Well, we are, anyway. Another semester in the books. Some good, some bad, but a relief to be done, if only for a short while. The period from August to December always feels longer, and more of an endurance race than the second semester. I suspect that there are all kinds of reasons why this is true, and I have thought about them over the past five school years, but I am not inclined to stir them that vigorously at this point. The fall semester is just harder. It is always nice to have it over with.
The weather has not been conducive to river freezing, at least not for automobile traffic, so our car remains in Bethel for now. I thought that we might drive out for vacation at one point, but people much smarter about this subject than I are keeping their vehicles off of the ice at this point. Good enough for me. Maybe we will drive back down after the holiday.
Many of the staff members have departed for their back home climes already. Because this is our home now, we will be in less of a hurry. Our reservations were originally for Friday, but they had to be rescheduled after a mixup involving the dogs. We now leave Sunday night, but we have the comfort of flying first class all the way from Anchorage to Atlanta. Nice. My in-laws will be there at the ATL with our new Chevy Traverse-the baby and dog toter. They live a couple of hours from the airport. We get to Atlanta at about 3:30 in the afternoon Monday. I hope that some of the fearsome Atlanta traffic will be somewhat reduced by the proximity of the Christmas holiday.
We are also planning a quick trip to Detroit after the first of the year in order to visit family in Michigan. As Alice continues to grow and do cute stuff, we felt increasingly guilty about the thought that the rest of her family would be left out. This helps to solve that a little.
There are still some details to be dealt with before we leave town. I am finishing grading, and my wife has been finishing up two weeks of lesson plans, so that she does not have to deal with them when she returns. I am not so ambitious at the moment, but I have about four hours or so tomorrow with Alice while she is over here watching some professional development videos. I will get my plans done for our return. I may get ambitious and do them for the following week as well.
For now, though, I am just going to relax and enjoy life at a calmer pace for a while...Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all...
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Two Weeks Left...
I mentioned the speed of time in my last post. Nothing about that has changed. We finish the first semester two weeks from today. We will spend tomorrow afternoon making sure that our grades are reasonably current. There are only two more sets of lesson plans to prepare, and then it will be time to spend an extended break with family.
Our holiday breaks encompass both Christmases, Western and Russian Orthodox, and for that reason, it runs 3 1/2 weeks this year. Although we do not have the autumnal breaks or the spring break that many schools have, the extended Christmas break truly feels like a luxury.
We will be taking Alice to spend the time with her grandparents in Alabama. She also has cousins there now, and we anticipate a joyous reunion. I am hopeful that some of my family members will be able to make it down as well. We faced a difficult decision when it came to the geographical split in family groups. Because of the unpredictable weather at that time of the year, as well as the 1500-mile round trip involved, we concluded that Alabama in the winter and Michigan in the summer will have to be the practical solution for the forseeable future.
For my part, I am looking forward to sleeping in. It is possible that I will spend the first vacation day doing just that. Wait, I am the father of a nine-month old child. It isn't going to happen....oh, well, I can dream, can't I?
Our holiday breaks encompass both Christmases, Western and Russian Orthodox, and for that reason, it runs 3 1/2 weeks this year. Although we do not have the autumnal breaks or the spring break that many schools have, the extended Christmas break truly feels like a luxury.
We will be taking Alice to spend the time with her grandparents in Alabama. She also has cousins there now, and we anticipate a joyous reunion. I am hopeful that some of my family members will be able to make it down as well. We faced a difficult decision when it came to the geographical split in family groups. Because of the unpredictable weather at that time of the year, as well as the 1500-mile round trip involved, we concluded that Alabama in the winter and Michigan in the summer will have to be the practical solution for the forseeable future.
For my part, I am looking forward to sleeping in. It is possible that I will spend the first vacation day doing just that. Wait, I am the father of a nine-month old child. It isn't going to happen....oh, well, I can dream, can't I?
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Sunday...
The sun came out this afternoon. We haven't had much of that lately. Yesterday, it rained horizontally and the wind blew all day long. This morning, it snowed. Now, the sun is streaming in the windows and shining off of the new snowpack.
Fall has been weird. By now, the river would ordinarily be frozen, maybe even enough to operate a snow machine on it. There would have been snow that had been on the ground long enough to get good and dirty. But the river is still open. I have seen some recent video that showed it in a slushee-like state, but I am sure that yesterday's hours of rainfall ended that. I saw a boat moving down the slough yesterday at a decent rate of speed. No suggestion that the captain was picking his way around ice floes.
The baby has discovered the delights of guacamole and even could be sighted sucking on a lime this afternoon. My wife is determined that we will not have a "kid's menu" kid. It looks as if I will have to compete for the guacamole with an 8-month-old from now on. There are worse fates, I suppose...
Week number thirteen begins tomorrow. Nothing real fancy this week. Maybe kickball in PE, but that's about it. Thanksgiving is a little over two weeks away, and then it is a fast downhill run to Christmas. I am amazed at how fast it seems to go each year. Each year seems to be faster. Before we know it, the years will fly by and Alice will be in pre-school. Okay, maybe I am getting a little carried away.
I think that we will skype with the kids back in Traverse City, and then I need to get up and do some vacuuming around here. Three dogs worth of hair to contend with. On to the holidays!
Fall has been weird. By now, the river would ordinarily be frozen, maybe even enough to operate a snow machine on it. There would have been snow that had been on the ground long enough to get good and dirty. But the river is still open. I have seen some recent video that showed it in a slushee-like state, but I am sure that yesterday's hours of rainfall ended that. I saw a boat moving down the slough yesterday at a decent rate of speed. No suggestion that the captain was picking his way around ice floes.
The baby has discovered the delights of guacamole and even could be sighted sucking on a lime this afternoon. My wife is determined that we will not have a "kid's menu" kid. It looks as if I will have to compete for the guacamole with an 8-month-old from now on. There are worse fates, I suppose...
Week number thirteen begins tomorrow. Nothing real fancy this week. Maybe kickball in PE, but that's about it. Thanksgiving is a little over two weeks away, and then it is a fast downhill run to Christmas. I am amazed at how fast it seems to go each year. Each year seems to be faster. Before we know it, the years will fly by and Alice will be in pre-school. Okay, maybe I am getting a little carried away.
I think that we will skype with the kids back in Traverse City, and then I need to get up and do some vacuuming around here. Three dogs worth of hair to contend with. On to the holidays!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
11 Weeks Down...
The mad rush is beginning to ease a little. Since the last post, we have had our Halloween carnival, and things will be relatively quiet now until I take high school kids over to Bethel for the district high school speech contest. That is always intense, but fun at the same time. I do not care all that much for the part that requires me to sleep on a classroom floor for two consecutive nights, but the event is generally entertaining, and I enjoy watching the kids rise to the occasion.
After that, we have Thanksgiving week, which features a big lunch for the community at which we serve. Of course, we also have a nice, long weekend. From there, it is a short rush to Christmas vacation and a long break in Alabama.
The kiddies are coming along reasonably well, although it seems that one of my seventh graders has broken his arm this afternoon. With any luck, it will be resolved simply. We shall see.
I have some kids in here enjoying some free time on their computers. Time to kick them out and go home and snuggle the baby. Night, all....
After that, we have Thanksgiving week, which features a big lunch for the community at which we serve. Of course, we also have a nice, long weekend. From there, it is a short rush to Christmas vacation and a long break in Alabama.
The kiddies are coming along reasonably well, although it seems that one of my seventh graders has broken his arm this afternoon. With any luck, it will be resolved simply. We shall see.
I have some kids in here enjoying some free time on their computers. Time to kick them out and go home and snuggle the baby. Night, all....
Monday, October 28, 2013
False Start...
In our last exciting adventure...there was snow in the air. That is all that turned out to be. In the air. Nothing accumulated. There was some snow this morning that did stick for a while, but it is gone now. We are mostly going through a long phase of rain, followed by more rain, with intervals of rain. It is soggy here, in a serious way.
This is the week of Halloween, which means Carnival and costumes. My wife and the baby and I are going to come as the Three Bears. Cute, huh? We have parent conferences as well, today and tomorrow. I think that this should keep all of us busy. It is also making the days fly by. We are in the eleventh week of the semester now, and the weeks just keep piling up one atop the other.
The baby gets bigger and more interesting. She sits up on her own, and it is just a matter of time until she begins creeping around the house. Our happy, quiet life will be a thing of the past in short order at that point. No escaping it.
I am sitting in a teacher development class, and my wife is at home taking a class of her own. Mondays are long, and I am waiting for this one to be over.
This is the week of Halloween, which means Carnival and costumes. My wife and the baby and I are going to come as the Three Bears. Cute, huh? We have parent conferences as well, today and tomorrow. I think that this should keep all of us busy. It is also making the days fly by. We are in the eleventh week of the semester now, and the weeks just keep piling up one atop the other.
The baby gets bigger and more interesting. She sits up on her own, and it is just a matter of time until she begins creeping around the house. Our happy, quiet life will be a thing of the past in short order at that point. No escaping it.
I am sitting in a teacher development class, and my wife is at home taking a class of her own. Mondays are long, and I am waiting for this one to be over.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Wednesday...
The staff here is sitting in a mandated meeting district-wide, at 5:41 in the afternoon. Grim material, but necessary.
Another week, and we are still doing a strange flirtation with winter. I have been seeing pictures from back in Michigan showing snow. That word has been in the forecast, and is for tomorrow, but it hasn't materialized here yet. The river is still flowing by the village, and there hasn't been much more than frost on the boardwalk. Interesting-my phone just lit up with a Facebook message saying there is snow in Cadillac, our old home town. There is simply no convincing evidence that winter is anywhere in the vicinity. Of course, the weather is changeable here, and the calendar is advancing. The inevitable must happen eventually.
We await drivable ice on the river. Maybe the fact that we actually bought a used car this year has jinxed the whole process.
Morning update 10/24: the wind is blowing hard and snow is in the air.
Another week, and we are still doing a strange flirtation with winter. I have been seeing pictures from back in Michigan showing snow. That word has been in the forecast, and is for tomorrow, but it hasn't materialized here yet. The river is still flowing by the village, and there hasn't been much more than frost on the boardwalk. Interesting-my phone just lit up with a Facebook message saying there is snow in Cadillac, our old home town. There is simply no convincing evidence that winter is anywhere in the vicinity. Of course, the weather is changeable here, and the calendar is advancing. The inevitable must happen eventually.
We await drivable ice on the river. Maybe the fact that we actually bought a used car this year has jinxed the whole process.
Morning update 10/24: the wind is blowing hard and snow is in the air.
Monday, October 21, 2013
The Grind Continues...
We are in that part of the school year that I refer to as "the grind." Lots of obligation. Lots of demands on our time. Lots of places to be in, some at the same time.
By the end of the wrestling tournament on Saturday, my brain felt as if it had been boiled in oil. Sleep deprivation had finally won out over caffeine. Sunday morning, I actually slept in until 9:30. You must understand that I was raised by a guy for whom 9:30 represents the depths of depravity. Sleeping in for me on a weekend means 7 am, unless I am ill. Sunday felt a lot better, needless to say.
Our Little Bit decided to make last night an exciting sleep night again, keeping us up between the hours of 3 and 4 am. Our wonderful babysitter is leaving for Anchorage in the morning. We are having some challenges with substitutes. The problem is being solved one day at a time. We shall see how it all works out.
We are now in the process of taking after-school classes that run from 4:45 to 6:15 in the evening. If we get a total of ten, we get to take two scheduled in-service days off. One is scheduled for December 20, a day on which we plan to be flying from Bethel to Atlanta. Five will make sure that I can use our tickets. I am taking the fifth class right now. Merry Xmas!
