Megan's Adventures

Summer Vacation '09 (2)

2009-08-11T22:19:00.001-07:00

Forgot to mention that while camping we drove up and saw Mt McKinley - AWESOME!!!

So after Seward and Homer I was off to Juneau for 5 weeks of class and Lacy went to stay with her adopted Grandma and Grandpa. Who has ever heard of a dog having bed time stories read to them - Well Lacy did and I think she had Roast Beef and Prime Rib for dinner most nights Talk about spoiled!!

Rather then posting all the pictures from Juneau I suggest you check out my flickr account and see them there - I put Juneau in its own separate set.

After Juneau it was back to Anchorage and finish moving into to my new condo - YEAH!! I am all grown-up and now own property. After a week in Anchorage Lacy and I were off to visit friends in Fairbanks. Totally different landscape. Juneau is a Tropical Forest and Fairbanks is a dessert - All of that in one state!

The clouds in the middle of the picture of Fairbanks is Smoke from one of the Forest Fires.

So now summer is over and I am in Bethel for three days and then back to the Kongiganak for the school year. I will try and keep the blog a little more up dated this year.

Have a good one!!

Summer Vacation '09

2009-08-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Okay so as you may have noticed I haven't updated my blog in a long while - okay it has been almost a year. So here you go. Last year was a good school year busy. I coached NYO again and Middle School Basketball had a lot of fun traveling with the kids.

But what a summer I have had. As many of you know I spent this summer in Alaska and did a ton of traveling. Lacy and I started the summer of with a little camping north of Anchorage in Sutton with a fellow teacher friend and his dog Skeetter. Ali and Patty came and visited us a couple of different times. We also had a visit from a local moose. It was a fun week.

Next stop was south of Anchorage to Seward to visit another friend (Agusta). We did a little bike riding and site-seeing in Homer.

Opps got to go more to come later!

HOT, RUNNING, WATER

2008-09-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

RUNNING HOT WATER – YIPEEE!!!
Never thought I would be so excited to do dishes in my life! That’s right my house has been upgraded, it only took over three years but finally it happened. Still no shower and no sewage but I can deal with that. Remember school is only 100 yards away, so that’s closer then the restroom at your job for some of you, plus I am at school a large part of everyday.
If you remember last year my water supply was two large 30 plus gallon trash cans in my bath tub and I had to scoop the water out of them. To do dishes, clean or whatever I had to scoop the water heat it on the stove and then use it before it cooled down. So doing dishes was a process. You would be surprised how easily you get side tracked if you have to wait for water to boil before doing dishes (10-15min for my big pots to heat up). Well you can now just turn on the tap and in about 15 sec we have hot water filling our dish pan.
And with two people living here now we create way more dishes, it is surprising. We both have noticed, last year we each could go a week without really doing dishes, this year about a day. Some of it might have to do with having Rachel, the new teacher, over a lot also, don’t know.
We also seem to create way more sewage. I am having to go to the lagoon twice a week to dump the honey bucket. Last year, I went once a week because I would rather carry it then use the wheelbarrow. Alecia would go to the lagoon every two or three weeks. But I think that has to do with us being home more. Last year as new teachers both of us were at school way more.
Okay that’s the latest – Pictures and information about all the construction to come this weekend.

A New School Year

2008-09-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

We made it back to Kongiganak and school has started. Actually Lacy and I have been back for over three weeks. And Kong is the happening place. There are a number of “construction” projects underway or getting underway, a new water tower, expansion on the run way, shoring up the river bank with gravel (big time) a barge landing dock, and of course the new school. I need to get out and take some pictures. Hopefully this week some time weater pending.

School has been back in session for two weeks we are getting ready to start week three. Second year is way easier. I have the math program pretty roughly laid out from last year, just have to make adjustments and add to it. I am currently working on laying it out for a couple of our younger grades.

I have four hours of math this year with about three different classes/levels per hour. I have everything from 4th grade math to second semester Alegbra going on in my classroom. But the students and I are getting into the grove, and slowly they are learning to wait their turn. Our new 6th graders have been a good influence on the older students and I have seen a significant increase in the number of students who do their homework. Okay so any increase over zero from last year is a big increase. I am also teaching HS Alaskan Studies – the whole class is totally online so very nice. And of course I have Jr. High PE.

I think Lacy is happy to be back in the village. She has taken up residency in her old spot, the corner of the couch and she doesn’t move much. She does like running on the tundra, but hates having to take a sponge bath afterwards. We are waiting for the freeze and then we won't be living with a smelly dog.

Lacy and I also have a roommate for the first half of the school year. That wild and crazy BRATT – Ms. Alecia Pike decided literally at the last minute to come back just until Christmas.

Due to all the construction going on, Daryl (our Site-Admin) had rented out the extra house, thinking we wouldn’t need it. (Yeah, in a village there are not hotels or houses to rent thus visitors usually sleep in the school in a classroom – but not going to work with long term construction projects – more on the construction housing to come) So we agreed to be roomies – since my house is technically a two bedroom house. So the workout room is no more – the bike is in the living room and we go to the school gym to lift weights and “workout”. So anyways Alecia arrived on Friday, school started on Monday. So far it has been good. It’s taking a little getting use to on my part, I haven’t had a roommate since my junior year in collage, and we all know that was a long time ago. But all in all it has been good having Alecia back. Her and Lacy are still fighting for the title of Biggest BRATT. Lacy is pulling ahead.

Okay let me get this posted and maybe I’ll head to bed and relax a little this evening.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation!

2008-08-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

What didn’t I do is a better question. As most of you are aware I spent my first week of vacation here in the village trying to get my classroom organized, spent a little time on our book shed and the math stuff. Then I spent a couple of days in Anchorage with Alecia and her friend Patty. We had a great time, went down to Seward, went to the Anchorage Zoo, not the biggest or the best zoo ever but the bears were very entertaining.

Then Lacy and I spent a week at the University in Anchorage in a History class. Yep her in Alaska it’s cool for your dog to go to class and sleep under your desk. And yes everyone spoiled Lacy, petting her and telling her how good she is. Know one there new about Lacys love of destroying stuffed animals and making what we call bunny guts.

Next stop Michigan. Of course we left Anchorage a beautiful 65 degree’s and hit the Midwest at 90 degrees a shock to my system and Lacy’s. First stop Bev’s house to steal some shorts. Second stop The Dog Beach in Muskegon. Lacy and I spent quite a few days at the dog beach. Mornings are Lacy’s favorite times, before everyone and their dog gets there.

