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.
Monday, October 28, 2013
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....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)