, these experiences make you a better teacher and help reinforce why you decided to become a teacher.

Overall, spring in Bethel is a good thing. It means time for some change.

Tiny Blip About What's Going On

2010-01-07T18:10:00.003-09:00

Here's a little update since I haven't blogged in quite awhile. I am still living in Alaska. I teach first grade this year. I had an awesome summer spent in Europe. I traveled to my ultimate destination... Ireland :) Then off to my second love, Scotland, then to England and lastly, France. Ireland and Scotland were the best! I wish some guy would've swept me off my feet and made me stay there. ah, well. I'll take another trip over there and see what happens. Maybe I'll find a new teaching job... then my blog would say "The" Irish Experience.

I spent a lot of time with my family this summer in "up north" Michigan. Bon fires, Fourth of July, marshmallows, The Whiskey Barrel... Too much fun. This fall, my aunt Teri passed away from cancer. We spent some time together before I came back up here for the school year. She was in a wheel chair and we went for a nice walk along a creek, ate some ice cream afterwards, and sat on a porch to just talk. My aunt Teri is now buried beside her two boys in Beaverton. I went to see her grave in October and I put a little pumpkin gourd by the flowers. Before she passed away, my aunt Teri and uncle Dave gave me a large sum of foreign bills. I don't even know where all of them are from. I need to find some folder to organize the money and figure out some way to identify them. And no, not every country puts their name on their money!

I've got so much new things to blog about, but I'll save that for a later time (Mexico, K-300, weddings, yadda yadda yadda :) This was just a quick update blog.

Missing Family

2009-05-04T21:21:00.003-08:00

I just got a call from my Aunt Colette letting me know that my Aunt Teri is not doing so well. To give you a little background info: She had to watch two sons die, her husband had throat cancer, she was a breast cancer survivor, and now she is fighting cancer again. She and my other aunt took a trip to Florida the other week and had a wonderful time together. But, she started to get dizzy a week into their vacation so they came back to MI. Turns out she has cancer in her brain that is pushing against her nerves- or something to 'cause her dizziness. So, the doctor's explained that the outcome does not look good but they will do four radiation treatments just to keep up the fight. They also explained that she has to spend at least 90% of her time in a wheel chair because her body is so weak now. The sad news is that my family called in for hospice help. They don't know when she will pass away but the doctors let us know that she will be leaving us soon. I cried when I heard the news and wished to God that I could be home supporting my family. I don't like to be away in bad times or in good times. It makes me rethink what I am doing here. So, all I can do for now is to pray for her and hurry home to be with my family. My Aunt Teri and I have a wonderful relationship, and we have some pretty awesome memories. I hope we can make a few more before she leaves. If you read my blog, please simply pray for my Aunt Teri. Thanks.

Quick Thoughts Session

2009-04-24T18:50:00.003-08:00

I've decided to make a list of some thoughts I've been having about life in general... take them however you may:
-being away from family drives me crazy sometimes.
-be around people who care about you and who help you make good decisions.
-eating only guacamole for dinner is fine with me.
-I was introduced to ear plugs this year and they are magic!
-three isn't always a great number; some people just like two and even one.
-do what is best for you, but don't screw the people around you.
-be honest about what is bothering you.
-enjoy lame movies (i.e. Kung Pow).
-okay, I admit that I am obsessed with Twilight.
-when someone asks "where would you like to eat?"... don't say "it doesn't matter."
-more than one person can be working in the kitchen.
-my friends can help themselves around the house... I tire of playing host.
-Therma-flu does help some nights...
-if you can't make your present house feel like a home... then what the hell?
-I'm tired of feeling like I am still in college.
-they say every 10 seconds a dog is beaten... well, my dog is now a statistic... I joke!
-ah, why pine over someone who probably isn't worth your time?
-dreams about losing your teeth and vampires in one night may not be a good sign.
-you should probably listen to other peoples' conversations because they might expect you to listen to everything they say (so they don't have to mention the conversation a second time).
-bitch sessions always come back to bite you in the tush.
-perhaps I should get a journal so some of these thoughts are private... (but what if others have the same thoughts as mine, wouldn't they like to know someone is in the same boat?)