I hosted a meeting of would-be high school speech givers in my classroom this afternoon. We discussed the categories of speech that they may choose, and the time frame within which we need to get ready. That two day challenge comes the week prior to Thanksgiving.
As I see it, we have about four more weeks of serious grind time. On the positive side, we do not have any weekend obligations until the Saturday before we finish the semester. That gives us a little more recharge time. The short weekends drain our energy, and we have had two of them in a row. The grind is hard. The good news is that it is very front-loaded. Once we get through to January, the road begins to run downhill. All we need do is to keep grinding for the moment.
By the end of the wrestling tournament on Saturday, my brain felt as if it had been boiled in oil. Sleep deprivation had finally won out over caffeine. Sunday morning, I actually slept in until 9:30. You must understand that I was raised by a guy for whom 9:30 represents the depths of depravity. Sleeping in for me on a weekend means 7 am, unless I am ill. Sunday felt a lot better, needless to say.
Our Little Bit decided to make last night an exciting sleep night again, keeping us up between the hours of 3 and 4 am. Our wonderful babysitter is leaving for Anchorage in the morning. We are having some challenges with substitutes. The problem is being solved one day at a time. We shall see how it all works out.
We are now in the process of taking after-school classes that run from 4:45 to 6:15 in the evening. If we get a total of ten, we get to take two scheduled in-service days off. One is scheduled for December 20, a day on which we plan to be flying from Bethel to Atlanta. Five will make sure that I can use our tickets. I am taking the fifth class right now. Merry Xmas!
I hosted a meeting of would-be high school speech givers in my classroom this afternoon. We discussed the categories of speech that they may choose, and the time frame within which we need to get ready. That two day challenge comes the week prior to Thanksgiving.
As I see it, we have about four more weeks of serious grind time. On the positive side, we do not have any weekend obligations until the Saturday before we finish the semester. That gives us a little more recharge time. The short weekends drain our energy, and we have had two of them in a row. The grind is hard. The good news is that it is very front-loaded. Once we get through to January, the road begins to run downhill. All we need do is to keep grinding for the moment.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
I'm Still Here!
I wander over here from time to time, and it is usually guilt that actually draws me back to the keyboard. A loyal reader or follower says something, and I feel the need to catch up again.
So here goes: the year is going pretty well. We are nearly at the end of the first nine weeks already (Friday), the baby is great, and we are already looking forward to the Christmas holiday break. It will be especially different this year, because we are going to visit my in-laws in Alabama, and I hope that means a warmer Christmas than last year.
The power problems have apparently been resolved for now, and my impression is that this statement is more than just chit-chat. We have gotten a new motor for one of our generators, and things have been remarkably consistent since then. Yay for power!
In order that I not be without some frustrations, the internet service at the house has been remarkably INconsistent in the recent past. We had outages that lasted for hours, and some would follow right on the heels of one another with only a few minutes of actual available service. We finally lost service entirely during a windstorm a week or so ago, and things seem to be working better since repairs were made. Not perfect, but a whole lot more consistent.
We made a crucial decision back in the summer. Now that we have the baby in the village, we figured that the snowmachine could no longer be our principal means of winter transportation. I broke down after 4+ happy car-less years and bought a used Subaru wagon to drive on the river this winter. We have a 4-day-long inservice after Labor Day, and it was actually pleasant to get around Bethel without being dependent on taxis or the district shuttle. The car now sits at my friend Sandy's house while we aren't using it. Once the river freezes, and the highway is open, we will take it down to the village for winter use.
If this silliness wasn't enough, we also took a look at our transportation situation back in the lower 48. We decided that rental costs were getting ridiculous and that it was time to break down and get a baby/dog hauler there, too. The problem is accommodating three dog kennels and one big baby seat. We aren't going Suburban here, but we aren't going Honda Fit, either. We were actually able to find a certified used car with only 8600 miles on it that is a 2013 model. All I have to do now is move money from my IRAs to Alaska and back to Alabama. No small challenge there. I was actually in place to deposit checks for the last couple of days, because I have been in Bethel. Unfortunately, two of the three checks got to Napaskiak after I left. Oh well, on to plan B...
And finally, the reason that I am in Bethel. I am the coach for junior high speech. Every year, it seems that I have been able to persuade a few more kids to try it. This year we had seven kids. Four of them made it into the finals in the Expository speech category. First, third, fourth and fifth place. I am very proud of these guys. It makes the work and late hours worth it. Tonight is the dance that we have at the end of the two day contest each year. It is probably time to stop typing this and go dance with my kids. Friday night? I am running the books for a wrestling tournament. Time to address my deficiencies in this regard, I suppose....
So here goes: the year is going pretty well. We are nearly at the end of the first nine weeks already (Friday), the baby is great, and we are already looking forward to the Christmas holiday break. It will be especially different this year, because we are going to visit my in-laws in Alabama, and I hope that means a warmer Christmas than last year.
The power problems have apparently been resolved for now, and my impression is that this statement is more than just chit-chat. We have gotten a new motor for one of our generators, and things have been remarkably consistent since then. Yay for power!
In order that I not be without some frustrations, the internet service at the house has been remarkably INconsistent in the recent past. We had outages that lasted for hours, and some would follow right on the heels of one another with only a few minutes of actual available service. We finally lost service entirely during a windstorm a week or so ago, and things seem to be working better since repairs were made. Not perfect, but a whole lot more consistent.
We made a crucial decision back in the summer. Now that we have the baby in the village, we figured that the snowmachine could no longer be our principal means of winter transportation. I broke down after 4+ happy car-less years and bought a used Subaru wagon to drive on the river this winter. We have a 4-day-long inservice after Labor Day, and it was actually pleasant to get around Bethel without being dependent on taxis or the district shuttle. The car now sits at my friend Sandy's house while we aren't using it. Once the river freezes, and the highway is open, we will take it down to the village for winter use.
If this silliness wasn't enough, we also took a look at our transportation situation back in the lower 48. We decided that rental costs were getting ridiculous and that it was time to break down and get a baby/dog hauler there, too. The problem is accommodating three dog kennels and one big baby seat. We aren't going Suburban here, but we aren't going Honda Fit, either. We were actually able to find a certified used car with only 8600 miles on it that is a 2013 model. All I have to do now is move money from my IRAs to Alaska and back to Alabama. No small challenge there. I was actually in place to deposit checks for the last couple of days, because I have been in Bethel. Unfortunately, two of the three checks got to Napaskiak after I left. Oh well, on to plan B...
And finally, the reason that I am in Bethel. I am the coach for junior high speech. Every year, it seems that I have been able to persuade a few more kids to try it. This year we had seven kids. Four of them made it into the finals in the Expository speech category. First, third, fourth and fifth place. I am very proud of these guys. It makes the work and late hours worth it. Tonight is the dance that we have at the end of the two day contest each year. It is probably time to stop typing this and go dance with my kids. Friday night? I am running the books for a wrestling tournament. Time to address my deficiencies in this regard, I suppose....
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Still Trying To Figure It Out...
We are still juggling things with power. This issue haunted us through most of the winter, and it apparently did not get resolved over the summer when it might have been. At this point (5:00 pm) I have not yet been home to see whether or not we have electricity in our house. It is still light well into the evening, but without the juice, we will not have heat or the ability to cook. As long as the power stays on at the school (which is running on its generators), we will have water pressure, although we will not have hot water. I'm definitely glad that I chose to do laundry last evening. By the way, the power did go off at the school yesterday morning, which meant no water pressure for coffee or morning showers.
The end of the world? Definitely not. Annoying and inconvenient? Definitely. We have to think about the 25 salmon fillets that we just put up in the freezer, as well as all of our food. I could bury totes full of food in the snow last winter. I don't currently have that option.
Tomorrow is the last day of the week, and the last day before the Labor Day weekend. I hope that a resolution is in sight soon...
The end of the world? Definitely not. Annoying and inconvenient? Definitely. We have to think about the 25 salmon fillets that we just put up in the freezer, as well as all of our food. I could bury totes full of food in the snow last winter. I don't currently have that option.
Tomorrow is the last day of the week, and the last day before the Labor Day weekend. I hope that a resolution is in sight soon...
Monday, August 26, 2013
Please, Turn on the Juice!
We are back to having power issues here. The town generator is apparently struggling again, and repairs or replacement is apparently in the offing, but not very soon or specifically. The school is also running its generator to help with the situation, but ours is not up to snuff either. Ah....
More as it becomes clear.
More as it becomes clear.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
More Fish!
We have been gifted beautiful fish on two occasions within the past week. The freezer is full right now...
On Wednesday last, our friends called to tell us that their was a boatload of fish coming up the river, and that some of them had our names on them. We went over, and there was a wagon load of enormous silver salmon. Longer than my arm. Bigger around, too. It was late, at least for us, so we took the load over to the school and stuck them in the refrigerator in my wife's classroom. On Thursday, we had a fish-cutting party. Our neighbor and our babysitter joined the festivities.
This afternoon, my boss knocked at the door with an offer of more fish. We gladly took a couple more, and I did the honors while wife and baby watched. We now have 25 good sized salmon fillets in the freezer for the rest of the year. We usually get multiple meals out of each fillet, so we are well set.
I am grateful to the Joekay family, and to my boss, for the generosity. Tonight's dinner had been swimming up the river earlier today!
On Wednesday last, our friends called to tell us that their was a boatload of fish coming up the river, and that some of them had our names on them. We went over, and there was a wagon load of enormous silver salmon. Longer than my arm. Bigger around, too. It was late, at least for us, so we took the load over to the school and stuck them in the refrigerator in my wife's classroom. On Thursday, we had a fish-cutting party. Our neighbor and our babysitter joined the festivities.
This afternoon, my boss knocked at the door with an offer of more fish. We gladly took a couple more, and I did the honors while wife and baby watched. We now have 25 good sized salmon fillets in the freezer for the rest of the year. We usually get multiple meals out of each fillet, so we are well set.
I am grateful to the Joekay family, and to my boss, for the generosity. Tonight's dinner had been swimming up the river earlier today!
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Very Happy...
First week update. So far, very good. We got our class design finished, and it is a good one. Credit goes to the kids for a job well done. They seem to be rolling well with the changes that I have made in instruction, and I have maintained a positive mindset, which seems to go well in the classroom. Some credit here goes to Alice, because she makes me think more creatively about stuff. I think that is bleeding over to the older kids.
Next week will see a tighter focus on academics, and we will see how that goes. I have inherited two students from other classrooms. One is in my math class, and will only be with me for 90 minutes each day. The other will be around longer, and will be more challenging. I will see if we can overwhelm her with niceness. Hope it works, because I like our chemistry, and I would hate to see it disturbed.
We have a full weekend "off," which means that I only have some lesson planning to do. We are focusing on trying to use full weekends for full family time. Another experiment whose results shall be seen over time.
Now, I have to finish filling out a spreadsheet, and get on with enjoying what looks like a sunny, beautiful day. Time for an Alice walk...
Next week will see a tighter focus on academics, and we will see how that goes. I have inherited two students from other classrooms. One is in my math class, and will only be with me for 90 minutes each day. The other will be around longer, and will be more challenging. I will see if we can overwhelm her with niceness. Hope it works, because I like our chemistry, and I would hate to see it disturbed.
We have a full weekend "off," which means that I only have some lesson planning to do. We are focusing on trying to use full weekends for full family time. Another experiment whose results shall be seen over time.