Then about July 3rd Lacy, Pam and I headed out to the east coast for vacation. We went out through Canada along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Stopped a couple of times to do the tourist thing, went to an old fort, stopped at a lock trying to catch a boat going through etc. Then we headed towards Maine and white water rafting with Alecia. That was AWESOME. Next day, Pam, Alecia, and I headed to the coast of Maine and went sea kayaking with Patty and then to a real Lobster Feast thing. Every Cool!!! Next day had to stop LL Bean Outlet, but didn’t stay to long. To hot in the car for Lacy and we were headed for Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls was great. We hit it on Pam’s Birthday so of course I treated her to a ride on Maid of the Mist. Check-out our lovely pictures, you get just a little bit wet. We did the most of the tourist thing. Did not do the jetboat through the whirlpool or the cable car ride over it, maybe next time. Then back to Canada to see the Erora Gorge that was very cool, a great day just hiking around this small little town. Lacy and I even found a trail to take us down to the river and we hiked up the river a little way. Then back to good old GR for a day.

Lacy and I then headed down to Indiana to see a high school friend of mine that I probably hadn’t seen since high school. Lacy wasn’t so thrilled to be on the road again. She was a little on the grumpy side. It was a great visit for me.

I made it down to Ohio to see Ruthie twice – Awesome new fitness center!!! On my first trip down I took my brand new road bike. I think I had ridden it a whole two or three miles. I decided to ride it around the lake (26 miles) Stupid, Stupid idea. It should have taken me less then two hours it took three. First off I really hadn’t done any serious riding since being back in the lower 48, second the new seat was a piece of metal with leather stretched over it. I bought a new bike seat the minute I got back to GR.

Lets see the what else – as I said earlier spent a number of days at the dog beach played a little golf, not as much as I would have liked but still was able to get a few rounds in with Syma, Dave and Pam. I also went camping in Manistee one weekend with Pam and Lacy. We took our bikes and Pam’s Kayaks that was a great weekend. I spent a couple days visiting with my cousin Ann and her daughters we had a great time building cucumber boats one day and kayaking another.

The close of my summer included a Tubing trip up with my friends Beth and Brock and Brocks family. It was a beautiful day perfect for tubing. What a way to spend my last weekend in Michigan. Lacy and I flew back to Anchorage Thursday, August 7th spent a few days there and then headed to Bethel and then back to the village.

So as you can see it was a busy summer, but full of fun and exciting adventures. My internet is being a little slow to add pictures to my blog so check them all out on my flickr account.

The Morning After

2008-05-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well, it is the morning after Graduation and Prom And everything went well. I should be in bed sleeping but hey I have been since 7am did the dishes and packed some of my winter stuff away. Had to keep a few winter things out since it is still snowing – Yes I said snowing! I can’t believe I said it but Wednesday or Thursday morning I woke up and looked out the window and the words out of my mouth were something like – Jimmeny Cricket it fricken snowed!! I can’t believe I was actually mad at seeing snow but I guess even I have a limit on snow. It was just a good dusting and was all melted by 10am.

We do still have some snow piles – 10 feet of snow is slow to melt at 30-40degrees. But for the rest of it, it is gone. The boardwalks are clear and dry which is nice for walking.

The year is winding down – I have been a little bored and thus have gotten a little organized – Actually I was told to clean a closet by someone named Ruth and I informed her that my closets where probably more organized then hers and she didn’t believe me so here is the proof. I truly walked in from school picked up the camera and took the pictures. I really think I need to reconsider this no TV thing – It is not healthy to have your closets this organized (note even the shirts are sorted according to color – UUGH!!

2008-05-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Good Evening All – Well it is about 9:15pm and the sun is shinning bright. We, Alecia, Lacy and I just walked to the store. The soda supply is running a little low, I was hoping to purchase a Root Beer, but had to get a Diet Coke instead. Normally not much of a problem but when I got home and cracked it open I realized the time and so now I probably won’t get to sleep any time soon. Oh well, I’ll be about as awake as my students in the morning. They of course are all running around half the night even though curfew is at 9pm. I think the dude in charge of the siren forgets – it didn’t go off until 9:45pm last night and it hasn’t gone off yet tonight. So here I sit enjoying my Diet Coke and thinking about who I can send annoying e-mails to this evening.

The count down has begun. 8 more days of classes for the students, one graduation and prom, and one teacher work day to go. Actually I am going to hang-out here in the village for about another week and then I have a class in Anchorage June 1-6. Then finally I will fly to Chicago and then 59 days of sun and fun begin before I have to start heading back.

I think Lacy is looking forward to some time on the beach although she would like to bring her couch with her. She has become very attached to it, incase you haven’t checked out the pictures on flicker here’s one of her in her typical position.

Alecia' Birthday

2008-05-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

Okay you are not going to believe what we did this evening – Remember who is writing, how long I have been in the Alaskan Bush and now make sure you go the bathroom before you read any farther (Please go the bathroom) swallow that soda – GO TO THE BATHROOM!!!!

Alecia and I took a test and failed – It was on the internet – I think I have been in the Alaskan Bush way to long. Have no idea why we even were on this website – Alecia and her stupid questions (Beth it is your fault if I could have called and asked the question we never would have done a web search for the answer). Are you ready … the test was:
“The Conception Quiz” That’s right I failed the quiz on how to get pregnant. Here are my results:
You answered 5 items out of 10 correctly.
Your score is 50%. Be sure to take lots of questions to your doctor/midwife appointments.
Alecia is now taking an “Are You Pregnant” Quiz – Question are you having food cravings? They obviously haven’t lived in the Alaskan Bush – we have food cravings all the time not like we can do anything about them – Haven’t seen a banana in over a month. Next question: Have you out grown your clothes – Again we have sat on our A$$ for the past 5 months because it is too cold to do anything but run to and from the school so of course we have out grown our clothes. Next question: Have you had a positive pregnancy test lately? Well, if we could buy one in Kongiganak might do it just for kicks. Critical question they never asked – Have you had sex lately? My answer - with WHO??? I have been in Kongiganak for 5 month’s.

Well that has been our exciting Friday night. Maybe I should think about getting a TV next year. Maybe the internet is not such a good idea.

Hope you have a great week. I can’t wait to see everyone, only 10 more days of school and then 10 weeks of sun and fun.

Spring???

