Welcome Back! School Starts Tomorrow?

Yup! 8:30 tomorrow morning ---- all little people living on the Alaskan tundra will be in their classrooms. I am exhausted already! We got back to the village on August 5 and we've been on the go since August 7. I stayed home for 2 days just to get the house ready to live in again. You know there were some things I just knew we had cleaned before we left, but.....

Okay.. new year. I am teaching kindergarten and first grade. I have 16 enrolled. 14 boys and 2 girls. I will have 9 k's and 6 first graders. My room has a Dr. Seuss theme and I got a new circle time carpet. The room has changed a lot this year. I'm keeping the Lego table out for building --- Lincoln Logs and K'nects, too. And, we have a reading tent. We'll see how it goes.

The mister is teaching jr. high and high school math, biology, jr. science and U.S. History. I think he has decided he's all big now that he's over in the other building. He will hardly step foot over in my classroom now!

The girl is going to high school --- ninth grade. The boy will be in seventh! Where have my children gone to? They have both been TERRIFIC helpers with bulletine boards and moving furniture. I couldn't have done it this year without their help.

Ok --- truthfully --- have I really not written since January? I didn't think it had been that long.
Well, we'll just have to do better.

We bought the truck and fifth wheel in Oklahoma. Started back to AK on July 12. IT IS A LONG WAYS TO ALASKA!!!! We saw Yellowstone and Banff, Glacier National Park. We didn't see much wildlife. The ice heaves were dreadful. We bounced pretty good several times.

We arrived in Tok, AK, on Sunday, two weeks after we left. On Monday, the Mister went and tagged the vehicles. It was going to be $3000 in OK but in AK it was only $160 (for 2 years!)
Then we took off for Valdez.

Never turn down an offer to go to Valdez.

We were only going to stay a couple of days. We stayed a week. We plan to stay a month next summer!

We took a glacier / wildlife sightseeing cruise. Nine hours --- it was great. Next year we want to go halibut fishing.

All the pictures were taken in Valdez. From our campground --- downtown --- you can count 18 glaciers. Those are otters on the ice. We saw a glacier calving during the cruise --- now I can say that I've seen the glaciers in South America and in North America ..... another lifetime goal accomplished!

Another Trip to Bethel

I don't know why we went... I needed out of the house and the Mister will be busy with basketball until March and I knew if we didn't go yesterday we might not....

So, when the game was over he and I loaded the snow-go and took off to Bethel. We left the house about 1:00pm. The ride was good to town. The sun was still low and the sky couldn't decide if it was clearing or getting worse. We got to town and ate at the Chinese place across the street from AC ---- one of the larger groceries in town. Oh, the snow-go did get hot about 2 blocks from the restaurant. Actually, we don't know how long it ran hot as the Mister didn't realize he wasn't getting a clear look at the light.

We bought groceries and warmed up at the same time. There were no bananas, oranges, potatoes, lettuce --- well, some leaf --- there were a few carrots, onions, about 6 yellow peppers. They were really cleaned out. Cake mix was $3.00 and we paid $7.65 for a bag of Doritos. Background ---- Bethel (and us) have had crazy weather these last 2 weeks. Two weeks ago we were freezing way down below 0 with windchills in the 40's. This week has been warm and Anchorage even hit 42 on Friday morning. Anyway, snow turned to rain and rain to ice -- so much so that Bethel's airport was closed for 2 days. So, no planes, no food. I wouldn't have gone if I had put some thought into it. Live and learn.

The trip back was another story. We left town with about $750 worth of food on a $300 plastic sled. We went a little ways and had to stop to pack snow --- the snow-go is water cooled and the trail was icy, not snowy. Two guys went by with sleds and since they weren't traveling at breakneck speeds, we stayed right behind them. THEN, (I didn't see them until we were right on top of them!) we went by a group of people just standing around their snow-goes. We were in some hills and bandits have been known to stop people traveling around there. I leaned up to the Mister and yelled that I didn't care if it got hot ---- JUST KEEP GOING!!! Well, the other two guys we were following went a ways and then pulled over. We went soaring past and waved thanks. A while later we had to pull over for more snow. The mister got off and got the small shovel and put some in on the right side, then walked behind me and put some on the left side. Then he walked back behind me to put up the shovel and he said, "Our sled is gone!" We decided that we had to go back --- yes, we discussed it --- it was cold! He told me that if we went to 24 on the odometer we'd gone too far. At 25 , he stopped. We could see Bethel lights. He asked and I said go on. We went just a little farther and there it was. Those people hadn't bothered it or anything. Then (((read this quietly --- we had to pee))))) and I was hurrying to get dressed and lights came over the hill. I about died. There I wasn't quite finished dressing and the bandits were coming and I was sure we'd lose it all and get killed, too! BUT, it was a man who serves on our school board. His headlight was a great help and soon we were on our way. It was 9:15 when we walked in the house. We were exhausted and slept until 10:30 this morning.