Now, I have to finish filling out a spreadsheet, and get on with enjoying what looks like a sunny, beautiful day. Time for an Alice walk...
Monday, August 12, 2013
It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood...
Rain, rain, rain...but, again, it is the rainy season here. I know that it is an essential part of the balance of things and all, but, still, there is something about a sunny day.
It was beautiful here after the better part of a week of overcast skies and rain. Too good a day to spend inside. Because we had a work day, we were simply required to come in at whatever time we wished and put in the allotted amount of hours. I took the "early" shift, so I got out at 3:30. That gave our baby sitter the chance to make it to the post office before 4:00, which is closing time.
What to do with a beautiful day and a baby on my hands? Get out the stroller! Alice got her first of two walks around the village. Fresh air and sunshine produces a prodigious appetite, and little Tac'aq did not disappoint. Oatmeal with applesauce added, as well as some mommy milk makes for a full and happy baby.
Now, we have all had our dinner (except for the little dog, who dines continentally late), and it should be bed time for some little people around here. Problem is, it's still pretty light at 9 pm. It was a lot easier getting her to go down in Alabama, where this time of night means darkness. Oh, well, it's not as if she has to get up and go to work in the morning.
Tomorrow is another work day for us, which gives me the chance to finish lesson plans, which are proving a little more resistant than I would have hoped, and to figure out what shape I want my classroom to be in when the little tykes arrive on Wednesday morning. I am seriously thinking about leaving the desks in their summertime stacks, and assign the students the design problem of arranging 24 desks in clusters of four in a space that is probably too small for them. The next task will be coming to consensus on classroom rules and expectations. Then we will actually do some rehearsal, so that we know what all of these things look like when applied in a real setting. We have a morning assembly, so this process could take up a decent amount of the balance of the day.
But first, I have to get things ready...
It was beautiful here after the better part of a week of overcast skies and rain. Too good a day to spend inside. Because we had a work day, we were simply required to come in at whatever time we wished and put in the allotted amount of hours. I took the "early" shift, so I got out at 3:30. That gave our baby sitter the chance to make it to the post office before 4:00, which is closing time.
What to do with a beautiful day and a baby on my hands? Get out the stroller! Alice got her first of two walks around the village. Fresh air and sunshine produces a prodigious appetite, and little Tac'aq did not disappoint. Oatmeal with applesauce added, as well as some mommy milk makes for a full and happy baby.
Now, we have all had our dinner (except for the little dog, who dines continentally late), and it should be bed time for some little people around here. Problem is, it's still pretty light at 9 pm. It was a lot easier getting her to go down in Alabama, where this time of night means darkness. Oh, well, it's not as if she has to get up and go to work in the morning.
Tomorrow is another work day for us, which gives me the chance to finish lesson plans, which are proving a little more resistant than I would have hoped, and to figure out what shape I want my classroom to be in when the little tykes arrive on Wednesday morning. I am seriously thinking about leaving the desks in their summertime stacks, and assign the students the design problem of arranging 24 desks in clusters of four in a space that is probably too small for them. The next task will be coming to consensus on classroom rules and expectations. Then we will actually do some rehearsal, so that we know what all of these things look like when applied in a real setting. We have a morning assembly, so this process could take up a decent amount of the balance of the day.
But first, I have to get things ready...
Friday, August 9, 2013
Back Home Again
I am sitting in our first district-wide in-service this morning. We have returned to our home for a new year with students. We got here after traveling from Alabama to Alaska. What a trip! Alice proved to be an excellent traveler, but I think she is still a little jet-lagged at this point. I think we all are. Well, maybe not the dogs...
The summer was hectic and characterized by movement. We spent the first month in a rental house, which gave us a little stability and meant that things were actually put away in drawers. All bets were off as of June 30. We spent a week staying in our old house, which we sold and closed on, a week with my parents, and two and a half weeks with my in laws. The last involved driving from Michigan to Alabama and back to the Chicago area, from which we departed to Alaska. I think that we were all pretty tired of living out of suitcases (or totes and space saver bags and kennels) by the end of it.
We knew that the summer would be an experiment. We learned that we want a little more stability for next year. We plan to stay in one place for the summer, in the hopes that it will give Alice some more time to play at the park and the beach. We will still go back, because we want her to spend time with her family in Michigan, as well as in Alaska.
Our lifestyle will shift here, as well. We are buying a used car, so that Alice can go to appointments and we can shop for groceries in Bethel more easily. I hope to have it by the time that we go to Bethel for the district wide in-services after Labor Day, so that we can drive ourselves around town.
For years, we have lived in two worlds. We seem to be shifting to a different model. We will see how that works out in the future.
The summer was hectic and characterized by movement. We spent the first month in a rental house, which gave us a little stability and meant that things were actually put away in drawers. All bets were off as of June 30. We spent a week staying in our old house, which we sold and closed on, a week with my parents, and two and a half weeks with my in laws. The last involved driving from Michigan to Alabama and back to the Chicago area, from which we departed to Alaska. I think that we were all pretty tired of living out of suitcases (or totes and space saver bags and kennels) by the end of it.
We knew that the summer would be an experiment. We learned that we want a little more stability for next year. We plan to stay in one place for the summer, in the hopes that it will give Alice some more time to play at the park and the beach. We will still go back, because we want her to spend time with her family in Michigan, as well as in Alaska.
Our lifestyle will shift here, as well. We are buying a used car, so that Alice can go to appointments and we can shop for groceries in Bethel more easily. I hope to have it by the time that we go to Bethel for the district wide in-services after Labor Day, so that we can drive ourselves around town.
For years, we have lived in two worlds. We seem to be shifting to a different model. We will see how that works out in the future.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Done.
The 2012-2013 school year is over here. We had our last day with students on Friday, and I spent the afternoon making sure that as much of my stuff was as finished as possible. Saturday was designated as a work day, but there wasn't much work left to do. My classroom was clean, my grades were recorded in the proper places, and the shelves were covered. Off to vacation!
We are staying in the village until Memorial Day, in order that we may attend the wedding of two of the children of our friends. It should be a joyful occasion. The next night, we take Alice on the red-eye to Chicago.
It has been nearly ten months since we were last in the Midwest. Much has changed since then. Alice will get to meet her family back east, and they will meet little Tac'aq. We are all ready to go, and we are ready to be reunited with friends and family.
We return in August, and this blog will pick up again at that time. It will be the beginning of year five of this new phase of my life.
We are staying in the village until Memorial Day, in order that we may attend the wedding of two of the children of our friends. It should be a joyful occasion. The next night, we take Alice on the red-eye to Chicago.
It has been nearly ten months since we were last in the Midwest. Much has changed since then. Alice will get to meet her family back east, and they will meet little Tac'aq. We are all ready to go, and we are ready to be reunited with friends and family.
We return in August, and this blog will pick up again at that time. It will be the beginning of year five of this new phase of my life.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Wednesday...
Yesterday was better than I might have suspected. My departing 8th graders presented me with a photo collage farewell piece that I got a big kick out of. We are mostly focusing on catching up on stuff that needs to be caught up upon today. It gives some kids time to fill in some holes.
I am also looking to next year. I have signed up for a summer course in some cooperative teaching methods that I think will be helpful. It is a three day seminar focusing on grades 5-8 (my grades).
We will have a new history curriculum that I want to get some advance on as well.
The baby is swell. She is sleeping very well through the night. I am told that this will not last. I am not that concerned. She is the pearl of my evenings, even when she has diaper blowouts. You know that you are an idiot when baby poop makes you laugh.
I can't seem to shake the respiratory blues. I have a cold that comes on the heels of a month-long case of bronchitis. Annoying, but I suspect that some rest beginning next week will help on that score.
Another day closer...
I am also looking to next year. I have signed up for a summer course in some cooperative teaching methods that I think will be helpful. It is a three day seminar focusing on grades 5-8 (my grades).
We will have a new history curriculum that I want to get some advance on as well.
The baby is swell. She is sleeping very well through the night. I am told that this will not last. I am not that concerned. She is the pearl of my evenings, even when she has diaper blowouts. You know that you are an idiot when baby poop makes you laugh.
I can't seem to shake the respiratory blues. I have a cold that comes on the heels of a month-long case of bronchitis. Annoying, but I suspect that some rest beginning next week will help on that score.
Another day closer...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Close...
It's Tuesday, and our classroom days are numbered. Thursday will be a half day of class with a focus in here on makeup, and an afternoon devoted to cleaning up this space and the village generally. Friday is a field day of sorts, although we tend to be short of dry fields, and it is only supposed to reach a high temperature of 32 degrees. It might be reasonable to say that these activities will take place mainly in the gym.
Saturday is a work day focusing mostly on cleanup and record keeping. My guess is that with a little effort in advance, I can keep that mercifully short. Then, I am done for this school year. We will resume the struggle the first week of August.
It is quiet in here this morning. There was a death here this weekend, and the funeral is today. I know that a number of kids have been up all night keeping vigil with the body of the deceased, and there is a definite zombie look on some of the countenances around the classroom. It could be a challenging day...
Saturday is a work day focusing mostly on cleanup and record keeping. My guess is that with a little effort in advance, I can keep that mercifully short. Then, I am done for this school year. We will resume the struggle the first week of August.
It is quiet in here this morning. There was a death here this weekend, and the funeral is today. I know that a number of kids have been up all night keeping vigil with the body of the deceased, and there is a definite zombie look on some of the countenances around the classroom. It could be a challenging day...
Friday, May 3, 2013
Two Weeks...
Almost done. We finish with students two weeks from today. Graduation is next Friday. Another school year, this one the 4th, almost at an end.
I was thinking about my former life the other day while I was walking the dogs. It affords me a good opportunity to let my mind wander aimlessly, for the most part. The dogs pretty much know what is expected of them, and I just need to keep them out of puddles at night. The puddles are frozen in the morning.
I kind of find it hard to believe that I did what I did for thirty years, because it seems distant and unreal. Whether it is good or bad, a teacher in this village is what I am now, and that is the identity that I am content with.
A friend and former colleague asked me, not long after I first started out here, whether I missed the practice of law, and whether I ever wished to return. I said, "Not for a moment." I still feel the same way. I am not ashamed or regretful of the time that I spent as a lawyer. I still maintain my licensure. But that was another part of my life in a different time. Time for something different...
I was thinking about my former life the other day while I was walking the dogs. It affords me a good opportunity to let my mind wander aimlessly, for the most part. The dogs pretty much know what is expected of them, and I just need to keep them out of puddles at night. The puddles are frozen in the morning.
I kind of find it hard to believe that I did what I did for thirty years, because it seems distant and unreal. Whether it is good or bad, a teacher in this village is what I am now, and that is the identity that I am content with.
A friend and former colleague asked me, not long after I first started out here, whether I missed the practice of law, and whether I ever wished to return. I said, "Not for a moment." I still feel the same way. I am not ashamed or regretful of the time that I spent as a lawyer. I still maintain my licensure. But that was another part of my life in a different time. Time for something different...
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Flying solo...
My wife and the baby are off to Anchorage for follow-up check-ups. Two days. I don't like being alone that much these days. Maybe domestic life has spoiled me...
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
More Testing Fun...
We have many, many standardized tests that we give to our students in this age of testing mania. I counted up a total of approximately discrete testing "events" that students are required to sit for in the course of the school year. That counts reading, writing, and math tests as individual "events." Some of the tests are given three times each school year. The contrast is very strong with my school career, which was back in the stone age. I think that we took a standardized test every three years or so. I think that these kids take more tests by September than I took from kindergarten through eighth grade.