2008-05-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring – I guess it is spring, I have been told that it is spring time by those of you living in the lower 48, we had a “spring-break” at school, the calendar says it should be spring, there are only 14 teaching days left in the school year, but it sure doesn’t seem like spring outside. It has warmed up – current temperature is 54 degrees and it does only get down into the 20 at night but there were snow flurries yesterday and we still have quite a bit of snow on the ground. It is difficult to get out and do things right now – not enough snow to ski, but the board walks are still covered with snow and/or water in places so walking isn’t that easy either.
Spring Fever, Cabin Fever, Homesick whatever you want to call it has set in good and hard and I am counting the days until school is out. The last day is Friday, May 24th and most of the teachers are heading out on the late afternoon flight. Me, I am hanging out here for a few extra days. I want to get some things in my room organized for next year and I am taking a class in Anchorage June 1-6.
Update since my last blog a month and half ago (sorry). I did have a “Spring-Break” a five day weekend. Actually my friend Pam came up and visited for a week here in the village and then we went to Anchorage. While she was here she helped me paint most of my house and helped make it more like a home rather then just a shelter from the weather. We used colored paint on the walls to help hide the defects and nail heads. We hung coordinated valances and black-out blinds (they match my comforter and re-organized my spare room so that I can now use it to work-out in.

In Anchorage, Pam learned first hand what it is like to live in the bush and spent the first day back in civilization helping me purchase, pack and mail my 9 weeks worth of supplies back to the village. Then we took of for a little exploration – we went out to a glacier and spent a couple of hours out there – check out the pictures on my flicker account. I spent the next day down hill skiing and Pam went cross country skiing at the local ski resort – (Bogus Basin in Idaho is better). It was so nice to see mountains and trees.

Well, that would be about it – things continue on out here in Kongiganak – days are defiantly longer – The sun is up before 6:30am and it is still light out at about 11pm – thus the black-out blinds are becoming a necessity. I hope to be back outside (in the lower 48) around the 7th or 8th of June, the only plans that I have for the summer are to head to Maine and to go White Water Rafting with Alecia (hopefully I don’t end up with a paddle across the back of my head). Golf, Hanging at the Beach and Biking are on the to-do list. Oh yeah rumor has it Bev is also making a to-do list for me, not sure what it entails but probably not a lot of things I really would look forward to doing.
Counting the days.

The TRUTH – (according to Lacy)

2008-03-09T19:13:00.001-07:00

The TRUTH – (according to Lacy)
It is COLD here in Alazona and what is this crap. The only good thing is I do have my one couch next to the heater – THANK GOD!! I barely want to go outside to use the restroom and Megan keeps trying to make me go skiing – is she nuts. I have finally figured out that if I just sit and stare at her when I have had enough she will turn around and take me back to the couch – I went a whole 200 yards one day. Boy was she mad. Another time after about 15 minutes I just turned around and headed home without her. I need to figure out how to get into the house without her (opposable thumbs would be good). She often makes me go with her to the store and Post Office. The Post Office isn’t so bad because I go in with her and the big store has a large artic entrance were I can sit but when we go to the little store I just head home as soon as she goes inside.
I have made a few aquatints here in the village but boy do those village dogs make a lot of noise with all of their barking. Justices is pretty cool I just have to keep reminding her who is boss in my house – she slobbers on ALL the balls when she comes over (she is almost a dumb as Fargo.)
Well that’s about it – dog treats and stuffed toys (with squeakers) would be appreciated.

Update

2008-03-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

I have been informed that I haven’t updated my blog in a while so I thought I would get to it. (I will also up load pictures to flickr today) Spring has arrived here in Kongiganak, Alaska. The temperature has been in the 20 the past week and even got up to 40 yesterday.
Last night Lacy and I went out last night to take some pictures of the sun set. The sunsets have been beautiful the past week or so. With the warmer temperatures Lacy and I have gotten a little skiing in. For a couple of weeks it was just to cold to anything more then go out to pee (according to Lacy).
Basketball has been the big activity since Christmas. Our school played host to 1 Jr High tournament and 2 high school tournaments. (Due to the travel involved typically three or more teams play at one school each weekend – and they play Friday night, and Saturday morning/afternoon, unlike the Friday night game most of you are use to). Our High School Boys did make it to districts and should have done well but they didn’t and should be on their way home today. We had hoped to watch their games over the Polycom (video conferencing) but unfortunately due to a couple of schools getting weathered out (bad winds or poor visibility – thus plans can’t fly) they moved the games up and they where played during the time we were in class thus we were unable to watch.
Not much else exciting happening here – My friend Pam arrives in three days, weather permitting, (standard for any and all travel). She is staying here in the village with me for about a week and then we will head in to Anchorage for an extended weekend. While she is here in the village she has the task of helping me paint my house. I may even put her to work helping some of my students with their math. She thinks she is going to take daily walks with Lacy – I wish her good luck. It is 10am and Lacy is still in bed, I have been up for almost two hours. Lacy is very LAZY (note the pictures).
So that’s the update – hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed their winter.

These are a couple of pictures standing on the river – notice how the river has pushed the ice up – and there are cracks on the ice because the water is still flowing bellow – but yes it is safe. In Bethel they drive trucks and everything on the river.
*can't upload pictures at this time will have to try later.

Teacher Almost Dies

2008-02-16T13:46:00.000-08:00

Is what the headlines should read if we had a paper here in Kongiganak. I am sorry I don't have pictures or video, so you'll just have to use your imagination. Last night I made the fatal mistake of going out with three of my students on one of their four wheelers and letting them drive. It was after dark when Maggie, Jayleen and Julia came knocking on my door offering to take me for a ride on Maggie's four wheeler. Of course I accepted. Julia took the "front" seat, sitting backwards facing the driver and Jayleen and I sat on the back. I found out later that the front is a better place to sit - your less likely to fall off. I was literary hanging on with my finger tips at times. Maggie's average speed was probably about 25-30 and she went for every bump there was. My butt is very sore today from all the bouncing and so are my biceps from hanging on so tight. At least a dozen times in the 20minutes I was out with them I was seriously concerned about flying of the back of the four wheeler and was hoping not to injure anything seriously (snow is soft when you land right?). Wait until I grade their test today!!!

Almost went skiing

2008-02-11T19:28:00.001-08:00

Well I almost went out cross country skiing today, but Lacy had other plans. Incase you haven't been paying attention the temperture has not gotten above -5 in the past two weeks so the outside activities have been limited to peeing for Lacy. We did make the trip to the lagoon on Sunday to dump the honeybucket but that's it. So today after school the sun was shinning and even though it was still a negative 12degrees I thought we could go for a quick trip. Lacy went as far as the school and said "THAT'S IT!!! I AM DONE AND I AM GOING HOME TO MY COUCH. OPEN THE DOOR NOW!!!!" So basically it took me longer to get dress then I it did to ski to the school and back. My SLED DOG is a wussss. And that's all I have to say about todays trip.