Cama-i Weekend

2009-04-07T19:46:00.003-08:00

So, we had a pretty fun weekend here in Bethel. We said goodbye to some friends, we sang karaoke, we gave bread away, some of us kicked butt singing Disney songs, some of us fell down stairs, one of us had fruit and veggie salad in their sleep... etc. Overall, it was great. We didn't have a giant snowball fight this year, but we did play a monster game of Apples to Apples. It's going to be sad next year when a bunch of us will be missing from our little clique. Maybe we'll find some new grasshoppers to train and be our friends. We'll see. I'll post some pic's from Cama-i weekend later (appropriate pictures... we promised Kale).

Iditarod

2009-03-12T20:59:00.003-08:00

The Iditarod was one of the greatest experiences to date. It was so exciting watching all of the dogs jumping around, barking at eat other, ready to start the race. We volunteered as dog handlers and had to take a class before we were allowed to handle. I was able to handle for my favorite musher: Sebastian Schnuelle :) I got his autograph on my arm band and we got our picture taken together. I'm so obsessive because that picture is now sitting on my desk at school... but, ah well. As soon as i get a digital copy of the picture, I'll post it here. I would volunteer again. It would have been nice to see the real start in Willow, but I had to catch a plane that evening to go back home. My friends Jess and Kara had fun too. They were able to handle dogs for Mitch Seavey's son Dallas. They like Sebastian, but they've decided that their musher was younger and cuter, so now I think he is their favorite. Overall, what a cool experience and I recommend everyone to try it.

Seward Cruise

2009-03-10T21:23:00.003-08:00

We went on a nice trip to Seward for spring break (Kara, Jess, Angie and I). On this cruise, we saw a pod of orcas, a humpback whale, a couple of sea otters, and some mountain sheep (dall?). The orca's were so close to the boat! I was hoping to see some sea lions on the beach, but we didn't. We did see, however, some seals and a sea lion at the Sea Life Center in downtown Seward. Now that was cool. We got to touch sea urchins, sea cucumbers, star fish, some mollusk things, and a bunch of other under water creatures. And, I saw my favorite fish to eat- halibut! These fish are so weird when they swim around because it looks like they swim horizontally rather than vertically. Look up a video on Youtube 'cause it's hard to describe. But, they are yummy fish to eat ;) I would love to take my class there; it is a great hands-on center. Overall, it was an awesome trip and the cruise people baked us cookies before we left the boat, so we had some warm yummies in our tummies when we left. Warm cookies just make you feel happier.

Reindeer Run

2009-03-01T21:26:00.002-09:00

During Fur Rondy in Anchorage, they had a reindeer run down a main street. Well, not "a reindeer" but several male reindeer who spent several hours getting to know a female reindeer. People were allowed to run with them down the street towards a female in heat. I don't think anyone got hurt... It was crowed and cold, so I didn't see much. I wussed out on the second heat and had to go into a store to warm up. Then, we just left to go get coffee and take a ride south towards Girwood. It's a funny comparison to running of the bulls in Spain... running of the reindeer in Anchorage. A nice tradition!

Moose in Anchorage

2009-03-01T21:21:00.003-09:00

While we were driving back to our hotel from our trip to Girwood (after seeing a moose in a parking lot there), a moose was right outside of our hotel! So, we sat there for a while to take some pictures. We could see the moose from out hotel door. That's pretty darn neat, seeing two moose in one hour! He was just standing there eating branches from a tree. My friend Kara actually got out of the car to get a picture with it. I told her I don't think moose are friendly. Think about it: a moose in the winter time searching for food :)