Yep...we'll go again.

New Year's in Anchorage

2009....Who knew that nearly a decade could go by so fast? I have moved more times and more miles than I ever dreamed....I've been self-employed in a job I swore I would NEVER do when I was growing up and my parents MADE me take piano lessons (thanks Dad, I appreciate them now that I've grown up a bit)....I've been a minister's wife and a substitute teacher --- NEVER planned on those two....and now I've moved to a fly-in only village in a state that really made Texas mad about 50 years ago.... Wonder what the next ten years will bring....

Our family spent Christmas at home this year. We went to the Moravian Church across the river on Christmas Eve. It was beautiful. The Mister got the snow-go out and hooked up the sled. We put on the clothes we could possibly find and then.... just as I headed out the door.... it started snowing. What more could we ask? By the time the service was over it was like an Oklahoma blizzard. We raced home and opened the gifts from the community gift exchange. It snowed all night and day on Christmas Day, which was truly wonderful as we were getting rather short on snow around the village.

I fixed turkey and dressing for lunch and another teacher came to eat with us. We had invited V. from across the river but the white-out conditions made it impossible for her to come over. After eating, we played CLUE - the DVD version. The Boy got it from his grandparents for Christmas. He LOVES to play Clue and this version was a lot of fun. We played again on Saturday since we couldn't get to Bethel due to blowing snow.

Blowing snow --- ice fog ---- strong winds --- these are the things that shape our lives. We finally got out of the village on Sunday morning. Up here you just have to live with it... no reason to fuss.... you can't control it.... however, I'm not so sure that there's not a weatherman somewhere who just likes to tick us off!

Anchorage is gorgeous this year. There is WAY more snow this year as compared to last year. The trees look like they've been painted in icing. The mountains have been out everyday but yesterday -- the day we took off driving. I will miss the trees and the mountains next week. But the tundra has its own beauty.... you just have to look a little harder for it!

We've seen Twilight, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Valkyrie and something else.... actually parents saw two and kids saw two..... none are worth seeing again but most were entertaining at the time.

This post is becoming sort of a menagerie of stuff. So what does the new year bring to our family? The Mister and I have 3 classes to finish this semester. The Mister will begin classes in May for Site Administrator certification (lower 48 principal certificate). The Girl is working on finishing phases in Reading and Writing so she can take college classes next year. She and her dad will be busy with basketball until March, as well. I have to get jr. high Pentathlon together. The Boy has purchased so many video game and books that I doubt we will see him before the snow thaws. I have started a Christmas quilt that I promised to finish before class begins on the 14th and I've bought fabric for a quilt for our bedroom that will keep me busy for a while. The girl wants to get started on her quilt, too. We'll see....

Happy New Year to all. Come see us when you can......I know..... you're really busy...... :)

Weather Plays a BIG Part

The top picture is today. I took it after school at 4:00 from my classroom door. That's my house over there with the porch light on. I can just barely see the high school across the bridge from my class. It's about 24 degrees and the snow is blowing like crazy. I love it.

The second picture is from last week. Friday was my birthday and since I had never gone snow-going on my birthday.... we went. The kids rode in the sled behind us. It was beautiful but cold still. I tried to drive but I can't see anything without my glasses and I don't dare take off the goggles.

We're going to Bethel tomorrow afternoon if the weather clears enough. Right now I'm sitting here stewing because the Mr. won't go check the post office ---- of course, no planes have flown today... so, I knooooowwww there's no mail, but...... and since I didn't get a birthday present and I KNOW he ordered something..... I'm pouting. Maybe it will be there on Saturday when we get back.