These are pictures of the river from last Wednesday - It looks beautiful but it about -12.

This is a picture of the frost on my railing from a couple of weeks ago when we had freezing fog (this is one days worth of frost) The freezing fog lasted for a week no plans for 6 days thus no mail and no Site Administrator (he was stuck in Bethel all week.

Finally this is a picture of them delivering a new couch to one of the teachers - yep they had to remove the side of her house.

Happy Feburary

2008-02-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

Okay so I couldn't come up with a better title - Once again our temperture has dropped. Todays high I beleive was -14 with a low of -27. It is Sunday and although it looked beuatiful outside it was a day to enjoy from inside. So I spent most of the day watching the first season of Will & Grace. I did go empty my Honey Bucket (a weekly chore (rain, shine or below zero tempertures) and I walked with Alecia to the new housing because a villager was giving away Carrabo meet. Lacy chose to stay on the couch didn't even question it. In the afternoon she thought she might enjoy playing ball so I put on her coat and took her out - Yeah that last about four throws and then she took the ball home. Guess that was enough for her. She is back on the couch and not likely to move until I drag her out to go potty for the night.

Plane didn't fly all last week - Our Site-Adminstrator was suppose to come back last Sunday from meetings and he spent the week - until Friday morning in Bethel. No mail nothing for us here in the village.

If you haven't checked out my Flickr account in the past couple of weeks do so I have added some photo's. I have a few more to add in the next week or so.

Well that's about it for know - I'll try and keep everyone posted.

Stuck

2008-01-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am sitting in the village of Tuntutuliak (or Tunt) and will be spending the night. Little plans don't fly with high winds. I came as the cheperone for our High School Boys Basketball team Friday afternoon. And due to high winds we were not able to go home as planned - although the weather forcast for tommorow does look to be in our favor. We will wait and see. At least the boys are all well behaived and since I am the only female I have a classroom and a bathroom all to myself. I will however miss girls night at my house. That's sports in the Alaskan bush.

-15 vs 15 degrees

2008-01-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

We are experancing wave a heat wave!! It is 7am and the current outside temperture is 29 degrees (it droped from 30 15min ago). Yesterday it was about 10-15 outside and so Lacy and I went for half hour ski/run after I got home from school yesterday. It was a great time - we had somewere around 6 inches of new snow (hard to tell because it blows so bad) and it was warm enough that Lacy went naked (no coat or booties). It looks like we had more snow last night so we might be able to go out again tonight.

Anyways I thougt I would give you an example of the difference in temperture. As you all know I don't have running water so I shower in the evenings at the school thus my hair is always wet when I come home. On Sunday night when it was around -15 my hair froze solid (the hair sticking out from under my hat) before I even got to the bottom of the 8-10 steps of the school. Last night when it was 15 I made it all the way home without my hair freezing. Just thought I would give you some perspective.

Well, I guess I better get ready for school that means I need to wake Lacy up and make her go out and go potty (She is worse then some of my students at waking up in the morning)

Have a good one!

SOME CORRECTIONS!!

2008-01-13T11:07:00.001-08:00

If you read the last blog you will notice that Lacy has woken up. Not that she has gotten off the couch much. We did go cross country skiing yesterday - I tried out my new skies and Lacy wore her new coat and booties (thanks to Beth) and real sled dogs do wear coats and booties - duh Lacy were do you think yours came from (they came from a real sled dog kennel). Real sled dogs sleep outside and love the snow and cold.

Actually I think Lacy enjoyed our adventure yesterday - she was able to run and run and run if you click on the second picture you will see her flying through the air in a dead run through a snow drift. We were only out for about an hour at -15/-20 that was plenty long.

School started Friday and things went well - a significant number of students were absent but for the most part we got down to work in all of my classes. Well I am heading off to school to deside what we are doing in class next week.

CC Skiing

2008-01-13T10:43:00.001-08:00

HELP!! I am being held against my will I thought I was moving to Arizona and somehow I ended up in Alaska and it is cold, very cold (dogs aren't suppose to wear coats and booties). And I have been dragged outside to so Megan can put these long stick on her feet and walk around in all that cold white stuff. Were is the sand and sun? The only good thing about this place is that I have my own couch.

Merry Christmas

2008-01-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

Well really I guess it should be - It's a new year!!!

I think I touched base with most of you during our Holiday vacation. If we didn't I am sorry and you will just have to e-mail me. My computer is up and running again THANKS SO MUCH to David. So hopefully I will update my blog a little more often. I didn't take many pictures while in Michigan but I did have a great time - besides seeing everyone I also was able to go Skajoring a couple of times. That was fun. Well, it was fun with Pam's two huskies Willow and Coffee. Not with Lacy. Coffee and Willow love to run and PULL. Lacy prefers the couch or riding in the car. (Yes that's right the picture below is of Lacy facing the car and me trying to head down the trail.)

My vacation started out with a bang (a good bang!) - I was able to get out of the village (always an issue in the winter) and was even able to take an earlier flight to Anchorage from Bethel. MaryJane was also able to get on the earlier flight and since she keeps her truck in Anchorage she drove me all over the place and showed me how to do groceries the "cheap way". But the of two best things were: first MJ, another lady and myself pushed a young man (late 20) out of a ditch, only in Alaska were the men are men and women win the Iditord, would that happen. And then the coolest thing: Driving on a main road (4 lanes) come to an intersection with another main road (4 lanes) High School on the corner and what's in the front yard munching on the bushes - A Mama Moose and her Baby - SO COOL!!!

Anyways, Lacy did make the trip back with me and I am sure that when she wakes up she will be adding her own two cents to the Blog, but for now it is all I can do to get her to get off the couch to go out and go the bathroom. She is not sure about this cold weather thing.

Okay school starts tomorrow so I better stop playing around and try and get to sleep even though my schedule is totally messed up again.