Catch Up

2009-02-16T11:59:00.002-09:00

Yeah, it's been a while, but let me do some catching up. I'm still in Bethel, Alaska teaching Kindergarten. We still live in the same apartment. School has been keeping me busy. Right now I'm trying to teach my kids about nursery rhymes. It's surprising that so many kids up here are not taught these simple rhymes: Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. So, my plan is to have kids start learning these rhymes so it can improve their language and rhyming skills. Enough about work though. My roommates and I have joined dance classes. I've joined the jitterbug class and my roommates are doing salsa dancing. So, nights after practicing we practice in our living room :) Aerobics has also started back up so I'll be doing that MWF and dancing on TH. It's good to keep busy through the winter though because the cold will drive you crazy here! So now, I am counting down the days until spring break. My two friends, Kara and Jess are visiting me from Michigan. We're spending a week in Anchorage :) And, I've made them sign up to be dog handlers for the Iditarod! I can't wait, we might be on tv :) Neat things happen in Alaska :) Well, I'm typing this on my lunch break and I kinda want to finish lunch. We'll see how long it takes me to make another blog:)

March

2008-03-15T13:51:00.002-08:00

There are so many things to do in March. St. Patrick's Day, Dr. Seuss' Birthday, Easter, spring, the Iditarod, and Camai. It's great that there is so much to do because it makes March go by so much faster. It's starting to get warmer outside- in the 20's I think. So hopefully, I won't have to wear snow pants to work every morning. The down side is that my trail across the tundra will be impossible to go through because all the snow will melt soon and the slough will be flooded with water. I also heard that Alligator Acres will probably flood when all the snow melts. So, that means I need to buy another pair of rubber boots or a boat to get to school. Ah, life in Alaska can be interesting.

K-300 Dog Sled Race

2008-02-10T17:44:00.000-09:00

So, I've been busy lately since I got back from Christmas vacation. I got to volunteer for the K-300 dog sled race this past January. it was the neatest thing I have ever done. My roomies and I worked at the headquarters, where they call in the check in times and where people call from around the world to ask questions about the mushers. And, I've found my favorite dog musher. He's from Germany but he lives in Canada. Sebastian Schnuelle. He's the coolest guy, I'm telling you. Google his name and check out his kennel and whatever else he's been up to. He's running in the Iditarod too this year. So, be sure to look for him. So next year, we've decided to volunteer again, but this time we're going to be checkers on the trail. And that means we get to stay at a check point on the river or in a village so when the mushers come in to rest we get to handle their dogs and help them get their things in order. Neat huh :)

I've also been busy in school. Testing, observations, holidays, blah blah. I'm getting my kids ready for Valentine's Day and President's Day. I'm excited for Valentine's Day because I remember my experiences in grade school, and they were always good. So, I hope to create a good experience for my kids.

I'm also busy counting down the days until spring break! I get to visit some friends in Arizona! I'm so excited to be in a state that is much warmer. It's been around -40 degrees lately, so anything above 0 degrees sounds wonderful. I can't wait to wear a jacket or even flip flops! I won't have to put on 50 pounds of clothing before I go outside! I'm also looking forward to going to the movies and shopping and being with friends :)

I've also got some great news. My principal asked me to stay another year. I told him I was interested but I didn't say yes or no yet. I wouldn't mind staying another year. The money is good and I am having fun. Well, lately, it's been awful because the weather has been so cold that it hurts to go outside. I mean literally. My head hurts to go outside and it hurts to breath in that cold air. Plus the wind is awful here. I though Mt. Pleasant was windy, but up here it's ridiculous! On the good side, we're hanging out with friends and trying to entertain ourselves. I may have a little bit of cabin fever, but it's not bad enough to go around killing people. It just needs to warm up a bit to go outside for a walk, or to go skiing and sledding. I got Erin 3 sleds for her birthday and we haven't been able to use them yet because it's so cold out. We'll get to them I'm sure.

