Catching Up...

...because that is what a lot of us are doing and will be doing for the next several days. Yesterday was our last full day of school for the semester. We will be here on Monday and Tuesday, but half of Monday is taken up with an annual thing called Christmas around the world, and Tuesday is a just plain half day. Many people are getting away to return to their homes, and a few will be leaving on Tuesday afternoon. We will not be leaving until Wednesday, which will give us an extra day for organizing and wrapping up, but may put us in the way of a storm that may hit across the country next week. I am actually told that there is nothing that I can do about this. Someone is obviously unaware of my proud family tradition of fretting about things over which we have absolutely no control.

In the meantime, there are still kids who need to catch up on their schoolwork, and basketball teams that need to travel, and basketball teams that will be playing here. There are grades to turn in, and lesson plans to prepare before we return. We have been told to leave two days of plans when we leave. Because we are not returning until the Sunday before school starts, I would prefer to have the week done before I leave. I do not want to have to think about it in the midst of travel from the Midwest to Alaska. I also hope to fit in a steam, go to church before we leave, and reorganize the reading shelves in my classroom before I leave. Not so much, really...

We had our staff Christmas party last night. They are slightly more sedate without alcohol, but only a little bit. I think that most of us are a little giddy at the prospect of three plus weeks of vacation. We did a white elephant gift exchange, and the rules were that you can take from under the tree, or take from someone else. One of the gifts definitely was not a white elephant as I think of it. It contained some very good looking fish strips and a set of ulu knives which had been made by James Nicholai. James is the president of our Advisory School Board, and the Postmaster to boot. His work is very good. That gift changed hands many times. I have posted an exchange between two sisters who also happen to be members of the ASB. As you will see, there is no sororal affection wasted on this exchange. None. You can also see Father Vasily wrestling with the moral quandry posed by "stealing" the gift from me. Much hilarity...