One of the tests is given on computer, and is internet based. I was in the middle of one of the tests yesterday when the power in the school went down. Voila. No server. No communication with the test site. In the middle of the test! Even after the school's generator was turned back on, our server needed to be reset. I was able to get in after things were back up and pause and restart the test for most of the takers. Not for everyone, though. A couple of kids had frozen test screens, and I just suspended their tests so that they can, I hope, finish them later.
Nice relaxing way to spend the afternoon. More testing today. I hope that the power will stay on...
One of the tests is given on computer, and is internet based. I was in the middle of one of the tests yesterday when the power in the school went down. Voila. No server. No communication with the test site. In the middle of the test! Even after the school's generator was turned back on, our server needed to be reset. I was able to get in after things were back up and pause and restart the test for most of the takers. Not for everyone, though. A couple of kids had frozen test screens, and I just suspended their tests so that they can, I hope, finish them later.
Nice relaxing way to spend the afternoon. More testing today. I hope that the power will stay on...
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Down the Stretch...
We have survived the twin traumas of Testing week and Cultural week, and are back to some sort of state of semi-equilibrium. We have Prom on Friday night, and Graduation coming up as well. There is to real enormous trauma, more like a management headache and a task that needs more hands than are sometimes available for the task. No biggie.
The light is beginning to rule our lives. There is less and less darkness, and my sleep tends to follow light and dark closely at this time of year. My kids are coming in sleepier and crabbier by the day. Getting them to do things is getting more tricky. No biggie.
My mind is filled more and more with thoughts of going back to Michigan to see my friends and family. It will have been nearly ten months since I have seen many of them by the time that we return. Although the holiday break in Anchorage was simpler and less tiring than our usual mad dash back east, we haven't gotten to see many of our loved ones in a long time. No biggie.
My baby was very cranky yesterday, but she woke up this morning with a smile for Daddy. That's why the rest of this is no biggie...
The light is beginning to rule our lives. There is less and less darkness, and my sleep tends to follow light and dark closely at this time of year. My kids are coming in sleepier and crabbier by the day. Getting them to do things is getting more tricky. No biggie.
My mind is filled more and more with thoughts of going back to Michigan to see my friends and family. It will have been nearly ten months since I have seen many of them by the time that we return. Although the holiday break in Anchorage was simpler and less tiring than our usual mad dash back east, we haven't gotten to see many of our loved ones in a long time. No biggie.
My baby was very cranky yesterday, but she woke up this morning with a smile for Daddy. That's why the rest of this is no biggie...
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Tuesday...
Some people don't like Mondays. I get it. I think that Tuesdays are even less appealing. Maybe I just have end-of-the-year-itis. It happens. I also have this respiratory thing that has been hanging on for five weeks and won't seem to go away. I would really rather be home talking to Alice and my wife. Or maybe it is just Tuesday. I'm not sure.
We are attempting to ready ourselves for cultural week next week. The kids will focus on traditional activities in the afternoons. The mornings will be taken up with academics, at least in the upper grades. After that, it is four weeks to go. Some of us look as if we are hanging on the ropes at this point. I hope that I am not one of those folks...
We are attempting to ready ourselves for cultural week next week. The kids will focus on traditional activities in the afternoons. The mornings will be taken up with academics, at least in the upper grades. After that, it is four weeks to go. Some of us look as if we are hanging on the ropes at this point. I hope that I am not one of those folks...
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Power Outage-No Big Deal...
For a small town, this can be a tough place to get information. You will recall that our latest interruption had been forecast to last a week. By the time that I got home on Friday afternoon, the generators were hooked up and running on the porches of the teacher housing buildings. A few hours later, my wife noticed that our clock on the stove was flashing. The portable generators will provide us with heat, and some limited electrical service in the hallways of the building, but no service in the actual apartments. The stove clock suggested that we had full electrical service.
A quick check of our computers confirmed that Internet service was also available. However, contacts on Facebook around the village (they were on their phones) suggested that most folks did not have power. This was very confusing to me, as the village tends to turn these buildings on last, because they are multi-residential, and use a lot of power. We continued to have service throughout the night on Friday. My only thought at the time was that the power was being rotated, and that we would go out sometime on Saturday.
That situation never took place. We apparently got left on because a bishop of the Orthodox Church was staying in one of the apartments in the other building. Full service was restored for the village on Saturday as they day went on. Repair crews have apparently restored our large generator to operational status. I am not sure of the status of the two other generators.
This may mean that our recent interruptions are at an end for the foreseeable future. It may mean nothing of the sort. It remains to be seen, as is so often the case out here. We had a pleasant visit from a friend from back home who is teaching up in Bethel. She plans to return for next year, and she got to visit with Alice, and take a side visit to our "sister village" of Napakiak, down the river.
For the time being, life is good. We have less than six weeks to go in the school year, and things seem to be moving along smoothly. I am getting over a nasty cold, and I need to get some grading caught up. But otherwise, there is little to do but to finish up and get ready to visit friends and family for summer vacation...
A quick check of our computers confirmed that Internet service was also available. However, contacts on Facebook around the village (they were on their phones) suggested that most folks did not have power. This was very confusing to me, as the village tends to turn these buildings on last, because they are multi-residential, and use a lot of power. We continued to have service throughout the night on Friday. My only thought at the time was that the power was being rotated, and that we would go out sometime on Saturday.
That situation never took place. We apparently got left on because a bishop of the Orthodox Church was staying in one of the apartments in the other building. Full service was restored for the village on Saturday as they day went on. Repair crews have apparently restored our large generator to operational status. I am not sure of the status of the two other generators.
This may mean that our recent interruptions are at an end for the foreseeable future. It may mean nothing of the sort. It remains to be seen, as is so often the case out here. We had a pleasant visit from a friend from back home who is teaching up in Bethel. She plans to return for next year, and she got to visit with Alice, and take a side visit to our "sister village" of Napakiak, down the river.
For the time being, life is good. We have less than six weeks to go in the school year, and things seem to be moving along smoothly. I am getting over a nasty cold, and I need to get some grading caught up. But otherwise, there is little to do but to finish up and get ready to visit friends and family for summer vacation...
Friday, April 5, 2013
Power's Out!
Readers of this space will certainly understand that we have issues with our power plant. We have had somewhere around ten or eleven days without electricity since January 1st. They have come in various forms of inconvenience, ranging from the pain-in-the-ass variety to the shivering in the dark, no-water-pressure variety. We seem to have gotten it down to pain in the ass at this point. Our refrigeration is plugged into an outlet in the hallway that is apparently on the same circuit as the furnace room. We never unplugged it after the last go-around. We have little faith in the power system here at this point.
Word went out last week that the village had gotten its hands on replacement parts that would allow it to get our largest generator, which had been down for a while, back up and running. That process would take two days, during which we would have to go back to individual generators.
To make it short and relatively less painful, the power went off at about 11 am today. It has stayed off, and we are told that, for a combination of reasons which I do not understand, it will be off for a week. Fantastic. We are fortunate that our alternate generators have been hooked up at the teacher houses, because it is going to get cold again this weekend.
Testing went reasonably smoothly, and that part of the school year is over. We are now looking forward to preparing for next years' classes. I am in the process of ordering the books that we will need to get things off the ground come August. Six more weeks, and we are out for summer. The years keep going faster...
Word went out last week that the village had gotten its hands on replacement parts that would allow it to get our largest generator, which had been down for a while, back up and running. That process would take two days, during which we would have to go back to individual generators.
To make it short and relatively less painful, the power went off at about 11 am today. It has stayed off, and we are told that, for a combination of reasons which I do not understand, it will be off for a week. Fantastic. We are fortunate that our alternate generators have been hooked up at the teacher houses, because it is going to get cold again this weekend.
Testing went reasonably smoothly, and that part of the school year is over. We are now looking forward to preparing for next years' classes. I am in the process of ordering the books that we will need to get things off the ground come August. Six more weeks, and we are out for summer. The years keep going faster...
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
SBA Day Two
Second day of testing...my group did very well yesterday under somewhat challenging circumstances. We are very crowded here, and had to press the gym into service. We built our own enclosure, and the kids concentrated and cooperated very well. I was impressed.
We are back again at it this morning. There were a few more stragglers, and there are a few more sleepy faces. I plan on making the breaks a little more frequent today. I will probably make them shorter.
Alice is a funny sleeper. She slept in my arms yesterday for a couple of hours while her mom was catching a catnap. I could have tried to put her down, but it gives me a chance to have a little quiet time with my daughter, and that is at a premium during the workweek.
Alice has a tendency to squirm and grunt while she is sleeping. Sometimes, she is almost dramatic, making very loud noises of what sounds like dissatisfaction. I thought that she would wake herself up, but that never happened. Of course, I thought it was extremely cute. Of course, I thought it was extremely cute the other night when she had a diaper blowout all over my t-shirt. I am an idiot.
The light comes earlier and stays later day by day. The ground is still frozen, but spring is clearly here. Even this testing silliness speaks to the change of seasons. We have already begun making plans for the beginning of the next school year. One significant challenge will be the purchase of an automobile for use out here. With the arrival of Alice, our snowmachine days may be coming to a close. Now all that we have to do is to pick a vehicle, buy it, and get it out here. Piece of cake...
We are back again at it this morning. There were a few more stragglers, and there are a few more sleepy faces. I plan on making the breaks a little more frequent today. I will probably make them shorter.
Alice is a funny sleeper. She slept in my arms yesterday for a couple of hours while her mom was catching a catnap. I could have tried to put her down, but it gives me a chance to have a little quiet time with my daughter, and that is at a premium during the workweek.
Alice has a tendency to squirm and grunt while she is sleeping. Sometimes, she is almost dramatic, making very loud noises of what sounds like dissatisfaction. I thought that she would wake herself up, but that never happened. Of course, I thought it was extremely cute. Of course, I thought it was extremely cute the other night when she had a diaper blowout all over my t-shirt. I am an idiot.
The light comes earlier and stays later day by day. The ground is still frozen, but spring is clearly here. Even this testing silliness speaks to the change of seasons. We have already begun making plans for the beginning of the next school year. One significant challenge will be the purchase of an automobile for use out here. With the arrival of Alice, our snowmachine days may be coming to a close. Now all that we have to do is to pick a vehicle, buy it, and get it out here. Piece of cake...
Sunday, March 31, 2013
The Biggest Week of the Year...
Tomorrow begins the week of state mandated testing. Much tension and silliness will abound. I have already made my thoughts clear about testing before in these pages, and will not repeat my screed. The test as an instrument of measure is more akin to a butter knife than a surgeon's scalpel. These are, however, the times in which we live, and we can only hope for better ones in the future.
Our little one has just finished her bedtime snack, and daddy here is going to down a little NyQuil, in the hopes that he can sleep off the cold that has been bugging him for the past several days. A quiet, peaceful Sunday night at the end of a quiet, peaceful weekend. A quiet, peaceful week would be nice...
Our little one has just finished her bedtime snack, and daddy here is going to down a little NyQuil, in the hopes that he can sleep off the cold that has been bugging him for the past several days. A quiet, peaceful Sunday night at the end of a quiet, peaceful weekend. A quiet, peaceful week would be nice...
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Life With Baby...