Couch Experience

2007-12-10T20:04:00.000-09:00

One night, just the other night ;), Erin and I were sitting on our couches watching "Holiday in Handcuffs," and I realized I have been lying on the couch too long. So I decided to try a couple of positions to make myself more comfortable. Sometimes, when I am in a restless mood, i like to lay on my back and put my feet up on the back of the couch. I like to put my feet where they don't belong (no you sickos) I mean I walk my feet along the wall or Erin likes to open the window with her feet. The next time I'm bored, I'd like to try something new with my feet. Yes, isn't it sad that I'm having this conversation about my couch habits? But, it was so interesting the other night.
And then I was also thinking that I am blessed to live in Bethel. I complain all the time about walking to school and blah blah, but I think I need to start appreciating my circumstances. People in the villages do not get to walk around as much as we do because... uh, where can they walk? There are the boardwalks, and walking to and from the store or school... but that's about it. However, I can walk practically everywhere; to the store, post office (if I'm feeling lucky) school, Cultural Center, or to a park. I would be so restless in a village because I wouldn't be able to walk around. And, if you do happen to slip off the boardwalks, you'd sink into a foot of water or some mysterious sponginess. Well, I have noticed that I like to blabber about and waste time talking about things that are probably no significance to people who read this. But, isn't that the point of a blog?

I'll Be Home for Christmas

2007-12-02T10:32:00.000-09:00

Yes, I'm counting down until I can go home for Christmas. I am making a list of places I need to eat out at when I get home. For instance, here are a couple of places I really need to go to: Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, the Whiskey Barrel, Applebees, some Chinese Buffet place (I'm not picky), Quality Dairy (for icecream), and Wal-Mart (no, not to eat at, but to shop to my little hearts content. You know, I used to hate going to Wal-Mart, but then I realized... God Bless Wal-Mart and their low prices). I will also be spending a lot of my time and the theater. I need to catch up on some of my movies. So, Becky and I will be at Celebration every afternoon :) I mean, of course I'll spend time with the family. But, while everyone else is working, that's when I get to have fun! Plus, I'm excited to see my nephews. I bet they have grown so much. I get to see my grandpa (did you know that blind people can hunt in Michigan? I thought about it, and it's true because my grandpa is practically blind and he just went bear hunting and deer hunting. He's a good blind hunter because he did shoot a deer and a bear.... so, blind people can hunt well). I'm counting down the days until I can go home. So far I have.... 18 days.

Newtok

2007-11-22T15:42:00.000-09:00

We finally made it to Newtok after "iffy" weather and a plane that had malfunctions. The town has about 400 people in it. Angie and I are visiting my friend Becky from my hometown. We've already had a group get-to-gether with some natives and friends, we've had a Thanksgiving feast with the community and had a small get-to-gether with other teachers. So far, it's been a wonderful Thanksgiving. Becky has shown me how to use the incinolet :) I'll take a picture of it and post it later, because it is quit a contraption! We've been invited to steam too. I'm a little nervous but excited! They say that when you steam, you feel the cleanest you've ever felt when you are done. So, I can't wait. I'll probably write all about that too! So far, we are having a wonderful time! I just hope the weather stays clear.

Morning Walk

2007-11-14T20:13:00.000-09:00

I walk to school every morning and it's really dark still at 7:30 am. I have to wear my snow boots, snowpants, winter coat, gloves, cleats, and two hats. Then I have to lug on my backpack and a smaller bag on my shoulder. So, I'm loaded down with stuff and I head out the door for my 1 mile, 1/2 hour walk. Even though it's a tiring walk, it is also a gorgeous walk. Because it is so dark, the stars come out so clearly. I can point out stars that I would've had trouble finding at home. I found Orion's Belt the other morning and the Big Dipper. The sky is so big and close. I can't wait until we get to see the Northern Lights. I heard you can see them better in the winter. However, even though there is two inches of snow on the ground, I think it is still fall here. So when I walk to school, I'm trying to look at the sky, balance my bags, trying not to slip on the ice, and also paying attention to the cabs and cars that pass so I don't get hit. But boyo! It is a workout walking to and from school every morning. When I finally get to school I look like a cherry tomato. The wind is wicked and I haven't bought a scarf or face warmer yet, so my cheeks and neck get the nasty blast of cold wind. My feet are toasty warm and so is my body. I get to school in a light sweat sometimes (I know, yuck!) because of the hard trudge through the snow. It's sad but sometimes I feel like I need a nap at 8:30 in the morning because my walk tired me out. (Hey, did this turn into a whine session or what?) But hey, I'm getting a good workout to and from school. However, if I decide to stay here longer I've got to get a truck!... or a snowmachine.