Crash and Burn

2007-11-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well my personal lap top has decided to crash and burn and thus at least until Christmas I can't up load any photos. So you will have to use your imagination. As I describe some of the latest events. I am hoping to buy a new computer or get mine fixed at Christmas when I am in Michigan. Camera soft ware is in my storage unit so I can't even load it on to my school computer.
First of I was not able to keep my birthday a secret and since it fell on Saturday night - Girls Nite - there was a cake- Thanks to Kendra. The four of us finished it in two days I think. It was a great night we played with Legos. Kendra had never played with them so she kind of observed for a while but started getting into it and helped sort the parts by color. We were suppose to have a Legos Robotics Team but when the kids learned how much work was involved they lost interest (plus it was still hunting season when we needed to start in order to compete). Insert Pictures of Cake and Legos.
Last weekend I got to leave the village for the first time since August - I took our NYO (Native Youth Olympics) team to another village to compete - So I slept on a school floor and hung out in a school for two days. It was very interesting and I learned a lot. I had 5 students 2 JR High and 3 High School (2 girls and 3 boys) The boys did pretty well earning 5th place in a couple of events and one of my girls learned a lot even though she was in high school she had never competed before. -Insert Pictures of Students competing and hanging out in the gym - Due to a low ceiling in Bethel we almost got to spend a second night.
MaryJane Alecia and I have been working out about three times a week - Those of you use to working out in a gym would die if you saw what we have - 24 times around the gym for a mile (talk about stress on the knees), a set of three tier bleachers, a set of free weights 3-20pounds, an exercise ball, a couple of exercise bands and a nasty old gymnastics mat. So we have become very creative. Oh I forgot jump ropes - We all miss the gym.
well that's it for now. Have a good one.

Happy Haloween

2007-10-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note on this Holiday. They got another walrus and I was able to make down to the river just as they were hauling it in so I added more pictures to my flickr account.

Also a big thanks to Aunt Marilyn for the Apples the kids loved them a couple of them said they were the best ever. Obviously we don't get much fresh produce here in the village so it is always a treat. I remebered to take at least one phot of my Histroy class enjoying the apples - should have gotten my middle school class they realy went nuts for the apples I almost got one of my students who hasn't done any work all year to atleast open her Social Studies Book.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. Yes, all the kids tricker treated tonight, so I had lots of visitors.

Walrus

2007-10-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

The sun finally arose at about 9:30am and I found the Walrus. Actually I lucked out one of the Dad’s from school was taking his 1st grader down to see it and so he gave me a ride on the four wheeler. They had covered it last night thus MJ couldn’t see it when she went looking. As you can see they gutted it and removed the fins last night. After I got back Alicia was at my door looking for me to see if I wanted to go check it out so back we went. Again another kind parent gave us a ride on the four wheeler. By time we got back down to the beach they had started butchering it. As you can see they are removing the fat which they will use for oil. You can also see from the photos that they basically remove the innards all as one. And finally notice the kids just hanging out. I will/have uploaded more photo’s to my flickr account. Well back to my lazy Sunday afternoon. I keep thinking maybe I’ll head to school and do some work but naaa, maybe I’ll just read and watch a movie or take a nap.

Fun Filled Day

2007-10-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well it was a busy day here in Kongiganak. First we had the Halloween Carnival at the school and some how I ended up helping with the Haunted Hallway. A new experience for me. It was totally student run - so not very organized. Ruthie you would have killed someone for sure. They key thing is the kids did have fun and for the most part were pretty good about cleaning up. We also had games in the gym and concessions - over all I would have to say it was a success.

Saturday evening "Ladies Night" followed. We all agreed that after the Carnival we could all use a nice relaxing drink. Diet Coke and Ice Tea would have to do. It was a two Can Diet Coke night for me - I also made pizza and an apple bake with fresh Michigan Apples thanks to Aunt Marlyn (everyone loves the apples). Kendra made brownies with extra Chocolate Chunks and Almound (very yummy) and of course we had left over chips and cheese from the carnival. Good thing we started the night early - 3:30 instead of 7pm - with all the food. Kendra introduced us to a new game called PIT. It is faced paced and exciting. I loved - well I won so of course I thought it was a great game.

After Kendra and Alecia left MJ and I decided to watch a movie and about half way through there was a knock on my door. It was Daryl our Site Administrator. He came to tell us that Lewis Beaver one of our teachers had gotten a Walrus and the village was planning on butchering it in the morning. So the three of us set of to see if you could find it and take some pictures before hand. Of course it was dark and foggy. And as you can see there are no pictures at this time so we didn't find it. So I am waiting for the sun to come up - about 9:30am - and I'll head back down to the beach to see if I can find were they landed it.

Okay that's it for now hopefully I'll add more later today.

Proof that it SNOWED!!

2007-10-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Just thought you would like to see proof that it really has snowed here.

Otherwise life goes on. It is Saturday so that means laundry and a trip to the lagoon (to dump the honey bucket) and a nice walk through the village - stopping at the post office, and the store (I need a couple of eggs for corn bread).

I informed my students that I bought my ticket to Michigan for the Christmas Holiday and it is a non-refundable, round trip ticket. They only groaned a little, not sure if they caught the meaning - That I would be back in January.

Well, I guess I will go run my errands. Have a Great Day everyone.

Good Morning

2007-10-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Good Morning friends and family. It once again Saturday morning and I am taking a moment to enjoy my coffee before I head of to school to do laundry and grade papers. Believe it or not next Friday marks the end of our first quarter here in Kongiganak. WOW!!!

Last Sunday I went for a walk and remembered to take my camera and so I have included a few photos of the Tundra - as you can see it has changed colors and is now a beautiful gold color.

When I returned to the village from my walk I noticed some activity and upon investigating it discovered that a barge full of wood had arrived and as you can see from the photos they are unloading it. I have been told that the barge comes through twice a year - once in the spring and once in the fall. This is the first time the village has purchased wood. This wood will be used for steams (like a sauna) a very popular activity.

Well, it is almost 9am and I want to get my laundry started so I will close for now. When the sun comes up this morning I hope to take a couple of pictures to show you that we actually have a light dusting of snow on the ground. Have a good weekend.

IT SNOWED!!!!

2007-10-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Yep, That's right it snowed yesterday! I am so excited YEAH!!!!! It didn't last long but we really did have snow. It was a "white out" for about 5-10 minutes. Just long enough for all the packages I was hauling back from the post office to get wet. Wished I had had my camera.

It is 8:30am and I am probably one of the only people in the village awake. I am pretty sure that at 7:15 when I went to school to start my laundry and go the bathroom I was the only person awake. It is still dark outside and the temperture is a comfortable 38 degrees no wind so it's not bad. We do get some increadable wind here.

Anyways thats about it for now. Same old same old. School and sleep that's about it.

Oh a couple people have asked for "wish list" items. Paper back books (to read since I have no TV) and cheep school supplies or novelty things (for give aways to my students (pencils, erasers, silly putty...)I am now set at least until Christmas with coffee I think. There was a momentary scare but it turned out okay. The US Postal Service wasn't living up to their standards of getting somethings delivered in a timely manner.