Hectic, but good. We are fortunate that our benefits package plus my wife's accumulated sick time allows her twelve weeks at home with our little angel (at least until she hits the Terrible Twos). Alice eats about every three hours, or sooner if she is hungry. She is a pretty good napper, having had only one day that I can remember where she was fussy for most of the day. I try to take over, except for feeding, in the evening when I get home. After Alice gets fed, my wife will usually head to bed to try to get two or three hours of early sleep. That is my alone time with my little girl, and it is my favorite time of the day. By sometime between 10:30-11:30, I am just too sleepy to keep it going and I swaddle her up and go to bed myself.
Alice is strong. We have a little swaddling device that uses velcro to secure the wrap. I put her in it last night. When she wakened my wife, she had worked herself out of the thing entirely. She spent nine months batting around uterine fibroids that were pretty big. I think that she had a workout of some significance...
Alice is strong. We have a little swaddling device that uses velcro to secure the wrap. I put her in it last night. When she wakened my wife, she had worked herself out of the thing entirely. She spent nine months batting around uterine fibroids that were pretty big. I think that she had a workout of some significance...
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
God Forgive Me, I Am Lazy and Unworthy...
I have been remiss, which is what I always say when I look at my neglect of this site. Much has happened, so let's catch up.
Power Outages-the failure that I referred to back in February lasted for five days. By that time, many of us had lost the food that was stored in our refrigerators. The district had sent several portable generators that were to be used for refrigeration support to our site at the time that the power was finally restored. Since then, we have had a couple of day-long outages, and one that just ended over the weekend that lasted three days. We now have a portable generator for each building, and we have some limited electrical outlet availability in the hallway outside our apartment. We have taken to plugging in a surge strip into that outlet, and running our refrigerator and freezer off from it. Even though the power is back on today, we still have extension cords running through the apartment. I suspect that we may keep it this way for the rest of the school year.
Baby! My little princess, Alice, was born on March 7. Of course, I believe in some level of my heart that she is the most unique human being ever born. I am silly that way. Everything went even more smoothly than we could have hoped, especially with some of the complications that we faced. Of course, I have not begun to deal with medical bills in earnest as yet. Our insurance is pretty comprehensive, so I am hopeful. Daddyhood for the second time is fun. Even when it is inconvenient. Remind me of this when I am 74 years old with a 15-year-old to deal with. I will certainly have it coming for my arrogance.
That is the big stuff. We are about 7 1/2 weeks from being done, and we have the big, bad test days next week to enjoy and plan around. It is light until ten o' clock or so, and spring is clearly coming, even if it is -20 in the mornings when I walk the dogs. Summer is coming, it cannot be stopped...
Power Outages-the failure that I referred to back in February lasted for five days. By that time, many of us had lost the food that was stored in our refrigerators. The district had sent several portable generators that were to be used for refrigeration support to our site at the time that the power was finally restored. Since then, we have had a couple of day-long outages, and one that just ended over the weekend that lasted three days. We now have a portable generator for each building, and we have some limited electrical outlet availability in the hallway outside our apartment. We have taken to plugging in a surge strip into that outlet, and running our refrigerator and freezer off from it. Even though the power is back on today, we still have extension cords running through the apartment. I suspect that we may keep it this way for the rest of the school year.
Baby! My little princess, Alice, was born on March 7. Of course, I believe in some level of my heart that she is the most unique human being ever born. I am silly that way. Everything went even more smoothly than we could have hoped, especially with some of the complications that we faced. Of course, I have not begun to deal with medical bills in earnest as yet. Our insurance is pretty comprehensive, so I am hopeful. Daddyhood for the second time is fun. Even when it is inconvenient. Remind me of this when I am 74 years old with a 15-year-old to deal with. I will certainly have it coming for my arrogance.
That is the big stuff. We are about 7 1/2 weeks from being done, and we have the big, bad test days next week to enjoy and plan around. It is light until ten o' clock or so, and spring is clearly coming, even if it is -20 in the mornings when I walk the dogs. Summer is coming, it cannot be stopped...
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday Night, No Juice...
I am here at the school, doing a load of laundry for my wife. Lesson plans are done, and I am ready for tomorrow. The weekend was uneventful. I hauled several totes full of frozen food over here to put it into the school freezer. I buried another in the snow, and it has obligingly dropped off to zero since.
We were eating dinner at the school (functioning oven), and we got an invite from friends of ours to visit. Off we went, and socializing went on there and back at the house until 1:45 am Sunday.
We are invited again this evening, and one of the other teachers is coming over with us. It will be a nice way to close out the weekend, and start my last week with my wife before she and the baby to be depart for Anchorage and the safety of sophisticated medical facilities.
Time to check the dryer, and go visiting.
We were eating dinner at the school (functioning oven), and we got an invite from friends of ours to visit. Off we went, and socializing went on there and back at the house until 1:45 am Sunday.
We are invited again this evening, and one of the other teachers is coming over with us. It will be a nice way to close out the weekend, and start my last week with my wife before she and the baby to be depart for Anchorage and the safety of sophisticated medical facilities.
Time to check the dryer, and go visiting.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Dim, But With Heat...
Back to our narrative, after a lapse of a few days. We are on into February, and the saga of our pregnancy continues. My wife is at 35 weeks now, and our little one will be arriving in the next little while. The preparations are as complete as possible.
We are in the school at 10:27 on a Friday night because the power has gone out again. It went down a day ago, and the prospects for restoration are murky in the near term future. This time, however, we have a generator supplying the two teacher housing buildings with enough power to run the heating systems in each of them. The tricky part is that we only have a single generator, for reasons that I do not understand. Our maintenance man is switching the connection from building to building every three hours. So we crank the heat up, and it cools off. So far, so good. However, it is warm-ish right now, in the low 20s. Temperatures for the first part of next week are forecast in the single digits. Things might get trickier then.
Of course, we have to consider ourselves luckier than our principal's wife. The building in which she lives has no provision for generator backup, apparently. The temperature in there overnight was apparently in the upper 40's. She and her son are spending the night in the school.
None of us can run our refrigerators under the circumstances, although the frozen stuff was OK when we checked it this afternoon. We may have to stash food in totes and place them outside if this continues. We do have a convenient deep freeze just outside.
There is talk of a part that has been ordered and is hoped to arrive tomorrow. That remains to be seen. We brought a crock pot over here and put chicken soup in it. More meals will likely be consumed here in the next day or so. Waiting expectantly...for both baby and electricity...
We are in the school at 10:27 on a Friday night because the power has gone out again. It went down a day ago, and the prospects for restoration are murky in the near term future. This time, however, we have a generator supplying the two teacher housing buildings with enough power to run the heating systems in each of them. The tricky part is that we only have a single generator, for reasons that I do not understand. Our maintenance man is switching the connection from building to building every three hours. So we crank the heat up, and it cools off. So far, so good. However, it is warm-ish right now, in the low 20s. Temperatures for the first part of next week are forecast in the single digits. Things might get trickier then.
Of course, we have to consider ourselves luckier than our principal's wife. The building in which she lives has no provision for generator backup, apparently. The temperature in there overnight was apparently in the upper 40's. She and her son are spending the night in the school.
None of us can run our refrigerators under the circumstances, although the frozen stuff was OK when we checked it this afternoon. We may have to stash food in totes and place them outside if this continues. We do have a convenient deep freeze just outside.
There is talk of a part that has been ordered and is hoped to arrive tomorrow. That remains to be seen. We brought a crock pot over here and put chicken soup in it. More meals will likely be consumed here in the next day or so. Waiting expectantly...for both baby and electricity...
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
That Was Quick...
Wednesday already. The weekend was pretty uneventful, although it is nice when we have two days to recover from the work week. That is a pretty relative statement, as I understand that many people have to work seven days a week, and it should also be understood that we work on weekends even when there is no scheduled presence required in the building.
Our reality is that even the stress-free (?) days are busy. I teach an after-school program three days a week with bunches of kids and a fair amount of management involved. By five o' clock, I am ready for a breather, and my day is not generally finished yet. It is just plain nice to sleep in a little bit and to be able to get things done on my own schedule on the weekends. It will be a welcome change of pace to have that choice available this weekend.
I am starting a diet competition with some friends this week. Heavens knows it is overdue. The program is called "Game On," and it involves a competition. The focus is on behavioral changes as opposed to simple weight loss. That sounds like a good idea. We will see how it works.
Parent conferences begin today. I am pretty blocked out for the next two days, as I think that I have the largest class in the school. We encourage the kids to come in to present their own work and discuss their progress with their parents. It has been pretty successful, and we have gotten pretty good participation in the junior high. I will be curious to see how the turnout goes this time.
Now, for math class...
Our reality is that even the stress-free (?) days are busy. I teach an after-school program three days a week with bunches of kids and a fair amount of management involved. By five o' clock, I am ready for a breather, and my day is not generally finished yet. It is just plain nice to sleep in a little bit and to be able to get things done on my own schedule on the weekends. It will be a welcome change of pace to have that choice available this weekend.
I am starting a diet competition with some friends this week. Heavens knows it is overdue. The program is called "Game On," and it involves a competition. The focus is on behavioral changes as opposed to simple weight loss. That sounds like a good idea. We will see how it works.
Parent conferences begin today. I am pretty blocked out for the next two days, as I think that I have the largest class in the school. We encourage the kids to come in to present their own work and discuss their progress with their parents. It has been pretty successful, and we have gotten pretty good participation in the junior high. I will be curious to see how the turnout goes this time.
Now, for math class...
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Thursday Morning...
It is my prep period, which comes first thing in the morning, Monday through Thursday. Because Fridays are half-day sessions with students, I do not have a prep on those days.
There are a group of junior high girls sitting on the floor with three elders teaching them a project. It is funny to see the enthusiasm, patience and persistence...on the part of the elders. The girls are slowly awakening, which seems to be the pattern in the early mornings here. I still see the personalities of the girls emerge, although the conversations are in Yup'ik. The curious and investigative ones are the same here as in the rest of their classes. The ones that are content to sit on the sidelines and watch, for whatever reason, are the same as well.
I did have to laugh when one of the elders told the girls that the morning was the time to smile, and that they should not be going to bed late at night. I tend to see the opposite pattern on most mornings. I think that I am going to borrow that concept for myself tomorrow.
We are starting to get into the second semester maelstrom of testing. We can start either this week or next. There are at least three rounds of testing that I can think of between now and the end of the school year, and I am pretty sure that I am missing one. The big one in April essentially eats up most of a week. Even the minor ones take a big chunk of two or three days. They have a way of blasting very big holes in the schedule.
This is one of the reasons why continuity becomes a major challenge after the beginning of the New Year. We spend a lot of time running in multiple directions simultaneously...
Tomorrow is Friday. We have a long pair of inservices Friday night and Saturday, interspersed with basketball games happening here at the same time. Thank heaven for no distractions...
There are a group of junior high girls sitting on the floor with three elders teaching them a project. It is funny to see the enthusiasm, patience and persistence...on the part of the elders. The girls are slowly awakening, which seems to be the pattern in the early mornings here. I still see the personalities of the girls emerge, although the conversations are in Yup'ik. The curious and investigative ones are the same here as in the rest of their classes. The ones that are content to sit on the sidelines and watch, for whatever reason, are the same as well.
I did have to laugh when one of the elders told the girls that the morning was the time to smile, and that they should not be going to bed late at night. I tend to see the opposite pattern on most mornings. I think that I am going to borrow that concept for myself tomorrow.
We are starting to get into the second semester maelstrom of testing. We can start either this week or next. There are at least three rounds of testing that I can think of between now and the end of the school year, and I am pretty sure that I am missing one. The big one in April essentially eats up most of a week. Even the minor ones take a big chunk of two or three days. They have a way of blasting very big holes in the schedule.