Turkey Plans

2007-11-09T18:56:00.000-09:00

Since I can't go home for Thanksgiving, I thought it would be nice to visit Becky in Newtok. Its about an hour away on a snowmachine ride I think. Someone's mom in the village is coming to visit and is going to cook an awesome dinner, so, it'll be great to eat some home cookin'. I told my mom where I was going for Thanksgiving and she asked if they eat turkey or whale for dinner.:) I explained that we'll be having a traditional dinner (thank goodness). Thanksgiving isn't the same without turkey, and mashed potatoes.... and football:) So, Angie and I will be 'leaving on a jet plane'.... to Newtok as soon as school gets out on Wednesday the 21st. I have to make lesson plans for the next week incase the weather is bad and I don't make it back on Sunday. I'm excited to go because Becky has told me that her village is crumbling into the ocean and they have to rebuild a new one! So, it will be neat to see what the village looks like.

Ice Toss

2007-11-04T11:04:00.000-09:00

It was a busy Saturday. We had to get a flu shot, go to a Candle Light Party, and then go to a Halloween party. I thought the candle party was at 3 when it was actually at 5, so we had a few hours to kill. Erin and I decided to go down to the river and crack some ice. So, we spent about an hour throwing ice chips and rocks into the ice. We also tried to throw rocks onto giant ice flows that were heading down river. Erin got a couple of rocks on the ice flow, where as my pictching arm wasn't in prime shape so I couldn't throw past the shore. It was fun being destructive for an hour or so. but, I started getting cold 'cause I didn't wear all of my proper winter clothing, so we had to head to the Log Cabin for some coffee. Then we just sat there until it was close to 5 and we could leave again. The candle party was fun. I ended up spending money I probably shouldn't have, but some of the stuff was for Christmas presents. So, I did a good deed. After the candle party, we traveled over to a Halloween party that was rockin'. It was a good time, but I wasn't feeling well, so I mostly laid around the whole time. Erin, however, had the time of her life:) It was nice to get to know people outside of school. Overall, it was a great, busy weekend. Now, since it's Sunday, I have to get down to business and start all the parent/teacher conference work.

Packers

2007-10-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

You know, if it weren't for football, we would never see each other. Football brings us together. "Come together, right now, over football..." Monday Night Football occurs right after school, so we all have to scramble around to get to the tv on time. It can be so lonely here, so I take any opportunity to do something, anything, with someone! But, now I may be regretting that because I've been really tired lately. I think I'm over doing my volunteer time. So, in the words of Erin, "I'm going to punch the next person who wants me to volunteer." I mean, I won't punch, I'll just gently turn them down. I think all the carnival stuff wore me out! Plus, now that we have alcohol in the house, all I want to do is stay home on the weekends and... relax;) I've been trying to get my lesson plans done before the weekend so I don't have to trek all the way to school on the weekends. You know, alcohol brings people together, so.... I'll be seeing people either way-- stay home and drink with buddies, or volunteer. :) you know which choice I would take, right? But, my whole point to the story was that football is a great excuse to hang out and drink beer and eat beans that will keep the roomie up allllll night;)

Halloween Fun

2007-10-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

So this Halloween, I felt a little cheap and decided to make my own costume. I went way back into my memory and thought about the year my mom made me a bumble bee costume. I thought, perfect! So, a bumble bee I shall be:) We had out school carnival on a Saturday afternoon. What a long day. It was fun and I got some great pictures of my kids, but I was happy when it was all over. We also volunteered at the High School carnival. We were ticket sellers! "Tickets, twenty for ten bucks!" Yeah, I was rollin' in it! But soon my voice started getting hoarse so I decided to stop, get some water, and go through the haunted house. It was great. It was a quick run through though because we were in a group with teenagers (and I was with Angie, so of course she was a scardy-cat too;).