Okay I am going to watch a movie and grade some papers -

All Dressed-up and No Place to Go

2007-09-24T21:10:00.001-07:00

What do three single female teacher do on a Saturday Night in rural Alaska – What else is there to do they get dressed-up in their finest, they eat and they play cards. Please note NO alcohol was consumed during this evening. (remember this is a dry village)

This has become a Saturday night thing for the three of us, getting together, teaching Alicia to play Euchre and eating dinner. This week it was great food – Homemade pizza (MJ makes great pizza crust) chips and cheese and a few fresh veggies, the cupboard is getting bare when it comes to fresh veggies we had to throw the lettuce out it was slimmy. Soon after this picture was taken someone got a craving for some dessert (a chocolate milk shake was mentioned) so we decided to make blueberry short cake. Alicia was sent to the store because someone remembered that they did have CoolWhip (step 1) I had some Bisquick and blueberry’s MaryJane ran home for starch, blueberry’s and the recipe for blueberry sauce. YUMMY is all I need to say as to how it all came out.

Well I hope all is well with everyone everything is the same here in Kongiganak It continues to rain most days and I can defiantly notice the change in the amount of daylight. It was still dark at 8am this morning and will probably be dark before 8pm tonight.

I have taken on the challenge of starting and coaching our Lego-Robotics team. It should be very interesting and fun. I currently have three students on the team and two of them are very excited and want to work on it all of the time. I will be learning along with the kids what it is all about. I also seam to be being prodded/recruited into coaching a girls basketball team – Paul has sent me the information on getting certified as a coach – I have been telling him I would help him or volunteer to help as long as he coached. We haven’t had a girls team since the early 1990’s and Paul coached them to the State tournament. In 1987 (I think) they actually one the state tournament. Plus I am teaching math twice a week for half an hour in our extended day program so basically I live at the school.

Again I hope everyone is well – keep in touch. I love reading most of your comments.

It's the weekend

2007-09-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

It is Friday night and what I am I doing sitting home alone with a smelly dog watching Charlie’s Angels and it is a great night. It is the weekend and that means two days with out kids in the classroom. Hoping to get more things organized and set for my classes. Life is still good here in Alaska - The temperature has defiantly started to drop. Almost sweater in the classroom weather - I have been wearing a sweater vest over my shirt and have even worn a turtleneck a few times.

The smelly dog is MaryJane's (my fellow teacher that went on the Fishing Adventure with me). The smelly dogs name is Justice and she is hanging with me because MJ headed to Bethel with 4 students for the final cross-country meet - Yes it is the end of the season. The word I have heard is that it could snow in September but usually it holds off until October. Justice is a Golden Retriever that loves the water/mud which we have in excess of and with limited running water she has a slight odor. But you have to lover her - she is a Happy Golden Retriever.

Today was pay-day - Yeah - That means I am putting together my monthly dry-goods grocery order. I think we (me and a couple of other teachers will be placing bi-weekly orders into Bethel for fresh produce and dairy). We did that last week and it worked pretty good. I also ordered a new sleeping bag - rated for -40 degrees for my next adventure - Although this weekend should be pretty quite I do hope to go pick some cranberries to my a cranberry relish.

Today was a somewhat of an exciting day - I had a student "slap" or "tap" my face so I took her right down to the office and she was suspended for 5 days. She is in my 7/8 grade class. Another one of my 7/8grade students will be in Anchorage for two days having has tonsils removed. Due to the lack of medical facilities iin the villages this is typical for kids and a parent to stay in a "Ronald McDonald house incase something comes up until they are healed. So it may be a little easier in a couple of my classes. We will see. I will say that I really like our site administrator. He and I are on the same wave of not putting up with much from the students. He really supports the fact that I have high standards for the students and won’t lower them - I currently have 2 out of 14 students passing Social Studies simply because they don't do the work - They haven't had a test or quiz yet. I also have 8-10 HS students failing History for exactly the same reason.

Well that's about it for now - Life continues on here in Alaska - I love all of the comments keep them coming - you can also make comments on the photos on Flickr

The Battle Continues

2007-09-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

Well I think I am ahead in the battle of the students. I am not sure they might be just giving me some false hope but I was actually able to let my 7/8 grade Social Studies class leave on time yesterday. We are trying hard to learn to respect each other and other peoples property, and to take responsibility for our own learning. I don't allow gum chewing in my classroom due to the amount of gum under the desk and on the floor so that has been one battle. I now have the kids (mostly girls) spit their gum out into my hand so that I know it is being spit out otherwise they just fake it and I am asking them again 10 minutes later to get rid of the gum. Or other big problem is theft - The school provides everything - pencils, paper, folders etc, so first of the kids don't take care of anything and they expect a new pencil everyday. Nope, so then then they started just taking stuff off of my desk. Well, finally Wednesday afternoon during my prep hour I went and visited the other classes and figured out who had taken my good pen off of my desk - when his class was over I informed him that he had 30 seconds to return it to me or else I was reporting it stolen to the Site Administrator. I got my pen back - 10 minutes into my next class my pen is again missing - so the 7/8th grade Social Studies class once again stayed after class - low and behold a student found my pen by the trash can. Nothing disappeared off of my desk today.

Life continues on here - The temperature has started to drop. I wore a turtleneck and sweater vest in school today - and wore a jacket and light gloves while walking over. However, some of the kids have yet to notice the drop in temperature and continue to go barefoot and wear shorts and t-shirts.

I have a class tomorrow with the other two new teacher - It is a cultural class and since one of our "new" teachers grew up in one of the near by villages we were kind of hoping we could have him be our own private guess speaker but nope - at least we have all the answers. It is a district wide training and so we will be doing it via the Polycom (interactive TV).

Alright I really should get going home and to bed. Don't hesitate to e-mail me.

Another Adventure

2007-09-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Guess what I did! Here are a couple of hints – I wore long johns jeans and rain paint, two pair of warm socks and rubber boots, I had a Under-armor shirt, t-shirt, long-john shirt, a down jacket and a rain jacket, plus a ski hat on and I still was cold at times – I have a great case of wind burn on my face and I have been home for 16 hours – which I slept 12 of due to lack of sleep. We left on this adventure at 5pm on Saturday and returned at about 5-6pm Sunday. I spent those 24 fours in a vehicle that was about 25feet long by 6 or 7feet wide.

Did you figure it out yet – well if you looked at the pictures you probably did – We went fishing – Yupik style. MaryJane and I went with another teacher Sherman, his wife Loraine and Sherman’s brother Leroy fishing. It was great (I can now say that after having a hot shower and 12 hours of sleep). Unfortunately we only caught 12 fish total.