This is one of the reasons why continuity becomes a major challenge after the beginning of the New Year. We spend a lot of time running in multiple directions simultaneously...
Tomorrow is Friday. We have a long pair of inservices Friday night and Saturday, interspersed with basketball games happening here at the same time. Thank heaven for no distractions...
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Enough of That...
Ok, done whining. New day, new possibilities. Time to get after things and get them done.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Fun After School....
All the joy of a union meeting to discuss a tentative agreement...this is my evening until 9 pm. Last night was more fun. I got a call summoning me for a steam. It had been too long since the last event, and this one was sublime. That great feeling when the steam hits your skin. The aroma of the wormwood in the steam water. The feeling of relaxation after a good wash and shave. The stroll home in the crisp winter air. Wonderful...
Slept like a log...
But tonight-not so much fun...I wanna go home.
Slept like a log...
But tonight-not so much fun...I wanna go home.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Saturday...
...and it's a work day. An assigned one. It is strange...when we are discussing working outside of our designated hours, we are supposed to act as professionals, who are paid a salary, but then we have designated weekend hours that we are supposed to fulfill. No great big deal, but a little contradictory.
I got my spouse back from Anchorage last night, and we were both happy about that. Her flight back was moved from noon until 6:45 or so, and we had to figure out how to get her back here after the planes were done flying to the village for the day. We were lucky in that the river has refrozen after the rain/melt event of last weekend, and it provided a surface for vehicles to transit. The trick was to find a vehicle (we do not currently own one).
I managed to cajole my neighbor into going to Bethel. He wanted to go to the grocery store and see the Bethel high school basketball game against Barrow. It all worked out well, and we saw a number of local folks as we ran errands around town and hung out at the airport. All chores were completed, and the wifely person was safely in her warm cozy bed at the end of the evening. A good nights sleep was had by both.
There is snow blowing outside the window right now, and it is kind of gray. We are getting almost 5 additional minutes of daylight each day, which means that the darkness of the winter solstice is becoming a fading memory. I should copy stuff and sub plans, but the day is about over, and I will happily return tomorrow to take care of that stuff. Because I am tired of hanging around here working for the moment....
I got my spouse back from Anchorage last night, and we were both happy about that. Her flight back was moved from noon until 6:45 or so, and we had to figure out how to get her back here after the planes were done flying to the village for the day. We were lucky in that the river has refrozen after the rain/melt event of last weekend, and it provided a surface for vehicles to transit. The trick was to find a vehicle (we do not currently own one).
I managed to cajole my neighbor into going to Bethel. He wanted to go to the grocery store and see the Bethel high school basketball game against Barrow. It all worked out well, and we saw a number of local folks as we ran errands around town and hung out at the airport. All chores were completed, and the wifely person was safely in her warm cozy bed at the end of the evening. A good nights sleep was had by both.
There is snow blowing outside the window right now, and it is kind of gray. We are getting almost 5 additional minutes of daylight each day, which means that the darkness of the winter solstice is becoming a fading memory. I should copy stuff and sub plans, but the day is about over, and I will happily return tomorrow to take care of that stuff. Because I am tired of hanging around here working for the moment....
Friday, January 18, 2013
Hot Damn, It's Friday!
The week is sort of done. It's Friday afternoon, at least, and we are officially shorn of any reason to be here. I am here nonetheless, for reasons that escape me. I have to be back in the morning, so the only reason that I can comprehend is that I am typing this drivel. Well, that and the fact that it is cold outside and I don't feel like going home and letting the dogs out.
My wife is still in Anchorage, as her flight home scheduled for noon was canceled by Alaska Airlines. No reason that I know of. Doctors' appointments went well, and this is the last time we have to go through this waiting game. The next time that she leaves, we are not coming back without our new baby. That might take a little longer, although the due date is looking a lot like March 7, or close to that.
Now, all that I have to do is persuade someone to drive to Bethel tonight to pick up my wife from the airport. That, or steal someone's keys...
My wife is still in Anchorage, as her flight home scheduled for noon was canceled by Alaska Airlines. No reason that I know of. Doctors' appointments went well, and this is the last time we have to go through this waiting game. The next time that she leaves, we are not coming back without our new baby. That might take a little longer, although the due date is looking a lot like March 7, or close to that.
Now, all that I have to do is persuade someone to drive to Bethel tonight to pick up my wife from the airport. That, or steal someone's keys...
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Good Morning Post...
I often do these at the end of the day, but the morning's events are unfolding slowly, so now is as good a time as any.
We are nearly at the end of our first week of school after break. Fridays are a half day with students, even though we spend the afternoon in improvement activities. This weekend will be a little different, as we have a scheduled work day on Saturday. This is for the express purpose of giving us time to finish grades for the last semester. Mine are done for the most part, so I will focus on lesson planning. I figure this week I am getting paid for aspects of my job that I perform on my own time other weeks.
I also have some time to prepare sub plans for the person who will replace me next week while I take two high school students to Bethel for a student leadership conference of some type. This would ordinarily be my wife's thing, but she has sworn off sleeping in classrooms on air mattresses for the duration of her pregnancy. That leaves me, I suppose.
As for the pregnancy front, my bride is in Anchorage today for the monthly doctors' consultations. We may actually have a scheduled birth event by the end of the day. We have a scheduled pregnancy, if you will. Not our choice, but that is ok, too. We are just waiting for the little fella or girl to get out and start disrupting our sleep from this side of the womb. She/he has already been doing a fairly good job of that from his/her current location. More on this later.
And now the day begins in earnest. Time to prepare for the day. Here's hoping it will be a good one...
We are nearly at the end of our first week of school after break. Fridays are a half day with students, even though we spend the afternoon in improvement activities. This weekend will be a little different, as we have a scheduled work day on Saturday. This is for the express purpose of giving us time to finish grades for the last semester. Mine are done for the most part, so I will focus on lesson planning. I figure this week I am getting paid for aspects of my job that I perform on my own time other weeks.
I also have some time to prepare sub plans for the person who will replace me next week while I take two high school students to Bethel for a student leadership conference of some type. This would ordinarily be my wife's thing, but she has sworn off sleeping in classrooms on air mattresses for the duration of her pregnancy. That leaves me, I suppose.
As for the pregnancy front, my bride is in Anchorage today for the monthly doctors' consultations. We may actually have a scheduled birth event by the end of the day. We have a scheduled pregnancy, if you will. Not our choice, but that is ok, too. We are just waiting for the little fella or girl to get out and start disrupting our sleep from this side of the womb. She/he has already been doing a fairly good job of that from his/her current location. More on this later.
And now the day begins in earnest. Time to prepare for the day. Here's hoping it will be a good one...
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Annoyance...
Mostly with Blogger and this poky Internet service tonight. It has been pretty good for the first couple of nights, but now is at a crawl. Maybe there are just too many of us on it at once, and everyone else is watching a movie...
We are back at it and things are going generally well. The first day back was more raggedy, but tolerable. Today, we all flowed more smoothly. Heck, the time seemed to flow more smoothly.
Not much else to report. I am apparently taking a couple of the high school kids to Bethel to participate in a student leadership conference next, in place of my bride. It will make for an interesting week, added to the in service day that we have on Monday. Quick week, that one-I won't see my students until Thursday!
The dog is snoring and everyone else has gone to bed. Maybe that is a clue...
We are back at it and things are going generally well. The first day back was more raggedy, but tolerable. Today, we all flowed more smoothly. Heck, the time seemed to flow more smoothly.
Not much else to report. I am apparently taking a couple of the high school kids to Bethel to participate in a student leadership conference next, in place of my bride. It will make for an interesting week, added to the in service day that we have on Monday. Quick week, that one-I won't see my students until Thursday!
The dog is snoring and everyone else has gone to bed. Maybe that is a clue...
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Approaching Normal (slowly)
At long last, I am composing and typing from the recliner in my living room. It is a dream I have had...
We made it through the great power outage of 2013 (at least I hope that this is it...). We have attended various Slaaviq celebrations around the village. Staff members have been sifting in, some delayed by weather in their travels around the country. Our union has negotiated a tentative agreement with the school district that will cover the next two years.
My poor wife is getting more uncomfortable as the birth of our little one approaches. Yesterday, I gave up on sleep at about 3 am and decided to start doing dishes and the laundry after the coffee kicked in. Their is a lot of insomnia in these here parts. Everyone has been staying pretty cheerful, though. I was actually pretty excited about getting all that work done. I had chores done by 7 am!
There was a union executive board meeting at noon in Bethel, so after my weekly chat with my folks, it was out to start up the snow machine and hitch up the sled. The ride to Bethel featured rain and slushy snow. Kind of a slog. After our meeting, I went outside to see that it was now raining even harder. I got over to the AC store and did some very rapid shopping, and headed for the river as quickly as possible. By the time I got to the front door here, I was pretty soggy all over. I was very grateful for my seal hat and mittens. Nice and waterproof. My box full of groceries...not so waterproof. I was lucky, though, and made it up the stairs without having the bottom let go.
Many empty boxes were at the top of the stairs. The mail that had been "piling up" somewhere out in the universe had nearly all arrived. There were all kinds of baby things, some from Nana, and some from Aunty Amazon. There was even a radio so that we could listen to A Prairie Home Companion on a Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday, we got together with our neighbors for some brunch. I believe that this is going to replace our Friday night pizza deal for the next little while. It might make sense on several levels. And it is a yummy way to start Sunday. After that, Eric decided that we would take a go at hooking up the new wi-fi router that we got over the holidays. Voila! Instant Internet! Talk about a welcome improvement! I would prattle on more about this, but my dog is staring at me, which means that it is nearly 9 pm, and time for his dinner, an event which he takes very seriously. Tomorrow is back to school day, and everyone is seriously confused about that...we shall see how it goes. It should be good for a few laughs, if nothing else...
We made it through the great power outage of 2013 (at least I hope that this is it...). We have attended various Slaaviq celebrations around the village. Staff members have been sifting in, some delayed by weather in their travels around the country. Our union has negotiated a tentative agreement with the school district that will cover the next two years.
My poor wife is getting more uncomfortable as the birth of our little one approaches. Yesterday, I gave up on sleep at about 3 am and decided to start doing dishes and the laundry after the coffee kicked in. Their is a lot of insomnia in these here parts. Everyone has been staying pretty cheerful, though. I was actually pretty excited about getting all that work done. I had chores done by 7 am!
There was a union executive board meeting at noon in Bethel, so after my weekly chat with my folks, it was out to start up the snow machine and hitch up the sled. The ride to Bethel featured rain and slushy snow. Kind of a slog. After our meeting, I went outside to see that it was now raining even harder. I got over to the AC store and did some very rapid shopping, and headed for the river as quickly as possible. By the time I got to the front door here, I was pretty soggy all over. I was very grateful for my seal hat and mittens. Nice and waterproof. My box full of groceries...not so waterproof. I was lucky, though, and made it up the stairs without having the bottom let go.
Many empty boxes were at the top of the stairs. The mail that had been "piling up" somewhere out in the universe had nearly all arrived. There were all kinds of baby things, some from Nana, and some from Aunty Amazon. There was even a radio so that we could listen to A Prairie Home Companion on a Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday, we got together with our neighbors for some brunch. I believe that this is going to replace our Friday night pizza deal for the next little while. It might make sense on several levels. And it is a yummy way to start Sunday. After that, Eric decided that we would take a go at hooking up the new wi-fi router that we got over the holidays. Voila! Instant Internet! Talk about a welcome improvement! I would prattle on more about this, but my dog is staring at me, which means that it is nearly 9 pm, and time for his dinner, an event which he takes very seriously. Tomorrow is back to school day, and everyone is seriously confused about that...we shall see how it goes. It should be good for a few laughs, if nothing else...