And, the other pictures are just of Erin and I being normal. I asked her to come to my school and help me finish my halloween projects. And one of the things I was going to make with the kids were hand spiders with google eyes. So, naturally we had to play with them.

Alaskan B-Day

2007-10-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

It was great. I tested my kids all day, ate at my favorite resteraunt (sp?- I know, it's sad) Shoguns and I got a yummy cake!:) I was losing weight walking back and forth to school, so Erin decided to get me a bunch of candy and some pop to plump me back up to my original size... so thanks Erin! I came home and thought Erin was messing with my "sheet" 'cause my bed was all lumpy. So I was like, "what the piss?" and she said, "Jesus Sadie, look under your covers!" So I found sweets under my sheets and a 12 pack behind my pillow.

The 20's are going by so fast! Pretty soon it will be 30.... and I better have a hubby and kids by then!;) I also got boxes in the mail.... man, getting mail is better than "better than sex cake!" I got my HP book, pringles, candles, cereal, and fruit roll ups my mom wanted me to give to my kids (ha ha mom, they get enough snacks!)... no, I really brought them to school and shared like a good girl.

Tundra Walk

2007-10-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

We are house/dog sitting for someone in a few weeks, and all three of us were invited to dinner. It was a scrumpt-u-ous dinner (moose loaf, samon, fried potatos, the fixin's and stuff). Anywho, after dinner we went for a walk with their dog BJ (Black Jack). It was the bestest ever walk I've been on since I've been here. We walked along a trail out into the tundra and it was gorgeous. There was about 2 inches of snow on the ground and some plants still had that soft frost on them. And of course I fogot to bring my camera. We didn't put a collar on the dog so he was running around crazy like, and we were throwing a stick around for him to catch. We came up to this small hill and on the other side were the Kilbuck Mountains. They were so pretty, you could see the snow tops and they were about 100 miles away. We walked around some more and I came across this bushy part of the trail and I spied.... dun dun dun... a birds nest! Cool, I thought, I found some nature. Then we got the idea to pluck it from the tree and bring it home so I could show my class. It was an adventure getting it out of the tree, but I wrangled it free. It did cross my mind if this was legal or not because there are so many dang laws here about wildlife that I was afraid at first to even take it. But, I was assured it was okay because it's the winter now and birds do not need their nests:) So we took it home. It was a great walk. I got to break in my new winter boots, and let me just say they are the most comfy boots I've ever worn in the winter. The snow is already melting, but I can't wait until it snows again. Enough of this muddy crap. I want snow and "blue skies smilin' at me." So, when we house/dog sit, I can't wait to go back out there on the trail and hunt for mouse tracks again.

Beer Walk, I Mean Bear Walk

2007-10-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

I really don't have much to type about, so I've lowered myself to posting embarrassing pictures of people. Here is my first, no second victim (because Angie came first with her "spitting" picture). Erin decided to show us her "bear" dance, but I've labeled it "beer" dance because that's just what it was. She reminded me of that one actor from American Pie- Stifler- in the movie The Rundown with the Rock (my old hubby). In this jungle scene, he tricks the Rock and starts to caw like a crow and dance like one. So, everytime I think of Erin dancing that way, I think of the Rock. So, where the "beer" label comes in is..... well, I have no real reason. I just thought it would be a neat play on words. I told you I have nothing to type about! I'll think of something better next time. I just had to get back at Erin for putting snotty rags in my bed, and treating me like a little sh*t she needs to flush, and pushing me down the slippery steps onto the hard wood porch.... etc, etc.

So, the real reason (Erin reminds me) that she did the "bear" dance was because my grandpa shot a bear a little while ago. It was just a 200 lb bear so I wondered if that was big or not. Erin said, "Well, that bear is smaller than I am, but if it were walking on it's hind legs, it would be this big!" And I said, "Hmmm, you're so right!"--- this isn't how it went, but I think what I already typed is so much funni-er.