Notit and Bat

The Mr. and I have P.E. with our students every day. We spend 30 minutes a day in the gym and play games and run races and whatever. We have found that most games here are the same as the lower 48. However, names are different. Take for instance the name of this post. Read it. Say it. It took us a while to figure the first one out. Do you know what it is? Sure you do... Say it again. Say it slowly ..... one syllable at a time..... Not..... It...... it's what they call "tag" up here in the Bush. Cracked us up when we figured out what they were begging us to play.
Notit -- one word, don't ya know!

Bat..... this is indoor baseball / softball. Two teams.... one bat.... one foamy ball.... Team A is in the outfield and Team B lines up behind the batter (but out of the way of the bat).... Team A's pitcher stands beside the batter and throws the ball up in the air.... the batter hits or misses.... only gets one try..... BUT... he can run or get back in line....OR he may decide to run later.... There are no bases..... just run to the end of the gym and back without getting hit with the ball....You can run to the end of the gym and wait, too.....just don't get hit. Now, if someone does get hit, then team A and B change places.... unless someone from Team B hits someone from Team A before they can get lined up! Runs don't count and no one keeps score.... the winning team is whichever one is up to bat when time is called. It's crazy.... but they LOVE to play it.

Thanksgiving is over.... I'm working in my room at school... it's 6:55pm and I'm now going home to eat dinner. Kids will be here tomorrow --- 15 days of class and then it's Christmas Break! YAY!

Pilgrims, Fire Drills, Yup'ik Dancing

My class celebrated today with Pilgrims and Indians and Friendship Salad. A really good friend from Holdenville so very graciously shared her patterns and ideas. We all had a VERY good time. The fire alarm went off in the middle of it all. So you can see we were all in a hurry to get back inside.

Yesterday we ate lunch with the community. Turkey, dressing.... all the good stuff. I asked one of the teachers what a traditional meal would be this week in a Yup'ik household. She looked at me kind of funny and said, "Turkey, of course!" However, it will be white bread --- no cornbread dressing up here. Except at our house. We are going to eat with some other teachers and watch the parades and ballgames and generally veg out.

After lunch today (which was leftovers from yesterday) the kids danced for us. They were great. They wore traditional headresses and fans. The boys always sit in front and the girls stand behind. Three or four boys play the drums and sing. This picture is not typical of Yup'ik Dancing but they enjoyed themselves. It has been a good week and now everyone is out and going visiting.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! from your Alaska Friends

Trip to Bethel

We did it! The Mr. and I made our first trip to Bethel. He plotted the trail last week when he brought the snow go back from town. We got up Saturday morning and it was -18 with no windchill. We got dressed and waited to see if the temp would go up. It didn't. So... we left Akula at 11:00 and got to Bethel at 12:54. Two hours to go 28 miles. I WAS SOOOOOO COLD!!! Wow! My helmet froze from the inside so I couldn't see the second half of the trip. I got motion sick. I couldn't tell if we were turning or going up or down. It was like being in a white balloon. I couldn't lift the face mask because I couldn't stand the cold air.

The first thing we did was go to the new Chinese restaurant across from AC. AC and Swanson's are the two grocery stores in Bethel. I walked in and ordered hot tea ---- I "never" order hot tea; but, I was frozen. We ate lunch and I told the Mr. I had to have more clothes. So we walked over to the grocery store to get some. We had planned on buying groceries at the other place. We ended up buying everything at AC. It was just easier.

Here's a glimpse of what we paid:

box of cornmeal $6.49
Honey Bunches of Oats (2) $10.00
3lbs. Folgers $17.55
Gallon of ice cream $15.99
Whole Boneless ham $20.50
Little Smokies $7.39
Tomatoes $3.99 lb.
Potatoes $1.48lb.
Celery $1.50 lb.
Lg. Tostitos $9.99
Lg. Ketchup $4.35
Eagle Brand Milk $4.65
Evaporated Milk $2.29

And, had we not gone after ourselves we would have paid a handling charge and air freight. (about a 1/3 of our total bill.)

We got home about 7 that night. We were exhausted. My back is sore all over. We have a back rest and it makes the ride so much better, but my back.....

We can't wait to go again. However, we'll probably hold out for over "0" degrees for next time!