Friday, January 11, 2013
Back to Normal...
We have had a very active last several days here. Understatement.
As I suggested in my last post, all power/heat/water to the teacher apartment units here in Napaskiak went out on Tuesday the 8th of January at about 4:30 pm. The school generators were up and running the next morning, providing us with a place to work or do anything else in a warm location. It also gave us a place to cook. Very important.
By Wednesday, the houses had gotten significantly colder at the end of the day. We spent the night huddled under down comforters that we placed atop the usual bedding. I tried to sleep with a bunch of clothing on in the belief that it would keep me warmer, a belief that proved to be misplaced. I ended up stripping it all off and just using body heat and the insulation power of the bedding. I slept like a rock, despite the fact that the temperatures in the bedroom were very chilly. I didn't get up until nearly 10 am on Thursday.
Thursday morning found us back at the school, doing the breakfast and coffee thing again. I got in contact with our union president about the housing conditions, which are covered by our contract, and also learned that negotiations had produced a tentative agreement with the school district for the new contract to come into effect retroactive to July, 2012. There were a lot of emails to send to different folks, as I am both a site rep for the union and an area director as well. It was actually fun to be busy, and we broke up the day with a couple of Slaaviq visits.
Later Thursday, some of the staff members began to trickle into town. Our neighbors and their nearly one-year-old daughter came back late in the day, and our temporary dean of students came in at some point as well. The big event of the afternoon, however, was the return of power to our buildings!
It was tentative at first, but as the day went on, it became clearer that the needed part had been located, brought to town, and installed. By this morning, everyone in Napaskiak was back on the local power grid. It brings us to a warmer, happier weekend for everyone, and I can get my laundry done, too! Hooray!
My lesson plans are done and emailed in to the boss (who got here at some point today, I believe), and I am planning to spend the weekend at home (except for my trip to Bethel for the union meeting and some grocery shopping). Time to relax before we get back to the swing of things on Monday...
As I suggested in my last post, all power/heat/water to the teacher apartment units here in Napaskiak went out on Tuesday the 8th of January at about 4:30 pm. The school generators were up and running the next morning, providing us with a place to work or do anything else in a warm location. It also gave us a place to cook. Very important.
By Wednesday, the houses had gotten significantly colder at the end of the day. We spent the night huddled under down comforters that we placed atop the usual bedding. I tried to sleep with a bunch of clothing on in the belief that it would keep me warmer, a belief that proved to be misplaced. I ended up stripping it all off and just using body heat and the insulation power of the bedding. I slept like a rock, despite the fact that the temperatures in the bedroom were very chilly. I didn't get up until nearly 10 am on Thursday.
Thursday morning found us back at the school, doing the breakfast and coffee thing again. I got in contact with our union president about the housing conditions, which are covered by our contract, and also learned that negotiations had produced a tentative agreement with the school district for the new contract to come into effect retroactive to July, 2012. There were a lot of emails to send to different folks, as I am both a site rep for the union and an area director as well. It was actually fun to be busy, and we broke up the day with a couple of Slaaviq visits.
Later Thursday, some of the staff members began to trickle into town. Our neighbors and their nearly one-year-old daughter came back late in the day, and our temporary dean of students came in at some point as well. The big event of the afternoon, however, was the return of power to our buildings!
It was tentative at first, but as the day went on, it became clearer that the needed part had been located, brought to town, and installed. By this morning, everyone in Napaskiak was back on the local power grid. It brings us to a warmer, happier weekend for everyone, and I can get my laundry done, too! Hooray!
My lesson plans are done and emailed in to the boss (who got here at some point today, I believe), and I am planning to spend the weekend at home (except for my trip to Bethel for the union meeting and some grocery shopping). Time to relax before we get back to the swing of things on Monday...
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Brrr...
The lights went out yesterday, and they have been out since. Over 24 hours for us. That means no light and no heat. Last night, it meant no water pressure, either. We were trying to play dominoes by candlelight, which is a pretty tricky endeavor. Each of us ended up using small flashlights to actually see which domino we were trying to play off. We finally gave up and went to bed for a while.
I awoke sometime in the night with my mind racing about what needed to be done today in order to deal with conditions in the building. It served mostly to disturb my sleep. I was damned if I could actually come up with any intelligent ideas about what to do. I finally gave up on being smart and thought about how proud I was of my 8th graders back at the Halloween carnival when they had to run the show mostly themselves because I was helping out with concessions and got stuck there. Then I thought about what a good group of kids I have in the junior high this year and how much I am looking forward to getting back in the classroom on Monday. Then I thought about what an old grouch I am a lot of the time and that I need to loosen up a little and laugh at life. Finally, it occurred to me that this was the perfect opportunity to practice a little bit of that right then and there. I went back to sleep.
I woke up to a still dark, rather colder house. I looked out the front window of our bedroom. Light was streaming from the direction of the school, but there was no light to be seen anywhere else. The generator! Our maintenance man must have started up the generator! Why, that would mean that there might be water pressure! Off to the bathroom...yes! The faucet was flowing, which meant that we could FLUSH THE TOILET! Victory! I managed to rouse my sleeping sweetie, and checked the time...9 am. Maybe Paul (maintenance guy) had even MADE COFFEE!!!! We thought about it and decided to get up and get the dogs out and fed. That involved flashlights and even a head-mounted light. Very technical...then we filled a bag with breakfast stuff and headed to the school. There was light and heat and running water and a kitchen that worked and COFFEE!!!! Paul was here, along with one of the fellas from the power plant and a young mechanic. My wife made breakfast for us and the guys as well. And I got to have a cup of fresh, hot, strong COFFEE!!!! (Does anyone sense a theme here?)
What a weirdly wonderful morning...breakfast and coffee and the internet...I worked a little on my last lesson plan for next week, and answered some emails. At about noon, we got a call summoning us to a Slaaviq celebration that was to happen at 1pm. We ran home and got out of our PJs and into other clothes and walked through the snow to the celebration. The house that we went to had a generator and a wood stove going. It had light and heat in abundance. Maybe even too much. We were hot. It actually felt better on the porch. But the company was good and the food was better-I had a bowl of moose soup and some akutaq (our friend Michelle makes the best akutaq...)After that we headed home to the refrigerator that we call home for a little nap, and headed back to school with my little dog (he gets cold easily) and some dinner supplies.
We have been here for the most part since then. It is nearly 10 pm, and I suspect that we will go home when we get sleepy. Some houses have power, and some do not. It is not clear when we will get power back in the teacher housing, or in the village as a whole. The one good thing in this (other than coffee at the school when I get there) is that the weather has been warm today. The temperature has stayed pretty steady around the freezing mark. Last year at this time, nighttime temperatures were 50-60 degrees colder. I feel very fortunate when I think of that...
I awoke sometime in the night with my mind racing about what needed to be done today in order to deal with conditions in the building. It served mostly to disturb my sleep. I was damned if I could actually come up with any intelligent ideas about what to do. I finally gave up on being smart and thought about how proud I was of my 8th graders back at the Halloween carnival when they had to run the show mostly themselves because I was helping out with concessions and got stuck there. Then I thought about what a good group of kids I have in the junior high this year and how much I am looking forward to getting back in the classroom on Monday. Then I thought about what an old grouch I am a lot of the time and that I need to loosen up a little and laugh at life. Finally, it occurred to me that this was the perfect opportunity to practice a little bit of that right then and there. I went back to sleep.
I woke up to a still dark, rather colder house. I looked out the front window of our bedroom. Light was streaming from the direction of the school, but there was no light to be seen anywhere else. The generator! Our maintenance man must have started up the generator! Why, that would mean that there might be water pressure! Off to the bathroom...yes! The faucet was flowing, which meant that we could FLUSH THE TOILET! Victory! I managed to rouse my sleeping sweetie, and checked the time...9 am. Maybe Paul (maintenance guy) had even MADE COFFEE!!!! We thought about it and decided to get up and get the dogs out and fed. That involved flashlights and even a head-mounted light. Very technical...then we filled a bag with breakfast stuff and headed to the school. There was light and heat and running water and a kitchen that worked and COFFEE!!!! Paul was here, along with one of the fellas from the power plant and a young mechanic. My wife made breakfast for us and the guys as well. And I got to have a cup of fresh, hot, strong COFFEE!!!! (Does anyone sense a theme here?)
What a weirdly wonderful morning...breakfast and coffee and the internet...I worked a little on my last lesson plan for next week, and answered some emails. At about noon, we got a call summoning us to a Slaaviq celebration that was to happen at 1pm. We ran home and got out of our PJs and into other clothes and walked through the snow to the celebration. The house that we went to had a generator and a wood stove going. It had light and heat in abundance. Maybe even too much. We were hot. It actually felt better on the porch. But the company was good and the food was better-I had a bowl of moose soup and some akutaq (our friend Michelle makes the best akutaq...)After that we headed home to the refrigerator that we call home for a little nap, and headed back to school with my little dog (he gets cold easily) and some dinner supplies.
We have been here for the most part since then. It is nearly 10 pm, and I suspect that we will go home when we get sleepy. Some houses have power, and some do not. It is not clear when we will get power back in the teacher housing, or in the village as a whole. The one good thing in this (other than coffee at the school when I get there) is that the weather has been warm today. The temperature has stayed pretty steady around the freezing mark. Last year at this time, nighttime temperatures were 50-60 degrees colder. I feel very fortunate when I think of that...
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Gray and Chilly...
Not a felicitous combination. It isn't really all that cold as things sometimes go around here, but it sure is gray. Kind of reminds me of Michigan winters, and those don't appeal that strongly to me. It is often much colder at this time of year, but that is in turn accompanied by beautiful and brilliant sunshine. This stuff looks like a faded bruise.
On a plus note, it isn't -30 every night. That gets to be harsh after a while.
I have checked out the weather forecast for the next week or so, and it appears that it is going to be warmer than usual. I suspect that a grocery store run is going to be in order by Friday. Warm temps. low chance of precipitation. We shall see how well that holds.
Lesson plans are nearly complete for next week's return to school. Two days of social studies is all that stands between me and completion. This is going to be the longest break available for a while, so I might as well enjoy it, although writing lesson plans is not the same drudge that it once was. I type faster and understand what I am trying to accomplish better. It still is not what I would call fun, but I can deal with it.
My wife is lurking somewhere in the building. Once it gets to be one o'clock in the afternoon, I suppose it will be time for a trip to the post office. Last I heard, there were still no stamps in town, even though the postmaster ordered them in November. Some days...
On a plus note, it isn't -30 every night. That gets to be harsh after a while.
I have checked out the weather forecast for the next week or so, and it appears that it is going to be warmer than usual. I suspect that a grocery store run is going to be in order by Friday. Warm temps. low chance of precipitation. We shall see how well that holds.
Lesson plans are nearly complete for next week's return to school. Two days of social studies is all that stands between me and completion. This is going to be the longest break available for a while, so I might as well enjoy it, although writing lesson plans is not the same drudge that it once was. I type faster and understand what I am trying to accomplish better. It still is not what I would call fun, but I can deal with it.
My wife is lurking somewhere in the building. Once it gets to be one o'clock in the afternoon, I suppose it will be time for a trip to the post office. Last I heard, there were still no stamps in town, even though the postmaster ordered them in November. Some days...
Monday, January 7, 2013
At My Desk...