Sadie's Account

2007-10-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

Dear people
Due to a steady supply of alcohol from the secretary (snort) we had a suceesful ladies night. I was dancing, drinking, singing. I brought cake. Oh yeah I forgot that cake. Remind me to get it later. I talked. We had shots. We had margaritas. We had red beer. Miss McDaniel was ready to go home. She needed a ride, but not from a person helping me, or a cab, from you know who. We were driving around. I spotted these people. At the side of the road. Hey roll down the window. The window doesn’t roll down. Hey roll down the front window, hey you guuuuuuuys! Sadie. Roll roll roll roll roll up the window they went up the street. Quick go down that road see I they are still there. They weren’t. So we went back. I gotta go pee. And I was like just take me home you don’t know how to catch boys when there is only one street take me home. And I invited them in but they decided to go home. Then I asked did my alchi-hal arrive. Yes. Let’s go get it. Burp. So I got out my jacket and snow stuff and went out into the snow. I mean the weather. It wasn’t snowing. It was cold. We went to Alishas. She was there with her hubby. I was like can I have my booze, I gave her a twenty and she was blah blah blah and here is blah, and I was like can I have my beer. I mean liqour. Maybe we shouldn’t write this she reads mine every day. Then we took it and went home. (anything else?) not right now. Just save it, don’t publish it. (snore).

This is what I dictated to my personal assistant, Erin, the night of my sectretary's birthday party (it is word for word Erin declares). It was the first time I was able to drink since I've been in AK, and there was a steady supply of free alcohol, so of course I had to go! I came home and decided to add my wild night to my blog. I was busy eating popcorn so Erin was kind enough to translate my broken speech into a wonderful account of what transpired that night. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know. Just as a reminder, I was influenced by beverages when I gave this speech.

The New Chicken Boy

2007-09-30T17:20:00.001-08:00

Look out old chicken man. There's a new chicken boy in town! Woo-hoo!

Saturday Adventures

2007-09-29T18:01:00.000-08:00

:o) No, Angie's not really doing what you're thinking. She's just having spitting problems and I was ordered to take the misleading picture. We were walking back from the library when this incident happened. I thought it'd be great to post something to embarass Angie. Also, Avery had a little walking problem on the way to our house later that day. While running with "boo-boo" he, uh, wiped out on the mean streets of Bethel. Fortunately, "boo-boo" wasn't hurt when Avery wiped out and splattered mud everywhere. We cracked up so bad 'cause we didn't expect him to do that. Thanks for providing the weekend entertainment Avery.

Fiddle Dance

2007-09-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

I volunteerd at the NYO fiddle dance last week. It was a neat little experience. I thought it would be more fast paced-- like a slow Whiskey Barrel (some hot counrty bar that I miss dearly), but it was a slow two-step dance the whole night. It was cute seeing elders dancing with each other and little kids hopping around to their own rythm. I almost... Almost danced with an older gentleman, but I explained my work at the concession stand was too important for me to leave. *sigh* He wasn't an elder so I didn't feel bad for turning the offer down. I mean, if the lights were down a little, or if everyone wasn't watching your every move, then maybe I would have danced. But, there was good company and good music so I had a wonderful time. I thought it was also interesting that there was a wide range of people there. Elders, young kids, teenagers, and middle aged people were all there dancing. They all liked the same music, or was just there to see who made an appearance. But it's neat to see everyone together having fun whereas, if I were still in MI, there would have been two separate dances, or it would have been uncomfortable if there were a mix of ages together. Ya get my meaning? If not, then send a message and I'll explain more.