It would take forever to explain everything so I will try and give you some of the major high lights – Sherman, Lorain and Leroy both commercial fish all summer and are from Kongiganak. We had two boats for the five of use. We used nets to fish with and they can actually do it by themselves. The moth of the river is huge – you can not see across, I am not sure but I don’t think we ever truly left the river. And it is so muddy that they actually use the word mudds – you fish between the mudds. They have to keep a constant eye out for sand bars – in the middle of know where there can be a huge sand bar about 1.5-2feet deep not good on the props. We where trying to get to a river the first evening but couldn’t find the canal in and probably spent two hours using poles to push ourselves through the sand bars.

Sleeping quarters – Well MaryJane and I had deluxe accommodations Leroy setup his canvas walled tent for us and we slept on the floor of the boat at least our feet where pointed towards the fish. Leroy has his “pilot” house rigged so that he can sleep in there, Sherman and his wife just use a tarp on their boat. Bathroom – again Leroy was the gracious host and let us use the “pilot” house for “privacy” we used a five gallon bucket. The bucket was also my seat on the boat – after it was dumped, rinsed and turned over.

We saw a seal – Leroy tried to shoot it – yes it is legal for him to kill it because they will eat it. Seals do not keep their heads above water for very long.

At times the water was very calm and at others we had some waves – It was cold the whole time. It was a great experience and I might even do it again.

Let's Go Fishing

2007-08-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

well I had my first Alaskan fishing experience this morning. But I wasn't fishing for fish. Last night at about 11:30pm as I am walking home I dropped my keys and as I stood there and thought what if they go through the board walk I heard a curplunk. So I was in luck our principle was leaving school at the same time and he was kind enough to let me into my house - I figured the keys were gone for good and that I would be pay $500 ($250 for each lost key) Daryl was much more optimistic he figured that we would be able to find them by prying up a couple of boards. He wasn't standing their wen they went curplunk. So this morning before school I thought what the heck I'll at least look. So I took my flask light and started looking between every crack to see if I could see anything. Five minutes later I see them - I can't reach them but I can see them - so basically I ended up finding a piece of wire in my house and was able to fish them out. So that is my Alaskan fishing experience so far. Well back to my school work. Have a great day everyone!!

Life is GOOD!

2007-08-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Very busy first week, but things are going good. It is Saturday afternoon and I am hanging-out in my classroom. Actually it isn't as bad as you are thinking. First of I don't have Internet or TV in my house not a big deal plus it is my laundry time. Each certified staff person has an assigned laundry time either an afternoon/evening time or Saturday morning (mine) Saturday Afternoon, or Sunday. So I thought I would update you while I finished up my laundry and I also found the movie Fiddler On The Roof in our school library so I have that playing on the VCR/TV in my room. Anyways, I have some interesting thing to tell you about today.

First here is another picture of me out picking berries I figured out the timer on my camera and a couple of other shots I took a week or so ago. I am uploading a number of other photo's to my flickr account.

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Cultural Experience on Friday evening - One of the town elders wanted to have a community potluck so that the community could meet all of the teachers. So towards the beginning of the week we received an e-mail about this "potluck". Midwestern up bring so I assume certain things about a community potluck - it was a little different then I expected. First off the school cook made three large sheet cakes (2x3) and the school provided the plastic plates, silverware, coffee and juice, each staff person brought a dish or something to pass. I made lentils and rice with carrots, beef and dried tomatoes in my slow cooker, 1 cup rice 1 cup lentils. I assumed this would be plenty since at every potluck I have ever attended there was more food then you can imagine, and we thought we where to sort of be the guest. Wrong - First off not every family brought food and there where a number of kids whose parents didn't even come and thus they didn't bring anything.
John Phillip on of the elders spoke for 15-25 minutes, and I am not sure what he spoke about because he spoke in Yupik, (Paul Paul the Kindergarten teacher summarized what he had said to us teachers which in short was don't let the kids sleep in class). Then two or three other elders spoke mostly in Yupik. Then a short prayer and then they (and I mean they) finally ate. The elders lined up first then the adults and then the kids. I am told that it is better at this village then in some, in other villages only the very, very young (under three)line-up with their parents. Here at least if their parents where here they lined up with them. By the time the end of the line was getting to the table they were scrapping the bottom of the bowls literally. And the only reason that there was any food left was that there where teachers serving and they limited the amount of food people took. By the way the teachers really didn't eat we had cake (that is all was left). People would take trays of food and then get foil for them to take them home. At the end there was only cake left and people were taking whole plates with four or five pieces of that home. Very very different.

Today was a great day - we finally went on a major exploration walk. We did not make it to the coast but we think we have a better idea how to get there. The following are some pictures of Alicia, MaryJane and myself on our adventure. We were also joined part way through our walk by three village kids, Martha is a first grader, Jovan is in 6th grade, and Jimmy is in 8th grade. The boys shot three birds two smaller ones and a Goose, Justic MaryJanes four legged companion even showed off her retriving skills and swam in the water for one. As you will also see it very wet basically it is a bog that we were walking on. My new muck boots work great as long as I don't go in water deeper then they are tall - OOPs so I learned, but my feet still stayed dry, even if my knees were wet. I LOVE my muck boots - Thanks Bev.

Well, I guess maybe I should grade some papers the pile has gotten a little large this week.

Happy Birthday Sheila!!!!

First Day of School

2007-08-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I am still alive and so are all the students so I would say that means we had a great first day. It is 8:30pm and I am back at school and will be here for a few hours. then I plan on taking my shower before heading home.
Saturday and this afternoon were happy days - I had some boxes arrive - YEAH - You know it is very different waiting for things to arrive by mail rather then just running to Meijers or Kmart to pick it up. Talk about training/controlling that instant gradification thing. Lucky for me some one is willing to do some shopping and shipping for me. I could order from Walmart in Anchorage but that would probably cost a lot more. We (a couple teachers and myself) are trying to figure out how to get some fresh produce somewhat reasonable since the district isn't sending any of us to Bethel any time soon.
Okay I need to get some planning done for tommorow or else I will probably have to kill some of the students in my 7/8th grade class.