That is a little bit of a misnomer, seeing as all the other posts in the last few days have been made from the same place. Our "smartphones" support actual internet usage in only the most tangential and sporadic sense. In order to have actual access, we usually have to come over to the school. We are working on a change to that situation, but it is still going to be a while before we are operational in the teacher housing buildings. The other question at that time will be one of speed and capacity. The local phone/cable company has supposedly completed access to high speed internet service that does not depend upon satellite service, which is not high speed by its nature.
Anyway, I am downloading some information so that I can do some revised lesson plans for next week before we get to the weekend. I am trying to gradually get back on the daily schedule that we will have for the next semester and get off of the vacation pace. I made it up by 8 am today, which represents progress. The usual alarm time is 6:30 am, which some folks likely think to be quite decadent in and of itself. It is what we work with, however, and I still need to get adjusted to that, and I prefer to do it gradually rather than dramatically. Same for lesson planning. Most of my stuff is already ready, but I would like to have the rest of it done so that I am not spending quality time working at it on my last weekend of "freedom" for a while.
Word has it that a friend of the family just had a baby, which prompted my darling wife to message me the news here at the school. She is, needless to say, very interested in all events baby these days. We spent some quiet time last night chatting about our plans for our/the baby's future. It seems right and kind of exciting at the same time.
Now I am off to preview the online content for the health lessons that I plan on presenting next week...
Anyway, I am downloading some information so that I can do some revised lesson plans for next week before we get to the weekend. I am trying to gradually get back on the daily schedule that we will have for the next semester and get off of the vacation pace. I made it up by 8 am today, which represents progress. The usual alarm time is 6:30 am, which some folks likely think to be quite decadent in and of itself. It is what we work with, however, and I still need to get adjusted to that, and I prefer to do it gradually rather than dramatically. Same for lesson planning. Most of my stuff is already ready, but I would like to have the rest of it done so that I am not spending quality time working at it on my last weekend of "freedom" for a while.
Word has it that a friend of the family just had a baby, which prompted my darling wife to message me the news here at the school. She is, needless to say, very interested in all events baby these days. We spent some quiet time last night chatting about our plans for our/the baby's future. It seems right and kind of exciting at the same time.
Now I am off to preview the online content for the health lessons that I plan on presenting next week...
Sunday, January 6, 2013
More Leisure...
Vacation continues. Coffee. Breakfast. Read the "paper" (NY Times on my iPhone). Just realized that I should have brought my iPad over to download the New Yorker from two weeks ago. So funny that I read New York stuff from the Y-K Delta.
I did read what I thought was an inspirational article in one of our local papers recently. It has to do with a young woman from out on the coast who is trying to speak to the kids in our villages about trying to succeed in the world and being afraid to try. She can speak to it better than I can: http://www.deltadiscovery.com/story/2012/12/26/village-telegraph/bailey-village-youth-can-overcome-fear/745.html ...just copy and paste the link into your browser. She strikes me as a good example of what our kids can do. Too many teachers make the mistake of looking at our students and seeing limitations instead of possibilities.
Enough of my soapbox. It is Sunday night, and the menu apparently will consist of spaghetti squash and salad. Remember, no canned spaghetti sauce in my house. It simply isn't done. My wife cooks from scratch, and she is reasonably good at it. That is one of the reasons that my friends that I get the best of the arrangement when I do the dishes and the laundry, because she does the cooking. I suspect that they are correct.
One more week until classes recommence. We would be back earlier, but we have found that classes during Slaaviq week do not work that well. This gives us a longer holiday break, but we do not do spring break. I suppose I will have a break of sorts when the baby is born, but I think that it might not be that restful. It may be a lot of fun, however.
I do think that I will take our new junior high Health textbook home, though, and start going through it. We start with that class new in the second semester. It is time to begin getting ready for the second half of the year. Much is in store...
I did read what I thought was an inspirational article in one of our local papers recently. It has to do with a young woman from out on the coast who is trying to speak to the kids in our villages about trying to succeed in the world and being afraid to try. She can speak to it better than I can: http://www.deltadiscovery.com/story/2012/12/26/village-telegraph/bailey-village-youth-can-overcome-fear/745.html ...just copy and paste the link into your browser. She strikes me as a good example of what our kids can do. Too many teachers make the mistake of looking at our students and seeing limitations instead of possibilities.
Enough of my soapbox. It is Sunday night, and the menu apparently will consist of spaghetti squash and salad. Remember, no canned spaghetti sauce in my house. It simply isn't done. My wife cooks from scratch, and she is reasonably good at it. That is one of the reasons that my friends that I get the best of the arrangement when I do the dishes and the laundry, because she does the cooking. I suspect that they are correct.
One more week until classes recommence. We would be back earlier, but we have found that classes during Slaaviq week do not work that well. This gives us a longer holiday break, but we do not do spring break. I suppose I will have a break of sorts when the baby is born, but I think that it might not be that restful. It may be a lot of fun, however.
I do think that I will take our new junior high Health textbook home, though, and start going through it. We start with that class new in the second semester. It is time to begin getting ready for the second half of the year. Much is in store...
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Lazy...
We didn't get up until 9 am this morning. Of course, we didn't go to bed until 1 am. I am afraid that we are going to have to get back into playing shape for the normal work day in a big hurry this week.
It was mostly one of our traditional Saturday mornings-phone calls back home to loved ones in Michigan, and we recognized at one point that it is just hard to get us to do much of anything on a Saturday before noon. Something tells me that that is going to change, and soon....
I got a new camera so that I can take an endless number of adorable baby pictures that I can then bedevil our friends with. I can hardly to join the multitudes on Facebook. Of course, I am going to have the cutest kid in the world...
I am excited to see a couple of responses to the last couple of posts. I am gratified to see someone out there taking a moment to read these musings.
As for Slaaviq related news, I did copy some song sheets at the request of our local choir director today, so the preparations are getting underway in earnest. I believe that festivities begin here Monday night. More as it develops...
It was mostly one of our traditional Saturday mornings-phone calls back home to loved ones in Michigan, and we recognized at one point that it is just hard to get us to do much of anything on a Saturday before noon. Something tells me that that is going to change, and soon....
I got a new camera so that I can take an endless number of adorable baby pictures that I can then bedevil our friends with. I can hardly to join the multitudes on Facebook. Of course, I am going to have the cutest kid in the world...
I am excited to see a couple of responses to the last couple of posts. I am gratified to see someone out there taking a moment to read these musings.
As for Slaaviq related news, I did copy some song sheets at the request of our local choir director today, so the preparations are getting underway in earnest. I believe that festivities begin here Monday night. More as it develops...
Friday, January 4, 2013
Water? Power? Who Needs it??
The pump at the school, which also supplies our water at the apartment, is down. The parts to fix it apparently have to be ordered from Anchorage, and it is not clear when they will arrive. The lights went out tonight. Another typical day. When things can go wrong, they will. Oh, well...yesterday that stuff made me cranky, but today is Deal With It Friday.
I got the chance to go riding on the river today, and that proved to be a nice alternative to boredom. The trail was a little tough to pick up at first because it was snowing pretty steadily, but it all sorted out as I went up the river towards Bethel. I picked up our veggie box, and 18 eggs at my wife's request, and headed back. A pleasant outing. I actually had some pleasant thoughts about teaching my impending young one his or her way around the river highway...
We actually had enough water pressure tonight to wash dishes, and the kitchen is clean. I guess that the fellas over here are manually pumping the reserve tanks full or something of that nature. Kudos, guys!
We are hanging out at the school doing the net surf thing because we haven't gotten our wi-fi set up in the building. That will be a project to come after the neighbors return. It will be nice to have reliable Internet service at the house for the first time in nearly two years. Life's little luxuries...
Everyone here is getting excited about Slaaviq, which is coming up next week. I am working on getting our apartment building cleaned up so that people can come over and celebrate. We need to get on the official list. There seems to be surprise and happiness that we are here for this. This will be our first Slaaviq, and I am looking forward to it.
I got the chance to go riding on the river today, and that proved to be a nice alternative to boredom. The trail was a little tough to pick up at first because it was snowing pretty steadily, but it all sorted out as I went up the river towards Bethel. I picked up our veggie box, and 18 eggs at my wife's request, and headed back. A pleasant outing. I actually had some pleasant thoughts about teaching my impending young one his or her way around the river highway...
We actually had enough water pressure tonight to wash dishes, and the kitchen is clean. I guess that the fellas over here are manually pumping the reserve tanks full or something of that nature. Kudos, guys!
We are hanging out at the school doing the net surf thing because we haven't gotten our wi-fi set up in the building. That will be a project to come after the neighbors return. It will be nice to have reliable Internet service at the house for the first time in nearly two years. Life's little luxuries...
Everyone here is getting excited about Slaaviq, which is coming up next week. I am working on getting our apartment building cleaned up so that people can come over and celebrate. We need to get on the official list. There seems to be surprise and happiness that we are here for this. This will be our first Slaaviq, and I am looking forward to it.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Happy New Year
Back in PKA for 2013, although we actually rung in the year in Bethel (in our sleep, thank you). We had flown up from Anchorage, where we spent Christmas and a few more days, on New Year's Eve. When all the bags came out, we had two dog kennels, five totes (loaded to the max and maybe a little beyond), two backpacks, one small dog bag (Buddha), one duffel-type suitcase, and something else that I may have forgotten.
What we lacked was a ride down the river. No fault. We had ridden up with Joe, who was in Anchorage. Alex had his truck, but had to be at his VPSO job at 8 pm. He hoped for a quiet night so that he could get some sleep and come and get us around noon. Our delightful friend Sandy graciously lent us the use of her apartment so that the five of us had a roof over our heads and a warm place to pee (well, at least the humans did).
We looked out the window at the fireworks being shot off to celebrate the new year, and felt fortunate to be together. The new arrival is scheduled for March, and we will have six to keep track of at that time. I have this vision that we will end up doing the Mary and Joseph routine..."I thought he/she was with you..." Kind of unnerving, when you figure that Mary and Joseph were SELECTED specifically for that job. What chance do we have?
Alex didn't get his wish for a slow New Year's Eve. He was kind enough to come and get us the next afternoon, however, and we were back in our little home by five in the afternoon. It feels good to be back, and we will get ready for the second semester, which is bound to be eventful, what with childbirth and long-term substitute teachers. And then, of course, we will try to get the mess that is us when we travel through the busiest airport in the world with one more member of our little traveling circus. It will be...bliss.
What we lacked was a ride down the river. No fault. We had ridden up with Joe, who was in Anchorage. Alex had his truck, but had to be at his VPSO job at 8 pm. He hoped for a quiet night so that he could get some sleep and come and get us around noon. Our delightful friend Sandy graciously lent us the use of her apartment so that the five of us had a roof over our heads and a warm place to pee (well, at least the humans did).
We looked out the window at the fireworks being shot off to celebrate the new year, and felt fortunate to be together. The new arrival is scheduled for March, and we will have six to keep track of at that time. I have this vision that we will end up doing the Mary and Joseph routine..."I thought he/she was with you..." Kind of unnerving, when you figure that Mary and Joseph were SELECTED specifically for that job. What chance do we have?
Alex didn't get his wish for a slow New Year's Eve. He was kind enough to come and get us the next afternoon, however, and we were back in our little home by five in the afternoon. It feels good to be back, and we will get ready for the second semester, which is bound to be eventful, what with childbirth and long-term substitute teachers. And then, of course, we will try to get the mess that is us when we travel through the busiest airport in the world with one more member of our little traveling circus. It will be...bliss.
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