Lost and Found

2007-09-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

So, after roller skating on Friday night, Angie, Erin, Avery, and I were walking home on a dusty road in Bethel, when all of a sudden.... I spied a treasure in the bushes. It was a thrown-away bike rusting in the ditch. I cried "Avery, go get, get it, you can, go get it, quick, before someone sees, go get it!" He did, with Erin's help. So, we brought the bike up and it's in pretty good shape. The chain was rusted and completely off the track, but we took it anyway. Yeah, we took it about 5 minutes down the road then ditched it again. We'll let someone else discover Bethel's wonderful treasures. We were watching the weather channel this morning and we're supposed to get some snow this week. Yuck, now I should really buy snowpants, gloves, hat, and goggles. I'm getting off topic. So, when you walk around Bethel, you notice that people throw everything out! I was walking down the boardwalk and I can find backpacks, shopping carts, baby seats, bikes, bottles, shirts, man everything! So, before you go to the AC store, take a walk down some Bethel roads and you can pick up a lot "o" things:) Naw, I'm joking-- don't pick up that nasty stuff. But, if there were any dumpster divers in Bethel like there are elsewhere (MI) then they would be in trash heaven.

Water

2007-09-21T19:58:00.000-08:00

I just wanted everyone to see a picture of the water truck dumping off our weekly supply of H2O. When they dump it into our tank, all of that nasty stuff on the bottom starts to surface and float around. So, we truly see what kind of water we are drinking and washing our hair with. After a little while the muck stuff returns to the bottom until the next time we meet the water man.

Field Trip

2007-09-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

I took my class and a few others to Meyer's Farm last Thursday. The kids had a wonderful time! Before we left, I asked them what they will look for, and they all said "bunnies and carrots." So, they saw carrots but I don't think bunnies live on the tundra. It was weird to see corn growing. It looked a little puny compared to corn at home, but I heard they were trying to grow it for the first time. The crop will probably be yuck, but at least they tried-- it'll be better next year. They had chickens in a little coop and they tried to get out when we opened the door. The rooster even cockadoodled for us:) It was muddy, rainy, but we all had fun. We even picked turnips to eat for snack when we got back to school. I never had a raw turnip before but it was yummy. We picked some cabbages and made coleslaw today for snack. I reccommend (for anyone visiting Bethel) to visis Meyer's Farm.

My Honey-Bunches-of-Oats

2007-09-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

These are my boys. one of the things I will miss in MI will be the Red Wings. Their probably in Traverse City right now practicing for the pre-season stuff. This is why I shall renew my efforts to get cable:) Games usually start around 7pm MI time so I think it'll be 3pmish our time. That's not bad. I can always do work at home instead of staying late at school. If I ever go home for Christmas, one of my goals is to go to D-town for a game:) Smell the ice, wave at the kids on the zamboni, buy a Red Winger at the liquor stand, eat a greasy pizza, have beer spilled on you buy a drunk fan, etc. I can't wait! So, I'll say this now, if anyone wants to get me a Christmas present, you already have an idea of what I like:) No, not a Red Wings ticket, but their paraphanelia will work all the same.

p.s. That's my boy on the very left, # 13, Datsyuk. He's from Russia (I think)... and I'm closer to Russia than i'll ever be... hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge.

My First Real World Pay Check

2007-09-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

:) Yes, I finally got it. We had a surprise meeting after school. I was in the middle of testing a student for first grade when my principal came behind me, and said in his most principally voice, "Ms. McDaniel, I need to see you immediately." So, like a scared first year teacher, I told the student I'd be right back and to go make a mess of the toys in the back of my room. I walk into the room and everyone is there clapping as I and another fellow first year teacher walked in. He handed us our checks and congratulated us on making our college experience a successful one. I blushed and all that good stuff when attention is directed at you. We took a couple of pictures to share our joy. So, the second picture where I am staring at my check, figuring out how much money they have taken out, I sort of have a smile on my face, but I'm really trying to keep it together and not cry in front of everyone! *sigh* It's the biggest paycheck I've ever gotten, so I'd better be happy and shut up about it! Now, I get to go spend it on rent, food, and loans.

My New Blog!

2007-09-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

Hello out there! I finally got one:) So, I've been watching the polycom for a very long time and my brain is fried... so I don't really know what to tell everyone. We've been sitting in the "Time Out" room at Kilbuck elementary to learn about the culture here... and my tush has permanently conformed to my hard plastic chair. I shouldn't write more because I need to pay attention. My next blog should be better:)