Update

2007-08-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I haven't posted anything on my blog in the past couple of days but as you can guess I have been pretty busy. Technically today was the first day we had to be at school and we spent most of the day in a video conference with the district. Remember the school district is about the size of Ohio and we have 23 schools in about 20 different villages so our district meeting are usually held via Polycom. A number of classes particularly Math and Science are taught via polycom through the district head quarters -thus not every school has a "Highly Qualified" Math and/or Science teacher - we have two different Polycom channels and thus the district can offer a variety of HS Classes.
I have been at school quite a lot since arriving trying to organize my room and figure out what I am teaching. I know the classes 7th/8th Grade Math, US History, Algebra 1, HS Math, 6/7/8th Grade PE and 7/8th Grade Social Studies. By the way they use the "phase" system for Math, Reading, and Writing so that means between my "three" Math classes I actually have 10 different lessons going on - The concept is great the organization of it still has me confused but I think I am getting there. As some of you know I have sent out a cry for help with the Social Studies looking for lesson plans or anything - I guess I am going to have to do a lot of Internet research. US History - I sent an e-mail to the teacher who taught the class a couple of years ago to see if he remembers what books he used and any other materials. PE is temporally on the bottom of my concern list - I will probably be pulling some of my old YMCA stuff or making my YMCA friends send it to me - RUTHIE, remember that math test!!! Did I mention that school starts MONDAY.

Alaska is totally awesome!!! Very hard to describe - SUPER VAST - doesn't even come close.

This picture was taken standing on the board walk in the village. and is one out of 3-4 pictures I did trying to get a panoramic view. Even though we are 2-3 miles up in land from the ocean we still can see the effects of the tides on the river - the river rises and falls a good 10-20feet. In this shot it is just starting to go out.

I went Blue Berrie picking yesterday and was able to get enough to fill two quart size freezer bags. These are some pictures I took out on the tundra. It was a 15 min walk from my house to the area that I picked berries. I hope to go out again tomorrow evening and pick some more. In talking to one of the villagers I found out that I can also pick what they call Black Berries, they look like Blue Berries but are black and the red berries should be ripe by the end of the month.

Well beleive it or not it is 9pm even though it looks like about 5pm the sun is shinning and although I would love to go for a walk or something I think I will head home (a whole 100 yards away from the front door of the school). First I will use the restroom, wash my hands and brush my teeth, I try to do this before heading home for the night since running water makes all of these task a little easier.

Feel free to comment on the blogs - I do apologize if I am not answering e-mail as often as I should.

I made it!

2007-08-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

I survived two days of new teacher orintation, and one day of Culture Class. Our Culturel Class is a year long class that is required by the state and we get three graduate level credits for it and the school pays for it. So that was Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Check out some photo's of Bethel on my Flickr account. (http://www.flickr.com/ search for megan haglund do a second search under people for megan heaglund).

Friday evening I flew to Kongiganak with two other new teachers and our site adminstrator. (A picture of me waiting for a ride to the Bethel Airport) Because we had so many people and so much stuff that they gave us on of the larger planes (it sat eight people).

Andrew and his wife lived in the house I have last year and they had to move to their "new house" Friday evening and Saturday - Andrew had the bedroom cleaned out Friday night so I was able to sleep there and then finished the rest of the house Saturday so last night I cleaned and moved in. Most of my boxes made it, well 8 out of 12 boxes that I had mailed made it. Hopefully the rest will make it soon, the coffee pot did not make. I guess I should have carried that with me along with my Beaners coffee. At least the school has coffee so I am suriving fine. I will try and upload some photo's of my house to flickr tommorrow.

Photo from the plane as we flew from Bethel to Kongiganak.

Saturday we walked around the village - I know I will get photos up soon. My house is about 100 yards from the front door of the school. I do not have running water - I have a bathtube but it has two fifty-gallon barrels in it - this is my water supply. Supposedly the water is safe to drink but it does sit in the barrells for at least a week or more so I boil and/or filter it. Shower is here at the school - the school has running water.

Well, I want to work on some stuff for school since I spent the day finishing and PASSING Ruthies math class.

First Day

2007-08-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day of training for all of the new teachers - for the most part it was fun and interesting. The evening finished with a Yu'pik potluck dinner, a lot of dishes made with Samon - still not something I will eat, I tried. There was also some Moose stew and that wasn't bad. We finished the evening off by picking Blueberries on the tundra. Please note how small the Blueberries are nothing like what we are use to in Michigan.

I almost forgot on explorations yesterday we went to the local grocery store here in Bethel and just to give you an idea - 12 pack of Pepsi $10, Tomatoes $2.29 a pound, sweet potatoes $2.49 a pound ($0.49 in Grand Rapids)

Well it is 9:30pm and even though the sun is shinning as if it was 12noon I am going to try and get some sleep. I hope to post some pictures to flickr in the next couple of days.

Take care and I will keep you posted.

Traveling

2007-08-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

Well I arrived - Actually I arrived in Bethel Tuesday, at about 7:30am. My travels went pretty smoothly. We left Clarksville at about 11am Monday, August 6. Pam, Sheila and Bev drove me to the Detroit Airport and I flew out at about 5:30pm. First stop Phoenix, Arizona. I had about an hour layover in Arizona and then it was on to Anchorage, Alaska. I arrived in Anchorage at about 1am local time so that would be 5am Michigan time. Because I was switching airlines I had to not only get my luggage but also switch terminals. I had to wait until 5am to check my luggage so I found a comfortable bench and took a nap for a couple of hours and then it was off to Bethel.

When I arrived here in Bethel I met about 8 other new teachers. We spent the day hanging out and comparing notes. In the picture below with me next to the sign I have been awake for about 36hours. The next picture is of "main" street the final shot is of the river.

Last Night in Michigan

2007-08-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

I played my last game of golf Saturday morning, visisted the dog beach Sunday morning. I have finished packing and everything is in storage so I guess that's it, I am off to Alaska. I'll keep you posted and post pictures as soon as I can.

See Ya Party!!

2007-07-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who attended my "See Ya" Party on Saturday. It was great seeing everyone and I will miss most of ya. The highlights of the party included Aunt Dee Dee riding the Rocking Horse and Malakai flying high with the help of his Uncle Mitch.

Thanks to everyone who came.

You can see more pictures on my Flickr account.

Lacey's Comments

2007-07-26T13:19:00.001-07:00

I am not a morning dog!

What's this thing about Alaska? I thought we were going to Arizona!

Count Down

2007-07-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well, the count down has begun. Less then 12 days until I leave and the pressure is on. I have two papers due, one is due tomorrow, the other, a ten pager is due next Tuesday. Do you think I have started either - NOPE. Well I have at least read the article for tomorrows paper.

So far I have mailed 8 boxes of stuff to Alaska and plan on mailing one or two more. I am hoping to take only one suitcase weighing about 40 pounds and my carry-on.

Toby and Emmy

2007-06-27T11:02:00.001-07:00

My Sister and Brother are playing king of the mountain. I have asked them to share their fur coats with me but they say Nope. However they would like to come visit.

Getting Started

2007-06-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Okay,I am getting started on my Alaskan Adventures. By the way no comments on my spelling - I like creative spelling and thus will use it.